Impossible Activities Options

[Huecuvoe]

In my learning experience with Activity Generator I noticed that AG sometimes generates activities that are impossible to complete. Using a template for the L&PS I generated a simple switching activity. The options used were:

Source Track: CN Interchange

Work Tracks: 1 Region - London (the CN Interchange is in this region).

Final Destination: L Track 4 - E London

"Allow pickups from source tracks in one region to be set out in that same region."

AG generated the following work order:

CODE

Activity created by Activity Generator Version 4.2.11
REGION------------TRACK NAME-----------------WORK----CONSIST-CAR#-CAR DESCRIPTION-----TYPE-NOTES/INSTRUCTIONS-----------

London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L Freight Shed 1           PICKUP  32781   0    LPS3-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L Freight Shed 2           PICKUP  32782   0    GN25096-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            L Freight Shed 2           PICKUP  32782   3    LPS5-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            L Freight Shed 2           SETOUT  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        

London            L McManus Coal Trestle     PICKUP  32768   0    LPS5-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L MCR Freight Shed N       SETOUT  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
London            L MCR Freight Shed N       SETOUT  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        

London            L MCR Team                 PICKUP  32775   1    LPS212-FMcrates     FMcr DEST: L Track 4              
London            L MCR Team                 SETOUT  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu FROM: CN Interchange        
London            L MCR Team                 SETOUT  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   FROM: CN Interchange        

E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32768   0    LPS5-XM             XM   FROM: L McManus Coal Trestle
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32775   1    LPS212-FMcrates     FMcr FROM: L MCR Team            
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32781   0    LPS3-XM             XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 1      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32782   0    GN25096-XM          XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 2      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32782   3    LPS5-XM             XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 2      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange

As you can see all of the pickups from the CN Interchange have 2 destinations, an industry in London AND L Track 4 in E London. Consequently, it is not possible to successfully complete the activity. Is this something else I am doing wrong or is it an "undocumented feature"? This seems to happen often when the Final Destination option is used. I do have the SLGDiag.txt diagnostics file if it would be useful.

[jrmeindl]

In my learning experience with Activity Generator I noticed that AG sometimes generates activities that are impossible to complete. Using a template for the L&PS I generated a simple switching activity. The options used were:

Source Track: CN Interchange

Work Tracks: 1 Region - London (the CN Interchange is in this region).

Final Destination: L Track 4 - E London

"Allow pickups from source tracks in one region to be set out in that same region."

AG generated the following work order:

CODE

Activity created by Activity Generator Version 4.2.11
REGION------------TRACK NAME-----------------WORK----CONSIST-CAR#-CAR DESCRIPTION-----TYPE-NOTES/INSTRUCTIONS-----------

London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   DEST: L Track 4              
London            CN Interchange             PICKUP  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L Freight Shed 1           PICKUP  32781   0    LPS3-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L Freight Shed 2           PICKUP  32782   0    GN25096-XM          XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            L Freight Shed 2           PICKUP  32782   3    LPS5-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              
London            L Freight Shed 2           SETOUT  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        

London            L McManus Coal Trestle     PICKUP  32768   0    LPS5-XM             XM   DEST: L Track 4              

London            L MCR Freight Shed N       SETOUT  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
London            L MCR Freight Shed N       SETOUT  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        

London            L MCR Team                 PICKUP  32775   1    LPS212-FMcrates     FMcr DEST: L Track 4              
London            L MCR Team                 SETOUT  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu FROM: CN Interchange        
London            L MCR Team                 SETOUT  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   FROM: CN Interchange        

E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32768   0    LPS5-XM             XM   FROM: L McManus Coal Trestle
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32775   1    LPS212-FMcrates     FMcr FROM: L MCR Team            
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32781   0    LPS3-XM             XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 1      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32782   0    GN25096-XM          XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 2      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32782   3    LPS5-XM             XM   FROM: L Freight Shed 2      
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   0    MNA3240-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   1    NP47919-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   2    LPS200-FMlumber     FMlu FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   3    ACD28753-VA         VA   FROM: CN Interchange        
E London          L Track 4                  SETOUT  32783   4    SPS2003-XM          XM   FROM: CN Interchange

As you can see all of the pickups from the CN Interchange have 2 destinations, an industry in London AND L Track 4 in E London. Consequently, it is not possible to successfully complete the activity. Is this something else I am doing wrong or is it an "undocumented feature"? This seems to happen often when the Final Destination option is used. I do have the SLGDiag.txt diagnostics file if it would be useful.

I do believe that there was a post about this some time back from Steve. I was just playing around with AG this evening. It only happens to me when I uncheck the "Check here for sequential pickup/setouts" box. If I leave it checked, I do not get the dual setouts.

Jim

[Huecuvoe]

I do believe that there was a post about this some time back from Steve. I was just playing around with AG this evening. It only happens to me when I uncheck the "Check here for sequential pickup/setouts" box. If I leave it checked, I do not get the dual setouts.

Jim

Jim,

You are correct and I am guilty of not searching adequately before my post. In this thread

http://skylinecomputing.com/forums/index.p...post&p=2060

Steve said that he thought he had resolved this issue. I guess the update hasn't been posted yet (v4.2.11 is dated 9/8/2008). I wonder if this issue is related to a similar problem where a pickup will be listed twice in the switch list (and in the activity). I will simply need to be patient and wait for the next update.

[nbeveridge]

Jim,

You are correct and I am guilty of not searching adequately before my post. In this thread

http://skylinecomputing.com/forums/index.p...post&p=2060

Steve said that he thought he had resolved this issue. I guess the update hasn't been posted yet (v4.2.11 is dated 9/8/2008). I wonder if this issue is related to a similar problem where a pickup will be listed twice in the switch list (and in the activity). I will simply need to be patient and wait for the next update.

I will flag this to Steve.

[sgdavis]

I will flag this to Steve.

I do remember it being discussed and I thought resolved. I'll make sure the latest update has been posted. It's possible that it hasn't.

Thanks,

Steve

[Huecuvoe]

I do remember it being discussed and I thought resolved. I'll make sure the latest update has been posted. It's possible that it hasn't.

Thanks,

Steve

Steve,

Have you had an opportunity to check that the latest update to AG is v4.2.11? My first guess is that it hasn't since my problem is identical to that reported in the earlier thread. If it has then the problem hasn't been solved yet.

On another subject, it appears that editing the Template.ctp file will skew the mix similarly to CARTYPEWANTED and CARTYPESHIPPED? In other words, edit the existing Template.ctp to included extra boxcars so that the "ANY" tracks will include more of that car type. Is this true, or does including extra entries for the same car type cause other problems?

[nbeveridge]

On another subject, it appears that editing the Template.ctp file will skew the mix similarly to CARTYPEWANTED and CARTYPESHIPPED? In other words, edit the existing Template.ctp to included extra boxcars so that the "ANY" tracks will include more of that car type. Is this true, or does including extra entries for the same car type cause other problems?

I don' t know what a template.ctp file is. None of the templates that I have designed seem to have one.

[Huecuvoe]

I don' t know what a template.ctp file is. None of the templates that I have designed seem to have one.

Norman,

Jim is correct, the CTP file contains a hyphen (-) delimited list of which cars can be used for "ANY". I "shorthanded" the name, the actual name of the file will be TemplateName.CTP. I think it only applies to AG4 and later. Since the format is the same as the CARTYPEWANTED and CARTYPESHIPPED columns, I tried editing the file to add more boxcars and hoppers. It seemed to work but I thought I would ask Steve as I might be causing problems somewhere else. I tried it because the standard "ANY" specification seemed to give each of the car types equal billing which is not realistic. On the other hand, to get a ratio of say 10:1 for boxcars and hoppers to the less common types might require an entry with 20 or more car types listed which might over flow an array.

As an example, for my configuration:

XM: Boxcar
HM: Hopper
HMx: Empty Hopper
VA: Ventilated Boxcar (fairly rare)

The standard CTP file entry would be:

XM-HM-HMx-VA

which seems to give an equal probability to each type.

XM-XM-XM-XM-XM-XM-XM-XM-XM-HM-HM-HM-HM-HM-HMx-HMx-HMx-HMx-HMx-VA

would give a probability of:

Boxcar: 45%
Hopper: 25%
Empty Hopper: 25%
Ventilated Boxcar: 5%

which is much better but requires 20 entries in the file. So the question is, does AG do what I think and is there a limit to the number of car types?