Atomic Systems

Hi Folks.

I wonder if anyone on here could give me a little advice please? I'm trying to do a new activity on the old MidEast route, however when i'm using the 'Activity Editor' and Editing the traffic patern i've come across a problem which is that when some of the trains get to a juncion they get 'stuck' and won't go any further with the following services backing up along the line behind them.At first i thought it could be another service interfering with the train that gets stuck but it even happens to the first train that arrives at the junction.Sometimes if i save the work i've done and exit the 'Train Simulator' it corrects itself but then other times the 'sticking' problem is still there or moves to another junction.
Anyone willing to share there advice......help please.

Many thanks~Thomas Telford.

Hi Thomas, not being a total expert on some aspects of Activities, you could try the Tools tab "Verify Starting State" in Activity Editor, it could be why when you exit and reload it works and other times later it doesn't.

Bob

what actually happens in the sim?

Hi.

I have gone into the Activity Editor and i've have set out the start points and paths for the various services that i want to operate on the activity i am trying to create,i click on the time icon and put in the time that the services start and you can then see the 'trains' that are in the activity moving about the route map.Sometimes when these trains gets to a junction it stops and won't go any further (most often the first train of the activity to get to the juncion) with any trains that follow it down the line stacking up behind it.
Another thing i have noticed is some sevices on the map suddenly start to run slow,for instance a HST which should be doing a speed up the mainline of 100MPH does'nt look like it's doing more than 20MPH (in the activity editor at least) with again all the following trains backing up behind it.
So far i hav'nt tried running the activity to see if the sticking and the slow running happens when driving the train,i'll try doing that over the next couple of days when time allows.However if anyone has any ideas what may be the cause,let me know.

Many thanks Thomas Telford.

Hi Thomas, I hope you realise that running an Activity in the VCR mode is not a true representation of the run, all it does is let you see where possible bottle necks occur.
For instance in one Activity for KWVR I spotted that a AI Train which had started later had pinched my path and set the signal down his path to Red and he had to stop, this in turn caused me to be held behind him on the other part of the triangle.
What I had to do was alter his leaving time at Queensbury until I had passed and I had a clear run down to Keighley, I don't think that I detracted from the Activity but my fast computer does play havic with AI running times and I have to modify slightly their times to get them to work as near as possible to what the author intended.

Bob

ThomasTelford wrote:Hi.
Another thing i have noticed is some sevices on the map suddenly start to run slow,for instance a HST which should be doing a speed up the mainline of 100MPH does'nt look like it's doing more than 20MPH (in the activity editor at least) with again all the following trains backing up behind it.

One thing you should be aware of is that an AI will never go any faster than the speed limit, eg 20mph, of the stretch of track it starts on, even when it reaches a 100mph stretch. If you need the AI to travel at 100mph or higher, it must start in a stretch that has that upper limit. It will then slow down for lower limits and speed up again when it comes out of them. Many terminal stations have low limits on their platforms lines so if your AI starts there it will usually be severely limited for the rest of its journey. You may have to start somewhat outside the station. Most route builders are aware of this problem and put very high limits on their terminal lines which go down to the real limit off the end of the platform. This allows the AI to run naturally.

If you want to use the "VCR" facility of the AE use the "verify starting state" of the Tools menu then press play. The AI will then usually play quite accurately but the player train won't. If you make changes and want to use the "VCR" again, save and exit AE and come back in otherwise you'll get misleading results. To check the performance of the activity properly though, you need to run it for real in the sim. It is possible to get the player service to run accurately in the "VCR" but it needs a bit of jiggery pokery, I'll try and write down an easy how to do.

Dennis

Hi there.

The VCR can be useful but not totally accurate but will give an indication as to what is going on with the general traffic pattern.

If you make a change to a piece of traffic. I have found with past experience that you can not check if the alteration has worked unless I exit the editor completely and reload the activity the run the vcr again. Each time you want to check an alteration I have found you will have to exit the editor.

It is a pain and a quirk of the editor vcr but are prepared to accept it, then you will eventually get the result you want.

Mick