Adding Cars or Consists to an Activity.

[dkingsburg]

Do You Use the Consist Editor or Route Editor to Add or Change Cars or Consists to An Existing Activity?
Thankyou,
DaveKfromUP

[scottb613]

Do You Use the Consist Editor or Route Editor to Add or Change Cars or Consists to An Existing Activity?
Thankyou,
DaveKfromUP

Hi Dave,

Activities don't care anything about the content of a CONSIST - only the name - so just use the "TSRE Consist Editor" to modify or create CONSISTS used in activities... Also TSRE cannot create PATHS - so you would use the "Track Viewer" tool of ORTS to create paths - simply calling their names in the "TSRE Activity Editor"...

Regards,

Scott

[Rick-MONON]

so what do you use to create the activity then

[crstagg]

Dave,
Remember that if you have used consist abc.con as a loose consist in an activity, editing con file abc will NOT change the loose consist in the activity. You have to edit the loose consist to modify the rolling stock on the sidings. Player and traffic consists in activities can be modified by just editing the CON files.

[R. Steele]

Do You Use the Consist Editor or Route Editor to Add or Change Cars or Consists to An Existing Activity?
Thankyou,
DaveKfromUP

Do mean "loose consists" in the activity? If so, you can use the TSRE Activity editor ( you have to open the Route Editor to use the activitiy editor...it is a choice in the tools menu. )

[crstagg]

Do mean "loose consists" in the activity? If so, you can use the TSRE Activity editor ( you have to open the Route Editor to use the activitiy editor...it is a choice in the tools menu. )

The TSRE CE can be used to edit Loose Consists.

[dkingsburg]

Hi Scott,
Some of the Loose Consists in the Activities are not Appropriate Such as Flats where there should be Box Cars or Gondola's where there should be Tank Cars ect.
I Am Wanting to Change those Cars or Consists to be make the Activity More Realistic.
I Don't want to Change Paths Just the Inappropriate Cars.
Thankyou,
DaveK

[dkingsburg]

Hi Charles,
That's What I Want to do is Actually Change the Loose Consist Cars Due to the Fact that in Some Activities the Loose Consist Cars are the Wrong Type Such as a Flat Car Where there should be a Box Car or a Tank Car Where there Should be a Hopper Car.
I Also Want to Place Cars and Consists in Yards and Sidings Where there Aren't Any.
I Use Conbuilder to Modify Player and Traffic Consists and Loose Consists.
However In Conbuilder you Don't Really Know Where the Loose Consists are being Placed in the Activity Until the Activity Starts.
DaveKfromUP

[longiron]

DaveKfromUP,
To help you, can you tell us what tools you are most comfortable using?

MSTS Activity Editor - native that comes with the game
OR tools
ConBuilder
RouteRiter
Activity Master/Generator from Skyline Computing

Thanks

[dkingsburg]

Hi Chris,
I use ConBuilder Mostly cause I've had it a Long Time and Have Used it Cause I'm Comfortable With it and It's A Good Program that a Computer Illiterate Like Me can Use Easily. I've Used TSRE Con Editor a Little Cause It is a Good System and I Like the 3D Images.
DaveKfromUP

[R. Steele]

The TSRE CE can be used to edit Loose Consists.

Charles, thanks, of course it can...don't know why that slipped my mind...thanks for the correction.

[crstagg]

Charles, thanks, of course it can...don't know why that slipped my mind...thanks for the correction.

The TSRE CE has the same problem ConBuilder has in that there is no information as to where the loose consist is on the route,

I have never used the TSRE AE does it show where the loose consist that you are editing is located?

[dkingsburg]

Hi Charles,
TSRE Does go One Further in that You Can Open the Activity File in the Top Left Corner and The Consist List will Appear Showing the Loose Consists and Their Number. Then All You Have to do is Open the Activity and Locate that Consist Number.
DaveKfromUP

[geepster775]

All you have to do is open the OR Dispatcher Screen map while inside the activity and it will show you where those loose consists with the unique 5 digit number are. If the route is built responsibly (a big IF), all track should have reasonable identification that shows through on the map. Just move the map around taking a screen grab of each town or industrial cluster. The MSTS AE had a similar map display capability, and you actually used the map to place the consists, but in this case the map is part of OR itself and not the editors.




From the map, loose consist 32810 is on a lumber spur. If you open the ACT file and do a find on that loose consist number 32810, it shows the 3 cars on that spur are indeed centerbeam cars. The highlighted red shows the trainset directory the cars are pulled from, and the highlighted green are the actual car file names. You can edit things right here without any utilities, just change the red and green lines IF you know the directory names and actual wagon file names. This approach is more for novices who know what they are doing.




I dont see where Conbuilder shows that unique 5 digit serial number for every loose consist. Consist 32810 shows in Conbuilder Loose Consist editor as merely "Loose Consist 30"




TSRE does indeed index based on the 5 digit number. Opening up the 32810 consist shows the 3 centerbeams





The map also shows that loose consist 32812 is at Mars Canada. Based on the type of business these should be flour or grain type covered hoppers or oil/sweetener tank cars. Opening 32812 in TSRE does indeed show that 32812 is 4 corn syrup cars.

[R. Steele]

The TSRE CE has the same problem ConBuilder has in that there is no information as to where the loose consist is on the route,

I have never used the TSRE AE does it show where the loose consist that you are editing is located?

No -- AFAIK --- I wish the TSRE AE would list the loose consists by the ID number found in the ACT file.

I only use the TSRE AE when I need to re-position the loose consist - then it is a multi-step operation.
Run the Activity in OR and find where the loose consist is located ( siding or whatever ) by using the Dispatch Viewer
Then use the TSRE-AE to open the activity file and go to that location ... then move the consist.

If you are just replacing equipment in a loose consist the CE is by far the easiest method. As geepster illustrates.