Northern Lines Files

Posted this on UKTS, but still waiting for it to be approved by a moderator, so hoping you guys can help out


I’m looking to install Northern Lines from OTS:
https://www.ontracksimulation.com/northernlines.html

which has a list of requirements from here. But I was just looking for advice on what was referred to by ‘ambient sounds’ - is it this file?

https://members.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=31006

The list of files on the OTS site seem to correspond with a similarly named file on UKTS with #1 after it: presumably these are correct?

 

That is what is listed in the manual so it will be correct
The UKTS file does have a #1 after it - I think it was thought a second one would be made but nothing so far

Peter

 

Thanks Peter.

One more query about this. I downloaded the Chaddock footbridges, but is “Chaddock Engineering LNWR” something separate, or is that comma confusing?

There doesn’t seem to be anything under that alone. And the term LNWR doesn’t appear in connection with the footbridges.

 

You have to use the Search Engine to find it and they pre date TS2013 so look with the filter as Railworks
I just searched for Footbridge in the Keyword search
https://www.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=28333

 

I found the footbridges (direct link from OTS), but was a little thrown by the use of the term LNER as it doesn’t appear in that page, and wondered if it was something else. But all sorted now, thanks again.

 

A great little route. It has a problem approaching Blackpool North though... the final speed limit kicks in early... way before the sign... unless it's been fixed. Also, the semaphore signals at Poulton on the down line into Blackpool will give you a SPAD no matter what. It thinks the signal that is always on for the Fleetwood line is for the mainline, so even when the left signal is off... you still SPAD. Both have been reported... I've not updated mine in ages, so no idea if they've been fixed yet or not.

The Electric version is also great... and seems fault free... you do need the ATS OHLE kit though in addition to all the other requirements.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Didn’t realise there was an electric one, will check that out.

If memory serves me right, I think my first ever journey on a DMU was Preston to Blackpool North on a childhood trip: it was a novelty sitting behind the driver’s cab and seeing the AWS sunflower going on and off and relating it to the signals.

On day three of downloading the files from UKTS, so fingers crossed I’ll get it loaded tonight!

 

I think the real Blackpool North lost out with the OHLE - yes it is modern but not quite the same




Peter

 

My house is on this route. I'm a stone's throw from Layton Station.

 

No.. it looks quite frankly... like a dog's dinner now I'm afraid.

 

The ambient sounds file is 164MB, and downloading from UKTS is going to take ten hours.

Will it screw things up if I install the other UKTS stuff and the route first and then the sounds pack when it’s downloaded? Or should I wait?

 

LOL.. just pay your monthly fee.

I'd install all required assets first.

 

Looking at the folders in the unpacked Northern Lines zip file, there’s a few that already have duplicates in my Railworks folder, so I presume I look inside and just copy additional contents across to avoid wiping over other files. They should make that clear in case someone slips up and overwrites all their other files!

They finally got that £2.50 out of me - for the very last file I wanted - what was going to take 10 hours, downloaded in 40 seconds.

Hope they put it towards sprucing up that 1990s style website

 

You are not the first person on here who says they should change this and that having visited it a few times.

Most of the people who have been there for some time like it the way it is because they know how it works and how to find things.
But if you don't like it there is always this forum

 

Well, I've installed all the UKTS and other additions, meticulously copied the additional stuff from the Northern Lines route folders into the appropriate places in Railworks, and no sign of Northern Lines in TS at all

Shame, I was looking forward to it.

Have no idea what I could have done wrong. The route was copied, and all the additional files from the main route folder into Assets - I went through folder by folder, sub folder by subfolder.

 

No... you DO overwrite the files already there.

You didn't copy them all though, did you. Try again, this time following the instructions.
To install this route open up the 7.zip file and drag the Assets, Content and
Manual Folders into you Railworks Directory.

You seemed to think you should avoid copying anything that would overwrite another file. Why?

Why? Install all required assets first.... then unzip the route... then literally drag everything to your railworks folder, and allow it to overwrite any existing files. That's it.

There's one section where you need to modify a geo file for a white gate, but that shouldn't stop the route from working.

 

I’m confused about this overwriting of folders, though. If I have an Assets folder in Railworks with 20-30 subfolders, why should I overwrite it with the Northern Lines folder with one or two things? That will surely obliterate everything else?

And if you overwrite existing files, won’t it cause problems for other routes?

I’ll try again later, as you suggest.

I guess if other routes get screwed up, I can do a verify integrity and restore?

 

You're not overwriting the entire folder... just the one or two things. When you copy a folder into a location with an identically named folder... it merges them. It doesn't delete the first one, and then put the new one on.

You can... but seriously.. like I keep saying to people... you need to have a back up of your Railworks folder, then you'd have no need to go to those lengths.

Any way... it's fine. I have the route... it works. Just drag everything into railworks and overwrite where prompted.

 

You’re right, I need to back up my RW folder, so may as well use this opportunity!

 

If you looked in the folders before copying them across you would see there is only a small amount of files copying.

 

Indeed. Most of the bulk is put into contents, where the actual route will be placed... which didn't exist before hand.


Anyhoo.... I hope he gets it sorted. It's a great little route. To the OP... there are some great scenarios for it too that use the Fleetwood branch to Burn Naze/ICI, and there's also the line to Steam Railway/Strand Road line so you can do the Lindsay bitumen tankers etc.

 

Well I backed up my RW folder, just copied and replaced the NL (sub)folders as suggested, fire up TS, and no sign of NL in the route lists.

I thought that was that, but I went to play a standard scenario on another route, and then I see a list of OTS NL scenarios there. So is it the case that this NL line doesn't appear in or can't be played in QD?

I tried some of the scenarios, even the trainspotting ones, but I get error messages about trains not being there - I had a look at the requirements, and the only thing mentioned is the JT Common Library - "since" Edinburgh to Newcastle.

The only two JT lines I have are Edinburgh to Newcastle and Scottish ECML (Edinburgh to Dundee/Perth), so I guess they aren't current enough?

Looking around in the scenario editor, at least Preston station seems to be all there, so maybe if I use TS Tools to remove the trains I don't have, it might work?

Otherwise, how do you know which JT routes have been released "since Edinburgh-Newcastle" - I don't think they are dated?

I'm determined to get there in the end!

 

It's definitely QD compatible.

They'll be fine.. it's not that. When I first installed this route, I only had Scottish ECML and it worked fine.

That doesn't explain why the route isn't showing in QD. Does the route show in the Standard scenario menu? Like this?


I think you still have assets missing. That's nearly always the reason for a route that others are using with no problem causing an issue. Did you follow everything to the letter? Including all the required assets installation before you installed the route?

 

Thanks for your continued assistance, pookey.

I can see the route icon, but only in the Standard tab. The route doesn't even appear in the QD route list.

I have installed NL only on my laptop so far, not the gaming PC - it occured to me later that the PC has the JT SECML, but the laptop doesn't. I checked for the existence of the JT Common Library folder - I have one on the laptop by virtue of having the JT Edinburgh to Newcastle route, purchased through Steam. The list below stipulates in JT routes since Edinburgh-Newcastle, but if there's an issue there, I'd presume if would be with rolling stock, and not affect the actual route itself?

I have installed everything as per the list:

Route Requirements:
Steam
North Wales Coast (Discontinued) - YES
AP Station Pack included with routes such as WCML Over shap - YES
North London Line with Goblin Line Extension - YES
ECMLS Peterborough to London Kings Cross - YES
Brighton Mainline - YES (if by that is meant "London to Brighton"?)
Liverpool to Manchester - YES
Settle to Carlisle - YES
WCML Trent Valley - YES
Fort William to Mallaig - YES (if by that is meant the Thomson Interactive West Highland Line Extension)
Train Sim Academy* (Included with Train Simulator by default) - YES

Armstrong Powerhouse
Wherry Lines (Steam version probably works) - YES, AP version

Just Trains
Common Library (routes released since Newcastle Edinburgh). Make sure you have the most up to date version of your JT routes. (I only have the JT Newcastle-Edinburgh route, purchased throught Steam, but in Jan 21, so should be up to date?)

Vulcan Productions
Tree Pack - YES

UKTrainsim
Chaddock Engineerings LNWR Footbridges - YES
Freeware Packs - Audio/Ambient Sounds - YES
Blocks lofts and bridges - YES (installed for the Speyside route, previously)
Clutter - YES
Commercial - YES
Foliage - YES
Housing - YES
Industrial - YES
Railway Buildings - YES
Terrain Textures - YES

https://www.ontracksimulation.com/northernlines.html

 

Does the route work when you try to run a scenario from the standard tab?

 

Low and behold, I open up TS for the first time on my laptop today, and see NL listed in QD and now it seems to work perfectly!

Maybe it was just a matter of a cache being cleared/database being updated or something?

Glad it worked out and thanks to all who offered help.

[I still get some error messages on the scenarios for trains not in the library, but not a biggie, as I've learned how to "swap them out" now.]

 

Always clear cache if TS was running when you installed stuff... or even if it wasn't to be sure.

Glad it's OK.

i'm not sure what a 20 is doing in Blackpool north though That woudl have been a very rare sight

BTW... although it doesn't say on the website, this route is set between the mid 90s to 2010 based on local knowledge, but it does have some inaccuracies. Blackpool number 1 box is still there, and that was taken down in 2010.. but the petrol station next to Blackpool north wasn't built until 2014... so the local buildings are a bit of a mess... but the signalling, pway and stations would place it between mid 90s and 2010.

 

Hi,

Has much changed from the late 80's? I have recently downloaded this and was going to make some scenarios from a 1988 WTT I have.

I am not worried about minor changes especially non railway buildings, I assume with the semaphore signalling that it could be a passable if not accurate representation of what it was like then. Or had there been major changes to the railway infrastructure?

Thanks

 

Not a massive amount, no... late 80s woudl be OK. Not much had changed at Blackpool, especially the semaphores. It's mainly the signalling on the rest of the route, especially between Salwick and Preston and on the approach to Preston out of Fylde junction. It woudl suit BR Regional better than BR blue, but they're minor issues.

I think the most annoying thing for me is just before Layton coming into Blackpol, there are what appear to be glass fronted office buildings on the left, just before the DIY place (now a Poundstretcher store in real life)... in real life, there's nothing even remotely like that.


In fact, there's nothing there at all in real life except a small brick building that's been there for around 90 years. I've no idea what Matt was thinking... and he's a Blackpool lad as well... well.. Fleetwood... but close enough. Unless you know the area though, it would be no detriment to anyone.

Overall though, it's still one of my favourite routes.

 

Considering adding the electric version, while I'm on a roll

https://www.ontracksimulation.com/northernlineselectric.html

Presumably this is just installed as a separate route, so they will be side by side in the route options, not a case of one overwriting the other?

At least I have all the requirements apart from the Grass (already downloaded) and the super duper amazing ATS OHLE pack!

 

Was just selected as a tried and trusted bog standard item to see if I could access the route

I wouldn't notice, so not to worry - the only routes I know reasonably well are Aberdeen to Inverness and Inverness to Edinburgh, which aren't on TS yet. Even then, I haven't been a regular on them for 30 years!

 

Slightly OT, but I remember as a boy in the 1970s visiting a model railway exhibition in Blackpool - "Platform 9" I think it was called? Wonder if it's still around? (And, of course, the Dr Who exhibition centre, long since closed down, I believe.)

 

Great, thanks for that. It is always good to get local knowledge.

 

That's correct. Separate routes.

 

Platform 3 at the old Blackpool South building. I spent many hours there as a kid in the 70s. Alas... long since gone... went in the early to mid 80s some time.

 

Ah, that explains why ‘Platform 9’ didn’t elicit anything on a web search!

 

I have no problems with Preston and Blackpool, but when I select Barrow in Furness as a starting point in QD, I get an error message. Is it ok for you?

 

That's normal. If you look at the route map, Barrow isn't even on it. I think it's something for a future release/development. If you look at Blackburn, that's not finished either. In fact nothing past Lostock Hall is modelled. I've no idea why Barrow is on the QD menu.

 

Does anyone else find when you exit this route into the main TS screen it tends to freeze?

Try to bring up the task manager, but can’t see it, as the frozen TS is maximised, so have to force a reboot.

 

Doesn't happen here, no.

 

Does not happen with me either, I would suggest doing a integrity file check of TS to make sure nothing is missing or corrupt.

 

Cheers, will try that.

Amazing how long it takes to back up the RW folder: hundreds of thousands of small files longer that hundreds of much larger files...

 

The creator of Northern Lines has spared no atention to detail. Was having a look around Blackpool North station and see this hoarding facing away from the platform:

 

And the graffiti on Blackpool north no.1 which actually was there for about 15 years. The Go Compare ad was never there in real life... but it's the sort of thing you'd see in Blackpool

 

Glad you said it, not me

 

It's OK, I'm the first admit that Blackpool is a dump. I don't actually live in Blackpool.... I live in Bispham.. Layton station (which I referred to earlier as I live almost next to it) is actually not in Layton, which is why it was called Bispham Station when it was first built. I rarely actually go into Blackpool itself. It's horrible.

 

Everywhere has some interest. Quick enjoyed my trips there as a boy.

 

One interesting thing, when you call up the map in NL, is that not only does it show the location os signals, but seems to show their aspect too.

 

Have just installed the Northern Lines Electric variant - included a revamped Blackpool station to accomodate AC OHLE and longer Class 390 EMUs.

(Thank heavens nothing more needed to be downloaded from UKTS!)

Worth it alone for the Alan Thompson OHLE - forget the route scenery, you could spend the day admiring the engineering of the overhead gantries

 

It's ruined Layton though.

From this....

To this...