MSTS and Coals to Newcastle Routes - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Having a problem with one of the route or MSTS? Then one of the following FAQs might help you.

Note: No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of the information contained on this page and it is up to the user to accept any consequences of using any information presented on this page. You can also check out some of the forums or other Trains Sim sites.

Make sure that you backup any relevant files before changing them.

MSTS General

* When I try to install v5, I keep getting a error message saying "file has invalid data". Please advise solution.

* When starting MSTS, for the first time, I get an error message saying "No extended shape file for 'cr2l2wna151_5r01dnp.s' or similar.

* When starting MSTS, I get an error message saying "Error reading train database file" for file 'xxxx.wag' or similar.

* MSTS freezes when I am driving in view 4.

* When driving in MSTS my screen "stutters" or becomes "jerky". Why is this?

* When driving in MSTS I get an error message saying that MSTS is unable to load an object. Why is this?

* I am having trouble downloading the route (or only have a dialup connection). How can I get a copy of the route?

* I have all the default routes and have installed CTN the latest version of the route over the top of a previous version. Will this cause any problems?

* When I start MSTS I get a message saying "failed to load material pallette". What does this mean?

CTN Route

* Is it possible to get a copy of the route map in jpeg/bmp/gif etc format?

* None of the water columns appear to work. They will not fill up the loco when I stop at them. What is wrong?

* When driving the default activity I can't hear any any sounds for the locomotive when I emerge from the Darling Harbour tunnel at Sydney Central. What is wrong?

* Sometimes, when driving in an activity a following AI train will run into the back of my train. What is wrong?

* When using the "foggy" environment, is there a way that I can decrease the distance to the fog, to try and simulate a "thicker" fog?

Activities

* When starting an activity I get a "Send / Don't Send" error or similar.

* My AI trains do not move. What is wrong?

* When I double click on the "xxx.apk file", I get the message, "failed to open package". What is wrong?

* When trying to unpack an activity I get the following message:- "The installed track database for this route is version ####, the activity was built on version ****. Continue?" What do I do?

* Activities from the previous versions won't work with the current version. Do they only need opening in AE and resaving, or is there more to converting them than that?

* I'm having problems in the Darling Harbour area with the double slips. Every train I've tried to take from Darling Harbour towards Central uncouples as it travels over the double slips.

* In activities where I have to sit and wait for a while, is it possible to speed the action up?

* What is a reversing point?

* When I go to the activity start screen, it lists the locomotive as "UNKNOWN". What causes this problem?

* How do I create a "different" starting point for my train?

Perfomance Issues

* What amount of memory (RAM) is used by MSTS?

* Will increasing the amount of RAM in my PC improve the performance of MSTS?

* What information is loaded into RAM when MSTS is initially started?

* What can I do to reduce the impact of the RAM needed by MSTS?

* Is there anything else that I can do to improve the performance of MSTS?


MSTS General

Question: When I try to install v5, I keep getting a error message saying "file has invalid data". Please advise solution.

Answer: Typically this indicates that the installation exe files is corrupt or not complete. This is most likely due to the download process "terminating" early. Check, the file "ctn_v5(2).exe and ensure that it is 101,302KB when viewed in Windows Explorer or similar program.

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Question: When starting MSTS I get an error message saying "No extended shape file for 'cr2l2wna151_5r01dnp.s', 'A1t2_46mStrt.s' or similar.

Answer: The files with "cr" prefixs are shapes from the NewRoads package. Check that NewRoads & Xtracks have been loaded correctly.

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Question: When starting MSTS, I get an error message saying "Error reading train database file" for file 'xxxx.wag' or similar.

Answer: This usually indicates some problem with the rolling stock and that MSTS cannot 'find' the relevant item. Try looking at the following Steam4me tutorial.

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Question: MSTS freezes when I am driving in view 4.

Answer: This is a problem that has been evident ever since the route was first created. The lockups seem to occur whenever the camera rotates to look directly down at the track or a piece of rolling stock. Comments in various forums have suggested that MSTS locks up when it encounters an area with a large polygon count which overloads the graphics engine. You could also check your video card setup. Refer to the forums for further details.

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Question: When driving in MSTS my screen "stutters" or becomes "jerky". Why is this?

Answer: The MSTS "landscape" is broken up into a series of 2km square tiles. MSTS usually loads the tile that the player is on, as well as the surrounding 8 tiles. As the player moves through the MSTS "landscape" new tiles are loaded from the Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The "stutterring" is usually accused by the time delay in reading the tile information off the HDD. Some improvement can be achieved by ensuring that the HDD is regularly defragmented to ensure the fastest possible HDD access time. Alternatively newer and faster HDD technology can be installed, however the possible improvement in performance, often doesn't justify the expenditure.

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Question: When driving in MSTS I get an error message saying that MSTS is unable to load a shape object file. Why is this?

Answer: This can be caused by either of the following reasons:

* Missing Shape File: Typically if the problem happens at the same spot and is consistently the same file, then it is likely that it is a missing shape file. Check to see if the file is present in the route shape folder.

* RAM Memory problem: If the problem happens at different locations and reports different shapes missing then it is most likely an issue with MSTS running out of memory. This will be caused by a combination of the complexity of the route as well as rolling stock, etc. It can often be overcome by changing the performance settings within MSTS. Refer to performance section.

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Question: I am having trouble downloading the route (or only have a dialup connection). How can I get a copy of the route?

Answer: Sometimes the server can be very busy so that attempts to download may be hard to get started. You will need to perserve.

As the file is large it maybe worthwhile to obtain a program which allows resumption of downloads (such as Getright). Alternatively a CD copy can be provided for those who are unable to download the route. A small fee will be charged to cover postage and copying costs, etc. If you are interested send your details through the feedback page.

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Question: I have all the default routes and have installed the latest version of the Coals to Newcastle route over the top of a previous version. Will this cause any problems?

Answer: Due to the track changes between versions of the route, older activities may end up with broken paths. This may cause the dreaded "Send/Don't Send" message to appear when trying to run the route. It is recommended that earlier versions be backed up in an alternate location on your HDD and removed from the MSTS folder before installing the most recent version.

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Question: When I start MSTS I get a message saying "failed to load material pallette". What does this mean?

Answer: This type of error suggests that the << Global >> folder in MSTS has become corrupted. Some people have suggested that un-installing and re-installing Xtracks fixes the problem. Others have had to rebuild this folder.

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CTN Route

Question: Is it possible to get a copy of the route map in jpeg/bmp/gif etc format?

Answer: It is possible to use Tim Booth's fantastic TrackView tool to display the route map. The latest version (V0.98) allows this information to be used at any time without impacting on the operation of MSTS. This utility and the CTN preview file are available on the CTN Route page. For the other routes, go to the relevant "Route" page.

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Question: None of the water columns appear to work. They will not fill up the loco when I stop at them. What is wrong?

Answer: There are a number of reasons why the water columns may not work and some of them are as follows (this also applies to coal stages and diesel fuel points, etc as well):

* Locomotive not enabled - The locomotive needs to be enabled to fill up with water. This requires an appropriate statement in the tender wagon file or eng file << eg IntakePoint ( -2.84 0.4 FuelWater )>>. Sometimes the second figure needs increasing as it might be "too tight" to allow the water column to "fit in the hatch". In the Activity Editor you will also need to reduce the water setting below 100% to make "room" for additional water.

* Water Column activated - The water column needs to also be activiated in the individual activity by the activity writer. To activate the water column do the following:
i) Go into Activity Editor
ii) Right click on the water column required and select the properties feature. This should bring up the Fuel Point Properties dialog window.
iii) Untick the default box under contents and move the slider to 100%. This should "put" water into the column.

* Locomotive and Water Column not lined up - The locomotive and the water column need to be correctly "lined up". It is possible to move the water column into position (by pressing the 'T' key), but water will not flow. If this happens move the locomotive backwards or forwards slightly until aligned correctly. When aligned correctly you should get purple text in the F5 view indicating that the locomotive is filling up. Most locomotives have a water filling "hatch" on the back of the tender and this needs to line up with the water column.

* Coal Stages work in the same fashion and usually need to have the coal chute lined up with the "coal area" in the tender.

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Question: When driving the default activity I can't hear any any sounds for the locomotive when I emerge from the Darling Harbour tunnel at Sydney Central. What is wrong?

Answer: A number of things can cause sounds not to play. In this instance it appears that there is not enough PC resources allocated to the number of "sound files" to be played.

Postings in some of the forums suggest making the following changes to the "soundcfg.dat" file found in the /Global/ folder of MSTS. This file can be edited by using wordpad.

Skip ( Scalability 5 - Memory Guide 60M )
SoundTimer ( 5, 30, 5 )
AudioStream ( 5, 500, 100 )
SoundSystem ( 5, 300, 20, 62914560 )
TrainMinMaxDistance ( 5, 25.0, 1000.0 )
AmbientMinMaxDistance ( 5, 20.0, 1000.0 )
Rolloff ( 5, 1.0 )

The suggested changes are changing 40 to 300 and 31457280 to 62914560 in the SoundSystem line. These changes increase the number of sounds able to played and also allows up to 60MB of memeory to be used instead of 30MB.

Another possible change is to turn off or reduce "Hardware Sound Acceleration Level" in DirectX. This can be done by doing the following:
i) In the 'Run' option under the start menu type "dxdiag" and hit ok.
ii) This will start the DirectX diagnostic tool, go to 'Sound' tab.
iii) Reduce the "Hardware Sound Acceleration Level" slider to zero or a lower level.

This adjustment is supposed to reduce some of the load on the PC when running some routes. It has been suggested by some that it has reduce some lockups on intense routes.

Warning: As with all changes they should be done with caution as a change in one area may result in problems in another area.

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Question: Sometimes, when driving in an activity a following AI train will run into the back of my train. What is wrong?

Answer: The signals in CTN have been set up as "STOP AND PROCEED" type. This allows trains to enter sections already occupied by other trains or carriages. Without this facility players would not be able to do any shunting into "occupied sections". The down side of this approach is that AI trains will stop at the signal behind the player train and then proceed to crash into the player train. If you keep to the activty timetable in most instances this should not happen.

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Question: When using the "foggy" environment, is there a way that I can decrease the distance to the fog, to try and simulate a "thicker" fog?

Answer: You can try adjusting the fog to your own requirements.
Adjust the following value in the SummerRain.env file [ found in {Envfiles} folder ] - world_fog_distance. Try halving the value and see what happens.

Make sure that you have a backup copy of the file.

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Activities

Question: When starting an activity I get a "Send / Don't Send" error or similar.

Answer: This usually indicates some problem with the activity such as a broken service path, etc.

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Question: My AI trains do not move. What is wrong?

Answer: Many things stop AI trains from running. Check to see if there is a signal or set of points "against" them. Another problem could be in the Physics files where newer "version 2" friction calculations are used and the DerailRailForce parameter is in "t" rather then "kN". Check that you have the most recent physics for the stock.

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Question: When I double click on the "xxx.apk file", I get the message, "failed to open package". What is wrong?

Answer: This usually indicates that the Windows registry has a problem with MSTS. A number of utilities have been written to fix this problem. One of these fix uitilities is available on the CTN Activity Download Page.

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Question: When trying to unpack an activity I get the following message:- "The installed track database for this route is version ####, the activity was built on version ****. Continue?" What do I do?

Answer: This usually means that the route has been upgraded and the activity is not synchronised with the route track database. In most instances you can press the "ok" button and continue to load the activity. The activity should work ok, provided that there are no path changes, etc in the activity.

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Question: Activities from the previous versions sometimes won't work with the current version. Do they only need opening in AE and resaving,or is there more to converting them than that?

Answer: The main reasons that the activities from previous versions won't work on the current version is that some of the track congiurations along the route amy have been changed, which results in broken paths for some of the services. The activity paths will be fixed and rehosted on the website. Alternatively you can fix the paths to get it to run. There is a good tutorial on how to do this on the Steam4me site.

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Question: I'm having problems in the Darling Harbour area with the double slips. Every train I've tried to take from Darling Harbour towards Central uncouples as it travels over the double slips.

Answer: Ideally travel going across these points shouldn't cause wagons to uncouple. Another MSTS challenge. The problem can possibly be lessened or eliminated by using rolling stock with "stronger" coupling values in the wag file. Also increasing the minimum height of the bounding box above the ground could be increased. A lot of the more recent rolling stock has these settings and this would probably explain why sometimes it works ok and other times it doesn't.

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Question: In activities where I have to sit and wait for a while, is it possible to speed the action up?

Answer: It is possible to accelerate the game clock by making the following changes to the MSTS start icon on the Desktop.

i) Right click on the 'Train Simulator' icon and go to properties.
ii) Add: \timeacceleration to the "target" line so it looks something like:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\train.exe" -timeacceleration

Then while it is running, Ctrl T will speed things up to double time, Ctrl T again will speed it up some more, and more, and more....

Ctrl Shift T will slow it down, Ctrl Shift T slows it more, right back to normal speed.

See the effects by opening the timetable window, and watch the clock.
Some have suggested that speeding MSTS can cause calculation errors and cause activities to "misbehave".

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Question: What is a reversing point?

Answer: A reversing point is included in a train path to cause the train to reverse direction. Activity creators often use them to "temporarily disable" a Player path to allow an AI train to pass the Player train. In this situation you should not run across the reversing point until after the AI train has gone past. The reversing point is displayed in the Track Monitor(press "F4") and will look like this

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Question: When I go to the activity start screen, it lists the locomotive as "UNKNOWN". What causes this problem?

Answer: The "unknown" locomotive error is due to a difference in capitalisation one of the references within the activity files.

For example -
Filename is: YourLocomotive.eng

Inside the actvity files it says (in any of the possible locations)

Engine ( yourlocomotive )
Wagon ( yourlocomotive )

This can also apply to a "mismatched" consist, etc as well.
The activity still should run ok, despite this "apparent" problem.

You could also try "fixing" the problem with the "fix zzz files" on the {Activity/Stock} tab of Route Riter

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Question: How do I create a "different" starting point for my train?

Answer: Strating points are associated with paths that are created through the {Activity Editor} of MSTS.

The Steam4me site has an excellent tutorial that describes how to create a path when creating an activity.

Activity Creation tutorial

You will not need to save any activities, merely go far enough to create and save the path, you may then exit the {Activity Editor}.

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Perfomance Issues

Question: What amount of memory (RAM) is used by MSTS?

Answer: When running MSTS appears to only use about 100MB of RAM. If the amount of memory is exceeded then MSTS can experience performance problems.Specifically RAM problems can cause shape files not to load correctly.

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Question: Will increasing the amount of RAM in my PC improve the performance of MSTS?

Answer: In some instance installing extra RAM will improve the performance of MSTS. This will only be the case where RAM is being used by other programs running at the same time as MSTS and there is less then 100MB of free memory available for MSTS. In this situation installing extra RAM will allow MSTS to run at it's maximum memory allocation. In instances where you already have in excess of 100MB of free RAM available for MSTS, adding extra memory will not have a noticeable impact on the performance of MSTS.

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Question: What information is loaded into RAM when MSTS is initially started?

Answer: Based on information on forums it appears that the following information is loaded when MSTS first starts -

i) Global Information
ii) Basic route information
iii) Activity Information

Global Information is always loaded upon start-up of MSTS:
- .trk files of all routes
- .act files of all routes
- .pat files of all routes
- .sav files of earlier activities
- .con files currently in consists folder
- .eng & .wag files called for in current .con files (missing files and errors in these files are reported at this stage!)
- Global files such as global/shapes, global/tsection.dat, global/camcfg.dat, global/soundcfg.dat, trainset/default/default.wag etc.

This gets you to the startup screen from where you can chose your route, train, activity.

Basic route information is loaded to run the route in "Explorer" mode:
- all files associated with your consist's equipment, e.g. shapes, shape definition and texture files (.s, .sd, .ace) for all the pieces of rolling stock in your installation.
- cabview related files, as well as the sounds of your equipment.
- track & road databases of the route as well as various .dat files (sigcfg.dat, sigscr.dat, carspawn.dat, ttype.dat etc.)
- environment, i.e. weather related files from the route's EnvFiles folder. Errors in those cause the infamous "train world initialisation failed" messages, resulting in a send/don't send.
- world tile (.w file) that the route path starts on as well as any neighbouring tiles (maximum of 8 if defined)
- All the scenery objects (shape, shape definition, texture files) these tiles (.w files) call for.
- Same for the environmental sounds (.ws, .sms, .wav files)

Activity file information is loaded when an activity is run
- all files needed for the .act file, including .wag, .s and .sd files of loose consists in sidings.
- all files related to AI traffic: the .trf file of the route and any .srv file associated with AI traffic.
- MSTS then calculates the current position of AI traffic, and if applicable it loads any AI train (.eng, .wag, .s, .sd files) in the vicinity of your current positions, i.e. any AI train passing across your current tile or one of its neighbours right now.

In summary
If all this information exceeds the magic 100MB figure it is likely that the "failed to load xxx" error will start to happen. There are things that can be done to reduce the impact on memory

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Question: What can I do to reduce the impact of the RAM needed by MSTS?

Answer: You care try some of the following and/or adjust MSTS performance (option) settings.

* Remove all non essential information that might be loaded (eg other routes, non essential rolling stock, consists, paths, saves, activities, surplus track shapes in the global folder, etc.)
The main advice is to keep your MSTS installation as lean as possible. Programs such as TrainStore might assist you or alternatively you can do it manually.

* Try not to use activities with lots of static cars and / or complex AI traffic.

* When developing activities: Only put in as much static & moving traffic as required...

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Question: Is there anything else that I can do to improve the performance of MSTS?

Answer: Every computer will respond differently so the following suggestions are only "generic" things to start trying.

* Make sure that disk is regularly defragmented.( This may help slightly with "stutter" problem).

* Stop all other non-essential programs that might be running at the same time.

* Experiment with the different views and viewing directions. For example looking across the train appears to give a better frame rate then looking along the direction of travel by the train.

* Reduce the sliders in the MSTS options page. The following settings seem to work well for some.

Sound:
Master Volume - 1
Train Volume - 1
Ambient Volume - 1
Quality of Sounds - High
Text Captions for Audio - On

Display:
Display Resolution - 1024x768x32
Overall Graphics Quality - Best Graphics

Advanced Display:
Overhead Wires - Off
Water - On
Shadows - Off
Dynamic Shadows - Off
Textured Sky - On
Precipitation - On
Distant Mountains - Off
Specular Lighting - Off
High Detail Shadows - Off
Visibility - 1750
Terrain Error Threshold - 10
World Objects Density - 10
World Objects Quality - 2
World Objects Texture Quality - 2
Train Objects Quality - 3
Train Object Texture Quality - 3

These settings may change from PC to PC due to difference in setup, etc. You may need to experiment by increasing or decreasing these settings.

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