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ChckHbrt (577 posts)
Apr-06-02, 02:42 AM (EST) "Tutorial to fix cabview for longhood forward operation" I put this little tutorial together after reading belugas post in this forum. Just follow the instructions and you too can fix your cabview.There are three ways to fix the cabview for longhood forward operation:1. Edit the shape file by rotateing the locomotive on the "Y" axis or pivot 180 degrees. I have not done this myself, but a couple of people I have talked to say this can be difficult.2. Swap out shape files. This works if someone has repainted the same type of locomotive and fixed the shape file. This method works and is easy to do only as long as someone has already fixed the shape file for long hood forward or visa versa operation. Simply replace the shape file and rename it to the model you want change hood orientation on. This is only good on the exact same type of locomotive.Methods one and two will also fix the reverser orientation, reverser to forward for long hood forward operation.3. Fix the cabview .cvf file. This method is desirable if 1 and 2 above are not possible. This is the method we will concentrate on for this tutorial. It is easy do and anyone can do it. However it does not fix reverser orientation, reverser will have to be set to reverse for longhood forward operation.For this illistration I will be using Jason Cornells' Norfolk Southern GP40H locomotive and two different types of cabs, the supplied GP38 cabview and the NALW GP9 cabview. Very nice weathering on the NS GP40 IMHO.This is what we have after building a consist in the editer and flipping the loco with the right mouse button. We have long hood forward operation:
but we have a rearward facing cabview:
This is the supplied GP38 cabview
open the cabview .cvf file with wordpad and edit the indicated direction line to rotate the cabview 180 degress: Tr_CabViewFile (
CabViewType ( 2 )
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\GP38Frnt.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 43 0 597 412 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndFrn.ace" )
Position ( 1 3.7 6 )
Direction ( 10 -180 0 )<=====Edit this line, middle set of numbers to 180 or -180=====>
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\GP38Left.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 0 0 640 301 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndLft.ace" )We now have a forward facing cabview, only problem is, there is no center wall as on a cab for a high hood:

I do not have the Dekosoft highood cab, so I will be using the NALW GP9 cab. This is what we get after swapping the cabview for a high hood cabview. The cabview still faces rearward because the locomotive is not oriented for longhood forward operation on the shape file:
If we edit the same line to 180 degees we get this. This is not desirable:

Open the NALW GP9 cabview .cvf file and edit the idicated direction line to 169.7 degrees.
CabViewType ( 2 )
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\Common.cab\\GP9\\gp9-Front1024.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 43 0 597 412 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndFrn.ace" )
Position ( .75 3.7 6 )
Direction ( 10.0 169.7 -2 )<=====Edit this line middle set of numbers to 169.7=====>
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\Common.cab\\GP9\\gpseries-Left.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 0 0 640 301 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndLft.ace" )This is much better but skewd to the left:
So we edit another line, position, in the same file to -.60:
CabViewType ( 2 )
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\Common.cab\\GP9\\gp9-Front1024.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 43 0 597 412 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndFrn.ace" )
Position ( -.60 3.7 6 )<====Edit this line first set of numbers to -.60=====>
Direction ( 10.0 169.7 -2 )
CabViewFile ( "..\\..\\Common.cab\\GP9\\gpseries-Left.ace" )
CabViewWindow ( 0 0 640 301 )
CabViewWindowFile ( "..\\..\\GP38\\cabview\\AcWndLft.ace" )We now get this, much better:

If we edit the direction line further, last number to -2, this will correct the "Z" axis or clockwise, counterclockwise roll. After we fixed the cab, we need to fix the headout on the engine file. Open the engine file with wordpad and edit the headout line to:
CabView ( GP9-wdb.cvf )
HeadOut ( -1.7 3.4 5.7 )<====This line first set of numbers by adding a (-) minus in front of the 1.7=====>OK, we have fixed the cabview, however, as mentioned above, the reverser is not repairable except for fixing the shape file. You will have to set the reverser to reverse to drive the loco long hood forward. The above methods will work with any loco and cabview. The numbers will/may be different for the different cabs. If someone wants to send me the Dekosoft high hood cab, I will rework the numbers and post here.EnjoyChuck Hebert chuck@jarc.biz
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