[dforrest]

copperpen, on 13 January 2019 - 01:39 PM, said:

Milton Junction Siding is empty, no vans. The siding is seen as you turn to right to drop the chemical consist, it ends just before the left hand tracks go under the bridge.

The attached "grab" from MSTS Activity Editor" shows the position of the vans.

Attached thumbnail(s)

• 

[copperpen]

That is the loose consist as defined in the act file, but nothing is there on the siding. I have just looked at the activity in the ORTS Dispatch window and apart from the three that the player collects there is only one loose consist shown along the entire path although the act file has quite a lot defined. There is something odd happening, but do not know what it is yet.


EDIT at 11:43am:- Problem of missing loose consists solved. I use WinZip to unpack files and some of those had the £ sign swapped for the œ symbol as has been mentioned over at UKTrainsim. This time looking at the log I spotted three brakevans that were missing. On checking the files had the œ lead symbol. Changed that for £ and next time I started the chemical delivery I has lots of loose consists shown along the route. I do not think that WinZip is at fault because it only presents what it sees, so somewhere in the process of compressing the files the £ has been replaced by the œ.

[dforrest]

Before seeing your edit I have run the activity again and was about to tell you that I see the consist at Milton Junction Siding. I still cannot uncouple from only the brakevan. The reverse point for this displays near the end of the siding than it does in Activity Editor and MSTS. The activity runs satisfactorily in MSTS.

[Csantucci]

OR not necessarily displays the reverse point where the AE and MSTS display it. If such RP has been placed too early, so that the back of the train has not reached the diverging point, the RP is moved further on at the point where the back of the train has reached the diverging point. However it should be checked what occurs when some wagons are uncoupled. Is the RP position re-computed in such case? I haven't checked that.

[slipperman]

Hi Carlo,

Quote

If such RP has been placed too early, so that the back of the train has not reached the diverging point, the RP is moved further on at the point where the back of the train has reached the diverging point.

This may have nothing to do with the current problem, but the above comment has me puzzled/concerned! In MSTS, an RP may be placed 'under' a loose consist and is triggered as soon as the Player couples to that consist, so setting the next part of the path. In these circumstances, the RP doesn't move because it's not required to.

Cheers,
Ged

[dforrest]

slipperman, on 14 January 2019 - 09:56 AM, said:

Hi Carlo,

This may have nothing to do with the current problem, but the above comment has me puzzled/concerned! In MSTS, an RP may be placed 'under' a loose consist and is triggered as soon as the Player couples to that consist, so setting the next part of the path. In these circumstances, the RP doesn't move because it's not required to.

Cheers,
Ged

Ged, I raised this (or something very similar) in a post on UKTS but no-one responded. The thread is:


https://forums.uktra...?f=324&t=150397

[copperpen]

The only reverse point in this activity that causes problems is the final one before reversing to pick up the brakevan before running to Milton. Looking at it in the OR Trackviewer is seems to be placed right on the end of the switch that sets the forward path through the crossover. This means that if you also cross the end of track authority red bar, you have totally lost the path and can never recover it on this case.

Moving to the comment above by slipperman, this is also the case in OR, if the RP is under the loose consist it is triggered when the player couples, no problem there. At Milton where the brakevan is dropped, it is not triggered until the complete consist is clear of the crossover at the Aluminium works which places the brakevan just beyond the signal and very close to the crossover by the signal box. Contrary to the activity text file, the path is not lost in OR even though the locomotive is not stopped on the crossover.

@Carlo

The RP position does not seem to be recomputed if wagons are uncoupled at the RP as the next segment of the path is already computed by triggering the RP.

[dforrest]

The note concerning the path and crossover is applicable foe MSTS users, and if followed there is no issue.

Can anything be done to resolve the situation in OR? Surely the situation explained in your second paragraph is a situation which may well be experienced by activity writers in other activities. I can think of many instances where a reverse point would need to be activated before the whole consist has crossed over a crossover, or a similar track junction.

[Csantucci]

To solve the problem of a RP which is at the very end of a section (and must be there because the train requires it there in order to pass over the diverging point), the only solution is to move it to following sections with a path editor.

[dforrest]

To do this in this example, as I am sure you are aware, is totally impractical. All that is necessary for the brakevan to be uncoupled is for the end of the train to pass over the crossover and past the point/switch to the siding. With the length of the consist the train would have to reverse almost to the end of the siding and onto the line to Stoke and through a signal at red! About ten time what is necessary. Are we looking at a bug in how OR deals with such a situation?

edit - last word corrected