Changing consists, What if I change the consist Options

[prr4ever]

After generating an activity the AG sometimes does not put the rolling stock I prefer on the sidings. I can go in with Con Builder or any other consist builder and change the rolling stock. However I have found then that the cars get renumbered and so mess up the work order. Is there a way to do this and keep the car numbers ? (The MSTS assigned numbers). I also have Activity Master but have not gotten into using it much. Perhaps it can do what I want?

Dave

[jrmeindl]

After generating an activity the AG sometimes does not put the rolling stock I prefer on the sidings. I can go in with Con Builder or any other consist builder and change the rolling stock. However I have found then that the cars get renumbered and so mess up the work order. Is there a way to do this and keep the car numbers ? (The MSTS assigned numbers). I also have Activity Master but have not gotten into using it much. Perhaps it can do what I want?

Dave

I use Activity Master to change out the stock. It will change out stock without messing with the ID's that were originally assigned. However, it will only change out a car type for the same car type, boxcars for boxcars, tankcars for tankcars, or however you have your actual stock set up. It the car on the siding is the wrong type, you could theoretically do it, but it would take some creativity on your part. You would have to fool around with the car types in your setup for those cars to make it work. In other words, if the car is a boxcar such as (US2FREIGHT8 US2FREIGHT8) and you really want a tankcar (USCHEMICAR USCHEMICAR), the car type would need to be changed for the one on the siding. Unfortunately, AM will also want to change out other occurances of that car as well. Or, you could manually edit the *.act file to insert the proper car type if you know how to work with the *.act file in an editor and then run AM.

Jim

[prr4ever]

I use Activity Master to change out the stock. It will change out stock without messing with the ID's that were originally assigned. However, it will only change out a car type for the same car type, boxcars for boxcars, tankcars for tankcars, or however you have your actual stock set up. It the car on the siding is the wrong type, you could theoretically do it, but it would take some creativity on your part. You would have to fool around with the car types in your setup for those cars to make it work. In other words, if the car is a boxcar such as (US2FREIGHT8 US2FREIGHT8) and you really want a tankcar (USCHEMICAR USCHEMICAR), the car type would need to be changed for the one on the siding. Unfortunately, AM will also want to change out other occurances of that car as well. Or, you could manually edit the *.act file to insert the proper car type if you know how to work with the *.act file in an editor and then run AM.

Jim

Thanks Jim,

I know well how to edit most files but looking at the .act files for the consist the uid's don't really describe the actual file name of the equipment in the consist. At least not in a manner I can make sense of.

What I really would like to do is be able to have AG load up sidings with loaded and MT coal such as the Pokey or ERD routes. Ditto on other routes that carry a lot of say TOFC or Tanks etc.

I can edit the consists okay with Con Builder but it does seem to change the car ID's and thus not agree with the work orders. Still as much fun but you will not get an activity completion. It is also a real time consumer editing loose consists which are quite random and often lengthy.

[jrmeindl]

Thanks Jim,

I know well how to edit most files but looking at the .act files for the consist the uid's don't really describe the actual file name of the equipment in the consist. At least not in a manner I can make sense of.

What I really would like to do is be able to have AG load up sidings with loaded and MT coal such as the Pokey or ERD routes. Ditto on other routes that carry a lot of say TOFC or Tanks etc.

I can edit the consists okay with Con Builder but it does seem to change the car ID's and thus not agree with the work orders. Still as much fun but you will not get an activity completion. It is also a real time consumer editing loose consists which are quite random and often lengthy.

True, an activity that has been generated by AG does not make sense trying to follow the UiD. The UiD only relates to the siding, where the original pickup event was created, not to the actual cars on the siding. There is a way to limit the type of cars that AG uses for sidings labeled 'Any'. When the template was created, a 'Car Type' file also needed to be created to have this work. There needs to be a file with the extension *.ctp in the 'Activities' folder. Not everyone, who designs a template, uses them. It's not a requirement for the template to work. The Pokey did not have one with the file that I have. It's easy to create though. Once you start AG, click on the 'Create and Modify Activity Templates' in the lower right. Then select 'Set Car Types OK to use as 'Any' in Template'. Navigate to the proper folder and load the 'SWLACT' file. Select the check box next to the cars you want AG to use and save.

Jim

[prr4ever]

True, an activity that has been generated by AG does not make sense trying to follow the UiD. The UiD only relates to the siding, where the original pickup event was created, not to the actual cars on the siding. There is a way to limit the type of cars that AG uses for sidings labeled 'Any'. When the template was created, a 'Car Type' file also needed to be created to have this work. There needs to be a file with the extension *.ctp in the 'Activities' folder. Not everyone, who designs a template, uses them. It's not a requirement for the template to work. The Pokey did not have one with the file that I have. It's easy to create though. Once you start AG, click on the 'Create and Modify Activity Templates' in the lower right. Then select 'Set Car Types OK to use as 'Any' in Template'. Navigate to the proper folder and load the 'SWLACT' file. Select the check box next to the cars you want AG to use and save.

Jim

Jim,
I followed this procedure as you outlined. Taking the "Pokey" EB and WB templates (SWLACT) for some strange reason with the EB template loaded the only car selection available is "BX" I actually want mostly MT and loaded coal hoppers but only BX appears to allow selection. Going to the WB template I get a whole string of car abbreviations, none of which I can ID as loaded or MTcoal hoppers or gons. Is there a "listing" somewhere of the "default" abbreviations?

I have tried to use Activity Master to add the cars I want to the templates but with my WIN 7 set up AG will not function reliably. Aftter loading the rolling stock and I try to set up the type of cars I want, I get the error "Runtime error 6 overflow" AG is installed outside of the Program Files folder butMSTS is not. It is however set to read/write. I have all running as admin.

This last paragraph belongs in the AG forum, I simply added it here for your info.