A few questions about scenario building

[Q2DM1]

Portals: How do I use them? I know that if I set a train's destination to a portal, it will disappear when it reaches the portal. But if the portal is in the middle of a track, how do I "eject" a consist in a specific direction? When I eject the consist, will it be travelling at line speed? Also, is it possible to move consists between portals (I.E. train enters portal_1 and exits portal_2 later)?

Locomotive Numbering: I have an ES44AC that I want to put a 3-digit number on, but it wants four. If I use a space in the front of the number, the side of the train has what looks like a scratched-out 3 in the front (or a bad repaint) and the number plates have a symbol that looks like that one on the Xbox 360 (it reminds me of the plasma pistol from Halo). Is it possible to have a hidden number on the train? Also, is it possible to have multiple locos with the same number?

Weather: If I use a "rainy" setting, rain falls but doesn't collect on the windshields. With "stormy," rain will collect on the windshields but there is no thunder or lightening.

I may be back with one more question, depending on if I didn't totally screw something up.

[Chacal]

Portals: search the forums, there have been several conversations about them. Their normal use is as a destination for AI trains. OldProf did a lot of research on using them as a starting location for AI trains.

BTW I like your name. Brings back memories.

[OldProf]

Portals: How do I use them? I know that if I set a train's destination to a portal, it will disappear when it reaches the portal. But if the portal is in the middle of a track, how do I "eject" a consist in a specific direction? When I eject the consist, will it be travelling at line speed? Also, is it possible to move consists between portals (I.E. train enters portal_1 and exits portal_2 later)?

To spawn a train from a portal located along a track (as opposed to at the end of a siding), place the train so that it is heading in the direction you want it to travel and located on the opposite side of the portal (this may not actually be necessary, but it will help you remember the desired direction of travel later). Assign a driver to the train and use the editor to provide instructions for it, including time of departure. If the AI train you're setting up interferes with any other trains, the editor may experience and exhibit temporary delusions of failure. Once you're convinced that the new AI will run successfully, double click the portal and use the properties box that appears to load the train into the portal. Click (maybe double-click?) anywhere outside the portal and check the editor again to make sure that the new AI does not interfere with the progress of other trains. Note that the editor decides this on the basis of the timings it estimates for other trains and does not know any train's actual timing during play!

In my experience, a train emerges from a portal as though it had just started moving and gradually reaches line speed. You can influence this process by adding or subtracting helper engines. Its eventual running speed can be adjusted by changing the percentage of line speed associated with a specific instruction, but this process is somewhat arbitrary and subject to variation in relation to other instructions. In other words, the mythical dispatcher is in control, not you.

Dear old Otto used to claim that AI trains can be passed from one portal to another, but I've never experimented with that. It's possible in Trainz, but given RSC-DTG programmers' reluctance to use portals to spawn trains, I seriously doubt that this can be done in TS -- can't hurt (much) to try, though. Let us know the results, please.

[Q2DM1]

Portals: search the forums, there have been several conversations about them. Their normal use is as a destination for AI trains. OldProf did a lot of research on using them as a starting location for AI trains.

This looks like it'll be a big help, though it is a three-year-old topic.

BTW I like your name. Brings back memories.

Thanks, that's why I chose it.

Another two questions because I forgot about them when I posted the OP.
After I built the player train and the (currently) only two AI trains, I discovered that the player train was setting at literally the only signal in the entire route that is always red. That wouldn't be too much of a problem, but one of the AI trains actually goes through the block the signal is protecting. This means the player has to keep track of that train to see when the line is clear (roughly 05:03:06 in-game) and then press Tab to be allowed through. This still isn't too bad, but is it possible, without editing the route itself, to make the signal operate 'normally' so that the player has less to worry about?

When I was creating a path for the aforementioned AI train, I noticed that the editor would not let me send it into a siding. After I created the path for the player to follow and was testing it, I noticed that the editor sent the player train into a siding even though there was nothing for the player to do in that siding. Is it not possible for AI trains to go into sidings? Is there a reason the editor wanted the player train (express freight) to go into the siding?

*ETA*
How far apart should AI trains be? I wanted to make them each one block apart so that all signals are either yellow or red to make a very busy line. However, the destinations for the initial AI go through a yard and the trains slow to 15mph. If I go on my current plan, there will be a lot of congestion and trains waiting at signals.

I'm using Cajon Pass, btw, and headed south.

[NYWhiskey]

Use a waypoint to force a train to go where you want it to.

[Q2DM1]

My luck with portals has been with using them as they were intended. Spawning trains with them led to problems that others have had. I also found that trains cannot be used between portals, or at least not in a way I can think of (short of copy/paste).

I was unable to find out how to keep the player train from entering the siding.