Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Annie]

Thank you very much.  I found it a real surprise to see the original layout again and to see just how much I had changed it over time.  The Grand Navigation Company is still very much a part of my present layout, but the rolling stock has gone through various changes as well as I learned how to do things better.

 

I've been following your Isle of Tumm thread and look forward to seeing how your project progresses as time goes on.

[Jake The Rat]

Thank you for taking your time to give me such a detailed answer, Annie. When I wanted to post last night, my internet connection broke down & only recently reestablished.

 

I examined the problem spots in the north (Fenton & Watertop) & couldn't find anything. I set up exactly the same train as in your screenshots (Skipper1945's Armstrong 4-4-0  with his clerestory coaches is a real beauty) & passed Fenton Station 5 (the small one east of the large one with the roof) without any problems.

At Watertop no crash occurred either, but this station in fact has a different problem: if you drive on the left side of the double track (as you are supposed to do in England), it is totally unaccessible.   Correcting this mistake was easy, though; 4 turnouts, 4 signals & a few meters of track...

I haven't looked at Knewtonmore yet, but that was the smallest problem anyway, if I understood you right.

The signalling of this layout is a mess; I have started deleting signals on the right-hand track & inserting track direction markers, so the AI drivers will hopefully abandon their stupid habit of driving on the right side whenever possible.

 

Currently reading:

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by Jake The Rat
Me fail English? That's unpossible! ^^

[Annie]

I think with the sudden crashes I was having back in TS2009 days the issue was that these problems areas threw a sudden resources load on my computer which caused it to crash.  These days with computers which are much more powerful they are able to chew on through the black spots without any difficulty.

 

It sounds like you are fixing all the exact same things that I first started fixing on  'A Moment in Time' Jake.  Watertop as built is a peculiar station with the way it's set up and as you say impossible to use without running 'wrong road'.  As for the signals I'm not sure if the layout's builder actually understood the basic principles of signalling.  As I said earlier it was the layout's landscape that attracted me to it and I knew that things like signalling and trackwork could be easily fixed as compared with having to reshape the land everything was sitting on.

The layout does have more than a few strange things about with odd long rambling branches to industries with yards that are just about impossible to shunt.  Large MPDs where no railway would ever build them.  And the other thing is because he intended to extend the layout there are couple of places where tracks just suddenly end at a baseboard edge without any buffer stops.  

THe whole thing must've taken him ages to build though.

 

Skipper's models are works of art.  Unfortunately he is elderly now and doesn't keep good health so he's no longer making models for Trainz.

 

I like the look of that book.  I haven't seen that particular title before so I must have a look around to see if I can find it.  Due to the present COVID-19 crisis postage costs for books to New Zealand have increased shockingly so I have had to cut back on buying books which is a pity.

[Jake The Rat]

If you take a close look at the picture, the black writing above the author's name tells you where you can get this book. 

Tonight I didn't feel like getting lost in the endless plains of 'A moment in time' & instead returned to the tiny, tidy 'Rhye on Sea'. I set up a Castle, a Spamcan, a Large Prairie & a small 2-4-0 with appropriate trains (at least I hope so) & told the drivers what to do, & then I watched them doing something completely different.

[MikeOxon]

Be careful with Jake's link - The site simply is a middle man. It indexes various titles and redirects you to other separate sites. These sites may be either closed for piracy, site no longer exists, or an error. Surf with care.  Blocked by Malwarebytes, which regards it as a malicious site.

[Annie]

There's booksellers I prefer to buy from Mike, but thanks all the same for the warning.  I'm very wary of listing sites that don't actually sell anything themselves.

 

And in other news I have finally got the backscene for Seaton done.  It was a horrible tedious awful job and I don't want to do another one ever!  (Or perhaps I might after a while if I'm allowed to grumble about it)

 

 

 

 

[Jake The Rat]

3 hours ago, Annie said:

There's booksellers I prefer to buy from Mike, but thanks all the same for the warning.  I'm very wary of listing sites that don't actually sell anything themselves.

Generally you're right to be suspicious, but in this case the site you are redirected to is always the same, very uncomplicated (no captchas) & trustworthy (never encountered any malware there). Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this.

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And in other news I have finally got the backscene for Seaton done.  It was a horrible tedious awful job and I don't want to do another one ever!  (Or perhaps I might after a while if I'm allowed to grumble about it)

The backscene looks great, but it reminds me of the total lack of backscene in 'Rhye on Sea' & the work I'll have to do on it. I found that installing backdrops is not so difficult, but choosing the right one for the given situation can take hours.

 

[Annie]

9 hours ago, Jake The Rat said:

Generally you're right to be suspicious, but in this case the site you are redirected to is always the same, very uncomplicated (no captchas) & trustworthy (never encountered any malware there). Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this.

The backscene looks great, but it reminds me of the total lack of backscene in 'Rhye on Sea' & the work I'll have to do on it. I found that installing backdrops is not so difficult, but choosing the right one for the given situation can take hours.

 

I didn't mean to imply that you would deliberately post a link to a malware site Jake.  I'm sorry if I gave that impression.  It's just that not having much money I'm not very keen on losing it.

 

I did the same thing with Seaton and tried more than a few that weren't really suitable before I finally gave in and made my own.  Two of the backscene boards had to fit together to continue the seascape and there was a road as well that had to give to illusion of continuing into the backscene.  With all this happening at a corner join it really ticked all the boxes for being downright awkward.

 

I still haven't really had a proper look at Rhye on Sea and I have to confess that I had to smile when I read, -  '........ told the drivers what to do, & then I watched them doing something completely different. '

The joys of setting up a schedule that the Trainz AI can't mess up.

[Jake The Rat]

1 hour ago, Annie said:

I didn't mean to imply that you would deliberately post a link to a malware site Jake.  I'm sorry if I gave that impression.

You didn't give me that impression. Maybe MikeOxon did (though I understood his warning more generally & not particularly against me), but you didn't.

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I did the same thing with Seaton and tried more than a few that weren't really suitable before I finally gave in and made my own.  Two of the backscene boards had to fit together to continue the seascape and there was a road as well that had to give to illusion of continuing into the backscene.  With all this happening at a corner join it really ticked all the boxes for being downright awkward.

So these backdrops are your own work & not from the DLS? That's something I'm not capable of; not yet...

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I still haven't really had a proper look at Rhye on Sea and I have to confess that I had to smile when I read, -  '........ told the drivers what to do, & then I watched them doing something completely different. '

The joys of setting up a schedule that the Trainz AI can't mess up.

The more I look at this layout, the more I like it. It's only 1 baseboard, half a square kilometer in reality, but there is quite a lot going on, & there ist even potential for more. I'm thinking about a narrow gauge branch line with 2 or 3 stations, a forestry & a coal mine in the southeastern corner. No, I'm kidding. What I'm really thinking of is 1 small station in this corner & a real harbour with 1 or 2 tracks instead of the carousels north of Rhye Station. But first I'll have to complete the signalling of the rebuilt goods yard, which is otherwise done now.

 

"A schedule that the Trainz AI can't mess up" - is that even possible? Their creativity seems to be infinite. While the other 4 - I have added a goods train, that for now aimlessly runs around in circles - have learned by now to behave halfways reasonably, the driver of the 14xx 2-4-0 insists on driving on the right track whenever he finds a turnout & doesn't run into one of those yellow triangles immediately. I'm not sure if this is normal artificial stupidity or outright mutiny.

Screenshots to follow...

 

 

 

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Jake The Rat said:

"A schedule that the Trainz AI can't mess up" - is that even possible? Their creativity seems to be infinite. While the other 4 - I have added a goods train, that for now aimlessly runs around in circles - have learned by now to behave halfways reasonably, the driver of the 14xx 2-4-0 insists on driving on the right track whenever he finds a turnout & doesn't run into one of those yellow triangles immediately. I'm not sure if this is normal artificial stupidity or outright mutiny.

Screenshots to follow...

Trainz AI has this weird 'move to the right hand side track' thing that seems to have been built in to the code for some unknown reason.  On my Uk pre-grouping layouts I beat this by having no facing crossovers anywhere; - which is actually prototypical for the time period.  Otherwise the only way to beat it is to have 'go this way you idiot' trackmarks laid down all over the path the train is supposed to follow according to its schedule.  The yellow direction markers work too, but the only downside of those is that they can sometimes prevent other legitimate traffic movements you might want to make

 

1 hour ago, Jake The Rat said:

So these backdrops are your own work & not from the DLS? That's something I'm not capable of; not yet...

 I had some help in that I had permission to use parts of the backscenes made by Ray Whiley who is a member of the creator group I belong to.  I still needed to do a lot of colour blending and hand drawing though to end up with what I wanted.

 

1 hour ago, Jake The Rat said:

The more I look at this layout, the more I like it. It's only 1 baseboard, half a square kilometer in reality, but there is quite a lot going on, & there ist even potential for more. I'm thinking about a narrow gauge branch line with 2 or 3 stations, a forestry & a coal mine in the southeastern corner. No, I'm kidding. What I'm really thinking of is 1 small station in this corner & a real harbour with 1 or 2 tracks instead of the carousels north of Rhye Station. But first I'll have to complete the signalling of the rebuilt goods yard, which is otherwise done now.

 

I must have a closer look at Rhye on Sea since my first impression of it was good.  It's no small thing to fit a layout like that onto a single board and to do it all so neatly as well.

1 hour ago, Jake The Rat said:

You didn't give me that impression. Maybe MikeOxon did (though I understood his warning more generally & not particularly against me), but you didn't.

That's good because I certainly didn't want to offend you in any way.

 

[Annie]

More train set doings.

This was a project to see if the 'O' Gauge tinplate track models available on N3V/Auran's  DLS can be used to build a working layout.  The verdict is they can.

 

 

 

[MikeOxon]

5 hours ago, Jake The Rat said:

You didn't give me that impression. Maybe MikeOxon did (though I understood his warning more generally & not particularly against me), but you didn't.

 

My warning was generic and made after I looked up some reviews of that site.  Sadly, I once recommended a site, which I had used without problem, to a friend, who promptly picked up some malware.  You will understand my caution after that experience

[Jake The Rat]

6 hours ago, Annie said:

More train set doings.

This was a project to see if the 'O' Gauge tinplate track models available on N3V/Auran's  DLS can be used to build a working layout.  The verdict is they can.

As long as you don't run electric locos on this 3rd rail track, I like it. (Electric locos are for me what diesels are for you: an abomination that, in a perfect world, wouldn't exist. )

7 hours ago, Annie said:

That's good because I certainly didn't want to offend you in any way.

As I said before: you didn't.

4 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

My warning was generic and made after I looked up some reviews of that site.  Sadly, I once recommended a site, which I had used without problem, to a friend, who promptly picked up some malware.  You will understand my caution after that experience

I understand that & there's nothing wrong with this. So everything is fine & we can move on.

[Annie]

No electrics will be run Jake.  Anyway I'd have to add a fourth rail for MET electrics and i don't fancy that.

 

Some snaps taken while playing trains undertaking serious testing at Pennyworth.

 

The 'clockwork' Metro tank engine you've seen before, but it managed to find itself some magnificent coaches from somewhere.

 

 

I have three of these old MET coaches and while they are a bit lacking as models, they remind me a lot of tinplate coaches so they are perfect for running on Pennyworth.  The MET 'E' class though is a serious high quality model.

 

 

A visitor from the LT&SR.  Again a bit magnificent for Pennyworth, but the coaches remind me a lot of old 'O' gauge wooden coaches I've owned.  The wonderful Atlantic tank engine is also a bit too big for the layout so it will be a rare visitor.

 

 

 

And to finish off this '850' saddle tank is going to be one of properly assigned engines on the layout.  And yes I know it shouldn't have 'GREAT WESTERN' on its tank sides since none of them ever carried any marks of ownership except for that film star one, but I will be doing something about it shortly.

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by Annie
added a picture

[Jake The Rat]

Meanwhile in Rhye on Sea...

The rebuilt goods yard, now with coal stage, 2 water towers, 2 engine sheds & more sidings.

I would have liked a roundhouse, but there was not enough space, so I settled for a small shed for the pilot engine (a 57xx pannier tank for now) & a 2-stall-shed for other locos.

Still no shunting signals, but the original author has placed dozens of invisible signals everywhere, so I think at least functionally this will do for now.

 

& a few pictures from the station:

The hornsound of the Large Prairie (crossing the viaduct with 4 suburban maroon coaches) reminds me of Godzilla, & if she wants to have the green bus for lunch, I'm fine with that.

 

The driver of the autotrain is the one who drove me insane with his preference for the righthand track. I threatened to rename him to Adolf (for now his name is Ian), if he doesn't change that, & that has apparently convinced him; more so, as his train shares the conterclockwise track with the Battle Of Britain Class No.34051 'Winston Churchill'.

Edited June 28, 2020 by Jake The Rat
pushed the button too early

[Edwardian]

I thought Rhyoncee was a popular chanteuse

[Annie]

7 hours ago, Jake The Rat said:

Meanwhile in Rhye on Sea...

The rebuilt goods yard, now with coal stage, 2 water towers, 2 engine sheds & more sidings.

I would have liked a roundhouse, but there was not enough space, so I settled for a small shed for the pilot engine (a 57xx pannier tank for now) & a 2-stall-shed for other locos.

Still no shunting signals, but the original author has placed dozens of invisible signals everywhere, so I think at least functionally this will do for now.

That's certainly looking better Jake.  It was a bit of a muddle before.

 

Invisible signals, - without which the trainz AI could not be made to function.  Very useful.

 

7 hours ago, Jake The Rat said:

The driver of the autotrain is the one who drove me insane with his preference for the righthand track. I threatened to rename him to Adolf (for now his name is Ian), if he doesn't change that, & that has apparently convinced him; more so, as his train shares the conterclockwise track with the Battle Of Britain Class No.34051 'Winston Churchill'.

I have a an early BR era autotrain/pushpull set on my one and only BR layout that gets harrassed and pushed about by an ex-LNWR tank engine.  My one took a bit of setting up to get it to work properly before it was completely reliable.  They are a lot of fun when they behave.

[Annie]

The clockwork 'L' class is a step closer to being a proper faux clockwork engine (if you'll excuse the apparent contradiction).  Setting up the faux keyhole took me far longer than it should, but we got there in the end.

I experimented with making a clockwork engine sound file, but came to the conclusion that the standard track sounds in Trainz were perfectly good and I didn't need to bother.  I dislike anything to do with editing sound files at the best of times so that suited me fine.

 

I might disguise it as a Metropolitan 'F' class in best coarse scale tinplate tradition of it being close enough to get away with.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Annie
more to say

[Florence Locomotive Works]

The Atlantic and “F class” look excellent, I think a certain W.J. Bassett Lowke would be very intrigued by what you’re doing.

[Annie]

4 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

The Atlantic and “F class” look excellent, I think a certain W.J. Bassett Lowke would be very intrigued by what you’re doing.

Thanks very much.  I used to collect tinplate trains and model in coarse scale 'O' before I had to give it up due to illness so this is very much a way for me to take a step back in time and have some fun.

[Annie]

Latest project.  After enjoying playing trains on 'Pennyworth' I decided that I'd explore making a larger version of the layout.  So far it's looking promising so I think I'll keep on with it and build a proper decent sized layout out of it.

 

 

 

Yes I really was obsessed enough to lay conductor rail.  The tinplate track is very nice, but it doesn't like being formed into tight radius curves so I found some nice old fashioned looking wooden sleepered track and used that.  I actually own some 'O' gauge track that looks like this.  I think it was made with Bonds track parts.  Bonds O Euston Road; - now there's a name from much more sensible times. 

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

Keep that up and you're going to have to add another room 

[Annie]

12 minutes ago, Malcolm 0-6-0 said:

Keep that up and you're going to have to add another room 

I guess so Malcolm.  At least I don't have to hire builders and apply for planning permission should I decide to extend the layout some more.

 

A short video of the approach to Pennyworth station with a sleepy woman in charge of the camera.  (Sorry about the fumble at the end of the video)

The engine is 'clockwork' so there's no steam sounds.  It runs very smoothly though, - it must have a Walker-Fenn mechanism.

 

The red bug in the corner of the screen is because TS2012 doesn't like the interior cab model I'm using.

 

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Annie
More information

[Decapod99]

Blimey! - interesting to see some of my old trainz models still running 15 years after I made them.

Looks really good Annie

 

Cheers,

Paul

 

[Annie]

19 minutes ago, Decapod99 said:

Blimey! - interesting to see some of my old trainz models still running 15 years after I made them.

Looks really good Annie

 

Cheers,

Paul

 

I'm a bit strange Paul in that I tend prefer older Trainz models to the current crop of ultra realistic models as nice as they might be.  Especially for a layout like this one where I'm taking a look back to older kinds of railway modelling the older Trainz models do very well and look more convincing to my mind.