To Post or Not to Post?

[charland]

I'm trying to figure out if the current route I'm just completing is worth posting or not.

The route is a combination of the FJ&G and the Conrail Kellog branch, it includes about 23 miles of Conrail's Mohawk sub. I'm testing activities which is normally my last step before posting a route. There are no technical issues with the route other then the 14 AI trains that go past on the mainline while you are switching or running the Conrail yard job between Amsterdam and Fonda.

The issue with these train is the power is old, from the library. They all need work to get then to run properly. I can supply things like new Eng files to get the smoke down to OR values, but most do not come with Cabviews or Sound. That would mean the end user would have to do work to get things to run reasonably. From a couple of decades of posting routes I know a lot of people don't actually read the readme files. The last few routes I've posted I've made as close to plug and play as I can and reduced the number of downloads by drawing all the rollingstock required for the activities and grouping them so there would be fewer downloads. Short of drawing all the Conrail and Amtrak power for the AI traffic, The only option is downloading a lot of fixer-uppers. I can't see people actually doing this.

Just wondering what others think, is it worth posting a route that the end users may not ever use because they would have to do some work to get it running properly, or just run it in explore mode to have a look around and they let it collect dust?

[derekmorton]

Hi Paul,

I would be happy to fix all of the engines for you. Not sure how long it would take me.....
I have always enjoyed your routes.

Other people may put their hands up as well.

[CSRX]

Paul,
I've always enjoyed your routes, and normally I either create my own activities, or dive into fictional stuff on it.
Actually, I do that with majority of routes I download.

[charland]

I have the Conrail power fixed here but I'm not able to distribute other people's work, so that would mean that I could provide instructions and things like ENG files, but the people on the other end would still have to fix the engines they download from the library. I can't see the majority of people doing that... maybe I'm wrong but the number of people who I get complaints from who just needed to read the readme in a new route is always amazing, this one would be more complicated.

Paul

[crimsonfloyd]

Hi Paul,
I too always enjoy your routes and I have been waiting for this release since it is set in an era that I always liked. Train Simulations Early Conrail EMD set would be perfect for this route and there is a set of Conrail B23-7`s here in the file library which to my eyes look pretty good.

Mark

[gammaray84]

Yes, i am also one of those who enjoy your work. I would encourage you to post it. Regarding instruction, maybe if you put some text together for activities and maybe some description of appropriate equipment used for those.

🛤

[charland]

Can't find Train Simulations doing a Google search but I'm not building routes to sell products for commercial providers, already had that happen and it's not going to happen again. I am using the Conrail B23-7s as part of the AI traffic though.

Paul :-)

[eric]

Search our library for Conrail in the Open Rails Payware category... they should be there.

Paul, your routes fit my interests - compact switching. This sounds like a winner.

[charland]

Like the rest of my routes I try to keep everything free. I'll finish the activities this week (about 130 hours of them) and figure out the best way to package it and include what I can to make the old engines easier to fix.

Paul :-)

[R. Steele]

Paul, with your quality of routes, just build the route ( to misquote Field of Dreams ) "and they will download it". Don't worry about activities or rolling stock. An activity template could happen, people could write activities and share, etc. I'd chip in some help for Derek on the power -- pluggin in some OR parameters.

[charland]

I've made 18 activities for switching the FJ&G and the Kellog branch, and I'm working on the last pair now. That accounts for about 126 hours of running, plus another 10 hours of running on the Conrail mainline. I was just wondering if people don't bother downloading the old engines from the library and do a little work, how much use would the route get.

On the other hand, there are people that will take the time to download the stuff and fix it up, there are others that will create their own activities or use a generator to do that, so maybe it is worth finishing and posting.

Paul :-)

[R. Steele]

...On the other hand, there are people that will take the time to download the stuff and fix it up, there are others that will create their own activities or use a generator to do that, so maybe it is worth finishing and posting. Paul :-)

Don't waste time or energy trying to anticipate what others are going to do...it is worth finishing, if you have the time and energy to do it and want to. Average downloads for your routes are 1231...that says something...members love them.

[TrainSimJack]

Does openrails have any alternatives to activities?
(Like an industry system?)

[eric]

Timetables are an alternative. They're easier to set up, but harder to troubleshoot.

Not sure what the industry system is as I'm not a Run8 or DTG user.

[peterman]

Hi Paul,

It was always my belief that one was allowed to freely share .eng and .wag files, but not .s and .sd files. Why not put your modded .eng files into a folder with your route and let the end-user download the necessary locomotives? If they don't want to read the read me.... P*ss on 'em!

Peterman