rant about routes and passenger activities.

[amtrak115]

I recently got into running the ATSF Super Chief from LA to Chicago. There are a number of activities in the file library concerning this...Couple by Bob Edwards and another called the Super Chief Pack....I can't remember the author of that one.... Anyway...I started with the SC Pack...ran across Cajon Pass. I then ran Bob Edwards' activities.... Then I went back to the Super Chief pack but modified the activity to be the Combined El Capitan and Super Chief. Created new consists, copied and modified the activities and continued the EB journey across the Needles Sub with the Combined Super Chief. Then again with the Seligman Sub. Then I got to the Gallup Sub. Now I don't know what I did but the modified Combined Super Chief wouldn't work right until I pushed the start time back 10 minutes...(No clue why that worked) but then the activity started to work. On this one, it goes "across" the Gallup Sub from Winslow through Gallup. The activity ended in Gallup...hmmmm Why was that....Well the activity had a trigger defined that said when the last stop reached, the activity is over...Well Gallup is like half way....What gives. So I cranked up TSRE look at the route, the Path, activity...and said what if I created a platform at the end of the path which in this case is the Belen Cutoff. Stuck a platform there, went into the activity editor of TSRE (BTW, my MSTS does not run, I can't find original disks anymore but I do have a backup of the installation, so AE from MSTS doesn't work...) added the "platform" at Belen-cutoff to the activity...now I'm running it..hopefully I get all the way across the Gallup sub on the Chief...We'll See.

Route developers need to added these psuedo platforms at the beginning and end of their routes so passenger trains can traverse the whole route. I know it is not prototypical, but if it gets me across the route to Belen Cutoff...so be it. Rant over..

[Vince]

The Default Location Event in all activities created with MSTS Activityt editor is "Stop at last station.'
If you don't want train to stop you must change the default location event. Adding platforms is playing with fire.

regards,

[amtrak115]

What's the alternative? I looked at the event flags...and didn't see one that would work...I really didn't want to add a platform, but I couldn't figure out how to get the train to continue to the "end of the path"...

[motormaster532]

Were you running in Open Rails or MSTS ? If Open Rails,when you get the box that tells you the Activity is ended,just hit "Resume and Close Box". You can get to the end that way. Also, AI traffic[if any] will still spawn beyond that point. Also, I should have led off with this- is that this will work when the path goes ALL THE WAY to the end. Brian

[ebnertra000]

So you're telling me...that I (as a route-builder) am to place platforms in weird places for the sole purpose of satisfying your desire to end your...how you say, peculiar...design of activity in exactly the place you want?

<ru>Is joke, yes?</ru>

[amtrak115]

no I'm telling you that.....it's was an alternative to get beyond the last station where it's in the middle of the route. Brian gave me an alternative, Vince implied another....I don't wont the routes modified if it can be done in activities...that would be stupid.

[amtrak115]

Thanks Brian. I'm running OR. I'll try that....but there would seem to be a better way to skin that cat....The path goes all the way through the route.

[amtrak115]

Super Chief Route.

An example of what I trying to recreate....Between Barstow, CA and Albuquerque, there were 4 stops across two ATSF Subdivisions...All 4 were service stops, not passenger stops.