Glasgow-Carlisle V4

Mightily impressed and certainly sets the standard to be aimed for.

I really can't wait to share the route with you all, just need to get across that finishing line.

Niall

Really looking forward to seeing it Niall

NiallGray wrote: just need to get across that finishing line.

Mmm . . still trying to find the starting line for my proposed effort!

I have never given Route_Riter enough credit for how useful it can be, that must now end!

After helping me locate a nice saving of up 30mb in files not being used by the route, this evening I grabbed an hour to use the facility which tells me the exact co-ordinates of a shape file in the route.

For V4, I've tried to get rid of as much of the old default scenery as I can, but after running the route compacter, I noticed some still remained.

So back into RR and I now have a nice list of shapes I want to remove/replace, so when I run the compacter again, they will be history.

Niall

If nothing else MSTS and it's associated routines continues to prove that there's always something to be learned!

rufuskins wrote:If nothing else MSTS and it's associated routines continues to prove that there's always something to be learned!

Yes, still learning, even after all these years!

Doing some more testing ahead of sending an update to the testing team and took an opportunity to update my NG22 act for V4 (All I needed to do was amend two paths).

Here's a few shots around Glasgow Central.

Yes, I have my fleet of class 303s in store, patiently waiting their next turn of duty.
Very good shots as well, Niall.
Looking forward to the big day.
Cheers
Andy

Excellent shots Niall! Looking forward to having a run on this route.
Cheers
Andy

Thank you Andy and Andy!

Route has gone out for testing. Where that last shot is, is just before a sparse area. Barring issues found in testing, it's the last tile to sort, and also the trickiest. Hence why it's taking so long as trying to get the scenery is so difficult.

If anyone wants to see how Glasgow Central area has changed over the years, I posted some old pics over at UKTS.
Click here for old pics

Time to show the butchered SPT map again, for the final station count (Sorry SPT!).

In the end I got to 21 stations, giving the route a total of 90. The only one not mentioned until now was another that most of you will not have heard of, Howwood, which is on the Ayr/Largs line.

I noticed a few months ago that the track past Milliken Park was in the wrong place, went to change it and had the usual, 'I wonder if I can fit in another station?' thought. Turns out I could, so I put in the track and markers. When I returned to working on the route, I set about scenerising it and now it's finished, I'm including it in the route.

Considering the Ayr line was never in my plans, I've now got 3 stations and a small container depot to show for it!

That really is it, I've gone as far as the tiles and my limited route-building skills will allow me.

Despite the last little area to be done at Glasgow Central, the route is now being tested and while I wait for feedback, I'm taking the chance to work on my new and re-worked V3 acts.

Niall

Howwood

Thank you.

Good shots Niall!
so I guess it's you that we need to blame for all the rain today then...... lol (Me thinks you did a rain dance!
Cheers
Andy

If I had power over the weather I'd make it sunny!

A few screengrabs from acts I've been working on (all re-worked V3 acts).

Looking good.

If anyone is interested, pics of my changes around Shields Road area in Glasgow are over on UKTS (link below).

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=239&t=122529&start=90

Been a busy weekend dealing with feedback on the route but I have finally worked through the whole list and taking a break for a couple of days.

Niall

Just a little update.

As from today, we're in the final testing mode for the route.

It's now a case of checking every single mile of track on the route (and there's a lot of it!) to see if any issues still remain.

Only once I'm happy we've covered every mile of the route, will I build the installer to do the last test (the install test). I never had to release a patch for V3 thanks to the testing team and I really hope it's the case again for V4.

How long this takes, who knows? Christmas is coming up, people will have other commitments, so no point saying when it will be released.

But we're very close now and I hope it's not too long before you get your hands on it.

Regards,

Niall

Great news Niall.
Well done to all of you involved.
Looking forward to giving those 303's a spin.
Cheers
Andy

Thanks Andy.

Down the line, the 303/311s will get some TLC as well.

Glasgowworks made a new cabview, so the plan is once the route is done and I've released a number of acts to keep people going, Alistair and I will go through the process of tweaking all the 303/311s.

I also want to make a couple of minor changes to the ENG files, so every re-skin I did will get attention.

Niall

NiallGray wrote:Thanks Andy.

Down the line, the 303/311s will get some TLC as well.

Glasgowworks made a new cabview, so the plan is once the route is done and I've released a number of acts to keep people going, Alistair and I will go through the process of tweaking all the 303/311s.

I also want to make a couple of minor changes to the ENG files, so every re-skin I did will get attention.

Niall

New Cabview? That's fantastic news, I have been using  the cabview from the class 310/312 which was OKish  but obviously not right.
Just as a matter of interest,are there any plans to use Justins Royal Mail class 325's from/to Sheildmuir?
Cheers
Andy

No idea on 325s, I haven't planned any acts using them. Perhaps someone else might.

As for the 303, a few years ago I was allowed to access the 303 on the Bo'ness railway and photographed it as much as I could. I then gave Alistair (Glasgowworks) the photos, along with others I'd sourced and he was able to construct a cab from the reference pics.

NiallGray wrote:tweaking all the 303/311s.

I also want to make a couple of minor changes to the ENG files

Niall

Good news, in particular could the power settings please be altered as they seem to me much too powerful?

e.g. try
309kw for MaxPower
and
61Kn for Maxforce
49Kn for MaxContinuousForce
This is derived from
http://www.railway-centre.com/class-303--class-311.html
and comparing differences in power and tractive effort (and continuous latter) between the 303 and other sources for other traction.  Figures then halved due to the 303 as you know having one motor coach but the model has two.

Also is there a way of narrowing the bounding box for the shapes, as if two 303s are used on adjacent UKFinescale tracks they collide (not with a 303 and a different model)?

The above is from testing on Woodhead's gradients out to Hadfield...

Thanks,

Tim Mitchell.

I once had that happen with a loco I downloaded, I fixed it by changing the bounding box values in the .sd file, don't know if it will work with these, but it's worth a try.

Hi Tim,

We've tried the official specs before. The results were not that good, and I believe it's because real-world physics and MSTS physics follow different rules. I am hoping Open Rails is more authentic in that regard.

The power settings will be reduced though, that is a definite!

I could adjust the bounding box but the units would still go through each other, just not report a collision. If you check the bounding box in Shape Viewer and also the calculated version, you will see they are the same measurements.

The models are a fraction oversized, hence why you have issues and I don't as your route was built on UKFS and mine on the old default track.

Ciaran is no longer on the scene and when we last spoke did not have the original TSM source models anymore.

Thus the only way to adjust them would be to-resize them in SFM. Backfoot2002 (Anton) did that with another of Ciaran's models (313/315) but as a result there was a big gap between the pantograph and the overhead wire.

When you are finished with your route and acts, you're welcome to have a tinker with the units in SFM and let me know if you have any joy. I won't be touching them for a while due to finishing the route and my acts.

Niall

Update for anyone interested.

Testing is being wrapped up later this week and assuming there's no problems, I'll complete the route docs and build the installer over the weekend.

Then it's a case of getting it uploaded and approved.

As per V3, it will be a single install file, with everything in the folder. No need to run any batch files.

You will need the bin patch, obviously, as well as having 'X-tracks' and 'New Roads' installed.

Acts will also follow, and hopefully not just from me as a couple of testers were looking at contributing some.

Thanks for you interest in the progress and I hope you enjoy the route when it's released, which, fingers crossed, is next week.

Merry Christmas folks,

Niall

Hi Niall,Fingers,Legs and Toes crossed,Thanks in advance

Another fine Christmas present to add to Woodhead.

Good Grief!!!
You wait ages for a Bus and then three come along at once.
Well worth waiting for. :
Merry Christmas Niall and also to all concerned with making this excellent route.
Cheers
Andy

Excellent news Niall!
I'll look forward to downloading this route! Just one question if I may; is this going to be a mini route or will it just need installing into the main MSTS Folder?
Merry Christmas from me to everyone! What a great month for MSTS for uploads!
Cheers
Andy

Thanks guys, good to know there's some interest.

Andy, in relation to your mini-route question, I have no plans to make it a mini-route at this point in time.

Niall

Looks like I'll have to renew my premium membership on UKTS with all these new goodies to download.

Thanks Niall and everyone else who have been working hard to bring us all this exciting new content.

Well, we've reached the end!

RE tools have been downed so to speak and now the most stressful bit for me, getting it all ready!

Currently waiting for RR to finish removing unused files and then later I need to find time to tweak the route documentation.

Then it's case of building the installer, packing up the route and sending out to a load of people to test.

If they confirm it unzips, installs and loads ok, then I will be able to go ahead and upload to UKTS.

Fingers crossed!

Niall

After slaving over the installer tonight (been years since I last used one!), I finally got it sorted and have sent copies out to the testing team to check the route installs ok.

Just a little bit of stats for anyone interested.

The basic route folder unzipped, size on disk is 535MB.

Zipped in the installer, it is just 252MB.

Which is interesting as V3 came out at 237MB, only 15MB less.

Looks like my replacing of old default scenery worked, as RouteRiter took out about 40MB of unused files!

Now it's time for me to bite my fingernails and fidget nervously until the testers get back to me!  
Niall

Look forward to the final product! A few "Hail Mary's"

If my route ends up anything as good as yours I'll be happy!

Cheers

Andy

Final update:

You might want to make sure you have a free bit of time over Christmas!

Niall

If all goes well, the route will be released at some point on Christmas Eve.

Thank you all for your interest over the years and I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Niall

Whether it's Xmas Eve or sometime later it will be very gratefully received, as have your posts on the development of V4. Now you'll have to think of your next challenge!

All the best.

Roll on Christmas Eve,by the way the Train pictured,is it a 303 DEMU,because I intend to download it (when I can find it)

Merry Christmas to all

Roger, it is a 303 EMU (no D!). It's already available and has been for a long time. Re-worked versions won't be available for a while.
http://www.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=27979

Alec, next challenge can wait for a while! This last couple of months has been so draining. I'm aiming to get some acts sorted for release and just after and then I'm going to take a much-needed break before I start tinkering with the 303/311s.

Thank you Niall,I was looking in the wrong place.

Well done Niall, what a nice Christmas present!  I would just like to thank you and all those involved in getting this route finished. It has been a long slog for you and now you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labours, as can everyone else.

Thank You Niall!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you and everyone else at TSSH.

Glad you found them, Roger.

Thanks Geoff, much appreciated. I am looking forward to a nice break!

Currently Downloading Glasgow Carlisle V4 and associated activities. from the UKTS site. YES....ITS ARRIVED THIS MORNING!!!!!!!........

I probably wont be able to run my download until tomorrow evening but many thanks to Pete and Matt at UKTS and of course to Niall and his gang,a very Merry Christmas.

And also a Merry Christmas to one and all and thanks for all the help I had this year especially when i converted from XP to Windows 7.


Best Wishes

Andy

A brilliant Christmas present!!

Thank you Niall and everyone else who helped deliver this on Christmas Day.

Cheers,
John

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Please read the 'Read Me' file and remember, increase in scenery does have an effect on frame rates.

I'm going to get a few more V3 acts tweaked and re-uploaded for use with V4 and then I'll be taking a much-needed break for a little while before Glasgowworks and myself get on with the 303/311 tweaks.

Niall

Banned from MSTS by order of SWMBO until Mon 29th. So I will have to download it after Christmas.

steamnut44 wrote:Banned from MSTS by order of SWMBO   until Mon 29th. So I will have to download it after Christmas.

It also works on Open Rails, so you could download for that! (Said the former law student who spotted a loophole!)

Hi Niall,
BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!  .
A terrible confession, but I was so busy with the S & D and Thames Trent, I never downloaded V3.  A problem when you get so engrossed in  your own route .

steamnut44 wrote:Banned from MSTS by order of SWMBO   until Mon 29th. So I will have to download it after Christmas.

Geoff, the answer is to wake up before everyone else and get on with the important things in life

A couple of hours on TT V2, and then renewed my account to download Nialls route. before the grand-daughter woke and wanted to watch 'Frozen' videos .

Had a quick play and it really is a good route. I'm going to have to 'retro' it a bit but I can just about tolerate blue. With the EH2 stock pack and a couple of other downloads I might be able to knock out a couple of acts to do justice to your route. Now the fun of trying to set up my EMU cabs and sounds. Why are they so difficult?

Expect a steam hauled special into Glasgow soon, as well as Kestrel on an excursion .








Cheers
Clive