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gxm149 (143 posts)
Mar-08-02, 11:58 AM (EST) "Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" Ok guys, I think I finally have been able to get the NEC extension to work with the NEC 2.0 with the help of someone who wrote me saying he had been able to do it. What I did was first install the NEC 2.0 into the default USA1 folder. I then installed the NEC Extension onto the NEC 2.0 folder like normal. When I go into the Train Simulator program, I seem to be able to run from the extension right onto the NEC 2.0. There are many new mileposts and signals, every 1 or 2 miles than in the default route so it seems this is the NEC 2.0 I am running on. There are also alot of new stations on the normal section of the NEC leading me to believe the NEC 2.0 is working. The only problem I have encountered so far is new platforms (station names) are not showing up in the program, only the original station names and the North Philadelphia one. Other than that the two routes seem to be working together. I need someone else to try this and see if they can do the same. Back up your route first though just to be safe. If this truly is working then I will try to get the information for the stations that were added in the NEC 2.0 and add them in sometime while working on the extension so that they can be used. I hope this is useful to everyone out there and that it works on everyone's computer and not just mine. Hopefully this will allow the NEC 2.0 and the NEC Extension to work together with each other. Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Motley24Crue2 Mar-09-02 1 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... KC_Jones Mar-09-02 2 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... gxm149 Mar-09-02 3 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... KC_Jones Mar-09-02 4 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Vince Mar-09-02 5 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... RonA Mar-09-02 6 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Motley24Crue2 Mar-10-02 8 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... RonA Mar-10-02 10 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Motley24Crue2 Mar-10-02 11 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... RonA Mar-11-02 15 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Motley24Crue2 Mar-10-02 7 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... cphowells Mar-10-02 9 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... Motley24Crue2 Mar-10-02 12 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... gxm149 Mar-11-02 13 RE: Using the NEC Extension with th... gxm149 Mar-11-02 14

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Motley24Crue2 (427 posts)
Mar-09-02, 02:13 AM (EST) 1. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" Signals 1 to 2 miles apart? ahh i guess there that close well around me there is a Set at Front street then for the outbound Trafic a set at Frankford Jct. "Castor Ave" for inbound trafic then another Signal at about Adems ave and Torresdale for outbound then one at Wissinoming station for inbound so i guess there about 2 miles apart, my guess is Closer to 2 miles apart or farther Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
KC_Jones (80 posts)
Mar-09-02, 02:29 AM (EST) 2. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" >gxm149 wrote:
>
>Hopefully this will allow the NEC 2.0 and the NEC Extension to work together with each otherThat would be really great if you can get it all ironed out.I am currently working with all the NEC routes and have managed to get the default NEC and the NECv2.0 to co-exist, along with all the activities. My next step was to try to get NEC with your extension to co-exist as a third NEC route. But if you are going to get the combo of NECv2.0 with your extension to work then maybe I should wait. Ultimately I would like to have just two versions installed. Those would be the default and the NECv2.0 or v2.1 combined with your extension(s), call it the NECv3.x.Steve
a.k.a. KC_Jones Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
gxm149 (143 posts)
Mar-09-02, 01:28 PM (EST) 3. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" KC_Jones, the extension adds on to the default route without changing anything on the default route itself. Therefore you could just use the extension and the NEC 2.0 which means you only really need 2 NEC routes on your hard drive. Like I said, the NEC extension just adds on to the default route without changing anything on the route Microsoft supplied other than letting you keep going on it. Motley24Crue2, I am talking about south of the 30th Street Station. By installing the NEC 2.0 first and then installing the NEC extension into the NEC 2.0 route, it appears that when you go south from 30th Street station you go onto the NEC 2.0 route since the added scenery for the Septa stations, the extra mileposts which are very frequent, and the extra signals all seem to be there from the NEC 2.0 route. The only bug seems to be that the platfroms for the stations added in the NEC 2.0 appear to be missing. So other than that the extension seems to be working with the NEC 2.0 route. If we have to we can always create a patch to add in the platforms later to make it 100% compatible. We should wait to do this though until the Extension project is done or at a point where we can take a break from working on it. Like when we get it to NYC. That way we don't have to completely add all of the Septa and MARC stations everytime we have a release. But the main thing is that it appears that it can be done and the NEC 2.0 can work with the extension. It appears that alot of the track and scenery data are stored in the tile files themselves making this possible. This also means that it may be possible to combine other routes as well as long as you don't mind replacing some of your platforms. Not sure about that but it seems that since I can get the NEC 2.0 and the extension working together then it may be possible to get other routes to work together as well. Bye the way Motley24Crue2, someone finally uploaded some SEPTA equipment. I know you were looking for some, so go and download it and enjoy. I also noticed that they are using our NEC Extension project since the screenshots were taken up in North Philadelphia by Broad Street That was kind of cool getting to see some SEPTA stuff on the Extension. Thank you to whoever created this train. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
KC_Jones (80 posts)
Mar-09-02, 01:49 PM (EST) 4. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" All sounds great, guys! Keep up the good work.So as not to deceive anyone, I'm not working on the routes, i'm no routebuilder, merely with the files. Someone else was saying you can't have default NEC and NECv2.0 as seperate installed routes. I did some experimenting and was able to get both versions installed and get the activities to run.I'm not clear on this, but are you saying I can go ahead and add your extension to v2.0 or should I be waiting for something new in the file downloads?

Steve
a.k.a. KC_Jones Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Vince (113 posts)
Mar-09-02, 03:48 PM (EST) 5. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" GXM149 & MotleyCrue this is for you:
Andy Pratt who independently coded an upgrade to the NEC kindly provided this link:

http://www.blockstation.net/AMTK-Phila-Div-index.htmlwhich are circa 1992 actual track diagrams of the NEC from Trenton to Philadelphia to Washington AND Philadelphia to Harrisburg.The diagrams were drawn by an Amtrak towerman.
Along with the track diagrams are photos of some of the tower interlocking machines.I am working to combine Andy's NEC (unrealeased) with Bill Knowles v2.1 (also unrealeased) route. This will accuratly model the track, signaling, sidings and stations on the Philadelphia Washington portion of the NEC. This will be released as NECv3.0 and should be compatable with GXM149's NEC extension...I hope.Regards,
Vince Cockeram
NEC Track Team
vcockeram@lvcm.com Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
RonA (57 posts)
Mar-09-02, 07:34 PM (EST) 6. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" LAST EDITED ON Mar-09-02 AT 07:36 PM (EST)Wow. This is fantastic news all around. I hope everyone is starting to combine or coordinate their ideas - as a single, all-encompassing NEC route would be the best possible development for MSTS. Besides, you are all working hard, and it would be a shame to be overlapping your efforts.BTW, MotleyCrue, do you still have plans to do the line west to Reading that I believe you mentioned in a previous post? If so, I volunteer to be a beta-tester, and I can provide some route photography if you'd like.Thanks to everyone for their hard work!
Ron A Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Motley24Crue2 (427 posts)
Mar-10-02, 00:56 AM (EST) 8. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" RonAim planning on adding that into the NEC since it passes under it twice on the way to Front Street as well as Connections to the Frankford Yard if I Don't add it onto the NEC im going to do it as a Separate route. if i could get a hold of track diagrams for that route that would be a great help i do know it is Double track pretty much the entire way except for the Doylestown branch which is almost all single track "With run-arounds" Bob
Philadelphia, Pa Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
RonA (57 posts)
Mar-10-02, 02:41 PM (EST) 10. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" Bob,
Sorry to be so clueless......
Are you refering to the present R5 Septa line, or the former North Penn branch of the Reading RR ? Kind of the same thing, but they branch off from each other in Lansdale.The "new" NEC sounds really great.
Ron A Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Motley24Crue2 (427 posts)
Mar-10-02, 04:08 PM (EST) 11. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" im referring to the entire line including the Branch off of the R5 Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
RonA (57 posts)
Mar-11-02, 08:01 PM (EST) 15. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" My work schedule is pretty bad this week, but if you're not in a huge hurry, I'll try to pull some info together for you by the weekend. This was going to be one of my projects in my "spare time" (ha!); and while I don't have an official track diagram, I do have drawings and photos of my own making. I'll try to add some to it, and forward to your attention as quickly as I can. I'm sure you've got plenty to keep you busy in the meantime!
Ron A Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Motley24Crue2 (427 posts)
Mar-10-02, 00:47 AM (EST) 7. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" VinceLooking at these Maps makes me want to Completly redo what i have so far granted im pretty Accurate but a lot has been left out.
Thank you for these Maps they will be a Great help Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
cphowells (6 posts)
Mar-10-02, 12:38 PM (EST) 9. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" Hello,I successfully installed the NEC extension on NEC 2.0. I’m currently driving a test run of a GG1 northward from 30th Street Station.Thanks to all those involved in both projects,- Walter Conklin Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Motley24Crue2 (427 posts)
Mar-10-02, 04:48 PM (EST) 12. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" gxm149do you want to take another crack at this with these diagrams ?
because if so it would be interesting to also include the "upper Level" of 30th street station which is Septa Trackage Bob
Philadelphia, Pa Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
gxm149 (143 posts)
Mar-11-02, 08:59 AM (EST) 13. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" Motley24Crue2, thanks for the diagrams I will have to take a look at them and see what I can do. In working on the 30th Street Station it became apparent that it was impossible to add the upper level with the Septa lines however. This is because of two major limitations in the sim. The first limitation is that the 30th Street Station building that Microsoft supplied doesn't cover the whole station, only the half of the station facing south that you approach when coming up from Washington. It took alot of careful placing of the station to get it to appear complete when approaching it from the north. Overall I managed to get it to look complete even though it is not 100% accurate due to this limitation. What this means however is that the Septa terminal was never included with the station Microsoft gave us. So in order to put it in you would have to drive your trains through a cement wall which probably wouldn't be too good of a thing. The other reason it was not included in the extension was that I ran out of objects that I could place on the particular tile that the yard is on. Each of the tiles on a route has a limit to the number of objects that you can place on it and I unfortunately hit that limit on the 30th Street Station yard area. It is impossible to add any more objects to 30th Street Station or the yard without having it crash and destroy all of your route. I also had to leave out the High Line freight tracks that pass through the yard as well because of this. That is why the freight line wasn't in the original release of the NEC extension, because the program couldn't handle it. Because of this I planned to add it in just past the North Philadelphia station for the next release where it is a little less complex than by 30th Street Station. Unfortunately the Microsoft Train Simulator program wasn't designed to handle a yard area as complex as this. I will take a look at your track diagrams however and see if I can use them to improve the 30th Street Station yard. I am not sure how much I will actually be able to change though because of these limitations built into the Train Simulator program however. But I will see if anything can be done. I will also have to wait for you to get done the section you are working on Motley24Crue2 in order to make sure any changes I make will be compatible with what you have done. When you get your section of the route built to the point where you are ready to take a break for a little bit and let me continue again then I will see what I can do when I start building it north again. Then I will look at the yard area and see what I can do with it. Thanks for the diagrams by the way and keep up the good work Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
gxm149 (143 posts)
Mar-11-02, 09:21 AM (EST) 14. "RE: Using the NEC Extension with the NEC 2.0 (I think I have it working)" LAST EDITED ON Mar-11-02 AT 09:22 AM (EST)KC_Jones, the NEC extension appears to work on both the default NEC route as well as the NEC 2.0 route. The only problem I have noticed with using it with the NEC 2.0 route is that some of the platforms (Station Names) of the new stations added on that route appear to be missing. But other than that it seems to work. The NEC extension was designed and built using the default NEC that shipped with the program so it would be best to use it on that route. But it appears to be able to work on both other than the patform issue on select stations. So you should be able to use it on both. I just hope it continues to work with the new NEC that the guys who created NEC 2.0 are working on. I think they said it will be NEC 3.0. If the extension can work on that as well it will be great. I hope that this answers your questions KC_Jones. Enjoy the route. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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