Game Crashes Caused By Gpu Usage Spikes

The saga continues...

About a month ago, my installation of Train Sim Classic began crashing everytime I attempted to load any route, throwing up the age-old "Out of Memory" error message in the process, specifically: "Fatal error in mode LOAD_BLUEPRINT" . The full thread can be read here (assuming the link works), but eventually we found that the BlueprintSchema.xml file in the Temp folder was (seemingly) the cause of the issue, and the game was once again working fine once that had been deleted and rebuilt.

If only.

Recently, my game has begun crashing again, with the same exact error message (attached). My immediate thought was to try what worked last time, and delete and rebuild the BlueprintSchema file. However, that didn't fix anything. This is why I felt that I should make this a separate post rather than just continue on the original thread, as this issue appears to have a different cause.

So, to recap on what I have already tried so far:
- Cache has been cleared, both from the in-game menu and by deleting and reverifying the files through Steam.
- All 3rd-party content has been fully uninstalled
- No workshop content is (or has ever been) present in my installation
- Both Railworks and Railworks64 have been set to use "High Performace" in my PC's graphics settings.
- My graphics drivers have been updated to the most recent available version (in response to this issue, not before it started)
- Game has been fully uninstalled and reinstalled (including removing any remaining files after a Steam uninstall), with all DLC save the Academy route left uninstalled.
- In-game graphics settings are on 'Lowest'

The one thing that I have managed to track down is that the 3D section of my GPU (in the Task Manager) window always spikes to 100% (and presumably demands more, leading to the crash) every time the game attempts to load any route or scenario - this crash occurs when attempting to create a new scenario or edit an existing one, as well as attempting to drive any train. I have attached a screenshot of my PC's specs - I have not noticed any issues with any of my other games, so the issue seems to be localised to TSC.

TL;DR: Train Sim Classic keeps overloading my GPU and crashing, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why.

 

What is your GPU temperature at crash?

 

Around 33-34°C

 

I saw your processor performance seems to be too low. How old is your computer?
Check my signature for what computer I have.

 

I first got it in June 2021, so coming up on 5 years. The specs are the same as they were when new, the only things I've changed are the addition of 2 SSDs for more storage.

 

What exactly does the GPU temperature have to do with the crash? There are games where the GPU temperature exceeds 60°C.
I use TSC every day for building.
That error message is nothing new with TSC;
I've encountered it several times myself.
I always clear the cache / blueprints manually.

 

Do you build routes? I have experienced crashes while building. The reason may be that I used different track rules that crash. The signal links do not work across 2 different rules.

 

Yes, I do build tracks—
but I don't publish any of my routes.
My longest route is 1,900 kilometers; I build purely as a hobby.
Yes, sometimes you can build continuously without issues, while on other days, TSC might crash.

 

Routes Trollhattan 1155 km long and Bergensbanen 551 km long.

 

No, I don't build my own routes. The closest I come is making the occasional custom scenario, but I've already deleted those, so they can't be the issue.

 

Start TSC from Steam with this in the launch options:

Code:

-LogMate -SetLogFilters="All" -lua-debug-messages

After it crashes open the RailWorks folder and look for a txt log file (ts-year-month-date-time-.log) See if you can find something that might indicate what the problem is, or upload it here.

 

I did that, and the resultant file did contain a fair bit more info, but the same two messages appeared early on:

2026/05/16 11:38:55.742 - [Content] - Trace d:\build\CoreRelease\Code\DLLs\DataManagement\cBlueprintLibrary.cpp : 421 = Blueprint set not found : Kuju, RailSimulatorCore
2026/05/16 11:38:55.742 - [Content] - Trace d:\build\CoreRelease\Code\DLLs\DataManagement\cBlueprintLibrary.cpp : 452 = Blueprint set not found for: Cameras\EditCamera001.xml

These appeared in the LogMate files before I ran your startup option. I don't think that these particular files are an issue, as I have deleted and rebuilt them multiple times - these may just be the first files that the game attempts to load. I have attached the full log to this reply in case someone can actually understand half of what it says.

 

Have you edited the route with the signals last? The Lua files take care of the signals.

 

I’m out right now and I’ve just realised I forgot to attach the file. My bad. I’ll edit this when I get home later.

Edit: I had to copy and paste the contents to another .txt document because I couldn't attach the base file for some reason, but it should be there now

 

2 things:

1: I’ve never edited a route, only created custom scenarios that involved changing consists and nothing else.
2: The issue isn’t localised to just 1 route, it happens any time I try to load any scenario on any route.

 

People always try to look for the obvious for OOMs. Have you ever thought that there could be an issue with your GPU? Are you able to try another GPU?

It could also be caused by some software on your computer, unrelated to TSC. I had issues with another game I was playing and kept getting this Nvidia error, then the game would CTD. Anyway, it turned out that some software on my computer was outdated, and when I updated it, the error disappeared.

 

I am working under the assumption that this is a graphics-related problem, as the 3D section of the GPU tab in Task Manager spikes to 100% immediately before each crash. I've updated my graphics drivers to the latest available version (with a clean installation) in response to this issue, but it doesn't seem to have done much. If you don't mind me asking, which software was it that was outdated on your end?

 

It was Asus GPU Tweak III, a GPU Tuning Tool.

 

I can't see any obvious problems in the log except from usual errors.
Have you limited the FPS in TSC?

 

Does Windows Event Viewer show anything?

 

I tried running a default academy scenario with the FPS capped at 58 (for both railworks and railworks64), and the game started once, but crashed when I attempted to load the same scenario again. I had LogMate open, so I managed to capture the full logs for this (for the first time). I have attached them to this reply. Just for reference, "ts-2026-05-17-11-27-39" seems to be the instance that the game loaded and started fine (on the frontend, anyway).

 

The scenario that crashes could be a locomotive that requires computer resources. Try a different scenario.

 

I've tried every default academy scenario, they all crash in the exact same way and leave the same error message.

 

It is a bit weird that you are missing the EditCamera001.bin located in [RailWorks\Assets\Kuju\RailSimulatorCore\Cameras] if you have verified the game files.

 

It gets weirder - I'm not. I'm looking at that exact file right now. Every single camera file (.bin and .xml) are all there.

 

This may help. GPU Crashing Under Load [Causes and Fixes for Nvidia or AMD Cards]

GPU spikes and game crashes are not specific to TSC. I have done an internet search and found one solution where it was caused by faulty RAM, and once it was replaced, the game worked perfectly. As I have said before, your problem could be caused by issues outside of TSC.

 

So a little update - I've found that every time I adjust the game's framerate in the NVIDIA control panel, the game seems to start once and run fine, but then crashes again whenever I try to load another scenario after finishing/exiting the first one.

 

I understand, but it seems that this specific issue is specific to TSC, as I've not noticed any other GPU spikes or crashes on any of my other games. It could be that there is something going on in the backend that, for some reason, is demanding way more GPU capacity than it should, thereby causing the spike and crash. Or I guess I could be completely wrong, who knows.

 

Are your hard drives almost full?

 

Nope. The most full one currently is my C: drive, but that's still got around 62GB unused. As for the drive that TSC is installed on, that's sitting on around 364GB free.

 

I would take a look at Event Viewer as trevkiwi mentioned above. I usually restart TSC before each run, since the second time I load a scenario the frame rate drops. Not sure why it is like that.

 

OOM guide from Steam. Steam Community :: Guide :: Fixing the Out of Memory Error

 

I've looked at the event viewer, and there are multiple entries for TSC on 13/05 (which, if I remember correctly, is after the issue started), 3 .NET runtime errors and 3 application errors, all of which were created at around the same time. The .NET runtime errors all have the same message when viewed in the event viewer:

Application: TSCLauncher.exe Framework Version: v4.0.30319 Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception. Exception Info: System.IndexOutOfRangeException at TSCLauncher.Program.Main(System.String[])

And the application errors also all have the same message:

TSCLauncher.exe
1.0.0.0
d012b53b
KERNELBASE.dll
10.0.19041.6456
bf208242
e0434352
0013b702
37dc
01dce2d8475ecef2
E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\RailWorks\TSCLauncher.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll
79607c20-e4c5-4d7e-bef1-8c20a0a84eff

Also, get this - TSC isn't even starting scenarios when I adjust its framerate anymore. I have changed literally nothing. Feels like the game is just being mean to me at this point.

 

Try reinstall .Net Framework 4.7.2 located in this folder:
..\Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist\DotNet\4.7

 

I reinstalled .NET framework 4.7.2 via that folder, and the game started a scenario once. As per your recommendation, I restarted the game after closing that scenario, but the game crashed upon attempting to load that same scenario again after the restart. I also completed a full reinstall of not just the most recent .NET framework version, but also version 3.0 (which apparently a lot of older steam games use), but the game is still crashing every time.

 

Have you updated Windows via "Windows Update" often?
Net Framework 4.7.2 works for me.

 

Do you have any third party Software - like Track IR, Raildriver or RW Enhancer?
If so try switching them off until the game runs normally

When you reinstalled the game did you also run the DXSetup.exe in
Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010

Sometimes it gets missed as you might have a newer version but that does not always work with TSC due to its age.

Peter

 

I do have TS Tools installed (which, ironically, helped me fix this crash last time), but I have never had it open at the same time as TSC, and according to task manager, it isn't even open in the background while the game is open.

As for running DXSetup.exe, it does not seem to have helped with anything, as scenarios and the editor still refuse to boot.

 

I can't really, as that would involve updating to Windows 11, and supposedly my PC can't support that. (Gotta love microsoft I guess)

 

TS Tools does not interact with the game as it just changes .bin files

Software - like Track IR, Raildriver or RW Enhancer do interact with the game - one of those could be causing a problem.

Did you set Windows Graphics to use High Performance on the Graphics Card?

 

I've had Railworks and Railworks64 on the "High Performance" setting since the last time I had this issue back in April, so I doubt that windows is restricting the game's access to my GPU in any way. As for other 3rd party tools besides TS Tools, I currently don't have any installed.

 

I suspect some route is ghosting. Try moving a route and testing and so on until TSC opens without crashing.

 

When this all started, I uninstalled all of my routes (all steam, no third-party routes), except the base academy route, which is what I've been using to test these suggestions. I did reinstall the North Wales Coast Line that comes as part of the game (at least, it did when I bought it, not sure if it still does), but the game still crashes whenever I attempt to load any scenario on either route.

 

Not sure if I've already mentioned this before, but I've noticed that the game is spiking to 100% 3D GPU usage twice whenever I open it - once when I actually start the game (via steam or the launcher app) and once when I attempt to load a scenario or the editor. The spike only occurs momentarily, and the usage drops back to around 40-50% while in the main menu. I'm fairly sure this is a new development, as previously I've only seen the one spike denoting the game crash itself. I've attached a screenshot of the Task Manager performance tab from a failed attempt at starting a scenario.

- The first spike is when I started the game
- The second spike is when I tried to start a scenario and the game crashed.
- The space inbetween is when I was in the main menu.

 

I don't know if it makes any difference but I never start the game thru Steam App.

I have Desktop shortcuts to both of my versions
F:\Railworks\RailWorks64.exe & G:\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\RailWorks64.exe

 

Doesn't seem to make much different when I start it from the .exe files rather than steam. Both 32 and 64 bit launchers still lead to the crash.

 

You guys seem to be clutching at straws. I think your problem is more hardware-related than software-related, either with your graphics card or RAM.

 

Or the motherboard has given up.

 

My computer:

 

That last picture means nothing to those people who don't read Swedish