Turntables

[artimrj]

I placed a turntable on my route. US 32 track one. Places 11 or 12 tracks to it and went to test it out. I can drive on to it, but when I try to exits to one of the other tracks I derail. The rails look like they are lined up but I derail. Sometimes I actually can exit the turntable, but if I try again using the same tracks I derail. It is like it is a random event. Can anyone offer any assistance? Been at this for 4 days now.

[Hawk]

Maybe this thread will shed some light on your query.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2580&p=22656&hilit=turntables#p22656

Or maybe this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1721&p=15090&hilit=turntables#p15090

Here's another thread about turntables.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1675

[artimrj]

Thanks Hawk but no joy. Tracks are all connected, cant weld them, so not sure what Tori means by that, will talk to her a bit. It has to be something with the turntable as sometimes it is ok and sometimes not. I can enter the TT, then exit it then enter again and derail. All tracks I have to it I can enter the TT from but cant do a 180 and exit on that track as I derail. I am getting ready to rip it out I know that.

[arizonachris]

Turntables seem to be hit and miss. All I can suggest is clear the blueprint cache. Don't verify the game files, it will overwrite any mods you have done to the main game files. Yes, found that out the hard way.

[gwgardner]

Have you experimented with different track types coming off the turntable? I guess trackrule doesn't make a difference. I'm using the same turntable with GreatNortherner's bridge track connecting to it.

Would be fairly easy to test with different track types. Just save before exiting the turntable, then change the track type with the selection tool and try exiting.

[later]

well, guess what. I'm getting the exact same thing you're seeing. I tried adjusting the track height, but that made no difference.

[artimrj]

Turntables seem to be hit and miss. All I can suggest is clear the blueprint cache. Don't verify the game files, it will overwrite any mods you have done to the main game files. Yes, found that out the hard way.

I clear the cache before I start editting the route all the time. It is a common practice I developed. Clear cache before you do anything. I havent verified yet, but I got that beat. I made a fake rw folder structure and placed all my mods in it. Then if I verify, all I do is run route-setup.exe from RW Tools and all my mods are back in place. Any new mod I make that would be overwritten goes in the collection.

[artimrj]

Have you experimented with different track types coming off the turntable? I guess trackrule doesn't make a difference. I'm using the same turntable with GreatNortherner's bridge track connecting to it.

Would be fairly easy to test with different track types. Just save before exiting the turntable, then change the track type with the selection tool and try exiting.

[later]

well, guess what. I'm getting the exact same thing you're seeing. I tried adjusting the track height, but that made no difference.

I am using San bar track rules and the san bar track. Mainline and Yard. What is a different track type? I am connecting the yard track to the TT as I am doing this off of a yard with all yard track in it. What I dont get is sometimes it work ok, what makes it not work ok?

[gwgardner]

After experimenting on my route for a couple of hours, I found that only the curved tracks entering the turntable caused the derail after a 180 degree turn. I changed them all to connect to the turntable with a straight track section, and it works ok. Don't know if this is 'the answer' but it seems to work on mine.

[artimrj]

All my tracks are straight. I did what Tori told me to do. Lay a section of straight track. Place the turn table then join it to the track. Then I placed a straight section on each of the exits I wanted. I have a 8 stall roundhouse. I tested all the sections after I first did it and had no problems. Worked on the route a little more somewhere else and came back to ,make a small scenario with an engine in each stall of the roundhouse and crash city since then. The only thing I have left to try is a different turntable. Which turntable are you using Gary?

[gwgardner]

Same as yours, US 32.

Another thing you can jigger with is using the g and f key to just slightly rotate the turntable for a different alignment. Really, really small adjustments can be made. Too much and everything goes out of whack. I did some adjusting on mine, but can't really affirm that it helped.

[artimrj]

Somethings I figured out about turntables. I know there is more but havent figured it all out yet.

Turntables are a bear to work with. Something just isnt right. But I went through some testing and this is how you have to operate them.

When you are moving and aligning to another track, in the HUD display it shows you if you are connected to the track or not. If not you will see a short section of track with a bumper on it. The bumper is the end of the turn table, and you will crash if you try to go through. I put a siding marker on each track, so this will also display on the HUD when in FREEROAM. If you are aligned properly you will see your destination which is the siding marker on that track.

The TT has 2 ends, just because one end is lined up does not mean the other will be lined up even though it looks like it is. Some positions on the TT will only work from the back end and some will only work from the front end.

If you want to drive off forward, then you have had to stop your engine with the reverser in forward. Hit G or SHIFT G to turn the table or use the mouse control. If you do not see on the HUD your siding's name and only a short little track with bumper, then you can not pull forward onto that siding. Turn the table again until it does lineup with a track and shows the destination name.

If you want to drive off in reverse, you must have been going in reverse when you stopped. Then try to connect to a track using the HUD as your reference.

I have also noticed sometimes it lookslike your going to line as the destination name will show up but then dissappear after a few seconds. The TT does not stop its movement instantly and tends to drift to a stop. The tracks come un-aligned due to this drift.

I am also going to try and replace a few of them that do not operate from both directions. Out of 14 tracks 6 are one way tracks, either forward or reverse, not both directions. It may not actually be which direction your going, but which end of the turn table you are connecting to a siding.

Adding the siding markers lets you know if you are connected to the siding or not, the only plus I found.

[Toripony]

Bob, I performed some more thorough testing on my Alleghany turntables since we talked about this, but my findings don't and won't collaborate or support your findings due to a major difference in our implementation. However, I think the results are worth sharing here while we're on the topic. On the COA the TT's at Alleghany and Ronceverte are used only for turning... I only utilized two exits, one to enter and a short run-out track out the backside... there's no roundhouse or other yard exits. I tried to be systematic in my testing, pulling forward onto the TT, turning and pull off, turning and backing off, backing on, pulling off, turning twice, not turning at all, etc, etc and every combination of those actions. I tested with an ES4400, SD40-2, SD70ACe, Challenger, and Britkits Heavy Pacific.

The only failure I could create was with the Challenger... it doesn't fit (or I couldn't fit it), which is where I learned that the [invisible] collision point of the locomotive defines its length on the TT, not the wheel position. Other than that, all of my turns and drive ons/offs worked fine. Btw, to address one possible cause of trouble brought up earlier, I should point out that the TT in Ronceverte has a very short curving approach track, which in fact did take many hours of trial and error to get installed this past Spring. The Alleghany TT is on straight level track and installed without a hitch way-back-when on RW version 114. Things I learned from that were: 1) to be sure not to mix trackrules and/or track types near the TT; 2) set your TT in place then off to the side somewhere draw out a short length of straight, level track, then use the Join Tool to connect it to an exit on the TT. Then cut to length as needed.

The two oddities I observed were that the TT starts out aligned initially, but after turning and then doing it's little drift/pop into final position, it was off-center by half the track width. But that was only visually... driving on/off in either direction and orientation was normal and the wheels followed the path where the rails should have been. Upon a second turn the TT aligned perfectly, just like it started. The other anamoly I observed was an occasional "hiccup" where the TT would start to turn, but after only 10-15 degrees it would stop and return to the start position. The next command to turn worked normally.

Bob, this has all led me to one thought that I didn't see mentioned in your post... ... what is the spacing of your 14 tracks? Are they an even number of exits apart or random? Is it possible that even though it's a 32 exit model, we might only be able to effectively utilize a certain number/pattern of exits? I wonder what it would do if you only used every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th exit, keeping them all directly opposite each other?