Tsc - 100 Memorable Miles Boston & Albany Out Now!

Hmm, route is only $29.99 instead of $39.99 like past routes have been, I wonder why......

 

It's 30€ still, I guess USD to EUR or GBP things. Used to be a bigger gap.

 

Just 20 minutes into the first scenario, and I can already say that this is highest level route building. I just looks so good and runs well! Very varied scenery of a complexity that TSW is not capable of. Get it. You won't be disappointed. Brilliant, G-TraX!

 

Arghhhh haven't bought anything full-price for TSC in years, but this seems really good and with recent quality issues on TSW, i might just do it.

 

I’ve just done a few scenarios but so far the route looks to be really well done and very nicely detailed.

 

I ended up getting it, and it's fantastic so far. Only had time to run part 1 of Milbury delivery but early impressions are really positive

 

I have to say DTG make excellent routes, there’s not many that can match.

 

Name 5 routes developed solely by DTG then.

Hint: This isn't one of them..

 

So, I'm curious on what is the explanation for why the Diesel Workshop RS-3 had its headlight flares changed when added into this release?

AFAIK, this is how they originally looked....


Yet, they were changed to this for some reason.....


Also, the lights are broken on the RS-3 for the 2 career scenarios, as both headlights are stuck on and the cab light doesn't work, it happens in both career scenarios, but not when the locos are placed in editor.

 

Brake script (I never liked that one) is awkward on the FA1, especially for guys like me who play with keyboard.

- Going from Service to Lap, pressure reduction continues if you don't tap the release key a few times more - this is very annoying and leads to having more braking force than needed

- Hold mode (when entered from the Lap position) correctly fills the brake pipe but incorrectly releases the brakes (though the needle still shows cylinder pressure, the train will coast)

- Running or Release sometimes will keep brake cyl pressure - needs bailing off the Indy after an auto brake application + release?!?

I'd rather have an old school detentless low-sensitivity percentage handle than that script... it's almost impossible to get a desired amount of brake pressure without overshooting in some way.

Dynamic brake keys are swapped, but that's not a big deal.

Still, the route is fantastic, beautiful and offers a lot for scenario designers!

I've already made a little patch for the FA1 (cleaner windows, added more cabviews for better rain visibility etc.Will also address the headlights which should be more yellow than LED-white)

 

Are you watching the brake pipe pressure continue to reduce? That's perfectly normal. The auto train brake controls the equalising reservoir pressure. The train brake pipe pressure changes more slowly (depending on various factors including the length of the consist) until it equalises. It does that even when the train brake handle is in lap. Lap simply maintains the pressure that's been set in the equalising reservoir.

Again, this is normal behaviour. The origin of the name "Hold" is that it holds the pressure that's been set in the locomotive brakes as a consequence of applying the train brakes. It releases the train brakes. It's purpose is to release the brakes on the train cars while holding the locomotive in place. It's correct that it releases the brakes.

The brake cylinder pressure needle you're referring to shows the pressure in the locomotive brake cylinders, not the train cars' brake cylinders (there is no gauge in the cab of any locomotive that will show that). So it's normal, and correct, that the needle shows pressure, because the locomotive brakes are held (you would have to bail them off, or go to release/running, to knock off the loco brakes).

If locomotive brake cylinder pressure has been applied independently of the train brakes, using the aptly named independent brake handle, then of course you need to release them using the independent brake handle, regardless of what you do with the auto train brake.

As explained in the manual, you can disable the simulated tactile detents - Ctrl Shift 3.

Can I suggest that you read the manual more carefully? You would also do well to learn how Westinghouse air brakes work on real locos (and make sure you're reading about the appropriate "Schedule" of brake design). There are many references out there on the internet.

 

Ok, I'm still trying to get the hang of it. Sorry for things I got wrong.

But, sometimes the loco brake stays on after an auto brake application and release without touching the indy.

 

Do you make sure to release the independent at the beginning of the scenario? When the script is initialising the locos (those with the advanced brakes, i.e. excluding the RS-3), it applies the independent brakes. This is to limit the amount of rolling when a scenario begins with the train on a grade. If you don't release them, they'll still be applied.

 

Yes of course I did. Indy is released (fully yes!)

I've just reproduced it. Bring your train to a full stop with the auto brake. Then move it to running - brake cyl pressure will not decrease - no independent brake involved here

Moving the handle to release will also not release to loco brake - I need to bail off here.

After stopping my train with auto brakes and releasing them:

 

Can you try to post the pictures again? They aren't showing, at least not for me.

 

They're showing up on my mobile - check again.

 

Just happened again. Went into Service - Lap - Service until brakes fully applied - then Running.

3 images of the release phase - cylinder pressure stuck again:

 

That's the correct behaviour. In that particular brake schedule, the 24RL, "Release" on the automatic train brake also holds an automatic set of locomotive brakes applied. "Running", on the other hand, also releases the locomotive brakes (unless they're also set by the independent brake). In other words, to do what you're trying to do, put the automatic train brake handle in "Running", not "Release". In fact, you should always use "Running" except in certain, rare circumstances (recovering from an emergency application or recharging a dry brake pipe and empty auxiliary reservoirs).

The only "problem" is that this behaviour isn't explained in the route's manual (therefore we'll have to update it!). Thanks for going to the trouble of describing the situation, I do appreciate it.

 

I always use Running. Thanks for the explanations - it's quite a different system compared to the 26L. Appreciate the script now!

Seems I fell victim to the overly simplified 24-type brakes that we have in TS. Run8 only taught me the 26 , and Zusi 3 the german Knorr brake systems.

Edit: Key Combination Ctrl+Shift+3 for toggling detents does nothing - it's not in the InputMapper.
Would it need mapping Key_3 and Shift_Control to the control "DisableBrakeNotches" as a ToggleControl?

Cheers Mike!

 

Thanks Torfmeister!

Each of the brake schedules has its own little nuances and it's fun learning about them, programming them and, above all, using them

The brakes in the Alco PA are a little bit more complicated. They have the addition of the Rotair valve for selecting whether First Service is cut in (it works very much like the First Service in my Big Boy and Challenger steam locos, causing a quick initial reduction followed by a much slower reduction to a total of 20lbs) and the Selector "rooster" (avoiding the naughty word) to cut in or out the Controlled Emergency, which when cut in slows down the rate of emergency application (to prevent the train cars from bunching up too much when the brakes are thrown into emergency). It's little (or maybe not so little) things such as those that make these locos "Pro" in the way they operate.

 

Good work!

But, I had to add this myself to the FA1 mapper

 

Just wanted to say I learned a lot about these braking systems reading through this, thanks very much!

 

Oh! Well spotted!

 

As reported on the Steam forums,

The PA1 crashes on scenario "New England States WB" as soon as you press "1" to enter the cab.
(Win7, 64-bit, vanilla install) - reproducible.

Divide by zero



CrashReport file:

Code:

v72.3b.x64 mode: Drive, frame: 38676 gametime: 00:09:08 route: b5f9383f-0b3f-4e77-bfc4-17c22686c947 (UNLOCKED)
scenario: 987685b9-7ad8-4e51-ae69-247a1fea63d2 loco: RailVehicles\Diesel\PA NYC\Engine\ALCoPAA_NYC.xml @ -71.05581,42.34951
scenario-time: 00:00:13, U: 1691629941, UE: 2542431990, Res (1920, 1080), HIGH_SHADOWS [1], PARTICLES [0], CHARACTERS [0], LOW_SHADOWS [0], VIEW_DISTANCE [2], WATER [5], PROCEDURAL_FLORA [1], OBJECT_LOD [1], SHADOW_QUALITY [2], TERRAIN_TEXTURE [3], OBJECT_TEXTURE [3], SHADERS [2], PP_HH [0], PP_BL [1], PP_DOF [0], FLARE [1], LEGACY [0], MASTER [5], DYNAMIC_CLOUDS [0], AnisoF [8], Deferred Mode [TRUE], Min Spec [FALSE], SSAA [FALSE], VSync [FALSE], Windowed [TRUE]
WorkingSetSize: 3814 MB, PrivateUsage: 3976 MB, PagefileUsage: 3976 MB, PeakPagefileUsage: 4025 MB, RAM: 16343 MB

Can this be addressed? Anyone else experienced this? If yes, let me know and I'll raise a support ticket.

Edit: This also happens on a custom scenario I've just made starting at Boston. Can't enter the cab.

 

I tried it right now and it works fine for me. Windows 10, 64-bit.

 

Cabview instantly crashes even on a free roam - might be a Win 7 compatibility issue then.

Edit: Strange. After crashing 20 times now, I've started LogMate.exe to gather information - and now it don't crash. Scratching my head - well - ok. Must be quantum mechanics, the observer influences the result

 

Playing this route in TSC-32 bit crashed to desktop. Playing in 64-bit mode resulted in no crashes

 

It's not made for 32-bit.

 

So, I'm left confused about the PA cabview divide by zero crash. Playing it on a clean second installation, it only worked 2 out of 30 times I tried. Seems to be random... giving up, maybe the devs can have a closer look at the files.

 

I tried that, but I still can't disable the brake notches on the FA.

 

Are you using Windows 7? I don't think it's been tested on that older version. I did all my testing on Win10 64-bit.

 

Yes, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1. It is listed as supported on the DLC page.

I know, yes, it's outdated. But it did its job well - I have never had to reinstall it for 12 years. Runs all the stuff without troubles I've read on the forums, even TSW2 runs well, ETS2 and XPlane11 also. No crashes, and I'm even running on a first generation i7 which has a good single core performance in conjunction with a GTX1050Ti from Asus.

I do have a fair share of computing knowledge, but I'm not sure how a TS addon would be depending on the underlying OS? Are there OS-dependent calls in a lua script?

As much as I "love" my system, it's time to move on now. DX12 is needed, and the future of TSC is there. Was quite surprised when getting the latest "Monkey Island" game from Ron Gilbert to see it doesn't support Win7

Just pondering on what to buy next. Probably a Ryzen / RTX combo.

As to the PA, my workaround at the moment is to first load a DTG scenario, quit, then load a freeroam featuring only two locos - an FA and a PA, enter the FA cab first then switch to the PA. If that works, if the cabview is "initialized" for once, it is stable for the whole session and I can play any scenario without issues. It works, but I can't say why. So I've at least found a workaround until I get my new PC

Workaround works, enjoying the brill scenarios on what has become my favourite route atm, pretty sure RBJets and Not.Silent and the others not mentioned will come up with great Workshop scenarios


I'm using an extra installation (only core files (24009 depot), Academy and BostonAlbany) when testing and fixing.

 

You need to:

- Open the folder RailWorks\Assets\G-TraX\BostonAlbany
- create a folder in there named InputMappers
- put the modified and serzed (xml 2 bin) FA1 Remapper Expert.bin in there

Now press Control+Shift+3 (not F3!) in game. A script message will pop up in the top right corner if successful.

 

Just want to add this.

A while ago I'd almost given up on playing Pennsylvania Steam (Bessemer & Lake Erie) freeware version from G-TraX. Instantly crashed - even when just loading it into the World Editor.

It took me days until I had hit upon this file, Assets\G-TraX\BLE\Environment\Terrain\texturing.bin - which was obviously a copy-paste effort. I've renumbered the MixTexDescriptor IDs and the crash was history.

As to why it did not affect others I really don't know. Maybe this is where the OS' memory management plays in.

Only TrainSim-Steve should know.... I've pinged him - maybe stuff like this is important for the core cleanup and error handling.

 

about the new ALCO PA locomotive:
the front pilot coupler hatches do open?
anyone tried uncoupling and coupling the PA's back to back?
the buffers and striker plates do touch on coupled units without slack?
the brake hoses do connect?
were AAR Type F couplers already mandatory in NYC's days?
are the trucks textured with GSC, SKF markings and other details?
B&A assigned locomotives have a small B&A under their number?

I wonder about the choice of a specific prototype, big reflector headlight and small numberboards/classlights or?
this is a builders photo of the engineer's position: https://nycshs.omeka.net/items/show/102790
and the helper's position: https://nycshs.omeka.net/items/show/102792
this is a builders photo of the front of PA-2 #4213 which was assigned to the P&LE: https://nycshs.omeka.net/items/show/102702
this later modification would be nice https://nycshs.omeka.net/items/show/181045
seems like there were some variations and obvious rebuild, was there even a single reflector headlight locomotive? All seem to have dual sealed beam lamps in the headlight housing, a NYC feature already applied to their steam locomotives.

 

+++ Patch is obsolete due to latest official patch +++

Smokebox

I've found something. As I can rule out the script because then the crash would occur even before entering the cab, I've looked into the sounds.

This sample is referenced in the proxyxml, but has zero bytes in the .ap




I will remove it from the proxyxml and see if there's a change.

Edit:

This fixed the Divide-by-Zero crash! Now it works 100%

Multiple tests have shown that this is the cause of the crash.

For the fix, I've now replaced the empty NotchClick sound (which did actually produce a sound funnily - but playing any RAM area will produce some sort of sound) with a valid soundfile from the DTM F3 Pack. (file is also by Smokebox).

Accessing this file works if the .ap is unpacked (which is reported as a fix on Steam to unpack all files) - but inside an .ap a zero byte file is not allowed it seems and can cause random zlib related crashes.

So just a reminder for all devs:
An .ap archive must not:
- contain filenames with Umlauts (keep to 7-bit ASCII conventions)
- contain filenames with special characters like hashtags or commas
- contain zero byte files

QuickFix attached (needs cache clearing probably) - EDIT: removed due to official patch release

 

Now onto the RS3 - this needs urgent fixing.

There is no cab or keyboard control defined for the main headlights - only dimmed. So the front and rear headlights which are permanently on can't be turned off.

And the RS3 Engine copy blueprints "*_Kopie.bin" should be deleted as they have the same DisplayName as the other locos, which could also lead to issues in the editor. (were they named *.bin_Kopie it wouldn't matter - but these duplicates are active)

I won't touch this - looking at the blueprints I am already heavily confused. There is "Headlights" Control, "VirtualHeadlights" control, "FrontLightDim" etc and some spanish stuff - please pass this on to Michael or Cesar or whoever did this and hasn't finished the job.

And by the way - I don't like cab cameras forcing a higher FOV than I have chosen - reduce the MaxFOV values to the standard 1.0 please

 

Hi Torfmeister,

Excellent detective work there! Well done for pinpointing the problem.

I've no idea why that file is zero bytes. The source file on my system, which as you rightly state is identical to the one for the DTM UP F3, is RailWorks\Source\G-TraX\BostonAlbany\Audio\RailVehicles\Diesel\Brakes\SmokeboxTrainBrakeNotchClick.wav and has a size of 9 KB, so somewhere between submitting the files and the .ap being generated, there must have been a file corruption.
I'll add this to the upcoming patches.

I can't speak to the problems with the RS3 as I had no involvement at all with that one.

 

That's what I highly appreciate, Smokebox. You're not only a developer but also a member of the community. I wish more devs would act like you do - in the end it's a win for all of us. Communicate, and problems will be solved.

I will file a support ticket for the RS3. Community Management is not present anymore for TSC it seems. You can present issues and solutions on a silver plate, yet they're as tight-mouthed as the Royals.

 

FYI, I've created a support ticket on the non-working light controls on the RS3.

For testing, I have removed all light child objects from the engine blueprint (a lot!). The beams are gone, but the lights still look as if they were on. This one is a complete mess. I demand a fix!

I see strong evidence that a modified engine script from another loco is used on this one, which uses differently named controls to activate the lights.

 

Adding to this, a full loco brake application triggers Emergency.

The more I look into the RS-3's files, the more I am shaking my head. Look at this. See the problem?

Actually it should be just Release / Direct.

 

Honestly, the RS-3 should of just been a direct port of the one available from DW directly, and not modified in any way shape or form. At least he did put the NYC pack back up after the route released.

 

I've seen enough to buy the DieselWorkshop version. G-TraX' RS-3 is complete garbage in the state it's in. Doesn't change my fascination with the route luckily.

Here we go. Funnily, it also has the loco brake trigger an emergency. I've removed the "Emergency" notch to fix it.

"...much better." - Duke Nukem, 1996

 

I DID modify the mapping .bin file. I made sure I pressed Ctrl+Shift+3. But to no avail. I don't even know what I did wrong to where disabling the brake notches doesn't work.

 

So far absolutely enthralled with this route! First class route building and very close to the real thing: I live in Boston and instantly recognized the features included even though I was not born and raised here and didn't arrive until the mid 2000's. I took the Highland Branch to work every day (now in the form of the rather sorry MBTA's D Line), and hope that it will be fully included in a further update.

The rolling stock has the issues noted above, some of which are already fixed by the precocious torfmeister (thank you!!), and once the RS3 headlight issues get resolved the package will be complete. And although I'm still a neophyte with the PA's brakes, I know it's just a matter of time because I did learn the FA's brakes in the PennCentral pack addon and - no pun intended - it added on a huge level of enjoyment to the sim. Now to me any loco that doesn't have them seems like going back to MSTS.

Quick question: the opening note in the New England States WB scenario states that you should "Set up the engines." I couldn't find any instructions on how to do so in the manual. Is this what the double heading rooster - as Mike delicately puts it - handle is for? The manual indicates that it is supposedly non-functional, but it does seem to be movable.

 

I took it as "Reverser forward, headlights and numberlights on, release brakes"

Don't think a manual MU setup is necessary (or even possible in TS), or is it?

 

Paste the section you added here please - probably a typo or a duplicate ID.

 

I don't think it is either in the sense that RW is really based on design decisions that were made for MSTS 20+ years ago. But then again there isn't a definition in the manual of what "double heading" means in the PA's context, and the handle on the co ... er, "rooster" is movable, so I was hoping (against hope, perhaps) that we'd get something alongst the lines of manual MU'ing. Something a little more involved than "reverser forward, headlights and numberlights on, release brakes" ... ;-)

Smokebox has shown that it's possible to really mine the depths of the original Kuju code to produce something much more sophisticated; his brake additions have made the sim to me so much more enjoyable. I hope that things continue in this vein ...

 

Agree. Though I still think the script needs some tweaking for the keyboard controls.

I think I need to check back on Reppo's great GP20. I think there is some kind of MU setup involved there. And Searchlight's AC4400 has "preconfigured" MU units you must place in your consist.