Post any questions arising from "First Steps with RR&Co"

Max its sounds like you are motoring on now, if you have got double slips performing to queue you are well ahead of the game.

you sound a bit like me its nice just to sit back and watch the action suppose a bit like going to an exhibition. I am really looking forward to finishing the scenery etc. then running a timetable and viewing it from any angle i please.

Pete

I hope you're going to make a movie of it, Pete.  I thought I'd make one of my progress so far.  Maybe a new thread?

Movie making Max? yes mate totally agree i would love to see movies of members layouts. yes mate start a thread.

I did upload a small movie of my layout when i got a bit of automation its in this thread i think and my layout thread as well.

Matts done one as well i think, yes cracking idea that.

Pete

Yes.  I saw it.  Part of the reason I got hooked on this madness.  :twisted:

Here's one of mine at night - so you can't be too critical of the scenery. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AziWghIOsEw

You should be able to see the others once you are in - some are OK - some not so much.  :oops:

Otherwise look for maxsouthoz.

None with TC as yet, though.  :sad:

Love the red hens Max, a nice little shuttle you could have with them.

Thanks, Pete.  It's supposed to be a tramway, but who knows?

With Max starting to get a bit of success with the railroad & co i can forsee some block sections appearing on the nickel plate railroad in the near future.

Brian

I don't think so, Tim.  (Al, from "Tim the Toolman"). 

OK.  I've hit a bit of a blockage with the schedules.  Pete sent me some screen shots of how he does it, but my version seems a bit different from his.  Here are the options I have tried so far:-




and . . .




 
The Auto Train Schedules don't seem to work, - when I went back to them they were gone, even though I saved them.

So, I'm a bit stuck, lads.  :oops:

OK, I don't know if Auto Train is the right place to make Schedules, but I've found that if I open a New Despatcher Window, I can find the Auto Train Schedule I have made; so that's a forward step.

If I make a series of Auto Train Schedules, is there a function which will make them play one after the other, in order?  I'll have to run each one to clear the blocks before I make the next one, but am I on the right track?

You are beginning to get ahead of me in practice now, Max. However, I am not sure if you have opened a Dispatcher Window yet. When you do that, you get a replica of the switchboard showing blocks and connections between them. You can then set up a schedule by specifying a start block and a route and an end block. This is all I have done to run trains, both simulated and on the layout.

I have not tried autotrain at all so am not sure how that is supposed to work.

Hi Geoff.

When Pete makes Schedules, he goes in through Window (see my second screen shot), but when I do it, I'm three options short on the bottom of the box; so I'm not able to make schedules.

I don't think Auto Train is the right place to make schedules, as you can't get them to follow each other.  I might have to wait until Pete comes on so he can show us how he does it.

Max

are you in EDIT mode?

you can make schedules follow on a number of ways. the best way i found was to use at the end of a schedule option(pete made a screen shot of theses in the video thread). select schedules and the schedule you want to follow. you can add a delay. those two tabs BEFORE and AFTER are very good foe all sorts of things. have a play with them.

when you get your schedule screen up if you click up on the top right you get some options up, floating, docked etc. pick docked at it will be available as a tab so you can swap between this and the layout plan.

Max i have just read your posts and i must of not made my self clear enough, so here goes, basically you do not create a schedule from the window menu, it is created in the schedule drop menu you will see a greyed out command called "create schedule".

Now looking at your screen shots you do not have a dispatcher window, this must be created first before you can use the schedule creation tool. This is where my walk through could be confusing you.

Steps 1 and 2 on my walkthrough are to get you to create a dispatcher window.




Select the window menu and hit New Dispatcher Window. this should appear and be a picture of your trackplan similar to below

 




If you select this window that is the title bar is orange, now go to the schedule menu and you should now see create schedule is now black and therefore selectable.




Max you can tell its the dispatcher window because it has this icon in the corner




Get this on your screen and you can then get going with schedules  and follow on with my walkthrough.

Once you have created your schedule to run it, i do this

from your dispatcher window put your mouse over the schedule you want to start and right click, a window opens and you see the options to start or start reverse, left click your choice and it will run




I have learnt to save screen shots as jpeg which helps me show the highlighted actions better for you Max

Sorry about the earlier confusion.

Pete

 

Thanks for the explanation, Pete.  It's 6.45 a.m. and I have to go to work in a while, so I'll have a go tonight.

I might have to pick your collective brains after I get the schedules done, as I'm going to have to put in some triggers to shut down the engines.  At the moment, as the loco enters the last block it triggers the stopping process, using the deceleration time; which looks very good.  However it also triggers the engine shut down and because the loco is still moving, it just switches the sound off.

But that's for later.  In the meantime, thanks  both of you for your input.  I'll report back tonight.   :thumbs

OK  Thanks to all.  :cheers

I have 16 schedules made.  This takes each loco in random order to every terminus until they are back in their original positions.  :thumbs

Now to get the schedules to follow each other.  :pedal

The schedules follow each other.  I might put in a delay between the schedules.

Now to figure out how to get the engines to turn off properly.  Nearly there.  :shock:

then what ?? sit and twiddle the thumbs while it all goes on.!!
:lol::lol::cool:

ok speedy try this

set a delay for each schedule to turn off the sound. so in the options for actions after the schedule you will have

delay 6,

 schedule XX (to start next schedule),

 delay 5

F0 (lights),

 delay 4

 F1 (engine)

then in the next schedule

F1

delay 6

F0

delay 7

that shold sort it.

That sounds great, Matt.  It might take a while.  Make a cuppa tea while you wait.