Page 12 of 17

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 am
by PapaMouse
BRWombat wrote:I love all this technical stuff on the monorails. BTW, I'm able to sit at the computer long enough that I've resumed work on my Virtual WDW for the Trainz monorail -- I just finished modeling the MK station. (It helps also that we have a shiny new 20" widescreen LCD monitor!) I am trying to decide what to do next -- whether to build the TTC, the GF station, or just improve the landscaping.

So... while all this monorail info is flying around, will one of you please post the speed limits for the system??? :beg: Right now I just drive around at 40 MPH (or faster!) and brake as necessary, but it's not that realistic.
Virtual WDW huh???

Here is a little thing I have been working on. (you have to join but its worth it.)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mouse%20World/146/5/27

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:21 am
by ktulu
PapaMouse wrote:Virtual WDW huh???

Here is a little thing I have been working on. (you have to join but its worth it.)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mouse%20World/146/5/27
Yeah, he is doing an awesome job too! I just need to get Trainz back on my laptop, get the monorail files again and then wait for Wombat to get me his files :D:

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:48 pm
by BRWombat
PapaMouse wrote:Virtual WDW huh??
Here's the thread with details, though I haven't posted anything new there since August. I just read through the thread again, and I've actually made progress getting the monorail stations I've created to be functional -- so they don't just look good. I'll post pictures of the completed MK station there soon.
Monorail_Red wrote:I can get the speed info for you once I get home later this afternoon. For the holdpoints, that is going to be hard to model because in Trainz it's a blocklight system, which works differently from the MAPO system. I will get that info for you as well.

From memory I can tell you that each station has a limit of 15MPH. 25MPH on express and 15MPH through the Contemporary. Again, I'll look up the exact info as well as the placement of the Speedboards and the Beamtop Visual Signals. :D:

I did some experimenting in Trainz to see how the AI trains would interact and I'll give you the info based on that so we can work with the Trainz defaults to make it as real as possible.
Yeah, the green/yellow/red lights shining on the beams aren't that realistic, but it's the closest the developer came to implementing the MAPO system. I don't have an easy way to place (or number) the pylons to reflect reality, but I've come pretty close to marking the hold points based on the numbers provided to me and a lot of pylon counting on Google Earth.
ktulu wrote:Yeah, he is doing an awesome job too! I just need to get Trainz back on my laptop, get the monorail files again and then wait for Wombat to get me his files :D:
Thanks, ktulu! I've found I can archive my work and copy the archive files. You should be able to unpack the archive and install it on your system. On the other hand, it is over 80 MB so far, so that precludes sharing it over the internet, since I'm still using dialup at home. I'll burn it to a CD for you... sometime. (I keep thinking, I just need to do a little more work on it, then I'll pass on the files... :D :)

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:34 pm
by Monorail_Red
BRWombat wrote:Here's the thread with details, though I haven't posted anything new there since August. I just read through the thread again, and I've actually made progress getting the monorail stations I've created to be functional -- so they don't just look good. I'll post pictures of the completed MK station there soon.

Yeah, the green/yellow/red lights shining on the beams aren't that realistic, but it's the closest the developer came to implementing the MAPO system. I don't have an easy way to place (or number) the pylons to reflect reality, but I've come pretty close to marking the hold points based on the numbers provided to me and a lot of pylon counting on Google Earth.

Thanks, ktulu! I've found I can archive my work and copy the archive files. You should be able to unpack the archive and install it on your system. On the other hand, it is over 80 MB so far, so that precludes sharing it over the internet, since I'm still using dialup at home. I'll burn it to a CD for you... sometime. (I keep thinking, I just need to do a little more work on it, then I'll pass on the files... :D :)
I will post the info on that other thread soon.

But for the holdpoints, to make it realistic, we can't place the holdpoints realistically. Basically it would have to be every other one, or where a train would usually hold.

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:37 pm
by felinefan
The dynamic/regenerative braking system sounds similar to what the Toyota Prius has to keep the batteries charged. Anyone familiar enough to know just how close a comparison it is?

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:56 pm
by Monorail_Red
felinefan wrote:The dynamic/regenerative braking system sounds similar to what the Toyota Prius has to keep the batteries charged. Anyone familiar enough to know just how close a comparison it is?
They are all similar, but the question is, where does the power go to. Monorails burn the power in the resistors. A car may put the power back into the batteries.

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:34 pm
by Monorail_Red
BRWombat wrote:So... while all this monorail info is flying around, will one of you please post the speed limits for the system??? :beg: Right now I just drive around at 40 MPH (or faster!) and brake as necessary, but it's not that realistic.
Wombat - I put all that info up on your thread. It's going to be impossible to get it 100% realistic since that the equipment that we use in Trainz is gereric to railroading, rather than the equipment that is specific to the WDW monorails in real life.

I went into Trainz and played with the Speedboards & Beamtop Visual Signals to see how the AI monorails reacted and interacted to how & where the objects were placed.

Hope all that info helps!!

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:32 pm
by BRWombat
Monorail_Red wrote:Wombat - I put all that info up on your thread. It's going to be impossible to get it 100% realistic since that the equipment that we use in Trainz is gereric to railroading, rather than the equipment that is specific to the WDW monorails in real life.

I went into Trainz and played with the Speedboards & Beamtop Visual Signals to see how the AI monorails reacted and interacted to how & where the objects were placed.

Hope all that info helps!!
Wonderful, M_R!! Thanks!

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:25 am
by Monorail_Red
Thought that this was pretty neat to bring to everyone's attention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWv5vikjN4

In the beginning they have switchbeams 1 & 2 coming together for a train to cross over to resort...

At 2:08, I hope that was some editing to speed-up the video, not the actual train coming over the switch that fast :eek:

And at 3:25 Coral being pushed through the Contemporary by tractor #3.

Re: Attention all monorail personnel!

Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:20 am
by ktulu
Monorail_Red wrote: And at 3:25 Coral being pushed through the Contemporary by tractor #3.
Those run on diesel yes? I guess it can get a bit stinky in the Contemporary when they roll through...