Chicago Yard Scenarios?

[Samwolf]

Has anyone considered doing a scenario pack using the Chicago Yard route? It seems that this route lends itself to some interesting switching/yard works scenarios.

[dick8299]

Where does one find the Chicago Yard route?

[Samwolf]

Where does one find the Chicago Yard route?

It was included with the RSC GP9 pack.

[Machinist]

It's a bonus which comes with the DLC GP-9 Add-on: "The GP9 Add-On includes yard switching mini-route based on a large Chicago yard."

[dick8299]

Thanks, Last Christmas I splurged and bought the entire DLC content bundle, and I have so much stuff, I don't even know what all I have. I am going to open up the Chicago Yard route now and take a look at it.

[OldProf]

As a scenario writer, I've taken several looks at the Chicago Yard route and found it pretty discouraging. Why that is, I don't actually recall. Maybe it's time to look again. Thanks for the push.

[Samwolf]

As a scenario writer, I've taken several looks at the Chicago Yard route and found it pretty discouraging. Why that is, I don't actually recall. Maybe it's time to look again. Thanks for the push.

It's pretty much a 99.99% switching route, only a couple of industries to service, so it's all just build or breakup consists. Still every once in a while it's a break from long hauls.

[Redferne]

I would like to see some scenarios for the Chicago Yard as well. I personally enjoy switching much more than the long haul.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

It would have been a useable route if TS12 allows "kicking" and "humping"of freight cars.
But without free rolling cars, working retarders, brake shoes, etc. one cannot simulate a hump yard.

And if having 100's or even 1000's of cars on the tracks didn't impair performance that much one could still shift cuts of cars around a little to make some use of it.
So most people only got the route because it came for free with the GP9?

[OldProf]

As threatened, I took another look at this "route" by opening a free-roam scenario and using the 2D map to explore. As someone mentioned already, there are no industries, but that wouldn't hinder the creation of interesting switching scenarios. There are, however, two serious hindrances to good scenario creation:

1) The route's sidings are very long and nearly every one of them has an end-to-end marker. That's all right for player engines, but eliminates a lot of AI traffic possibilities and it's difficult to imagine a yard that large being worked by only one switcher at a time.

2) Although there are six tracks (some multiple) for entering or leaving the area, not one of them has a portal attached to it, thus further limiting the use of AI traffic.

Who created this route? How can I find out whether cloning it to put in shorter track markers and portals would be legitimate? I really see no point to writing scenarios for it until these two items can be accomplished.

{By the way, yes, I know about the Stop Point instruction, but that does not, in my experience, work with AI trains, which cannot be instructed, for example, to drop a consist at a particular place on a long siding marker.}

[Machinist]

{By the way, yes, I know about the Stop Point instruction, but that does not, in my experience, work with AI trains, which cannot be instructed, for example, to drop a consist at a particular place on a long siding marker.}

Ciao Tom,

Are you sure you can not? When using "Stopping Point" for sure you'll get to stop an AI at any particular point you want... and then are you saying that you can not instruct AI to drop wagons off, at that point?

Stopping Point is designed exactly to allow AI trains to stop anywhere you want! Is the problem, then, the following drop off instruction? The AI doesn't get to complete the (next) decoupling task?

Do you know this post?
Placing Stopping Points in Scenarios
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3742#p34864

Cheers,
Doc.

[Samwolf]

As threatened, I took another look at this "route" by opening a free-roam scenario and using the 2D map to explore. As someone mentioned already, there are no industries, but that wouldn't hinder the creation of interesting switching scenarios. There are, however, two serious hindrances to good scenario creation:

1) The route's sidings are very long and nearly every one of them has an end-to-end marker. That's all right for player engines, but eliminates a lot of AI traffic possibilities and it's difficult to imagine a yard that large being worked by only one switcher at a time.

2) Although there are six tracks (some multiple) for entering or leaving the area, not one of them has a portal attached to it, thus further limiting the use of AI traffic.

Who created this route? How can I find out whether cloning it to put in shorter track markers and portals would be legitimate? I really see no point to writing scenarios for it until these two items can be accomplished.

{By the way, yes, I know about the Stop Point instruction, but that does not, in my experience, work with AI trains, which cannot be instructed, for example, to drop a consist at a particular place on a long siding marker.}

Thanks for taking a look at this route.

I didn't even notice that there were no Portals and wasn't aware of the problems with end to end markers in scenario building. Learning new things every day.

[OldProf]

And here's another little difficulty: the RW editor refuses to produce a clone of this route!!! I gave up and cloned it with RW_Tools (blessed be Mike and all his works), but haven't made time to look at it yet.