MSTS Bin and/or RouteRiter

Hi folks,

I'm gradually re-learning the intricacies of MSTS 'eng' files. Whilst casting around for any tips etc, I 've been reminded about the existence of the 'Bin' add-on and RouteRiter. I'd not used either of these before so have little or no feel for whether they'd be useful to me. My main interest at present will be finishing off a few models which have been in a dark corner for some time - and getting these working ultimately for Open Rails but via MSTS in the first instance. I have both sims working apparently OK ( thanks to some help from here!) . I'm not that driven by running activities, though obviously they may be of value in testing and I'd need to make up appropriate consists.

So would either or both these add-ons be an advantage? I note that there seems to be an issue with RouteRiter/Java/Win10Edge which may be needing some care. Also - if either or both are worth installing - any guidance or dire warnings to be aware of?

Thanks

John

Hi John,
The MSTS Bin Patch is certainly worth installing, if only for the ability to swap from one cab of a loco to the other with the associated change in lights. There are other, hidden, advantages, like improved memory management. This Patch may only be installed after the v1.4 update (from Steam4Me) has been applied. If you installed MSTS according to the Steam4Me Win 7 tutorial (it also applies to Win 8/8.1 and 10), then you should has this installed already! If you followed that tutorial, one important point omitted is that you must set train.exe (and launcher.exe if you use it) to "Run as an administrator" from their respective Properties > Compatibility display - you don't need any other settings on that screen.

Route_Riter is useful for validating routes and stock. There is no real problem with it so long as you follow the rules! Java should be installed (from the manual installation page) as normal. Route_Riter should be installed into its own folder. When both are installed, open the Java folder (named something like jre1.8.0_221 depending on the version installed) and create a new folder named 'classes' (without the quotes!) then copy the contents of the TSUtil folder (found in the Route_Riter installation folder) into your new 'classes' folder. Set Route_Riter.exe to "Run as an administrator" in the same way as described above for train.exe. Note that MSTS should be 'properly' installed from its CDs and have a valid Registry entry. ONLY use the last version of Route_Riter released by Mike Simpson - v7.6.26

Resources :
Steam4Me Win 7 Tutorial - https://msts.steam4me.net/tutorials/installing_msts_w7.html
MSTS Bin Patch : http://mstsbin.uktrainsim.com/eng/eng.html - v1.8.052113 , although not 'stable' has been perfectly OK for years!!
Route_Riter : UKTS File ID 2588 (uktrainsim.com)
Java - https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Except for Java, MSTS and all programs associated with it should NOT be installed into either C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) (or, indeed, any Windows-created folders on drive C:!) due to more stringent security measures which are applied to those folders.

Hope this helps - if not, please come back

Cheers,
Ged

Hi Ged,

Thanks for the detailed response - much appreciated.  My MSTS installation appears to be up to date (ie with the '1.4' patch) and I now have the Bin patch installed. About to start on the Java+Routeriter trail, but dinner and a few other tasks will probably get in the way today.

Thanks again,

John

PS,A short time later and Route-Riter + Java installed and appears to be working - though I've not used it yet. There were 3 Java folders - I've put the 'classes' folder and TSUtils contents in the one with most recent date. I expect it'll become apparent if further attention is needed!

Cheers

John