Yes. Reset the train, set the build report option to "Very Detailed", and build the train again. Then look at the build report, it will tell you why it thinks the cars aren't available.
Thanks, it think it might have something to do with the "location and track" box. I'll correct it. Man, I been sitting here all day with an IPad in one hand reading directions and entering data on a desktop with the other. Yet another question, when the program assigns a car to an industry, does it remember which car is where?
thanks again
jim
Yes, it keeps track of all the attributes for each "object", with an "object" being a car, location, track, route, etc. That's how it knows which cars can be moved where by what train.
If you look at the detailed build report you'll see how it considers all the pertinent information as it attempts to build the train.
Yes, that is what the program is all about. And when you build a train and include picups at a location or spur, the switch list that is printed will tell you what is at the location to be picked up.
Concerning 0 cars found. That is the most common error when starting out (at least for me too). Yes, check that detailed report and it will give clues as to why cars were not added.
Here are some common things to look for.
1. When you entered your cars (or just do a couple for a test start) there will have been a menu box for you to choose where the car is presently located. That means you will have had to previously create a location and then create a track type (yard, spur, interchanged etc.) for that newly entered car to be residing on.
2. Now, the first location in any route that you create (for a tran to use later) must be the location at which the cars are residing. The program cannot assign cars that are not there.
3. Similarly, when entering a car you will have had to designate its type. Just ensure that when you are on the train panel that you have selected the buttons to have the train service that type of car. At the beginning, just to get some success perhaps just have the train service every type of car in the system.
4. As there are several other buttons to allow specific train building, at the beginning just have the train service all roads, all years, all owners......all of the possibilitis by default. Later on, you could specify a particular railroad type to draw from etc.
In other words, often when you look at the detailed report it might indicate why a car you feel should have been added to the train was not.....note what is revealed about the car in that report and either go to the cars panel and change that car's details and any others that you also thought should have been automatically added to the train,
or go to the trains panel and see that something was not included or excluded in the train build parameters.
After a bit of time this detective work will become second nature.
It is very anal retentive about building things EXACTLY the way the instructions say to do it.
Also note the different types of tracks and the JMRI definitions of what they do, those definitions don't jive with the typical concepts of what those track names do, so make sure you select the type based on JMRI concepts.
I first set things up using conventional concepts of track types and it was all fouled up.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
To all who helped me with answers and suggestions I would like to offer a most sincere THANK YOU. I finally managed to get the data in the way the program wanted it done and was able to print out a switch list. I still have a lot of "tweaking" to do but I think I'm finally heading in the right direction. Again Thank You.
Jim
Glad to hear you've got it sorted!
Now dispatch will have an easier time of moving cars, and the mines can ramp up production .
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Jim, that's great! I think that now that you're over the hump it will only get easier to tailor Ops to your specific needs. It's a very powerful tool, with a lot of options to make it work the way YOU want it to.
Great Jim.
An observation on my own frustration today
Spent a couple of hours today trying to figure out why the darned passenger train would not build. Could not see any reason even in the extra detailed report.
Turns out that the only track in the route that would accept the newly entered categories of pass. cars had the spur all ready, but the location itself had not had these car types ticked off. (Earlier this month I had decided to specify cars as observation, RPO, coach, combine-coach etc. etc. rather than just passenger.) The program had asked if I wanted them automatically entered to the spurs choices, but it does not also add them automatically to the overriding location car types permitted.
Ticked off with the tick off boxes! Too bad the software misses that automatic level of entry.
You said in one of your earlier posts that there was a " learning curve" with this program. In my humble opinion that was an understatement! I'll bet you since Wednesday I have probably spent 16 hours or more fooling around with program and I'm no closer to running a train than I was on Tuesday. It's like I know what I want to do and I enter the data in (obviously incorrectly somehow) and it just will not give me the results I expect. Perhaps I'm just not bright enough to use this tool. Anyway, I'm tired and a little bored, I think I'll go watch football.
Absolutely. You must mean the Seahawks, and everything should stop for that.
But, continue to ask questions, and describe what is happening. Lots of members have lots of experience working through this and can sympathize and maybe put their finger on just what is needed.
Forgot to say....even copy and paste parts of your detailed build reports that fail right here into the forum posts. People can look them over too. I have done that several times when stumped.
Based on the posts here I dloaded jmri and so far so good. Help leaves a bit to be desired, such as the meta key. I searched help with no luck. Why not just tell us what it is insteadof sending us on a wild goose chase? Ok end of complaining.
Yes, the help file is lacking a lot.
Much better to ask in forums, and if you missed it, join the JMRI users group in Yahoo....expert help from the programmers there.
It's not a total "bust", it will do what I originally wanted. It will take a group of cars and randomly select a certain number of cars and tell me to send them to a location that I have entered. But as far as having a train move from location to location and do a little work here and a little work there and something somewhere else, that part escapes me. I recognize that like all computer programs it only knows what you tell it. You do have to enter a fair amount of data and I'm certain that somewhere along the line I have entered it in such a way that it is contrary to the way the programmer intended. Which is why I'm not getting the results I expect. I have sent a copy of the build report to the Yahoo group to see if they can figure out what error(s) I'm committing. In the meantime I have a couple of ideas I will try and see if I can solve the issue.
P.S.
My wife is getting suspicious about all the time I've been spending in front of the computer. She thinks I'm up to something unsavory. I'm not sure if I should tell her the truth or not, she might think I'm really nuts!
jeep35 It's not a total "bust", it will do what I originally wanted. It will take a group of cars and randomly select a certain number of cars and tell me to send them to a location that I have entered. But as far as having a train move from location to location and do a little work here and a little work there and something somewhere else, that part escapes me.
It's not a total "bust", it will do what I originally wanted. It will take a group of cars and randomly select a certain number of cars and tell me to send them to a location that I have entered. But as far as having a train move from location to location and do a little work here and a little work there and something somewhere else, that part escapes me.
It MIGHT be because you're just setting up things from the yard to the mines. I played around with it, and this worked for me (using a bogus "test layout")
1. Created three locations (Yard, Mine, and Intermediate). The yard can take anything, the other two can take coal cars. Also set track lengths (2x 500' for the yard, 2x 140' for the mine, and 1x 100' for the intermediate)
2. Created several cars by filling in requisite data (roadname, type, and whatever else it whined about til I was allowed to make 5 cars). All cars spotted to the Yard.
3. Created a locomotive by picking a new roadname, and type (plus whatever else it needed).
4. Created a route that starts in the Yard (Pickups, no dropoffs), then passes the Intermediate (both), and ends in the Mine (both).
5. Created the train, and hit "Build train". It filled out 5/7 cars (as that's all I made), and did the following:
jeep35P.S. My wife is getting suspicious about all the time I've been spending in front of the computer. She thinks I'm up to something unsavory. I'm not sure if I should tell her the truth or not, she might think I'm really nuts!
Tell her it's something unsavoury, and then show her various pictures of the PM 1225 / NPK 765 / UP 4014 / etc. that you've been oogling.
CGW121 Based on the posts here I dloaded jmri and so far so good. Help leaves a bit to be desired, such as the meta key. I searched help with no luck. Why not just tell us what it is insteadof sending us on a wild goose chase? Ok end of complaining.
That's because the meta key varies depending on the type of computer you're using.
For Windows it's usually a right mouse click. For Macs it's the Cmd key and a mouse click. Etc...
I tried something very similar this morning. I entered 12 cars into the program and set the location as the yard. Then I created 3 more locations. One set up for 5 cars, the next one 4 cars, and the last one 3 cars. Hit the build button and sure enough it told me to spot 5 at one, 4 at another, and 3 at the last just like it was supposed to do. Then I tried to add another step by entering some cars and designating them as loaded. I put a couple at each of the three mines and told the program to set off the empties and pull the loads. When I hit build and checked the switchlist it was directing me to pick up loaded cars from one mine and spot them at other mines, which is not correct. I thought the program would recognize the L (loads) designation I entered and not spot the cars as though they were empty. I'm very close and I'm sure there is something very simple (some box checked or one that shouldn't be) that is causing the issue. "Endeavour to Persevere"
The guys (Dan) at the discussion group figured out what was missing when I entered data. On the EDIT locations screen you have to use the TOOLS menu and "Load Options" and tell the program to only accept empties (E). But you can't just click on E. you also have to hit the "Add Load" button. This is what tells the program to only accept empties. When I did this the E changed to L which I thnik now is normal, but was just confusing the heck out of me then. Anyway, I think I finally got it straightened out ( and if not, I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut and say it's working fine).
Thanks to all
jeep35 Anyway, I think I finally got it straightened out ( and if not, I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut and say it's working fine).
Anyway, I think I finally got it straightened out ( and if not, I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut and say it's working fine).
No, no, don't do that!
As I think you've found, Dan is very responsive and helpful. Ops is very powerful and customizable, and as a result there are lots of options that sometimes take a while to work through. Since Dan has written most of that code, he's a great resource for helping with that.
So keep asking questions until you get it working exactly how you want it to. You're right that it takes some effort up front, but IMHO the long-term results are worth it.
I'm very much a noob about all of this since I only recently got into the hobby. I saw something about waybill generator and got to thinking how much more interesting it would be if I could have a program that would randomly generate where to pick up and drop cars off at. This sounds like it might be just what I was thinking of.
The yard would consist of multiple tracks with each containing a specific car type (stoick car, box car, reefer, etc.). Pickup/delivery points (freight station, industries, other) would be specified with what type of car they accept (based on load requirements such as stock car for livestock, etc.) and schedule (how frequent does this point send/recceive products). The selected waybill would be picked and set on a team track with my little 0-6-0T switcher. My 2-8-0 Consolidation would pick it up from there for delivery to the various locations noted, as well as making any pickups along the way and returning back to the yard. Each random generation of this would theoretically be different.
Am I on the right track with this particular software, or is there something beter suited to what I am thinking?
For what's it worth, after spending several days and getting help from a number of people on the forum plus assistance from the developer via the Yahoo discussion group I got the operations program to function pretty much like it should. (Although it still throws me a curve now and again). The operations manual is very complete. However, if you go to Youtube, a gentleman has posted a 4 part getting started video on using the software that I found to be extremely helpful. Just type in JMRI.
Albion Software has two programs called Ship-It and Car Cards, but neither of them are free. They do offer a free trial version that you might want to check out.
http://www.albionsoftware.com
We purchased it to use at our club, but I think our computer geek has given up on figuring out how to import data from one program to the other without becoming scrambled, so be aware that it does have problems.
I have a car card system in place for all my cars except coal hoppers. I was hoping to use the program to just randomly select some coal cars and choose different mines to send them to. It would have just added a little work to do for a relatively simple layout. While I was able to get the program to do some things, I just found it very difficult to use. There are many variables to consider when entering data for the program to run correctly and there is a lot of room for "operator error". I finally gave up. What I will probably do is to create a car card for each coal car and simply shuffle the cards and deal out a certain number for each mine. That will give me the randomness I want as well as "waybills " so I can block the cars in the correct order. I wish I would have thought of this before I spent so much time with the JMRI program.
jeep35 What I will probably do is to create a car card for each coal car and simply shuffle the cards and deal out a certain number for each mine. That will give me the randomness I want as well as "waybills " so I can block the cars in the correct order.
What I will probably do is to create a car card for each coal car and simply shuffle the cards and deal out a certain number for each mine. That will give me the randomness I want as well as "waybills " so I can block the cars in the correct order.
Realizing that the real railroad would just measure off how many empties and spot a cut rather than spend the time to switch identical and interchangeable cars. But if you want the play factor, that will work.
Another option is to make the cars and waybills not "interchangeable". Apply the waybills based on the destinations of the future loads. A load going Pittsburgh goes in a PRR car, a load going to Baltimore goes in a B&O car, a load going to Buffalo goes in a LV or NYC car. Or some loads have to be in twins, some in triples and some in quads, some in gons.
I wish I would have thought of this before I spent so much time with the JMRI program.
As much as people complain about CC&WB, it still is one of the most flexible and simple systems out there.
Your solution is basically what I suggested back on the first page of posts:
"If you really want simple, put a slip of paper coded (color or alpha numeric) for each mine in the cars and then switch by the slips of paper. It actually had a prototype basis, clerk would staple a card to the sides of cars to indicate destination or block."
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dehusman jeep35 What I will probably do is to create a car card for each coal car and simply shuffle the cards and deal out a certain number for each mine. That will give me the randomness I want as well as "waybills " so I can block the cars in the correct order. Realizing that the real railroad would just measure off how many empties and spot a cut rather than spend the time to switch identical and interchangeable cars. But if you want the play factor, that will work. Another option is to make the cars and waybills not "interchangeable". Apply the waybills based on the destinations of the future loads. A load going Pittsburgh goes in a PRR car, a load going to Baltimore goes in a B&O car, a load going to Buffalo goes in a LV or NYC car. Or some loads have to be in twins, some in triples and some in quads, some in gons. I wish I would have thought of this before I spent so much time with the JMRI program. As much as people complain about CC&WB, it still is one of the most flexible and simple systems out there. Your solution is basically what I suggested back on the first page of posts: "If you really want simple, put a slip of paper coded (color or alpha numeric) for each mine in the cars and then switch by the slips of paper. It actually had a prototype basis, clerk would staple a card to the sides of cars to indicate destination or block."
While I have to agree as I run a LOT of different Layouts all across the country - there in one inhearent Flaw
that is going to really limit the Operators in the future
OLD Age and EYE sight.
Most of our I-80 Group members are Retired or nearing Retirement.
While this gives us the freedom to jump in the car and make a trip across the state(s) to attend an OPs Session - the ability to see and read the Car Cards or Switch Lists and the CAR NUMBERS is beginning to be a problem.
I, myself, have gone through a number of Eye Surgeries already and may have to have more. It is getting increasingly hard to me to read car numbers (as MOST layouts - to GET THE MOOD) have the layout lite with a single 100 watt bulb (YES - a great exageration) But not that far off the POINT I am trying to make.
I anticipated this problem on my current Layout and I have resorted to using a LUX meter to set light levels as consistant as I can in areas that require lots of switching (Yards - Industrial areas - Towns) so as my OPs Groups Eyes get older thay have a slim chance to see what they are doing!
Unfortunatelly - MOST if not ALL - Layout Owners DON"T run on their layout to SEE these problems - or at the very least if they do run on their Layouts during a regualr OPs Session - choose to ignore the problem entirely.
While some will try and agure this point with me - I can always make a trip and Use my LUX meter to show YOU just how poorly Lite your layout really is - I have done so on a number of Layouts I run on frequently (with the Owners permission).
They were truly surprised at the outcome and some have made changes in their lighting - which everyone in our Group noticed the next time we attended and let the Owner know about it - that we really appreciated the changes!
Because - IF the Operators have a hard time running YOUR Layout - They won't be back!
Just something to think about!
BOB H - Clarion, PA