I Wish

Now the answer to this must be simple, otherwise I will not understand it ! I love driving the far northern line, which has a  fantastic train, but the Cab View is terrible...Is it possible for me to change the Cabs, and if so   !) to What  and 2) how, please.

Hi Roger,
The short answer is 'Yes', you can change almost anything in MSTS/Open Rails

I've probably got the route in my archive, but it's not installed so don't know what loco/cabview you're referring to. In what way is it "terrible"?

Cheers,
Ged

It's the Scottish Sprinter which looks fine, I suppose it's not a Terrible Cab, but just doesn't seem to fit the modern look of the train anymore. Sorry if I sound picky but I love driving this Route and Dmu's.

Hi Roger,
I'm still working 'blind' on this stock, but have you tried the Making Tracks Class 158 cabview as supplied in the ex-MT Class 158s Pack v1_1.exe pack? It's available from the TSSH library or as UKTS_39581 from their library.

I've got to go for my COVID booster jab early this afternoon, but will have a look later to see if there are any problems using the MT cab with that 158.

Cheers,
Ged

Ged It's a class 156 with a Khia Cab ( well a Japanese Cab anyway meant to be electric), Best of luck with the Booster.

OOPS!! Sorry, mate!
The Making Tracks Class 156 only appears to be available from this site - ex-MT Class 156s.exe. It contains the MT_Common.Cabs and MT_Common.Sound folders.

Cheers,
Ged

Hi Roger,
This is the MT Class 156 cabview :


Download the MT Class 156 pack and install it into a temporary folder.
Copy the MT_Common.Cabs and MT_Common.Sound folders into your TRAINSET folder.

Open each of the Class 156 156478 .eng files and change the Cabview and (if you choose) the Sound lines.

Replace : CabView ( 2000.cvf )
With :      CabView ( "..\\..\\MT_Common.cabs\\156cab\\cl156.cvf" )

Replace :  Sound ( "k31eng.sms" )
With      :  Sound ( "..\\..\\MT_Common.Sound\\railwaves\\150Sound\\rw_150_eng.sms" )

Replace :  Sound ( "k31cab.sms" )
With :       Sound ( "..\\..\\MT_Common.Sound\\railwaves\\150Sound\\rw_150_cab.sms" )

Also, in the  Inside section of the 156478.eng file
Replace :  Sound ( "k31cab.sms" )
With :       Sound ( "..\\..\\MT_Common.Sound\\railwaves\\150Sound\\rw_150_cab.sms" )

After doing the above, you don't need the Cabview and Sound sub-folders within the 156478 folder, so they can be deleted.

From your screenshots, you appear to be running Open Rails. Do you find you need to increase the throttle to 25% or even 50% to get it moving? Or have you modified the .emg files?

Cheers,
Ged

Oh well I'm sure you will NOT be surprised to hear that I even managed to NOT follow the instructions and found myself outside the Train (with a little notice telling me that there appeared to be no Cab for me to get in). So sorry that I have put all your efforts to waste. I don't know how I manage it, but I've only got to look under the Bonnet for the Car to break down. Still many ,many thanks for your help but I'll just have to put up with what I've got.

As for the train needing 50% of Throttle to get going it needs that to get going on the flat, Leaving Scotscalder it needs upwards of 80% (at the same Station but going North you'll be lucky if you stop LOL..

Anyway once again thank you ever so much Ged for your help, I'm going for a long lay down in a darkened room now (PS, hope your Jab went well. Roger.

Hi Roger,
Hmmmm!! I don't see how I could have made it any plainer, short of sending you replacement .eng files!! (Would you like that?) You did add the Making Tracks 'common' folders, didn't you?

The jab went OK, thanks, except that today my arm feels bruised, but there's nothing to see!!

Cheers,
Ged

Thank you Ged, for your very kind reply (and offer) but I could not ask that of you as it may leave the door open to other such requests, and I'd probably still get it wrong. I have just reloaded the Route and it works now in its original set up, so I will not try changing anything else.I'm happy that your Jab has not had any nasty reactions. Regards Roger.

Hi Roger,
It's not a problem!  We're all here to help each other, so if there's anything you need, just ask

You appear to be a little wary of editing any files!  Reloading the route was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!!  To get the best out of MSTS and Open Rails, it's necessary to have a reasonable competence in editing files. I know that's all right for me to say, but we all started there!  You are frightened in case you 'break' something and can't put it back together again.  That's why the recommendation is to take a copy of any file before you attempt to edit it - it gives you an easy restore path!!

Cheers,
Ged

Got there in the end !

Hi Roger,
Well done, mate

It wasn't so difficult after all, (or was it??!!)

Cheers,
Ged

Actually it was hard, I had my Son looking over my Shoulder saying such things as " Now why have you done that Dad, thats not what he means, and "No Dad you're reading it wrong, your Mate on there is telling you what to do, but your still doing it wrong" .I was beginning to feel like the School Dunce . So I have to admit after we had ended up stood outside the Train with no Cab to get into he took about 30 seconds to put it all right (he followed your instructions as he's not into Train Sims) and with a sigh said to just call him next time !

So anyway as to the other comment you made I can now having done the whole Route in one sitting (Numb Bum) there are 3 Stations on this Route where the Train doesn't attempt to move on less than 75% throttle....But I love it anyway now I have a proper Cab. Thank you Roger.

Hi Roger,
AH!! you had a little assistance!! You've got a good lad there

If you're using the Class 156 .eng file as supplied, it's likely that some modifications will be required to run it realistically under Open Rails.
I believe that a suitable file has been made available so, over the next few days, I'll see if I can track it down and, if I do, will give it a test.

Cheers,
Ged

Hi Roger,
Instead of searching for Open Rails files, I thought I'd try the Making Tracks Class 156 156478 (as in our re-issue of MT stock).
I must say that it runs much better than the original on OR, even starting at about 20% throttle, or less.

I'll run a full activity tomorrow - please let me know one you have trouble with.

To run the MT Class 156, you'll need to download and install the pack from the TSSH library - I'll then send you a replacement consist file (TSUK_4car156.con)

Cheers,
Ged

It's the Far North Line  "12.09 Wick to Inverness", you will not even leave Wick station on 20% and that's on the level   It could be my imagination but it seems to me that you can sometimes get away quicker if you Keep your finger on the " [  " Engine Break release button even though this train doesn't have one.

Hi Roger,
Thanks!
I've only got as far as Dunrobin Castle, but was able to start from each station stop with 13% throttle, using the Making Tracks 156478.
I used ORMG 106 - yes, I know I'm a bit behind!!

I'm sure you'll be pleased with the way they drive in Open Rails.  In fact, it may be a little unrealistic because I had to use the brakes quite often to stop it running away!!

I won't disgrace myself by giving my station arrival times, suffice to say that if you're late at a station, the timings are so tight and the speed limits don't allow for any recovery time, so you get further and further behind!

You have already installed the MT Class 156 cabview and sound so, maybe you've already installed the DMUs themselves. Even if you haven't, it's a straight forward job to get them into your TRAINSET folder.  If you do that, copy the attached consist file into your CONSISTS folder.  Note it will overwrite the existing file of the same name - if you don't want that to happen, rename the existing file first.

Cheers,
Ged

EDIT (22:00) : Completed activity, albeit 40 minutes late into Inverness!!.

Well you've been away doing the far North, (40 mins late is not bad on that run) I,ve been on Mid East Plus doing the Mystery tour Pt 1. Now I understand the meaning of Mystery. To start you have to go through the Platforms twice to pick up your Coaches, Then you're told you've missed the stop. The you do have a great run with a Brit. Everything was going great until I got a Red about a Mile before Bessecar.After waiting 5 mins I thought I'd Tab through and see what happens. Well theres a DMU in the station, so I decided to give it a little shove and see what happens ( I expected a "Game Over" but instead all the Aspects cleared and I was pushing it forward, which I did all the way to York (still attaining speeds of 75 mph + ) arriving at York less than a minute late.    

Hi Roger,
I think you've discovered something else that Open Rails processes differently to MSTS!!  Even though the new v1.4 was released yesterday, those of us who are used to the 'old' MSTS are still finding anomalies!!

It seems odd that it's only one car of a multiple unit.  It could be that the other car was one that OR couldn't 'see'.  That might explain why it hadn't moved.  The one, common, reason why a DMU car isn't 'seen' in OR is where the Diesel Effects section is included, but doesn't include any actual smoke effects (ie it only contains a Comment) - this is used where the unit isn't powered.  There could be a message in the OR log.

I'll have a look at the activity to check if that is the situation.

Cheers,
Ged

EDIT : The activity uses 3 2-car DMUs and in each one, the leading car has a Diesel Effects section only containing a comment.
In folder MEP-Cravens105, #MEP-Cravens105.eng and in folder MEP-Cravens105HC, #MEP-Cravens105HC.eng should have their Diesel Effects section removed, as shown below :

Effects
(
DieselSpecialEffects
(
comment
(
the format of these little blocks is as follow:

offset.x offset.y offset.z
normal.x normal.y normal.z
width in metres

defining the offset from the shape pivot point
where steam / smoke should appear, the direction
it should go and the width of the nozzle
)
)
)

These lines should also be removed from the MEP-Cravens105.eng and MEP-Cravens105HC.eng files.  This will ensure they work correctly in Open Rails, if used, and won't have any detrimental effect on MSTS.

I DO NOT know if this is the reason for the DMU to be stuck at Bessecar as I haven't run the activity (yet?).

Hi Ged.

I fixed the invisible DMU coaches (Usually the driving trailer) in OR by copying the Diesel Effects section from the powered coach into the driving trailer, then adjusted the smoke from the cab end to the connector end, that way you still have the smoke effect, didn't realise that removing them altogether would work

Good Grief !  I didn't understand a word of that. My simple answer would be to just "Push the Dmu to York"  Lol

Hello Ged, Do you think I should update to 1.4, knowing my abysmal knowledge is it classed as STABLE.As you can see I'm getting on Ok with Open rails but don't want to mess it up, Roger.

Yes 1.4 is a "stable" release buddy.

Mike.

Hi Roger,
As Mike has said, it is the new Stable release so should be OK, but a couple of anomalies have been reported so it wouldn't hurt to hold fire for a short while

On the other hand, a good thing about Open Rails is that you can have as many versions as you like!  I wouldn't 'upgrade' your version to v1.4 but download and unpack it to a separate folder, with its own Desktop icon, then, if you have problems with it, you can go back to your previous version.  This is what I have done.

Cheers,
Ged

I have reverted to the Monogame test versions again.

As i found out yesterday there isn't support for 64x Windows in v1.4

1.4 runs on a 64x system, but does not have the dedicated OpenRails64.exe included.

I was informed of this on ts.com

Mike.

You have solved a mystery I have had for some time with Mid East Plus - the single car DMUs when there should be two cars.
Now I know the fix it should be no problem to sort them. But a bit odd that it happened in the first place.
I haven't run an activity where I have found one ahead of me but I have seen lots of them pass on the other line.
I have seen somewhere that an update is going for the route (backdating?). If so perhaps those doing it could be encouraged to sort the issue.
Jonathan

It is only a OR related problem with the dmu's, doesn't happen running under MSTS.

I posted a couple of years back asking for help on this forum, to solve the problem.

Which was very kindly given to me, in this thread.

https://tsforum.forumotion.net/t1102-mep-incomplete-105-dmu-sets-non-functioning-distant-signals

Mike.

Getting back to your original request. You might try my 3d cab (317) at UKTS https://members.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=40145

It is an electric cab and not too dissimilar.

Geoff

I have also added the Class 317 cab to the TSSH download page.

Geoff