220hotwheels

Hi to all my fellow enthusiasts. The long awaited V7 version is now available so for those interested in the upgrade here is a link that will get you started. https://community.3d-modellbahn.de/wiki/allgemein/%C3%BCbersicht-%C3%BCber-die-neuen-funktionen-v7-r33/ Enjoy. I'm sure I will, from a brief glance there are some amazing treats in store. I only hope those with larger layouts such as mine have been accommodated. Only time will tell as I work through all of the goodies. Pete

Hi Hubert Once again many thanks for at least considering this for a potential future build. I fully understand that it is not a priority but just a small seed for possible future consideration. Kind regards Pete

@hubert.visschedijk Hi hubert As promised I have put together a few photo's for you to consider. I fully understand there is no obligation on your part and even if you were to consider producing anything along these lines it is likely to be well into the future, so many, many thanks for even considering this request. Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert Everything with me is usually by luck rather than good management, but hey if it works, no problem. Kind regards Pete

Hi Simon Many thanks for both of your replies. I assume Douglas will pick these up and comment further. This is not something that I am currently involved with but no doubt in the future I have this as a reference point. Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert I'd wondered how that element worked having noticed such items in earlier posts. What do they say "A day without learning is a day lost" true, but with such good members as there are in MBS then not many days are lost. Many thanks for the pointer. I will get back to you with those photo's a.s.a.p. By the way I have added street lighting to your suspension bridge. It looks great. See attached. Your comment regarding the third track in the ferry. I hadn't noticed but now you have pointed this out I will have to reconsider that aspect. Kind regards Pete

Hi Douglas A very good friend of mine has seen your post and sent me a solution that he feels will solve your predicament. I'm not sure if this message is a duplication of one that I was compiling several minutes ago so if it is then my apologies but I could not find how to include an attachment in that one so it might simply have been deleted. Anyway attached is what my good friend feels should be OK. None of this is my work, I'm not cleaver enough (yet), perhaps in another 5 years!!! Hope it helps. Kind regards Pete Signal Speed distribution.mbp

Hi Hubert Yep I agree the Titanic is good. Perhaps because it is less modern than your containership the appeal is not as intense but I only include in my layouts those models that I find really appealing so I think a good result all round. Over the next few days I will sort out some pictures of the two items that I mention in earlier posts for your consideration, and yes I do appreciate if you were to consider making such items that it will not be a quick result. As they say "patience is a virtue". I might not be all that virtuous but I can be very patient. Your MS Aguamarin 11 ferry is excellent. I like the fact that you can load both vehicles and containers so it will stay in the layout no matter what. Kind regards Pete

Just a short postscript to the above. I realise that Ferry 2 is your design too, I'm using that in my layout as you know but compared to the look of Containership Ituana it does not have quite the same visual appeal. Perhaps my view is wrong to compare the two but in my humble opinion the detail in Ituana is greater than in Ferry 2. Having now dug myself into a very large hole I will jump in and operate the digger by remote !!! kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert It has only just dawned on me that you are the author of the containership Ituana. The number of times I have looked at that in the catalogue without it actually registering who had produced it. May I say that in my humble opinion it is the best model boat in the catalogue. The detail is spectacular, and the overall design is so realistic. Much like your Shell tanker. If I had a request for you to consider for the future it would be for you to apply your brilliant design ability to creating a similarly realistic small cruiser and ferry. Whilst the ones currently available are pretty good if you were able to produce something as perfect as Ituana for those models then I for one would be eternally grateful. I've looked at programs such as blender, gulped, decided that I definitely do not have the skill set to produce anything other than perhaps a box, hmmmm., and closed the program, got myself a brandy to pacify my inadequacy and move back to creating scenery which is more my style. Anyway all of the above is just a thought but I admire your skill never the less. Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert Many thanks for that. I'll give it a try and yes I had renamed it as Fairmont suspension bridge. Kind regards Pete

Hi Douglas As I have said before All advice is most gratefully received. From comments that you have posted thus far I would have thought you to be pretty clued up on this intricate EM work!! After my last posting I decided to revisit the Wiki page and see if I can now make more sense of some of the advice. Despite knowing more than I did when I last looked I am still getting quite confused by some of the narrative largely because the screen shots provided are in German and therefore trying to match to the English equivalent that I use is proving to be less straight forward than it might be. I think this is why I basically went my own way, which yes it is very repetitive and also very time consuming. If I could get hold of a full English version of all of the screenshots that I can match to my own computer version then I might just get the hang of "proper EM work" a little faster. Who ever compiles the tutorials might take this difficulty on board for future versions. In the meantime I await with baited breath and a very keen interest for your suggested project advice. That you are taking the trouble to do this is very much appreciated. Many thanks Kind regards Pete

Hi Douglas I am please that you have found and been good enough to point out the error of my ways. In many comments that I have made on the forum I have described my methodology as rather akin to a Heath Robinson approach, relying a lot of Murphy's Law. Quite frankly as yet I really do not understand much to do with the use of variables, iteration, and as you so rightly reminded me earlier blocking signals. The problem for an old duffer like me is that if there's a simple way round a problem without having to use too much brain power to achieve a goal then that's the route I have taken. Not the most professional approach but as time goes on I try to gain just a bit more knowledge in order to move away from my rather ham fisted approach. Therefore ALL advice is greatly appreciated. To that end uploading my unfinished layout will hopefully provide me with some useful pointers from our more professional members like yourself. With that in mind I would welcome any suggestions that you might have but please ensure they are simple step by step instructions. Pretend you're dealing with an idiot!!! Kind regards Pete

Hi Douglas Yep fares here require mega bucks. The cheapest way to travel by train is to know when you plan to use it about two years in advance!! Personally I haven't used a train or bus in more years than I care to remember. Not that I don't like either but I like to choose my own time for everything and I enjoy driving. I'm a bit of a car freak, love my cars!! The only reason there are no passengers on the trains, busses etc is simply down to the basic fact that the more I add the slower ever thing is. And I've been a bit lazy. Your solution with the blocking signal is spot on. I really do welcome all suggestions for me to make improvements. The only problem is that at the moment I don't really understand them. I will have to make a concentrated effort to get to grips with them. As you say so much easier than constantly having to play about with timings and quite frankly much of my layout relies on timings. With regard to posting updates. I am now in the process of reproducing my own version of the suspension bridge using all catalogue approved bits and to a scale that won't damage the larger vehicles, ie scale 1 rather than scale 0.8, 0.9 If in time Hubert's version does not get beyond the draft stage then I will be able to make the swap until his version is OK'd but for now his version stays mine will be put in the cupboard. kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert I have just completed my scenery change to take account of your suspension bridge, rectified the program error that was affecting the vehicles on the Windall Village route and sorted out the timing problem with my VT 641 so that it doesn't run the risk of running into the back of the goods train, Douglas will be pleased, I think he imagined I might have the N.U.T. on my back for dangerous practices!!!! Having done all of that I decided to post the amended version online but whilst so doing it came up with a message saying that no draft elements can be uploaded so as I'm not prepared to remove your suspension bridge it would seem that I am rather stuck for now. The original errors will have to remain. No doubt many more will be spotted so perhaps the next upload will be even more precise. Kind regards Pete

Having just spent an hour or so redoing my suspension bridge at scale 0.9 I was still finding it problematic getting the trucks to more through on both sides without catching the rear view mirrors and so I have removed my attempt and introduced yours, I hope you don't mind. It does look right and I simply have to redo some of the lower road and scenery, no real problem. If only real life was that simple!! Kind regards Pete

I agree with your view regarding V7. Do you think it will allow for one vehicle to slow down, flash its lights and allow the other through before it? or am I now being just a bit silly! Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert I couldn't agree more. The trouble with so many people today is that they seem to have lost that sense of humour and fun. All I say is "bring it on" life's too short not to enjoy a bit of healthy, good humoured banter. A smile on your face is worth so much more than any shrink might be able to do. Kind regards Pete

Hi Douglas Glad you are enjoying the rides, so to speak and yes I was aware of the potential incident with the BB63000 goods train and the VT 641. Its all a question of timing and whilst the latter does not quite run into the back of the goods train I have yet to address a safer element for said passenger train. The dilemma at present is that the BB63000 has a much longer cycling time than the VT 641 so any adjustment that I make has got to be purely on the run from Sudbury Halt to Fairmont for the VT 641 but only on the occasion that it is likely to met the BB63000 goods train. If I alter the timing on a general basis then there would be a head on collision at some point as the BB6300 departs the Port loading bay on it's way back to the goods depot. As for the two container trucks. After discharging at Sudbury port they simply return to Fairmont port to await reloading, Nothing too complicated. One of the trickier movements is the low-loaders from Fairmont port to Lockington Power Station. Trying to ensure they don't collide with anything else at present until I sort out my junctions properly is an ongoing battle. Still that's much of the pleasure of this hobby. As I mentioned to Hubert earlier I am keen to see how long it might take for anyone to spot one of my true mistakes, one that I thus far have not found a solution to other than a revamp of certain vehicles. You might also have noticed that many of the vehicles are running at slow speed at times. This is done for a reason. It helps me to spot my errors quicker. I know the size of this layout can take a while to load. On my computer it is around two minutes now and when I am making adjustments to scenery there can be pauses of up to 15 - 20 seconds before my theoretical brush takes effect. Hopefully V7 will make this problem a tad easier that way I can consider adding my island just off the Sudbury coastline and use Hubert's suspension bridge to make the crossing. I am working on a couple of amendments now where the programming seems to have caused a bit of an upset with some vehicles on a specific route but hope to conclude this later today so will upload the amended version then. Happy hunting. Kind regards Pete

And I thought I had a twisted sense of humour!! It would be funny though. I'm now two thirds through re laying the road section of the bridge, I settled on 0.9 instead of 0.85 so that I gave the driver plenty of room to wave at the passing trains!! Once this is complete I might just try your idea on a copy of the layout and see what is look like. Could be interesting if two vehicles meet at similar points at the same time. If they do then the insurance claim is down to you.!! Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert Just taken another look at my suspension bridge. I sent a truck with curtainsider trailer over and got a call from his boss to tell me that the poor guy had smashed his rear view mirrors, oops. I've now rescaled it from 0.8 to 0.85 and they now get through without damage, Phew. Many thanks for pointing that out to me. It just goes to show that there is definite merit in the saying "two heads are better than one". Hopefully over the next few months I might get similar feedback so that I can make adjustments. There is one very obvious one that I know I need to sort out somehow. I'll wait to see if your eagle eye spots it before I figure out how to make the adjustment. Kind regards Pete

Good morning Hubert and Douglas Many thanks for your kind comment. I hope you enjoy the tour round. Whilst the overall scenic part has not too much more to complete apart from a few changes my efforts from now on are to try to perfect much of the present working stuff and add more of that. By my reckoning I have quite a few more bits to complete in regard to working sections but that's part of the fun. Have an idea try to make it work and hope that after numerous attempts you get there. Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert Not too sure what's going on here but since uploading Fairmont 2 unfinished I have found several other elements where the programming for some vehicles has gone all to pot. Could this be a coincidence? I also seem to have lost a message posted to you saying many thanks for your road edging. I have tried one small section so far and it looks great, see attached screenshot. Most definitely this should be included in the catalogue, it's brilliant. Kind regards Pete

Hi Hubert Yes I like your upgrade of the Golden Gate Bridge. I tried it on the Fairmont layout my only problem is that my original bridge had to be scaled down to 0.8 but still with the road scaled at 1. If I scale your version down to 0.8 then the road scale drops as well which I believe will cause a knock on problem in trying to connect the roads at both ends. If V7 allows me greater flexibility to increase the size still further then I already plane for an island off the Sudbury coastline and could therefore use you version of the suspension bridge for that without the scaling problem. Anyway that's in the future. For now your upgrade is spot on so great work. I know from experience just how time consuming it is to get the road to sit properly. Kind regards Pete

Hi again Hubert Since posting my layout I immediately noticed that there was a problem with one aspect, (all to do with the Windall Village route/vehicles). The local bus seems to have had a mind of it's own and decided to try to enter the football stadium. I've now corrected the EV and, I hope reset all of the vehicles in that part of the program so that they follow correct instructions. In your opinion should I post the amendment and if so how do I do this please. Is it the same as initially saving/sharing. If so does it overwrite the original and if so does it keep the same content reference. Glad you like the layout. As I said there's lots to correct, lots to improve and lots to still do. Kind regards Pete