PRR East New Rescue 172 Activity

[Don6218]

Hello, I am at a loss as to why this is happening. Basically the consist that I am supposed to rescue doesn't show up in the game!

I am using X4051 version. I have gone through everything I can think of. I used the "Correct Paths" in Open Rails, the Consists listings in ConBuilder, both loose and driving. Every time I run a test of Consists it comes up clean with no errors. The OR Log shows it has ignored 1 or 2 consists????

I am including that log here. RR runs the route checking features which also come out with clean results. There is no other problem with the activity, all the AI trains seem to show up as well as the loose consists.

In the OR Track Viewer is where I ran the Correct Paths program. Also in OR, Dispatch Viewer doesn't show the consist sitting in the siding where it is supposed to be. In Auto-Pilot Mode, the player loco backs into the siding to the reverse point and seems to couple to a "Fantom Train" and then reverses to pull it out and carry on. The only other thing that I noticed is that on the Station Display the Time is way off for a 20 mile trip. The clock shows leaving Washington at 8:00 and an arrival time at BWI of 3:52!! Maybe the time for the train to be rescued is wrong and it has not spawned yet?

Hoping for an answer, this looks like a dynamite Activity. BTW I have all the requisites in place as well.
OpenRailsLog.zip

[conductorchris]

Can you run the consist in explore mode and have it show up?
Christopher

[Vince]

Opening the activity in an activity editor should help resolve the problem.
If the consist you're supposed to rescue isn't at the location it's supposed to be will be evident when you open the editor.

I remember in the MSTS editor it's very easy when zooming in and out with that silly drag operation that sometimes during a drag-to-zoom when the cursor passes over a placed loose consist it gets dragged to a a different location, sometimes miles away.
And of course when tested with RR it gets a clean bill of health because the required consist IS there . . . but not at the location it's supposed to be. That's evident as the autopilot run has the player backing in to do the pickup. It doesn't 'know' if the consist is there or not, just that the orders say reverse & back in and then pull out. If a consist is there it would couple up. So no 'phantom' train or other supernatural events, just a mis-placed consist. Should be easy enough to find but it's gonna' take some looking to find it.
So open the activity in an editor, then start looking around for the consist, It's there somewhere. You just have to find it and re-place it in the correct location.

regards,

[crstagg]

Have you used the ConBuilder Activity test tool? I should report if any consists are missing and also test the Loose consists in the Activity.

[Don6218]

Can you run the consist in explore mode and have it show up?
Christopher

Can I do this with OR? If so how please.

[Don6218]

Yes Vince, that seems to be my problem. Now for the clock, should I be looking at that time difference? Would it cause the train to not be spawned yet? It would seem a possibility, but other AIs show up on the way to the siding.

Yes Charles, I ran both those tests and they come out clean. In the OR Path Editor, or whatever it is called, there are trains and paths shown but not the one on the siding to be picked up.

I am currently running the "Goin Home" activity and it is working properly with even 3-4 trains passing at a time. So the Route, Computer, Program and Activity (this one anyway) are all working as they should.

From my post, does the OR Log give anyone a clue? There are two instances of a Consist that OR is ignoring for some reason.

[Vince]

++ I have found activity spawn time in Open Rails is spot on, very accurate. Not an issue.
Has this activity ever run anywhere with success?

++ The test you are running look for the correct consists to be present in the activity files . . .but are NOT checked for correct location.

I think if you open the activity in the MSTS Activity Editor ( I know nothing about Goku's new activity editor ) and go looking for the 'phantom' consist you will find it . . . somewhere on the route.

++ The reason the player train backs into the siding and then leaves is the loose consist is simply misplaced, as in 'not in correct location'.
And of course the tests check if consists are 'present' somewhere in the route!
The consist could be miles away and the activity runner program AND the tests could care less.

It's like this:
Open Rails & MSTS assume the placement of loose consists in an activity are accurate.

So if a consist is NOT in the correct location as specified by the activity author . . . well . . . the program has no way of 'knowing' that and of course the player train backs into the 'empty' siding because the activity author has 'told' it to do that.

If the siding is empty then either the author didn't place the consist there (Highly unlikely) or it's more likely that you, the user has inadvertently moved the consist.
I've done this myself. Very easy to miss. Happens when dragging the mouse to zoom the map view.

The clock shows leaving Washington at 8:00 and an arrival time at BWI of 3:52!! . . . . .snip . . . . "

++ The loose consists in an activity are all placed at activity start time.
++ The timing issue may be simply a failure on the part of the activity author to set up (edit) the activities timetable.
This should not cause problems as you know you can run activities with the timetable showing all 00:00 times. (ran a test of that last night)

"............snip..............There are two instances of a Consist that OR is ignoring for some reason.......snip........"

Open Rails is NOT 'ignoring' the consist! The consist is not where it's supposed to be and Open Rails will not go looking for it somewhere else. It simply logs it as missing.

bottom line:
You need to open the activity in the editor, find the misplaced consist and then move it to the proper location on the the siding where it's supposed to be.

regards,

[baldwin]

The log does not show any missing consists, but it does show that you do not have the AcelaHHL.eng in the HHP folder. It looks like the consist you are supposed to rescue has been misplaced. This activity is a rework of an older one made for the NEC route. The consist you are supposed to rescue is Northeast Regional 172 which is hauled by an AEM7 so the missing HHLs have nothing to do with the misplaced consist.

[Don6218]

Thank you for those answers. The only Editor(s) I have available are TSRE5 and Open Rails. No MSTS editors are working.

I will see what happens.

[Vince]

Okay. Please let us know how you fix the problem with the TSRE Activity editor then as that's your only choice.

If you know the consist number it's looking to be on that siding I think there must be a map where you can do that in TSRE as you would have to do if your MSTS editors worked.
regards,

[Don6218]

It ended up to be a "Head-Slapping-Moment" as usual! My old eyes could not see that the ENG file was not in that folder! Baldwin pointed that out, I corrected that, double checked it ;-) and low and behold the activity worked properly.

Thank you all again, from these answers, even though it was my fault, I at least have gained some more insight to the workings of OR and what to look for when an issue crops up.

[slipperman]

Hi Don,
Please take this as friendly advice

Route_Riter or my utility, MSTS_ActMan, would have immediately identified the problem you've been struggling with!

Cheers,
Ged

[Don6218]

Hi Don,
Please take this as friendly advice

Route_Riter or my utility, MSTS_ActMan, would have immediately identified the problem you've been struggling with!

Cheers,
Ged

Yes, thank you for that. Unfortunately my brain sees something but doesn't now what to do with it. Chances are it was right in front of me, until someone told me where to look, I was at a loss.

We all age differently, in my case cognizance is a big issue. I find my life changing in ways that I don't like. At least here I can get the help that I need to be enjoying something and keeping my mind busy.

Thanks.

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Ged, just downloaded your utility, I will give it a try, thanks.

[slipperman]

Hi Don,
Glad to be of help - I hope you find it useful (and easy to use!)

I don't know your age, but I feel that after one's retired, it is important to keep one's mind occupied! I'm approaching 76 and can always find something to do with, or for, MSTS/Open Rails.

Cheers,
Ged

[Shawmut]

I've found that Ged's MSTS_ActMan is spot on for finding errors, sometimes errors that RR doesn't find. I use ActMan in conjunction with another of Ged's utilitities - all downloadable from the f/l here, by the way - MSTS_Check v.1.2. Use the latter to find missing or misplaced cabview, sound or freightanim files. When both are used you can eliminate all of the bugs quite easily.

Cheers,

Dave