Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler

LAST EDITED ON Feb-18-03 AT 09:33 AM (EDT)

OK, I know there was an issue with front couplers not working. As far as I know, this unit is just a re-skin of the BNSF unit that came with the game. If the front coupler works on the BNSF unit, why won't it work on the WSOR unit? I'm trying to use this loco as part of an activity I plan on setting up, but the front coupler won't hook up to a cut of cars. How do I fix this? Thanks.Shawn

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, Swissie, Feb-18-03, 09:45 AM, (1) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-18-03, 09:52 AM, (2) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, nscaler73, Feb-18-03, 10:07 AM, (3) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-18-03, 10:11 AM, (4) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-19-03, 07:24 AM, (5) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, Swissie, Feb-19-03, 07:51 AM, (6) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-19-03, 08:24 AM, (7) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-19-03, 08:27 PM, (8) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, Swissie, Feb-20-03, 07:16 AM, (9) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-20-03, 09:03 AM, (10) RE: Wisconsin Southern GP38 front coupler, shawnbecher, Feb-21-03, 07:15 AM, (11)

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

Hi ShawnI suggest you hit "ctrl" and numerical pad "+" to make the bounding boxes of the engine and the car visible (shows as red lines around the car / engine and defines which parts are "firm"). Both couplers should stick out of the BB to work. In case you see a culprit, use Bounding Box Editor (available in the file library) to correct it.If that's not the cure, it's up to someone else for the next hint.Lukas a.k.a Swissie

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

OK, I'll have to try that.There was one other thing that struck me as being odd. When I tried to couple up to the cut of cars, I couldn't even push them, as though their brakes were on full. It was only 4 cars, so I would think a GP38 would be able to push them somewhat, but they wouldn't budge.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Not being able to push the cars is part of the front coupler bug.
Until that works properly, or at least as good as it can, you will still have a problem pushing those cars.
Rich

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

OK, thanks for the info. I was finally able to move the cars, but not very far. I hit them at about 50mph - then they moved

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

OK, I checked the bounding box on this loco, and both couplers do stick out of the box. Now what do I do??

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Hi Shawn,- as mentioned by Rich above, it might be the so-called "front coupler" bug in general, which seems to prevent proper use of front couplers on some engines. I don't know of a cure to that other than to search forums for additional tipps. - Just to be on the safe side, do also check the bounding box of the car you want to couple up to, as I am not sure from your mail if you just checked the engine, or the cars also. Many 86ft autoracks, for instance, have a problem with the BB (got that hint from Kevin a while ago, and since redid them on my copy).Lukas a.k.a Swissie

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Yup, I did only check the loco. I'll have to check that car. Thanks for reminding me.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

OK, I checked the last car in the consist, and the bounding box extends past both couplers. If I decouple from it, I cannot recouple to it. I've never edited a bounding box. Anyone have any tips? Thanks.Shawn

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Hi Shawn, there is a useful tool in the library, called the bounding box editor. Just download it, open the offending car in BBEdit and then the program should highlite the offending values. It will offer to fix it for you.No need to mess with the data yourself, otherwise you would need to have a look at the Bounding Box line in the car's .sd file. There are some posts on editing Bounding Boxes, some recent ones by Kevarc, if I'm remembering that correctly. Do a search on the fora here for details.So now that we nailed down the culprit, hope you'll get it up and running with this helpLukas a.k.a Swissie

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Thanks Swissie. I'll have to try that when I get home tonight.Shawn

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

I downloaded BBoxEdit, but it wouldn't automatically fix the problem. I made a couple of educated guesses, saved the file, then went into TS to test. About 5 minutes later, I had the right combination of numbers on the car's length. It works now. Thanks to all who've helped.Shawn

Alert | IP

[ Home | MSTS Forum | MSTS FAQ | File Library ] Copyright © 2002 by Nels Anderson. All Rights Reserved.