[Gary54]

The Open Rails logs shows that the odometer was removed from the track monitor as of X2940 and that it was replaced with a notice message. How is that message displayed? The counter was very useful in determining when the rear of the train had cleared a crossing, signal, or siding entrance. Is is still possible to do this? I was running a 16,000-foot-long coal train into a siding for a crew change and needed to know when we were in the clear. The odometer allowed for that. I'm not certain how we enable the notice message.

Thanks for the continuing work on OR. It's outstanding.

Gary

[atsf37l]

I'm happy it's gone. It just cluttered up the display. Want to see what your rear end is doing? Press 3. :)

[Gary54]

I guess we 'll agree to disagre. I'd rather have that information available while in the cabview; or at least have the option to access it (or not access it) while in the cab.

[R H Steele]

I also thought it was a fine solution, the clutter was really quite minimal. At the very least an option could be provided to display for those that wished.
How'bout that? Any responses, votes.

[atsf37l]

I apologize for being disagreeable Gary. I just don't see any need for it while there are things like mile posts that haven't been resolved. You're right, if the data is being captured then those who find it useful should be able to toggle the display. I can't quite figure out how to turn the view on and off with the info given.

Again, sorry for the shortness of my reply. :bigboss: :bigboss:

[captain_bazza]

Quote

16,000-foot-long coal train

Is 16,000 a typo?




Cheers Bazza.

[Gary54]

No need to apologize, Herb; certainly no disrespect taken on this end. Thanks for the discussion. My opinion stems from having used the counter option in OR quite a bit while it was available. Not every route that I run has mileposts; occasionally, signal masts include mile values, but these are not all that common and generally not very consistent. Further, I can think of several examples of routes that include mileposts, but their spacing is rather inaccurate, which really is rather prototypical given the protracted history of some lines. While the inclusion of mileposts on the track monitor would be a welcome addition, inaccuracies with milepost placement on the route would find their way to the monitor. If no maps are available for a given route, I will generally generate a rough map from screen captures of the RE. These work reasonably well until I become more familiar with the route. Determining the dimensions of the sidings, perhaps the most important aspect of this work given OR’s excellent way of handling AI, can be accomplished empirically by use of the RE.

I run modern heavy freight trains almost exclusively. The newer engines are equipped with what is referred to in the manuals as distance counters. Given the inaccuracies of mileposts on modern routes (some segments of the CSX and NS lines along the Lake Erie shoreline come to mind), engine crews find themselves relying on the use of counters. Certainly the loss of the distance counter in OR does not preclude me from using the sim (it really is very good, especially given the recent upgrade to the physics), I would like to have the option to use (or not use) this feature if this can be accomplished.

By the way, the 16,000 value reflects the weight of the eastbound coal train I alluded to at the outset of this discussion. It was a bit less than 5700 feet in length; the siding was 5750 feet long and we had a 6000-foot-long westbound empty autorack train moving along the main. It all resulted in a very nice rolling meet. My apologies for the typo.

Gary

[copperpen]

I think the problem with the distance counter as implemented was having two sets of figures where only one was actually needed. All that is required is a counter that starts at zero, remains there until activated and returns to zero when deactivated. Perhaps something that could be developed as a cabview addition.

[gpz]

 copperpen, on 27 March 2015 - 03:16 AM, said:

I think the problem with the distance counter as implemented was having two sets of figures where only one was actually needed. All that is required is a counter that starts at zero, remains there until activated and returns to zero when deactivated. Perhaps something that could be developed as a cabview addition.

The current implementation intends to match the real world manual, as linked in the original discussion thread. In real world, the driver can switch between counting from zero upwards, or counting from train length downwards. He can reset it any time, and the train direction is kept until reset, so it is possible to start counting up, changing train direction and continue counting down.

Anyway, I like the new look. :bigboss: For correct functionality 3 keyboard functions would be needed:
1. Show/hide
2. Reset
3. Change counting direction (upwards/downwards)

Any fusion of them will be bad for somebody. Currently Show-Reset is combined, change direction is removed, and hide is unimplemented/automatic.

[Sid P.]

BTW, for those who have not been following this topic, the odometer is still turned on with Ctrl+Z, and turns off whenever the count reaches zero. It changes the count direction depending on the loco direction lever.

Cheers,