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smokeytc
I am really getting tired of halfway through an activity, drop a car off and can't hook back to train because coupler won't work. Happens a lot especially on Clinch Valley, Pocohantas and East River routes.
Activity master doesn't replace car or seems to create more problems. Anybody have a fix ??
Really enjoy all 3 of these routes - when they work
Thanks Ted
jrmeindl
QUOTE(smokeytc @ Oct 10 2009, 03:57 PM) *
I am really getting tired of halfway through an activity, drop a car off and can't hook back to train because coupler won't work. Happens a lot especially on Clinch Valley, Pocohantas and East River routes.
Activity master doesn't replace car or seems to create more problems. Anybody have a fix ??
Really enjoy all 3 of these routes - when they work
Thanks Ted


You might want to view the cars thru Shape Viewer. It sounds as if the SD and wag file might need some adjustment to the car lengths and size. Most of the time, I have found the Bounding Box numbers, in the SD file, are not correct. In most cases they extend over the couplers. Those need to be adjusted back to only include the body of the car. It should never extend over the couplers.

Jim
smokeytc
QUOTE(jrmeindl @ Oct 11 2009, 09:17 AM) *
You might want to view the cars thru Shape Viewer. It sounds as if the SD and wag file might need some adjustment to the car lengths and size. Most of the time, I have found the Bounding Box numbers, in the SD file, are not correct. In most cases they extend over the couplers. Those need to be adjusted back to only include the body of the car. It should never extend over the couplers.

Jim


Hi Jim - thanks, here is a sample of a bounding box # ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.658771 0.054934 -6.04 1.658771 4.780471 6.20 )
what should I change to shorten it? I have never worked with "SD" files before
Ted
jrmeindl
QUOTE(smokeytc @ Oct 11 2009, 09:22 AM) *
Hi Jim - thanks, here is a sample of a bounding box # ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.658771 0.054934 -6.04 1.658771 4.780471 6.20 )
what should I change to shorten it? I have never worked with "SD" files before
Ted


The values to change for the length of the car are in bold.

ESD_Bounding_Box ( -1.658771 0.054934 -6.04 1.658771 4.780471 6.20 )

I always do this as I am viewing the car in Shape Viewer. Just makes it easier to see and adjust the parameters. You can also look at the bounding boxes while in an activity in TS. That can be achieved by pressing CTR and the + (Plus Key on the number pad). You will see the outlines of the bounding boxes. I normally move the numbers by the same amount on each side, unless they are really off, then I do some tweak them as needed. Also, before modifying anything, make backups of the SD and WAG files. It will save a lot of trouble if something goes wrong.

Here are a couple of good tutorials that explain the bounding boxes and car lengths:

http://www.trainsim.com/howto/boundbox.htm

http://steam4me.railpage.org.au/trainsim/t...als/length.html

In the screenshot attached is what I try to achieve with the bounding box parameters. As you can see, the bounding box is not covering the couplers.

Jim
dgionet
Hi Ted,

I am including a TS topic which really helped me a couple of years ago, especially OTTODAD's visual post to understand the BB settings with the coupling and uncoupling issues.

Here is the link:

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/showthrea...ht=bounding+box

Hope this will help.

Cheers
smokeytc
[Thanks guys -I read the articles and have successfully adjusted a few BB's and my frustration is gone. One was an engine that started ok but wouldnt pick up any cars. The legth was 21.8m and the BB was set to 24.6m -go figure....... Tx again Ted
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