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This has been puzzling me for some time now and it was not until today, helping a friend locate an Automatic Switch in the Default Marias, left in it by the 2001 update Zip which was supposed to remove them all, that the Penny / Cent dropped. He is only just starting with MSTS and once more familiar with it will progress to the MARIAS PASS-3.1 ! Having been given the Co-ords of the switch it was easy to locate it in the RE and replace it with a Manual one. But close to it were other Manual ones, linked to Signals and best left alone in the RE, should they need to be replaced for whatever reason.This got me thinking about doing it by locating a switch in the WORLD file and then amending the Route's Tracks Database Tsection.dat.So what is the common denominator shared by all ? It's the CAMERA parameters, as demonstrated below.Most of you will of course be aware of this but others, like myself, not quite up to speed in that area may not be ! O t t oLooking for this Automatic switch in all the Route Riter un-compressed WORLD files, using UltraEdit-32's "Find in Files / Folders" it found it in this Tile:Did an internal search in that World Tile and here it is:Realised later, carrying on by going into the RE again, that entering the WORLD Tile's and "Position" details into the "CAMERA" window's boxes and Jump, I finished up right on top of the switch in question, at almost track level.Ignore that I was already looking at that switch before entering the WORLD Tile and Positions details.Zooming out to get to see all of the switch and looking at it's "Properties" I noticed that it's "Position" details were the same as the WORLD Tile's "Position" ones, also to be found in the Tracks Database !!!
I tried using the Route Riter "replace shapes in W" for that, replace all the autoswitch shapes with manual switches. The actual shape itself is replaced, since all switches now have the manual throw lever, but the ones that were previously automatic are still automatic, can't be thrown in an activity. Apparently the automatic versus manual info is entered into the TDB somewhere, and just replacing the shape file name don't change that.
Jim, all "Automatic" Switches can be turned into "Manual" ones by adding the line hight-lighted in RED to their Tsection.dat entries.But that would make them "Manual" in all Routes and also not show their switch handles. Did that and all the switches in the default MSTS USA1 / NEC were Manual ! TrackShape ( 216 FileName ( A1tPnt10dRgtMnl.s ) NumPaths ( 2 ) MainRoute ( 0 ) ClearanceDist ( 26 ) SectionIdx ( 1 0 0 0 0 179 ) SectionIdx ( 2 0 0 0 0 183 176 ) ManualJunctionShape ( ) )There does not seem to be any reference in either the WORLD files nor the Route's Tracks Database indicating whether a switch is Manual or not. That seems to be determined when MSTS loads a Route and checks the Switches File Names listed in the WORLD files against the Tsection.dat ?As we said before, all this could be so much simpler if any track item's default purpose could be overridden in the RE, such as "Overhead - Y/N", "Manual - Y/N", "Rails Texture - 1/2/3", Trackbed Texture - 1/2/3", etc, staying like chosen last until changed again to make it easier to place multiples of them.O t t o
Did an internal search in that World Tile and here it is:
Realised later, carrying on by going into the RE again, that entering the WORLD Tile's and "Position" details into the 
Zooming out to get to see all of the switch and looking at it's "Properties" I noticed that it's "Position" details were the