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Hi all,Just a quick question that i'd like to ask you. I'm not sure if this has previously been asked . . .sorry if it has.1) Can you actually use the turntables in the Train Sim. If so what key commands etc.AND2) When building a route what do you need to do to them to get them working.Thanks in advanceKristian
Hi Kristian:The short answer: You can't.Working (i.e. rotating) turntables are not possible with the current MSTS version.A not-so-great option:Best you can do is position the turntable and an engine house in the Route Editor so that you can lay a piece of track straight across the turntable and into the engine house. That way, you can at least run an engine across the turntable and into the engine house. This will take some familiarity with Route Editor as well as some skill at track laying and structure placement.Good luck!Andre Ming
Hi Kristian,As you guessed, this question has been asked many times before.1. It would be possible to make a turntable turn (not the ones supplied with MSTS though) 2. However the route the train takes can not be moved (Trains do not follow the rails, they are only graphics)Therefore you can only use turntables as static objects in your route.
If the gurus can find a solution for flashing water (no pun intended), I think eventually they will find a way to make turntables and three-way switches work. It appears that nothing is impossible for this group.Cal Rasmussen Beaverton, OR cal.rasmussen@verizon.netColumbia Gorge Route (Phase 1 track completed. Taking a TSM break!)
Sorry to burst your bubble Cal, but while there is much that has been done with the graphics, and undoubtedly much more that will be, the track database is extremely static and defines a static path through the scenery. A rotating turntable on which an active locomotive would also rotate is not going to happen in this version of MSTS. Somebody who is really good with animation could make an animated object that consisted of all the right parts and pieces, and it could look for all the world like a working turntable, with a locomotive that rides the turntable, but it would only be a scenery object, not a track section.Three-way switches on the other hand are completely do-able, without any issues from the trailing side. The problem, again unsolvible in this version of MSTS due to hard coded "mistakes" is that only two of the three outlets can be selected from the facing side.So in MSTS V2.x, perhaps we will have a working switch indicator that will always show the diverging route on the correct side and offer the possibility of three outlets, and a track database structure that opens the possibilities of working turntables. But don't hold your breath waiting for somebody to solve the problems within the present version of MSTS.On the other hand, I would be glad to be proven wrong.David Beach.Palouse & LewistonRoute Building 1% Completed Route Mapping 10% Completed Route Photo Map 100% Completed (Now, Can I make the Railroad Profile match the photo map?)
Standardized \global\tsection.dat file now at build00011.
Sorry, David. I was not implying it would be solved by hacking data files. It would probably take some hacking of the program code to do it. I don't know if anyone has decompiled any of the code.Regarding the three-way, isn't it really just two two-way switches with the points very close together. If you approach it from that point of view, I would think it is very doable. When I had an HO scale MR layout, I had a three-way switch leading to a three-stall roundhouse. If you just glanced at it, it truly looked three-way. But upon closer inspection, there are two sets of points controlled separately. There are probably some problems with this approach that I have overlooked. Maybe there is a minimum distance between two sets of points in order for them to work.Cal Rasmussen Beaverton, OR cal.rasmussen@verizon.netColumbia Gorge Route (Phase 1 track completed. Taking a TSM break!)
As far as I can tell, any 3-way switch would have to be two 2-way in close succession, but that could be a separation of millimeters or less. The much bigger problem, approaching from the points end, is that you presently only have control of the next point. For that to work realistically in the sim, you would probably need 5 to 10 meters between points to be able to control the second one. At that point you have two overlapping 2-way, not a 3-way.I don't consider hacking the source code a viable means of dealing with the problems with this program, besides I'm sure it would violate the EULA (for what ever that might be worth). The whole thing is such a fragile hack anyhow, I wouldn't trust anybody's hack of the hack.David Beach.Palouse & LewistonRoute Building 1% Completed Route Mapping 10% Completed Route Photo Map 100% Completed (Now, Can I make the Railroad Profile match the photo map?)
Standardized \global\tsection.dat file now at build00011.
Have to agree with David, hacking MSTS is not an option. I seriously doubt anyone could implement a working turntable by reverse enginering and then I'm a pretty good programmer. Three-way switches are possible the way David says and one is included with XTracks. Placing two switches after each other is also possible, in v3.4 the new scale switches have a straight of only one meter and that works. Problem is you have to go slow in order to be able to select path in the second switch because there is a very small window when you can toggle that using the 'G' key.
Route Building 1% Completed