I am attempting to do template for the new 3DTS Cambrian 2 route. I have placed the player path and the AI path and services. Just at the stage of placing all the consists on the sidings ( 1x Box )  

Will be a "WestBound" template and if it is successful i will do some others for the route.

THIS ONE WILL BE FINISHED. 

regards,
Mike.

Mike,

Thanks for building a template.  If you need any help at all, please PM either myself or Steve.

 

Norman,

thank you for the offer of help, much appreciated.

Next stage is to assign Pick Up Events to all the wagons, i have placed.

One question please, then i am off to bed. 

After the template is finished and is then being used to create activities. Will AG place wagons\carriages on the sidings that i have not designated to be worked, to fill out the scenery.

I ask as there are quite a few carriage sidings in the route, that i haven't assigned for work, as i understand AG is only designed to create freight activities.

Would be good if AG was able to place carriages on them during activity creation, rather than freight wagons.

regards,
Mike.

Mike,

Here is one way:

You should be able to assign the passenger cars (carriages) a car type (types if you want to differentiate) which is not used on the freight tracks.  Set up all the carriage tracks with a sample car (1 x box) just like the freight tracks.  Be sure to add the pick up event for these tracks.  When you designate the car type wanted and car type shipped in the SWLTDB file, call out the carriage car type(s) for these tracks.  Also in the SWLTDB, designate the track type as X.

X type tracks are used only for "eye candy".  The fill world routine will place cars on type X tracks, but the pick up and set out routines will ignore these tracks.  As long as the carriage car type never shows up in the type wanted or shipped on your freight tracks, then the carriages will only be placed on the "eye candy" tracks.

You will also need to do two more things:  (1) exclude the carriage car type from the "any" designation so that a carriage does not inadvertently show up in a starting train or as scenery in a track marked track type A, for instance, via the car fill routine, and (2) ensure that one each of all desired carriages is included in the sample car string, so that AG knows that these cars can be used in the activity.

Using the method above, the carriages will show up randomly in the designated tracks, changing positions from one generated activity to another.

Here is another way:

Place one or more carriages as desired on the carriage tracks, but do not add a pick up event.  In this case, the cars will appear in all generated activities in exactly the way that you place them in the activity template, with no variation.

Thanks Norman, very helpful mate.  

I have to start again with placing the "pick up events". I did something while placing them and the lot disappeared from the display window.

I was nearly at the end of the route as well. 

Many thanks.

Mike.

Mike,

It seems that AE has some quirks.  Similarly to what you describe, I have also lost all my pick up events while building a template.  As a consequence, I save the activity after placing two or three pick up events, rather than doing them all at once without saving.  Yes, it is a pain in the neck to do this, but it's better than losing all that work.

Also, rather than place all rail cars first, then doing all pick up events, I do the pick up events as I place rail cars on the tracks.  If I place all cars and then do all pick up events, I have found that it is too easy to forget a pick up event for a car here and there, or even to duplicate pick up events -- senior moments, perhaps???