My won't the switch change?

[RonKStevens]

I wrote a scenario that worked fine, but used a P42 engine on the Northeast Corridor. I've been getting requests that people want to try it, but cannot since they do not have a P42, which is currently not available on Steam. I decided to update the scenario using an AEM7 and leave everything else the same.

The big problem that I am having is when my train is on the northbound fast track, and passes a train stopped at a red signal on the slow track. The driver train is then to switch over to the slow track. The path shows correctly on the HUD. I enter the switch and start to change to the slow track. As soon as I hit the switch half for the slow track, I get a "train derailed due to switch set against train" error.

- Why does the second switch in the interlocking pair set differently than the first switch
- Why does it work in one scenario but not another
- What can I do to fix this?

[OldProf]

Clarification, please: how did you make the modifications? I.e.: did you use RW_Tools to swap the driven engine?

[RonKStevens]

Yes, I was lazy and used RW_Tools so I wouldn't have to rewrite every single dispatch command

[OldProf]

So, you cloned your scenario in RW_Tools and then swapped engines in the cloned version?

Have you tried opening the cloned and modified version of your scenario for editing in RW? Try saving the scenario without any modifications and testing it. If it still doesn't run properly, try deleting the instructions for this part of your scenario and reinserting them. I know this is a pain in the neck, especially if those instructions include messages, but that would be my next step.

Where can I find your scenario? If you don't mind, I'm willing to take a look at it. No promises, but sometimes two heads are thicker than one.

[RonKStevens]

I cloned the scenario using Train Simulator 2013, and only used RW_Tools for the engine swap. The original scenario ended in Newark (since a P42 can't go into Manhattan), but I extended the clone to go all the way to New York Penn, and added additional AI trains to show up between those two stations. One additional AI train was added to an early section of the scenario, to represent an Atlantic City train.

The original P42 scenario is available through the Steam Workshop at: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =109272704

The new modified scenario (the one I'm having trouble with) can be downloaded at http://www.ronkstevens.com/railworks/sc ... pecial.rwp
I don't want to publish it on Steam or anywhere else formally until I get the bugs worked out and it is working.

I also had the same problem with another scenario I was working on: I was having Amtrak's Pennsylvanian Train 42 arrive from Pittsburgh at 30th Street Station. The player-driver was in an AEM7 in the yard, and had to leave the yard, wait for the Pennsylvanian to go by, then once it stopped at the station hook onto the rear, uncouple the P42, and then load the passengers and start to head toward NYC. I never got past the initial planning of the scenario because even though the AEM7 pulled out on the main and then reversed, and the path showed correctly to the station, I got the "derailed due to switch set against train" error.
Then with the P42 no longer available on Steam I suspended working on it.


If anyone else wants to download the file and look at it you are welcome to do so. Just be aware of the problem and that you will only get about 20 minutes into the scenario.

Derailment description:
After you leave North Philadelphia you will switch on to track 2, then go through Shore Junction. You then pass two local stops (Bridesburg and Tacony) and two southbound trains will pass you (first a Keystone, then a Regional). Then you will come up on a local train stopped at a red signal on track 1. After you pass the train you switch back to track 1 right before the local Holmesburg stop. The switch on track 1 is what causes the derailment. Also be sure to watch you cab signals for when to slow down to approach speed. The speed limit will drop to 45 at the signal where the local train is stopped at, and you get no other warning.

Thanks for all of your help.

[OldProf]

Aha! You hadn't mentioned previously that you modified the clone by adding additional AI traffic. My guess is that one or more of the additional AI trains is causing your scenario to fail where it does. Try cloning your clone and removing the additional AI from this new version. See if that will run.

The ease with which AI can be added lures us in to adding more and more ... then our mythical friend the dispatcher becomes annoyed and shuts down some part of the works. I'm currently adding to a scenario, working v-e-r-y carefully. I started with just the player train and its activities. Once that ran as planned, I cloned it, adding "1AI" to the end of the name, opened the clone, added one and only one AI train, saved the result and gave it a test run. Once it ran successfully, I cloned the clone, changed the name to end in "2AI", etc. I'm now up to 11 AI and the dispatcher seems content. Dare I go for 12? If so, and the 12th AI boils the pot over, I'll just delete it, rename the 11AI version, and publish that.

Good fortune!

[RonKStevens]

So an additional AI train clear at the other end of the scenario just sitting there can cause havoc? Lovely.

I guess this is similar to another issue I had when I did the original scenario: I had to change the Acela that passes you while you are sitting at North Philadelphia. It goes by on Track 2, and you need to wait for a green signal to proceed, so you can switch on to track 2. The only other northbound train in the area is on track 1, ahead of where you are currently sitting. If you watch the Acela carefully after it passes, you will see it blip away, and then the signal will change. That is because I had to use the North Philadelphia Portal to get rid of the train. Keeping it on track 2 until the Bridesburg portal results in an error, and !!! on the entire timetable for that train. The error? Cannot get around blockage. There is NOTHING on the track ahead of that train (at least until Trenton)!

[OldProf]

So an additional AI train clear at the other end of the scenario just sitting there can cause havoc? Lovely.

Yep! but only sometimes, and that's the real disappointment (to say the least). When RSC started promoting scenario distribution via Steam Workshop, I hoped that they would improve both the editor and the "dispatcher", or at least issue a new version of the Timetable Editor manual. So far, nothing that I've noticed has happened. Scenario writing still requires a masochistic streak.

Yesterday, I reached a total of 13 AI trains running successfully in my latest scenario (almost all of them pass by on nearby mainlines while the player shunts the Dumfries yard, so this is not as daring as it may seem). Today, it wouldn't surprise me to find that the same scenario won't run at all. Let's sing along with Mason Williams,
"Isn't life beautiful?
Isn't life gay?
Isn't life the perfect thing
To pass the time away?"