220hotwheels

Hi Goetz I have ben playing around with all sorts since my last message and have now got the barriers to come down when they should and go up when they should the only problem now is that each train as it triggers the action causes the barriers to go up and down so I have ended up with the equivalent of a Greek police man directing traffic and barriers going up and down as if chopping meat. It's quite comical really but for tonight I have decided that I cannot cope with any more humour, my sides just won't take any more laughter so I'll take another look tomorrow to see if I can see my next errors. I would be quite happy to send you a copy of this amusing operation, I feel a bit like Inspector Clouseau, but I'm not quite sure how best to do so. I can't send you the whole mbp as it's over 5250kb so I might just have to redo a test layout tomorrow and send that. For now I will lay down my truncheon, hang up my handcuffs and call it a day!!! Cheers Pete

Hi Goetz I've just been working through my EV in an effort to try to provide you with more detail. I began by looking at the four barriers, which I have in two groups but all four have the same variable "DECBARRIER. In carrying out this little exercise I noted that this variable is a keyword and I now wonder if it should be a number. I'll try that and see if it solves the problem. My only other thought is whether I should have all four barriers in just one group? Kind regards Pete

Hi Goetz Having got to grips with the basics of level crossing barrier control, thanks to your advice and example, I now have the challenge of adapting this to cope with multiple tracks. Sorting it out so that any train on any track operates the barriers and controls the vehicles was not so difficult but I now seem to be getting in a bit of a muddle trying to adjust this so that the barrier will only go up and the vehicles start to move after the last train has passed. I have taken the liberty to attach my efforts thus far which have been based on the assumption that each train would have to add '1' to the crossing barriers as they approach and a minus'1' as they leave so that when '0' is reached the barriers can go up and the vehicles start to move. Clearly I have not got this right and am not sure how to achieve this. Might I call upon your expertise for more guidance please. Kind regards Pete

Well in a way I'm glad it did do it for you in V7 although I had hoped that my skills for messing things up was a unique skill solely attributable to me. Just goes to show that I'm not alone in the messing up department!! whether by chance , over enthusiasm, through a unique skill or just plain carelessness. I think I like the unique skill the most!! Kind regards Pete

Hi Many thanks for your thoughts and the clip. That you have not been able to reproduce this in V7 is surprising. I seem to be able to make all kinds of mistakes in just about every version of the program that I have had, V4,V5,V6 and V7. It must just be one of my many talents!!! Kind regards Pete

Hi Goetz Many thanks for that. It certainly explains what I might be doing to cause this so I will have to be more careful in the future and take your advice with regard to recording via either Windows or Nvidia. It has taken me almost one hour to correct these errors, which is an hour I could have spent on more productive activities. That said it's all part of the learning curve!!! Kind regards Pete

Hi everyone I wonder if anyone else has found that some TC's seem to magically move off track every now and then. Perhaps it is something that I am doing that makes this happen. The only conclusion in that regard so far is that when moving my mouse over the layout I am inadvertently catching an object and causing it to move but it would seem to be rather coincidental that it only seems to affect TC's and the occasional piece of track. All of that said I have also noted that some cargo pads, locked to waggons, also seem to move every now and then and those are definitely not through anything that I have caught inadvertently. I am generally curious to know why this might happen and is there a solution short of applying some Gorilla glue!!!! Kind regards Pete

Hi Herman I do agree with you that there are lots of very interesting post especially with regard to V7. My personal; view, although I only have V4,5 and 6 as comparisons is that V7 is by far the most exiting. There's lots to get used to but ultimately once these new skills have been mastered, even to a degree, the scope for improvement to layouts from earlier versions is really exiting. Currently I am remodelling one that I started in V4, which remained unfinished, when I was just a raw beginner but with the help of friends on the forum I have been able to make such improvements. Roundabouts though still pose one of my items to solve at some point. Kind regards Pete

Hi Herman Only just picked up your post. I am not very good at explaining how things work but might I suggest you take a look at an item I posted earlier "reversing out of a parking bay". I think the answer that you are seeking might well lie in this item with the solution provided by @simonjackson1964with a comment by @Goetz. I now have the problem solved. My next dilemma is roundabout control. At the moment I have just too many very poor drivers who just don't want to give way. But that is a problem for another day. Hope the above helps. Kind regards Pete

Hi Simon Pure genius, that's all I have to say on the subject. Having followed your example to the letter I now have a properly working parking area. I'll now add a few more vehicles to the pot plus a police patrol vehicle and see if I can eliminate road rage and the odd collision. At least I now have a blueprint from which to experiment. Many thanks for your guidance. Pete

Hi Simon I have tried the option of clicking the target section in the properties tab, made no difference. Your second option is, to me, just a bit too technical unless I am reading too much into the way forward with it. My solution has been to delete all of the EV relating to that particular operation. This might seem radical but so far, fingers crossed it does seem to have got rid of that b----y route, so I'll start again, set a route from the car park exit round a test route and back to the stop point in the parking area. From that point I will adopt your suggestion to set the relevant targets to reverse out and to then proceed to the track contact just before the one currently set as the start point for the auto route. I hope that works. If not then the auto route is out completely and I will simply set a number of targets for the car to hop from one to the other. The latter we know will work from your demo but it seems a shame not to take advantage of the new auto routing system. I'll let you know how I get on. Pete

Silly me, I forgot to attach the screenshot showing the problem route. Pete

Good morning one and all, @simonjackson1964 @Dad3353 Your solutions seem to hit the mark. I cannot wait to put them fully into practice. I do seem to have one issue though that I just have not been able to resolve. I have a small section of route selected via the auto route system and I just cannot get rid of it. I've tried replacing each of the contacts, the road sections and the vehicle but all to no avail. The problem seems to be that as soon as the contact to start that route is tripped then the route is initialised and all other routes are deleted, anyone know why? If I set up another independent route it does not delete the old one!!! Before I can fully appreciate the genius of your joint efforts I need to get rid of that b-----dy route. Pete

Now that's sound perfect. I have been experimenting too but only to se if I can incorporate the "autopilot" system in conjunction with your solution. Both systems work absolutely fine, to a point. Your bit is no problem but I am having real problems with the auto routing. I can set the start point, set the route all the way round to the parking bay. However, in my earlier experiments I set a short auto route from the equivalent of your contact 0 to the parking bay contact 1 and I cannot for the life of me get rid of it. The problem now is that the vehicle follows the little green line all the way round the given route but as soon as it get to contact 0 the short route takes over and the full route is deleted. The same thing happens when the vehicle reverses out of the parking bay and hits the stop contact 2. Perhaps after I have slept on this I might see the solution. Either that or I will have to duplicate this part of my layout in a demo one and try that one instead until I get it right. Pete

Hi Simon Well you're right it does work brilliantly. Hmmm, so much for the auto routing system. No doubt as I begin to tweak things on my layout it will be possible to mix and match but for now your solution is Numero Uno. I have a few thoughts that might help with the poor driver behaviour so if I get those to work then I'll let you know. Otherwise I plan to sell all of my shares in the 3D Train Studio driver insurance company and set up a vehicle repair shop!!! Once again many thanks for your assistance. Pete

Hi Neo In that case all I can do is wait until it happens again and then see if I can locate the errors log at that time and send it through to you. Kind regards Peter

Hi Neo I've worked through the directories as your suggested and got to 3-Modellbahn Studio V7 but the only sub directories are Cache, Catalog and settings.xml plus of course my backup file and mbp file for the layout. Would you be so kind as to advise where I might find the errors.log please. Kind regards Pete

Hi Simon Just picked up your solution so will give it a try tomorrow. By the looks of it it should solve my problems so many thanks for that. Pete

@Neo Hi Neo I have been experiencing occasional program crashes since upgrading to V7, in much the same way that I did with V6 after upgrading to that version. I have sent an explanation via the site but thought the attached screenshot might help. When it has appeared before I have not been quick enough to capture the screenshot. I had been working in the program, saved what I had done and updated my *.mbp file, so nothing lost. I simply minimized the screen so it sat on my task bar and went into Google to sort out some emails etc. When I closed Google I had the error message that I replied to and after sending that I clicked on the 3D icon in the task bar and was greeted with the info as per the screenshot. Back in the program everything is fine, nothing lost but clearly there is an issue somewhere. Unfortunately I would be unable to send you my mbp file as it is now around 5200kb unless there is some other way that I can send it to you. I do also run a regular backup copy as well but that is now over 6000kb Your thoughts on this anomaly would be very much appreciated. Kind regards Peter

Hi Goetz That's absolutely no problem. Only when it fits in will be absolutely fine. I am in no particular rush, just like to solve problems at some point. For now I need to spend some time on the airport taxiways, and much more to achieve a more realistic airport. Your advice at some point, when it is convenient, will be brilliant. I hope you enjoy your visit with your Dad. Kind regards Pete

@GoetzHi Goetz I have another issue that I would like your help with please. Having introduced an airport into my layout I am in the process of sorting out passenger parking. The layout itself seems straightforward, setting the test route seems straightforward. The test car stops in the appropriate parking bay and after a given period of time will reverse out of the bay ready to continue on it's way. However instead of continuing it simply goes back into the parking bay. I have tried several different options but all to no avail. Clearly with V6 it would simply be a case of set the switch for parking bay D4 from 1 to 0 but that does not seem possible with V7. I have tried my Hercule Poirot bit within EV but nothing seems to solve this issue. Clearly there is a solution but I cannot find it . Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction please. Kind regards Pete

Hey, don't worry. I can take it. I do so appreciate your guidance in these matters. I have been pondering on and off during the afternoon and come to the conclusion that MBS is a bit like a murder mystery movie or book. The obvious is never the answer, you need to dig deeper and use the "little grey cells" more. Perhaps that's one reason there is no detailed manual, we are all being trained to be investigators!!!!! That so then it's not a bad thing. Kind regards Pete

Many thanks for that. I tried all sorts to try to get the same wording on that particular section as in the example from Brummi but all I got was either target speed or automatic deceleration but not both. Obviously I did not know where else to find the right wording. Now I do. I am most grateful. I take your point too about looking for the new rather than concentrating on the old. The more knowledge I gain the wider will be my search method, so onwards and upwards, as they say. Progress can be very addictive once you have mastered the overall concept. Kind regards Pete

Hi Goetz There is always something no matter how careful I think I've been. Anyway many thanks for spotting that. I've made the relevant change, if that is all I needed to do, but still nothing works. Perhaps I have upset the railway unions!! or just plain clumsy somewhere else in my EV. Now that won't be the first time!! I have taken the liberty to attach my updated version. As you can see my traffic lights are working perfectly. My next experiment in that area will be to try to ensure there are no pushy drivers wanting to cross lanes at the junction and thereby incurring the wrath of the insurance companies but before that perfect level crossings await. Pete traffic light and level crossing test layout.mbp

@Roter Brummerand @Goetz Good morning to you both As seems to be the way with me, I feel I have completed my current learning task regarding the level crossing aspect by accurately following the example supplied by you, Brummi, but clearly there has to be something that I have either got wrong or totally overlooked. The only bit that I know for sure that is not quite as shown in your example refers to the "set property/variable" for both closing and opening the barriers. In your example the property shows as "automatic deceleration (target speed) =0 or automatic deceleration (target speed)=50" but I have been unable to get this precis wording. I can locate either one or the other from the drop down menu but not both. Could this be the reason for things not working or is there something else. I have attached my result thus far and would appreciate you taking a look and letting me know what I am not seeing please. Many thanks Pete traffic light and level crossing test layout.mbp