Atomic Systems

Folks

After a few delays (?!!) I'm going to release the current version of the 'Cambridge lines and the ECML' route. This extends the route up to north of Peterborough.

• over 185 route miles - just over 900 miles of track all-told
  67 detailed stations - plus a load of industrial sidings, yards etc
  16 (ish) standard scenarios and a lot of QD options (13 scenarios but obviously more internal combinations)

The route is very large and very memory-intensive. I have had to work hard with several of the scenarios to keep their in-game memory requirements the right side of a crash and this will be a challenge for anyone creating a scenario for the route (but please don’t let that stop you ??). The crashes are the main reason that I haven’t (yet) extended up to Grantham – this is technically possible (and relatively easy – apart from all the work) – but I have major misgivings that the 32-bit game engine will cope. Creating the QDs has been a major PITA for the same reason - thanks to my two beta testers (Mike and Bill - thanks gents) I have at least got some scenarios that run!

The route combines my original Cambs route with the DTG ECML-S route and CreativeRail's East Coast route (although I'm only using the bottom 8 miles or so at the moment). There are several compromises in the current version - the track layout at Peterborough North is a mix of 1950 and 1970 - mainly because I wanted to prove that the route would run end-to-end before going to the trouble of fully re-laying it. My aim is to re-visit as/when I push up to Grantham.

All sorts of fun and games during the creation - putting back the Offord curves for example - and a lot of frustration at some of the limitations that the age of the game engine imposes. My current 'rig' is capable of handling full VR at a high level - but the game will still die on its arse if I add 'too many' wagons to a section - so I've had to get creative with some dummy rolling stock to bulk out places like Ferme Park without blowing the scenarios up.

I'll post a couple of pics once my atomic library account behaves itself.

You deserve a lot of thanks for all your efforts, looking forward to the update!

Marcus

Well with all these new routes,like Cambridgeshire,that has come along way from when it was first released,then there is now a updated Beatock in the pipeline,and Chinley being added to,and DP now doing the Southern route from Exeter to Plymouth via Oakhampton
I don't think I will be buying the new TSW Paddington to Reading,if you drive the HST,you'll finish the run in about 40mins
Mike

Travel on my route certainly takes longer than that

Still waiting to get access to my picture album so i can post some screenshots.

No album access yet so no pictures.

A few points on the (now released) route:

• Some station yards are still a WIP (eg Biggleswade, Offord and a few others)
  I have had to limit AI traffic around Huntingdon due to repeated crashes
  The scenarios prefixed with 'xx' are still at the embryonic stage!
  There are less SPADs than previously - but the Top Shed to KX area still generates plenty - too many signals too close together - so the rear of a train hasn't cleared one before it hits the next
  I've included the 'era specific' feature (route as installed is in '1950s' mode) - it only affects a few places at the moment - but does showcase an interesting potential on transitional routes with a cross-over to the diesel era - I'm keen to hear what people think of it.

I will post the stocklist from rwtools showing what rolling stock is used in each scenario. To be honest I have created a number of these scenarios on the assumption that people who are intersted will already have a 'critical mass' of the available stuff anyway.

The updated manual is included in the install set - located in the 'EN' section of the 'manuals' folder under Railworks. This has a route map, brief historical notes and lists of major known bugs etc etc - plus a section on the era specific stuff too.

Quick Drive scenarios have been assembled with a lot of help from my beta-testers (Mike and Bill) - I hadn't worked on these before and I think it shows on some of them. on the other hand they do provide an easy way 'into' various parts of the route. To accompany these I have included 115 preload fragments/consists covering almost all of the locos that I have (which should have covered almost all of the available Eastern Region locos. This includes the early diesel models - but as I only have a handful of these they won't cover every diesel option. If someone with a wider selection of suitable diesels would care to create the extra QD consists and post them up then I'd be grateful.

NB - when installing you CAN overwrite the old route files - but I recommend that you delete the old contents of the scenario folder first - I had to re-create some scenarios from scratch so you might get confused otherwise.

Hi
Looking forward to running the latest version,especially the ECML part,but just one problem,can you tell us where we can down load the route from please.
Mike

Yes Mike - from UKTS ( - all sections are now up and have been downloaded a few times so presumably they're working? Let me know how you get on.

Neil

Hi

I have just tried the Queen of Scot's scenario,but I have a problem,I have the DT Mk1 pack,the problem is I cannot find the DT Mk1 Pullmans inside the pack,I've had a look at the AP Mk1's but there are no Pullman Cars Listed

I have just gone to the DT web site and the Mk1's are no longer listed,I was thinking of swapping them for the Pullman Cars from the Brighton Belle set in the library,only problem is there is know Pullman Brake


Mike

Mike

The QoS scenario is a WIP (mainly due to problems in getting it to accept that it could pick up from the platform). You should use UKTS 25443 for pullman re-skins on the Dt Mk1s and give it a go - but don't expect too much in this version. The concept is spot-on - just tricky with the scheduler.

Hi
Thanks for the link to the PULLMAN cars
Mike

This route is of exceptional quality and I have only one small problem with it. Between Cambridge and Newmarket I have several terrain textures missing. RW tools identifies all of these missing items from my installation as E:\TS2016\Assets\cunningn\Cambs\environment\terrain\decals\somer x1 y1.bin etc. My installation does not have a terrain sub folder "decals" it does include folder for "Fields", "grass", "rock" and a CambsTerrain.bin file. Please advise me where I can download the £decals" and bin files from

Postie

Don't worry - those missing decals are used in laying the track and scenery - they have been left in place in a couple of areas where i hope to extend/improve the setup in the future.

michaelhendle wrote:Hi

I have just tried the Queen of Scot's scenario,but I have a problem,I have the DT Mk1 pack,the problem is I cannot find the DT Mk1 Pullmans inside the pack,I've had a look at the AP Mk1's but there are no Pullman Cars Listed

I have just gone to the DT web site and the Mk1's are no longer listed,I was thinking of swapping them for the Pullman Cars from the Brighton Belle set in the library,only problem is there is know Pullman Brake


Mike

The Mk1 Pullmans are free reskins from UKTS.

That's right James - the Pullman re-skins are UKTS 25443.

Neil

Thanks for the replies about the Mk1 Pullman cars,have downloaded them and installed them,thanks for your help

Mike