TSRE5 NOOB Help

[SimonME30]

Hi Folks,
I've been trying for 3 days, and TSRE5 is categorically beyond me.

I'm just trying to create a 'Route' which reflects my O Gauge model railway - Bradford (Exchange), West Yorkshire, UK in C1954-1959. I want to use OpenRails to do wonderful things to operate the layout. The interaction between OpenRails and my real world layout is making very positive progress, with what to me are amazing things like ESP32Now comms.

I've created my layout diagram (it's a 'simple' fiddle yard to terminus layout) in Inkscape, scaled at 1mm = 1M in the real world, thinking this would help with track lengths and also X&Y placement offsets. The overall length I am trying to lay is a mere 483M, with up to 9 tracks in the fiddleyard section (its actually a traverser), and 5 in the terminus

I've tried getting the MG version of TrackViewer working, because it could accept .CSV for each of the Inkscape Vectors. But that has disappeared off the face of the earth.

So having run up that blind canyon, I tried TS Classic and that nearly killed me.

I downloaded TSRE5 and got that configured correctly (I think). But for the life of me, I can't get a single piece of track laid, let alone the remaining 49 or so pieces. For what I need to do, I literally just need the track laid, some of which is on a 1:50 gradient (marked red, falling from the left towards the navy blue which is the station, and is level). I don't need textures/bridges/trees/buildings, nothing...just the track.

Can someone please help me, I don't expect these things to be done for free, I've attached a .zip of the Inkscape .SVG file.

[eric]

Just to set expectations... can you confirm 1) you are able to run routes in ORTS, -and- 2) you can open TSRE with your route and get a viewscape?

A screenshot of the folder structure of your install (where your GLOBAL, ROUTES and TRAINSET folders are) would help.

You do need to have a functional GLOBAL folder with track shapes as well as the applicable track textures inside your route's TEXTURES folder to install track.


Your layout does look to be rather simple to arrange.... and is my idea of fun as it looks to be shunting/switching. Far more of a challenge than sitting in the cab of a speeding locomotive watching the scenery go by...

[dlfrenchmd]

Is this kinda what you are looking for? Not hard in TSRE, but you need to set it up correctly for Open Rails, as Eric said above.
Dan

[SimonME30]

Wow, thanks for your responses, Eric & Dan.

Eric - I've started to create a route in the OpenRails Zig Zag download as it was 'known good', so copied the au_great_zig_zag Route and renamed it. I was then able to open it up and have a look. I just failed to be able to do even the most basic navigation....So I started a clean route, which I was able to open with world tiles, but I just completely failed to be able to do anything...I've attached screenshots of the Exploder..

Thanks Dan - I don't have sufficient permissions to access yur attachment

[SimonME30]

I got so excited to see a response, that I failed to answer some of your comments, Eric.

I decided to model this station as the working timetables for June 1954 were published in a model railway magazine in 1994, along with an explanation of how to interpret them. I've always loved passenger workings, and for the last 7 years have been involved in operating my own tour train in regional NSW. That was far too stressful, and thankfully that's now come to an end. SO back (finally) to the O gauge.

The nasty things I'm doing to OpenRails is to use it as my physics engine, running in 'headless physics only mode'.

The game changer for me has been AI helping me to do the code. Probably a terrible idea, but it was never going to happen without some kind of intelligence that I don't have, so artificial it is!

I've done a first nowRail ESP32 based handcontroller which has no screen, embedded physics, and steam loco style controls (5x BCD Thumbwheel switches for DCC locoAddr, regulator/reverser/brake/switches for maker lights/couplers etc...). That 'sketch' will shortly get upgraded to talk with OpenRails. So open rails will then tell nowRail what each locos speed, direction and reverser setting is (using DCC protocols, so it's not an orphan). Each loco will have a nowRail ESP32 'decoder' which will interpret the dcc commands. I've already done a 30 lever fully interlocked lever frame, which is broadcasting the facing point lock/point/signal commands over nowRail, and a mimic panel with 36 servos which has 2x nowRail ESP32 'accessory decoders' which are driving the servos via 3x PCA9685

I've always wanted impressive bass sound which is more than just the loco, and has the effect that after the train has passed, all you can hear is the carriages. So I've just done a project in Visual Studio to have an Array of 12x 3.5" speakers under the 7200mm scenic section of the layout. The project is like having 12x 'external cameras' spaced evey 600mm down the layout, and the relevant sound is played/panned through each speaker.

I've attached a top down sketch of the Speaker Layout. The speakers will be in 3x 100mm high x 400mm deep x 2400mm long 'cabinets', with horizontal baffles v'd out in front of each speaker. The baffles have engine room mass loaded vinyl sound proofing. The theory is that you can only really hear from the 2-3 speakers directly in front of you, so after the loco has gone past you, the volume of its exhaust should hopefully fade, rather than with DCC systems where I'd be able to hear the sound for the entire length of the layout. Hardware has been ordered, so far only the Motu UltraLite5 10 channel (+ headphones) mixer has turned up. Cables, Amplifiers and 3.5" drivers are on their way.

If I tell open rails that the storage yard is all at 1:50, it should keep the engine working hard as it continues to climb the 1:50 grade out of the station as it moves from right to left (even tho IRL the loco and carriages will be on the flat). And my under baseboard sound project will continue to play those sounds, but fading as the train exits audience left....

I'm planning to use timetable mode to set up as much of the sequence as I can.

But the big blocker at this point is the Route, which I'm hoping Dan might have smacked out in no time!

So that's a bit of an expansion of my game plan....

[SimonME30]

I can now see your pic, Dan - yes indeed, thats all that I'm chasing, just the track, nothing else..

[dlfrenchmd]

That was pretty easy to do in TSRE. You do need Open Rails Content folder setup per Eric's tutorials, with his A tracks inside the global. The rest is just learning the ins and outs of TSRE which for me took a while but the tutorials/ manual on it is quite adequate.
Dan

[SimonME30]

Thanks Dan, I'm giving it another DIY crack.

Its the basic navigation that is killing me. Just trying to work out some basic stuff, like how to navigate.

For my Lat 53.7953, Long -1.74169, my x & Y position is x=-6099, y=15040 - I'm guessing the x & y somewhat equate to the lat/long.

I finally worked out mouse left (or was it right) button and scroll got me an overhead camera. Now I understand that the arrows move the camera forwards and backwards, so I'm starting to understand the navigation.

In rather exciting news (for me) I've found that in 2019, on a very old laptop, I downloaded the complete Worth Valley & Quensbury Triangle route for MSTS, which starts out at my station. With full scenery and everything. So hopefully I can correct a track layout issue, which stems from an Ordinance Survey Map error, and get cracking with having a digital twin of my model railway!

[dlfrenchmd]

Don't give up! It took me a while to get the hang of it (witness my early posts for help), but the manual is very good. I also used Michael Vone's "Step By Step Guide to Building Routes for Microsoft Train Simulator" which I found superb, although there are differences for TSRE and OR.

[SimonME30]

Well I'm making progress of sorts. I've made a copy of the Huddersfield and Environs LMS 1930's route.

I've been able to work out the Nav box to jump to Bradford (Exchange) station. I can move around now. I have selected track objects that don't follow the prototype and set them aside in a pile. I've managed to delete a bit of track, and then put it back.

Dumb questions that AI can't seem to answer, and which aren't at https://koniec.org/tsre5/recontrols.html

1. Route->Create Paths doesn't seem to be in my route menu, so how do I delete and create paths?
2. Are the paths the yellow fence like objects? I seem to be able to move bits of track out of the way and then delete them, but the yellow 'paths' seem happy to stay there. But they will need to move when I get the right track into place - I'm guessing there might be an autocreate routine now?
3. Any hot tips on creating a double slip - per the prototype photo, that item is missing from the Route.
4. Any hot tips on how to create points? the ones that were in the wrong place didn't come apart like I expected them to, with a frog section, switch blafdes etc.
5. Is there a way to change the gradient - I really want the 1:50 out of the station as that was a big feature, and it feels like the route has been modelled with it flat.

Any help greatly appreciated!

[kapitaen]

Paths must be created using OpenRails TrackViewer. The dark yellow lines are sidings. The light yellow lines are tsection lines. These must disappear when the tracks are deleted.
There are installation aids available at https://www.nklj.se/xtracks/.
Here is an example for a double slip: https://www.nklj.se/xtracks/document...ng2.htm#nr3173
TSRE Manual https://github.com/pwillard/TSRE5-Do...aster/book.pdf

Jan

[SimonME30]

Thanks Jan!

[SimonME30]

Geez this is a difficult UI. I've decided to start with a clean sheet...

Righto, I think I'm getting somewhere, by laying down my layout trackplan as 'texture' to enable me to place the track accurately - that only took a week to work out!

My understanding is that the max size of each square is 4096px x 4096px, and that's about 108.3M in full size terms. So I used Inkscape to resize my layout track centreline drawing to be 1mm = 1M for full size. For 0 gauge, I drew the layout at 1:1 to the actual layout, which has 10,795mm overall track length (layout itself is 11,055mm long. I then locked the aspect ratio and re-sized the whole thing at 43.5/1000, so ended up with 469.582mm which is the full length of the layout if it was full size. I then carved that up into 108.3mm x 108.3mm squares. I exported those squares at 4096px @ 960.65dpi. So I had 5x texture squares.

Now to lay the track over the lot (fingers crossed)

Screenshot 2026-02-08 162209.png

[SimonME30]

OK, got some track laid, but the nodes are all over the place and I can't work out how to build or rebuild the paths. So I'm going to go and do some UI changes to trackviewer.

Screenshot 2026-02-08 215743.png Screenshot 2026-02-08 220356.png

[eric]

Learn to trust your eyes more than the Trackviewer.

I've been looking at path creation in TSRE. No promises, though.

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