Can't see locomotive

[arremm1]

I am new to Open Rails, but I read enough of the manual to try running an activity. I chose the old, reliable Bodiddly Railroad with an activity that uses the WVOSD40-2 Loco. When I started the engine, I wanted to see the outside view (#4) because the cab view is not that good. When I went to the outside view, I do not see my locomotive. All I see is the smoke venting from the engine. Any suggestions on how to go about fixing this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks Richie M

[ckawahara]

Verify your folder for the engine is in the proper place and contains the files. This happened to me and was due to the improper location of the folder. Also check your OR log and see what it says.

[crstagg]

I am new to Open Rails, but I read enough of the manual to try running an activity. I chose the old, reliable Bodiddly Railroad with an activity that uses the WVOSD40-2 Loco. When I started the engine, I wanted to see the outside view (#4) because the cab view is not that good. When I went to the outside view, I do not see my locomotive. All I see is the smoke venting from the engine. Any suggestions on how to go about fixing this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks Richie M

What you are seeing can be recreated by removing or renaming the Shape file referenced in the WagonShape line of the ENG file. MSTS will issue a bunch of error messages then crash to desktop where as OR goes ahead and ruuns the simulation without displaying the missing shape.

So check the shape file for the ENG, Present? Same spelling as in ENG file WagonShhape line?

[arremm1]

I looked at the OR Log and it gave (among other things ) a reference to WVOSD402.s. The note said "Expected end of block, got "/", Line 81241. So I got out my trusty Shape File Manager and edited the shape file (got rid of the offending "/" on line 81241. Loaded up the activity and that was the problem. All fixed. This Open Rails is sure fussier than MSTS because I ran this activity in MSTS and there was no problem. Anyway, Thanks for the help. Richie M

[markus1996]

That / in some SD40 shape files is a known problem. AFAIK, it is contained in one of the locos in either default MSTS, or the official update. Interestingly, though, MSTS doesn´t seem to bother.

Anyway, it´s an easy fix, especially with the clues the ORTS log gives you. Glad this worked out that way

Cheers, Markus

[baldwin]

MSTS is not fussed about many things that do not fit with the way it was designed to work. If it is not understood it is bypassed. That is how we are able to add many OR parameters to MSTS files without affecting the way MSTS operates.

[tnbriggs]

Slash issues

Been away from trainsims for a few years & just discovered Open Rails; nice to be able to run the old MSTS stuff on a modern machine.

Helpful post, I had the same problem with SD40-2 variants. But in the OR log file the offending item is a backslash "", not a forward slash "/".

Thanks.