Ready for testing

This should give you guys less grief.  I've managed to get it to fail first time.

Could you please check it for me before I post it on the RR&Co forum?

I can delete the other thread unless you think it's worth keeping.

Thanks

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:

This should give you guys less grief.  I've managed to get it to fail first time.

Could you please check it for me before I post it on the RR&Co forum?

I can delete the other thread unless you think it's worth keeping.

Thanks

Max,

I didn't keep previous versions of Boxcars  can you tell me again the locations of the boxcars at the start of the first schedule as the file is only loading with the loco in place.

PS - there is an update available to the RR&Co software Version 7.0 F3  - click on "help" and the click "about" and it should automatically check for you ( if you are connected to the internet)

Sure, Brian.  I'm glad it will be useful.

Dave, the loco (109), is in Block 2.  The brown boxcar (27), is in Block 3.  The yellow boxcar (6), is in Block 4.

The blue boxcar (59), and the brown boxcar (17), are in a train in Block 11, with the brown boxcar nearest the buffer stop.

I think I have the latest version, but I'll check Help > About, next time I fire it up.

Thanks.

This should be much simpler as a test rig, as I have pared it down to one Schedule which doesn't work.

There has to be a way.  TC is too good for there not to be.

As an afterthought, does not the double slip constitute a dead section of track?

[user=449]brianpr1[/user] wrote:

 As the CI turns off it triggers the flagman so the flagman's markers work properly, the engine stops etc. etc. The schedule is working as intended in the sim because the sim does not reflect the real world, at least as I see it.

I guess the sim is exactly that………. a programme driven simulation of the real world and as such has some limitations.  Initially, when you manually assign a loco to a block the CI doesnt turn on…….you have to turn it on manually because it is not really detecting current draw……………..the reverse applies when the loco leaves the block

 

This puts us right back to a repetition of John's problem. I await your confirmation, but I expect on the layout that the CI Western Track will not switch off, the flagman will not trigger and the engine (and schedule) will not stop.

There will be a way to get it to work - I hope it does not need more detectors.

 

Create a new block 11 B immediately to the right of block 11.  Set up stop and brake markers in the new block using a virtual contact activated by the existing CI in Block 11………………… 

'morning, Men.

It has occurred to me overnight that, in an effort to keep it simple, I haven't included a Schedule before the one we're working on.

This will give Block 12 (Western Track) a Brake Marker and Stop Marker and will show the Block as occupied as the loco leaves.

I must admit that I was surprised that the first Schedule failed, as I wasn't expecting failure until the next Schedule, or subsequent ones.    In my previous attempt, the programme continued OK until I tried to push the boxcar into Block 3.

So, what I propose to do is to go back to Block 4 with the loco and pull the yellow boxcar 6 from there into Block 12, stop, uncouple and then run the current Schedule 1 JDS (which I'll rename).

What I'm expecting is that it will go into Block 11, hook on to the blue boxcar 59 (leaving the other brown boxcar 17 in the Block), and pull it back into Block 12; and stop OK.

I'm expecting failure to occur when I then go to push the blue boxcar 59 into Block 10, which is occupied by the brown boxcar 27.

This operation is effectively a mirror image of the previous programme, with two boxcars in Block 11, instead of the one boxcar in Block 4 as before.

 

John's idea of using the CI with a Flagman was a complete revelation to me.  It's so elegant and makes the use of a VC and timer seem so cumbersome by comparison.  That's why I'm expecting him to conjure something else.  ;-)

What we're trying to do here is basic fare by railway standards.  Either there is a solution that we haven't tried, or maybe Juergen needs to create one.  :roll:

I have to go to Strathalbyn this morning, so it's an early departure.  I'll have to do the rewrite this arvo.

Cheers

OK  I've added in a leader Schedule to take the loco and car into Block 12.  Another surprise.  :shock:

When I proceeded past this point into Block 4 before, the loco stopped and indeed, pulled the car back into the occupied Block and stopped!

This time, the loco failed to stop going into Block 11 - the difference?  There are two cars in Block 11 exclam:

That means we are still missing the secret ingredient.

I've tried to make a file that will open properly this time - I hope.  :oops:

Can you please give it a final check over to see that I haven't made a stupid mistake, before I post it on the forum?

Thanks

I agree, Brian.  That's what I did with the old Schedule 39 problem.  I simply backed out past the adjacent Block and then went back again.

There are two reasons why I want to get past this response.

1.    The spacer Blocks need to be long enough to accommodate the whole train - which will be up to 45 cm long with two boxcars in tow.  That makes for painfully long transfer times.  It's like watching paint dry; and

2.    It looks really odd when it's actually running.  In real life, the shunter will pull the cars out past the turnouts and then push them back into the other spurs.  That's what I'm aiming for.

If we're happy that I've written the programme properly, I'll file it ready to go to Juergen with it.

Next, I want to spend some time reading threads on the RR&Co forum, to make sure I understand how it operates.

Last time I tried to get some help from there, I ended up in a punch up with Juergen over semantics.  I've seen here how easily we can misunderstand each other; and we are friends.

I'll be entering a hostile environment.  I will need to explain everything simply and unambiguously, but fully.  My agenda is not to poke Juergen in the eye, but genuinely to find out how to stop a train which is leaving and entering occupied contiguous Blocks.

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

 

This puts us right back to a repetition of John's problem. I await your confirmation, but I expect on the layout that the CI Western Track will not switch off, the flagman will not trigger and the engine (and schedule) will not stop.

There will be a way to get it to work - I hope it does not need more detectors.

 

Create a new block 11 B immediately to the right of block 11.  Set up stop and brake markers in the new block using a virtual contact activated by the existing CI in Block 11………………… 

I still think this will work………………its not dis-similar to Brian's solution with a detector on the double slip

I wish you luck on the RR&Co Forum………………still no answers to my post……..I may give it a bump/gentle reminder later today

I'll have to go back and have another look, Brian.  Both at the current plan and the one before.  Even with the CI staying on, the loco stopped and then travelled back into the first Block, and stopped again.

This time I can't get past Schedule 2.

Don't worry, John.  After my last experience, I'll be making sure I have all of my ducks in a row before I say anything.  

Nearly ready for launch.

I had a look at the prices, while I was there.  TC Gold looks like it's down about US$170.00.  Can that be right?

The CI in Western Track (Block 12), does stay on, Brian.  The yellow boxcar is sitting there.  It didn't inhibit the Brake/Stop Markers coming on in the previous Plan.  Now there are two boxcars in the end Block instead of one.  That seems to be the only difference.

Interestingly, not one comment on John's thread.  :roll:

Hi Brian.  What throws me is that it seems to work with one car in the Block but not with two.  More research needed for me to properly get my head around it.

I guess what I'm hoping for is that one of the gurus will pull something out of left field - something that we don't know about, which will open up some new possibilities.

I nearly had it with the Switch timer, then I got distracted when the CI/Flagman went so well, and lost the plot.

TC Gold is so powerful, I still can't believe that we've exhausted all of its possibilities.  Somewhere in there might be another paradigm.

I've read all of the current threads and some of the guys are talking about stuff that's completely new to me.

Please don't let this get out - just between the two of us, you know - I've got two LB 101s secreted away; left over from building the layout.  Last resort territory.  Sshh.  Keep it to your self.  Mum's the word.

Only after I've completely run out of options - shouldn't be long, by the sounds of it.  

I've had a hit, lads.   :thumbs

I can't remember why we decided not to use Enter Occupied Blocks in the Rules, but I'll have another go with it.

At least we're talking.  ;-)