I want to try my hand at creating my own activity. The several tutorials are helpful enough in creating an activity with a train and consist. But they do not explain how to put single or several cars on storage tracks.

I found that one cannot create a con file unless it is headed by an engine. So just how does one drop a couple of boxcars onto a siding in an activity using the activity editor?

Hi

I bought Richard Garber's Step by Step Guide to Train Sim Activities over at Abacus. www.trainsimulatorworld.com
It has all the info needed to make activates.

Later

Just create a static consist.

Zoom in to the siding you want to place a consist at then right click, select place consist.
Click new.
Select freight.
Scroll down get all the cars you want on the siding.
In the upper left corner select a name & display name. (ie static 1)
Click save & exit.
You will get a warning message(see illustation) click yes.
Click ok again.
done. (You may have to right click on the consist(circle) you see on the map to toggle it to fit on the siding).

Hope this helps....Rich

Voila, you now have static consist.

Rich...

There's also a way to place a loose consist WITHOUT creating a Consist file. I don't have time right now to type out the directions, (got to run) but will try to explain it when I return later.

Andre

Thanks TrueNorth. I did that get that popup warning about the "static" consist not appearing in the list of consist and stopped at the point. I chickened out in going any further. I'll press on then and see what happens.

To place a loose consist without creating a Consist file:

1. Right click at the track location where you want to place the loose consist.

2. Select "Place Loose Consist". A pop up window will appear.

3. Open the pop up window and select "1 x Empty center beam car".

4. Click "Okay". The car will now appear at your selected track location in RE.

5. Right click on the car you just placed and select "Properties". The Consist Editor will open.

6. Remove the Empty center beam and replace it with whatever you like. Click "Save & Exit".

Your loose consist is now placed WITHOUT the creation of a new Consist file to clutter up your "Consists" folder. You can move the loose consist as desired by grabbing the circular handle on the first car and dragging it where you want it. You can also edit a loose consist as many times as you want using the above method.

Andre Ming

Thank you gentlemen for your kind assistance. I managed to create 3 sandbox type activities for my Rye & Camber route. Am I am quite a happy fellow.

I gather that the consist information that is not listed in the consist folder is stored in the activities files themselves, and are transferable to anyone else's Rye & Camber, so long as they have all the original rolling stock in their trainset folder required by my activities, and the lone engine con files used in setting up the path in their consist folder.

One very important question. I can easily go back into my activities to change the facing of the rolling stock, moving them about, etc. But, I cannot see the driveable engine (as I do the rolling stock) to move it or shift it (for tweaking purposes) once the original activity has been created. If I wish to change the position of my engine, must I start the activity from scratch?

I hope my questions are not a pain. I am learning so far.

The player engine or consist is not visible in the Activity Editor. To change the start position of the player consist you adjust the player path.

Mervyn

I was able to make the minor tweaks and required corrections for my newly created activities.

Thank you all for the kind attention, worthy advice, and gentle patience.