CONTENTS

1 - Introduction to Trainz .................................................. 5

2 - Getting Started .............................................................. 8

3 - Menu System . ............................................................... 19

. 3 . 1 - Tutorials............................................................... 19
. 3 . 2 - Routes................................................................... 20
. 3 . 3 - Saved Sessions...................................................... 22
3 . 4 - Railyard ............................................................... 23
3 . 5 - Content Update ................................................... 24
3 . 6 - iTrainz Chat ......................................................... 24

4 - Driver . .......................................................................... 25
4 . 1 - Navigating the Driver Interface......................... 26
. 4 . 2 - Camera Views....................................................... 28
4 . 3 - Tools Menu . ........................................................ 32
4 . 4 - DCC Controller ................................................... 35
4 . 5 - Signals ................................................................. 38
. 4 . 6 - Junction Levers ................................................... 42
4 . 7 - Turntables and Transfer Tables ......................... 43
. 4 . 8 - Decoupling .......................................................... 43
4 . 9 - Cab Mode ............................................................. 44
. 4 .10 - Industries and Passenger Stations . .................. 49
4 .11 - Waybills - Who Needs What .............................. 50
. 4 .12 - Commodities . ..................................................... 50
5 - Introduction to QuickDrive . ...................................... 51

6 - Multiplayer . ................................................................. 54

7 - Engineer’s Guide . ......................................................... 59

. 7 . 1 - Train Braking System Overview.......................... 59
7 . 2 - Driving in Deisel / Electric Cabin Mode . ........... 63
7 . 3 - Driving in Steam Cabin Mode ............................. 73

8 - Introduction to Surveyor . ......................................... 81

9 - Surveyor in Depth ........................................................ 98

. 9 . 1 - Surveyor Title Bar............................................... 98
9 . 2 - Surveyor Main Menu .......................................... 99
9 . 3 - Options .............................................................. 108
9 . 4 - Surveyor Settings ............................................. 110
. 9 . 5 - Adding and Removing Favorites ...................... 113
9 . 6 - Global Consist Library and QuickDrive ........... 113
9 . 7 - Edit Environment Menu ................................... 116
. 9 . 8 - Content Search Filter ....................................... 122

10 - Surveyor Tool Tabs .................................................. 124

. 10 . 1 - Topology Menu................................................ 125
10 . 2 - Paint Menu ...................................................... 135
10 . 3 - Objects Menu .................................................. 138
10 . 4 - Track Menu . .................................................... 155

3
 . 10 . 5 - Tools Menu . .................................................... 177
10 . 6 - Layers Menu .................................................... 181
10 . 7 - Trains Menu .................................................... 183

11 - Session Rules and Management .............................. 190

12 - Favorites ................................................................... 195

13 - Content and Assets .................................................. 196

14 - Content Manager..................................................... 198

. 14 . 1 - Introduction.................................................... 198
14 . 2 - Sorting, Searching and Organizing Content .203
14 . 3 - Disabling, Enabling and Deleting Assets ....... 206
14 . 4 - The Download Station and Downloading ..... 208
. 14 . 5 - Importing Content and CDPs ......................... 211
14 . 6 - Creating and Editing Content ........................ 214

15 - Content Creator Plus .............................................. 221

16 - Keyboard Controls .................................................. 234

17 - Extra Fun................................................................... 239

18 - Credits ...................................................................... 240

4
1 - Introduction to Trainz

1 - Introduction to trainz
Welcome to the latest edition of the Trainz series, Trainz
Simulator 12. As well as all the features you have come to
expect from Trainz over the past ten years, Trainz Simulator
12 extends the Trainz experience by introducing online
multiplayer.
Whether you wish to drive the trains yourself, manage ‘AI’
operations of multiple trains, control industries or create
your own Trainz world, Trainz Simulator 12 is the platform
that will allow you to do this and more to bring your virtual
railway to life.

The team at N3V Games wish to thank you for purchasing this
evolutionary product, and we trust that you will enjoy not
only what’s in the box, but also the rapidly growing online
Trainz community and wealth of free user created / 3rd party
content that expands and enhances your experience. You can
discover more about Trainz at
http://www.trainzportal.com/

5
 Common Terms Used In This Manual
1 - Introduction to trainz

• Click - use the Left Mouse Button (LMB)

• Double-Click - clicking the LMB twice
• R-Click - use the Right Mouse Button (RMB)
• Mouse-over - move the cursor over an object and pause
• Drag - click and hold the LMB then drag the item
• Hotkey – press the key described to carry out the action
• CM - Content Manager

6
Basic Controls

1 - Introduction to trainz
KP = numpad

W Throttle Up KP8
X Throttle Down KP2
S Throttle Idle KP5
Q Brake Release KP9
A Brake Lap KP6
Z Brake Apply KP3
F Reverser Fwd KP*
R Reverser Bwd KP/
H Horn KP+
B Bell KP-
L Headlight
Shift-L Dimmer
; Ditch Lights
V Toggle Sanders
P Pause
Camera Hotkeys
1 Cab Interior View
2 Chase View
3 Lineside View
4 Free Roaming View
Interface Hotkeys
F5 Interface Toggle on/off
F6 Driver Bar
F7 Button Bar
F8 Custom HUD
F9 HUD Controls

7
 2 - GETTING STARTED
2 - getting started

To get the most out of your Trainz experience, it’s a good idea
to do a little preparation first. Make sure your PC has up to
date graphics drivers, clean your mouse and keyboard, grab
the beverage of your choice, adjust your chair, and you’ll be
ready for a rail journey of a lifetime. Welcome to the world
of Trainz.

Installation
Before installing, ensure that you have sufficient disk space
(at least 10GB) and that you have no other programs running.
If you have the DVD version, begin the installation process
by inserting the DVD into your DVD drive. Ifyou have auto
run enabled on your computer the installer will start
automatically. If you don’t have auto run enabled, you will
need to start the installation yourself - double click on your
DVD drive through My Computer or manually browse the
contents of the DVD and double click on the setup.exe file
found on the root directory of the DVD.
The installation wizard will guide you through the installation
process. During this process, you will need to enter your
product key. For a DVD version, this is normally found on a
label stuck inside the DVD case or on the back of the manual.
For a Digital Download version, you will have been notified of
your product key electronically by the online shop.
For further help with installing TS12, please refer to the
Readme file found on the DVD, or refer to the Trainz Portal
website at http://www.trainzportal.com

8
Starting Trainz for the first time

2 - getting started
At the end of the installer, you will be prompted if you want
to launch Trainz straight away. If you chose not to, then click
on the Trainz icon on the desktop or in the start menu to start
the Trainz Launcher. The first time Trainz is run, a diagnostic
check will verify if your computer is up to date and capable of
running Trainz. Any warnings it flags may cause functionality
or performance problems.
Once the diagnostic check is complete, and you have
addressed any problems it raised, you will arrive at the Trainz
launcher. To get the most from your Trainz experience click
the Options button in the launcher to open the configuration
screen, and go to the ‘Planet Auran’ tab. From here you can
enter your Planet Auran profile details.

9
 If you are new to Trainz click Join Planet Auran to create a
2 - getting started

Planet Auran profile. Although not compulsory, once you

have a profile, you can register your serial number and gain
access to the extensive library of content available via the
Download Station. There are currently well over 100,000
items on the Download station, and it is growing every day.
Note: You must be connected to the internet to register with
Planet Auran and to download content.
For Trainz to look its best, you should run Trainz in the same
resolution as your native display resolution. This is set in the
‘display settings’ section of the Launcher. For a typical flat
panel screen, this is generally the highest setting listed in
the launcher - the one at the bottom of the list. If in doubt,
consult the documentation for your monitor to determine
what the native resolution is.
Once these details are entered, click on OK to save them and
click Start to launch Trainz.
You can update or change any of these details by clicking on
Options on the Trainz launcher at any time.

Overview Of Available Settings

If you are having issues with game performance on your
machine, please try the tweaks listed below:
• Draw Distance (Trainz in-game option): Larger draw
distances require significantly more CPU and GPU power.
If you are having performance problems, try lowering the
draw distance first.

10
• Anti-Aliasing (Trainz Launcher option; Video Driver

2 - getting started
Options): Reducing or disabling AA quality increases
performance on low-end hardware but results in a
significant reduction of visual quality. We recommend
that you use the TS12 anti-aliasing settings rather than
attempting to override them with your video driver
settings.

• Anisotropy (Trainz in-game option): Anisotropy

dramatically improves the crispness of distant objects
and objects that are on an angle to the observer.
However, this may introduce performance problems on
low-end hardware.

• Virtual memory settings (System options): Virtual

memory is used when windows has used up all of the
available RAM installed in your system. You can edit the
virtual memory settings by going to Windows Control
Panel -> System -> Advanced Tab - > Settings (in the
performance section) -> Advanced Tab -> and clicking
“Change” in the Virtual memory section. Select the
Custom size radio button and change the Maximum size
to at least 4092. Click OK on the various screens to return
to Windows.

• Enable hardware accelerated texture compression

(CM settings - Miscellaneous): Enabled by default, this
option can significantly reduce the time taken to install
large content items. On some faulty video hardware/
video driver combinations, this may result in corrupted
textures. To fix this issue disable the option and reinstall
the affected content items.

11
 TS12 Launcher
2 - getting started

Once you have successfully installed TS12, Double Click on

the TS12 icon on your Desktop (or at N3V Games > on the
Start menu) to access the Trainz Launcher menu.

The Trainz Launcher menu provides a number of functions:

Start
This will launch Trainz.
Options
Enables you to customize your settings for Trainz, including
your Planet Auran settings, display settings and advanced
graphics features such as shadows. Read on to to the next
section for a detailed description of these options.
Content
This will start Content Manager, a utility to help you manage
your Trainz content and to download additional content.

12
Section 14 examines the details of Content Manager.

2 - getting started
Manual
Opens up the .PDF version of the Trainz manual (i.e. what you
are reading now). The Adobe® Reader® application must be
installed for you to view the digital manual.
Website
This will open up your browser to the Trainz Online
community portal where you can access wikis and community
information along with the latest Trainz news.
Extras
A number of extra documents from N3V and the 3rd Party
Content Creators.
Forums
This will open up your browser to the TS12 community forum
where thousands of Trainz fans are ready to help you with
your questions and share experiences.
Quit
Closes the TS12 Launcher.

13
 Options menu in detail
2 - getting started

By selecting “options” from the TS12 Launcher you can

customize various elements to maximize your enjoyment.
General

Under this tab you will find a dialogue for adding your product
keys and selecting your desired language.

Planet Auran
Planet Auran is an ever growing online community that is
free for all TS12 users to join. There is an incredible wealth
of additional information and content available that will
enormously expand your enjoyment of TS12.
Highlights include:
• Additional files and utilities that help you get the
most out of TS12.

14
• Online forums (message boards) where you can ask

2 - getting started
questions you have about using TS12 and learn from others.
• Interactive online features like iTrainz Chat; iPortal
and Multiplayer.

If you haven’t already joined, click on the “Join Planet Auran”

button to register. This will launch your default browser with
the Planet Auran registration page that will guide you through
the registration process. You will need to have Internet access
and be online to do this.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll have access to over 150,000
different items such as routes, engines, rolling stock,
buildings, bridges, track, etc so that you can build exactly the
rail empire you want to.

15
 Display Settings
2 - getting started

DirectX mode or OpenGL mode can be selected depending

on your graphics hardware requirements. For older systems,
DirectX generally improves rendering speed. Experiment to
see which graphics setting works best with your hardware.
Display Resolution determines what resolution your screen
will run at. For best results, set this to your usual (native)
desktop resolution.
Bit Depth should be left at 32 bit unless your graphics card
doesn’t support 32 bit graphics.
Anti-Aliasing - Disabling AA increases performance on low-
end hardware but results in a significant reduction of visual
quality. We recommend that you use the TS12 antialiasing
settings rather than attempting to override them with your
video driver settings.

16
Advanced options

2 - getting started
Under this tab you will find technical settings along with the
option to disable in-game Shadows.
Vertical Sync - Allows for smoother graphics (helps eliminate
tearing). “Half-Rate” option is recommended for slower
hardware.
Frequency - Specifies the “vertical refresh frequency”. If this
is set too high for your hardware, the game may not start.
The default (“Auto”) should run on most hardware, but may
not give the best results.
Disable Hardware TL - Turns off some hardware acceleration
options. Results in poorer performance, but may help reduce
conflicts with faulty AGP or GPU drivers.
Vertex Offset - Applicable only to DirectX. If set incorrectly,
some elements of Trainz (such as text) will appear blurred.

17
 Developer
2 - getting started

This tab stores further technical settings related to developer

and beta testing.

18
3 - MENU SYSTEM

3 - MENU SYSTEM
The Trainz main menu has five options, Tutorials, Routes,
Saved Sessions, Railyard and Content Updates.

3.1 Tutorials
This menu features 4 introductory tutorials, each focused on
a different aspect of train operation in the Driver system.
The 4 tutorials in order are:

Tutorial 1 – Trainz interface and basic DCC Controls

Tutorial 2 – Advanced DCC Controls
Tutorial 3 – Basic CAB Controls
Tutorial 4 – Advanced CAB Controls

To get started, select the first tutorial. This will bring up a

description of the tutorial at the bottom of the screen. Once
the tutorial has been selected, click on the Play Tutorial
button found at the bottom right corner of the screen. Trainz
will now start running Tutorial 1, where you will be guided
through all the basic controls that make up the Trainz driving
interface. Once you have completed Tutorial 1, go through
to the next tutorials and discover more ways to control your
trains.

19
 3.2 Routes
3 - MENU SYSTEM

The Routes menu provides access to drive, edit, and create

routes and sessions.

There are a number of pre-defined sessions for the built-

in routes for your driving pleasure. You can also use the
‘Sandbox’ mode to quickly place a train of your choice and
explore a route. You can also choose to create your own
session to drive on one of the existing routes, or even create
your own route from scratch.

Click on a route in the list, and a description of the route will

be shown in the information pane below the list. Clicking the
‘Sessions’ button will list the sessions for this route, along
with any saved sessions or active multiplayer games currently
running on this route.

20
If you click on a session in the list, the description of the

3 - MENU SYSTEM
session will be shown in the information pane. Click the
‘Drive Session’ button to begin driving.

We recommend you start with the easier sessions and

progress onto the more difficult sessions when you are
looking for more of a challenge. The relative difficulty of a
session is listed in the information displayed about it. If you
click on a saved session, details about the saved session (e.g.
when it was saved, and how long the session had run for) will
be displayed in the information pane.

If you click on a multiplayer game, details of the game (e.g.

the number of current players and the host’s description)
will be shown in the information pane. Click the ‘Join Game’
button to join the multiplayer game. Participation in a
multiplayer game requires an internet connection, a Planet
Auran account (with a registered serial number), and an
active multiplayer account.

21
 We recommend that you join a number of existing
3 - MENU SYSTEM

multiplayer games and gain some experience with the

multiplayer environment before you consider hosting your
own multiplayer game.

See section 6 of this manual for more information on

multiplayer sessions.

Definitions
Route - Routes contain the ‘world’ components such as
terrain, buildings, track, trees and trackside objects.
Session - Sessions contain the ‘variable’ aspects such as locos,
rolling stock, time of day, weather and other Rules.
Saved session - A session you have previously started playing,
and saved part way through.

3.3 Saved Sessions

The ‘Saved Sessions’ menu provides an alternative way to
load a previously saved session. In particular, it allows you
to easily find a session you’d started if you can’t remember
which map you started it on.

22
3.4 Railyard

3 - MENU SYSTEM
The railyard module allows you to inspect your locomotive
and rolling stock collection. There is a list of all available
rolling stock, and clicking on a vehicle in the list will bring it
into the shed, where you can inspect it from any angle, and
operate the horn, lights and pantograph (if fitted). Many of
the locomotives also have extensive descriptions including
vehicle history and operating information, which can be read
in the Railyard module.

23
 3.5 Content Update
3 - MENU SYSTEM

The content update menu allows you to download any content

updates from the Download Station. Updated content items
may fix minor behavioural or graphical problems, or add
additional functionality. Much of this content is sourced
from community members. Keeping your content up to date
is recommended, particularly if you intend to participate
in multiplayer games, where a consistent set of content is
required across all players.

The content update menu requires an internet connection

and a Planet Auran account with a registered serial number.
If you download a lot of content, you may wish to consider
buying a ‘first class ticket’, which will improve content
download speed.

3.6 iTrainz Chat

To chat with other Trainz fans, click on the iTrainz Chat icon
in the top right of the menu bar across the top of the screen.
This opens the Chat Buddy List. Click on #trainz to open the
general Trainz chat channel. Begin typing and press the Enter
key to ‘publish’ your words for others to see.

You can create your own chat channels, add Buddies and also
ignore users. Ignore will stop you from seeing any comments
from that person but they will still be able to see your
comments.

Note: For iTrainz Chat to work, you are required to have your
Planet Auran username and password entered in the main
options screen (accessed from the Launcher).

24
4 - DRIVER

4 - DRIVER
To drive a session, first select a route from the list and click
Sessions, you can also double-click the route name. Once you
are in the sessions submenu, select which session you wish
to drive and click “Drive Session” to launch.
Note: When you have a route or session selected, information
regarding the route and session is displayed in the central
box beneath the main listing.

In Trainz you can also give commands to AI Drivers to carry

out tasks such as delivering freight, coupling and decoupling
and keeping to a passenger schedule.

Whilst in Driver, you can use either your mouse or Hotkeys to

drive. Experiment with different camera positions (Hotkeys
1-4) or use the “[“ or “]” keys to move between different
camera views.

In Cab Interior View, hold RMB to rotate your view around

the cab.

In Chase View it rotates the camera around the currently

selected vehicle.

Lineside View (Hotkey 3) selects the closest pre-placed

camera. If there are no pre-placed cameras nearby then it
will change to Chase View by default.

In Free Roaming View, holding RMB will move the focal point
around the map, similar to the camera controls in Surveyor.

25
 4.1 Navigating the Driver Interface
4 - DRIVER

Main Menu Drop-Down List

This drop-down menu is found in the top-left corner of the
screen.

Help
This opens a browser window within Trainz to display the
Online Wiki.

Options
This is where you can tweak the graphics slider settings to
improve the visual quality of your game, or sacrifice some
visual quality for improved performance (framerate).

Achievements
This lets you check your progress towards earning Trainz
Achievements.

26
Save Game (Ctrl-S)

4 - DRIVER
Lets you save your progress including where each train is
located and the state of each industry. To reload a Saved
Session, either choose it from the list in the “Routes” menu
or from the “Saved Session” menu from the Trainz Main
Menu screen.

Find Object (Ctrl-F)

Lets you locate a particular item on the map (such as a
junction, station, loco or interactive industry). Selecting the
item will move the camera position to that position on the
route.

Exit Driver (Esc)

Quits the current session back to the Driver Main Menu or
Surveyor screen with the option to save the session before
exiting.

Main Menu Bar

This section covers the icons to the right of the Main Menu
drop-down list.

Pause (P)
The Pause button is located beside the Main Menu
button. Clicking the Pause button (or pressing ‘P’),
will suspend the current session so that you can
answer that important phone call or stop for a lunch, dinner
or toilet break. It can also be used to give additional time
when reading the instructions for a session.

27
 4.2 Camera Views
4 - DRIVER

There are many different ways of viewing the 3D world in

Trainz, as well as a map view that gives you a 2D top down
view. You can zoom in and out, pan around, and change the
camera focus point with each of these views.

The current camera mode is shown on the Trainz menubar.

Clicking it will bring down the camera menu, allowing you to
choose from one of 5 camera modes.

Cab Interior View

Firstly, make sure the view is focused on a
locomotive (Click LMB on a locomotive to focus
the view), then click LMB on the Cab Interior View
(or “Cab View”) entry in the camera menu (you
can also press the “1” key). Your view is now from the driver’s
seat of the cab. Hold the RMB and move the mouse to look
around the cab and out of the windows. You can change your
viewpoint within the cab by pressing the “[“ and “]” keys.

If the locomotive has a second cab, press ALT + C to switch

between the cabs.

28
Chase View

4 - DRIVER
When you first start a Driver session, you will
normally be in Chase (or “External”) View by
default. The scene will be focused on a particular
locomotive. Selecting Chase View, or pressing the
“2” key, will return you to this camera mode. While in Chase
View, use RMB + Drag to rotate and elevate the view, and the
mouse wheel (or Page Up / Page Down keys) to zoom. Chase
View will follow the currently selected vehicle as it moves
around the map.

If you Click LMB on one of the cars attached to the locomotive,

the view will move along the train so that the selected car
becomes the new focus. You can also press the “-“ and “+”
keys on the keyboard to select the next or previous car in the
consist. You can still control the locomotive using the HUD or
keyboard controls even while viewing a parts of the consist
other than the engine.

To shift the focus to a different train, simply Click LMB on the

desired train, use the driver selector in the bottom left of the
screen, or click on the consist icons in the 2D Map View.

Lineside View
Click on Lineside View (or “Tracking Camera”)
and your view changes to the nearest pre-placed
camera. You can also go to Lineside View view
by pushing the “3” key. There are two types of
cameras, static and tracking.

These cameras are placed in the 3D world in Surveyor mode.

Static cameras will stay fixed in a direction, and allow the

29
 tracked object to enter, cross and move out of the frame.
4 - DRIVER

Tracking cameras are fixed in place, but pan with the tracked
object, keeping it in the centre of the view. If there are no
cameras within visual range of the tracked object, the view
reverts back to Chase View functionality until a camera
comes within range.

Free Roaming View

The fourth camera mode is Free Roaming View.
This is accessed by selecting it from the menu
or pushing the “4” key. It operates in a similar
fashion to navigating in the route editor (Surveyor).

To move the camera focus point, simply Click RMB in the 3D

world to where you want the new central focus point to be.
The view will then smoothly move to the new focus point.
You can use the cursor keys to rotate or change elevation. To
zoom in and out scroll the mouse wheel or press the Page
Up/Page Down keys. Like in Surveyor, in Free Roaming Mode
you are able to zoom out all the way to satellite altitudes at
which point it transitions into Map View.

Hold down RMB and move the mouse to continuously change

the focus point, and hence the view point. By combining
this mouse movement with the cursor keys and the zoom
function, you will be able to roam around the route with
great speed and precision.

30
Map View

4 - DRIVER
The fifth camera mode isn’t really a camera mode
at all - it is the 2D map view. You can get to the
map by using the Map View menu item, or by
pressing ‘M’. You will find the Map View is useful
for getting an overview of where your trains are in relation
to the industries, the track configuration, plotting your train
movements and checking turnout settings and signal states.

In the Map View you will see the position, length, and
name of each Consist, the direction set for each turnout
and important names for assets such as turnouts, industries
and stations. Zoom in and out using the mouse wheel or the
Page Up/Page Down keys. Unlike entering Map View from
Free Roaming View, you are able to zoom in close without it
transitioning into the 3D map.

The map follows the movement of the currently selected

Consist. The currently selected Consist shows as green, and
all other Consists show as gray on the map. Click on one of
the gray Consists to centre the Map view on that Consist.

Click RMB on a point on the map to centre the map view to a

new location, losing focus on any particular consist.
You can also set the turnouts by clicking on them and seeing
the direction arrows change. Also visible is the state of any
signals on the route. Exit the map screen either by picking
another camera mode, or pressing CTRL + M again to close
the map.

31
 4.3 Tools Menu
4 - DRIVER

The tools menu consolidates many functions that are useful

when driving in a session.

Toggle Session Instructions

Click on this to display the
session instructions.

Show Commodity Picker

This displays the commodity
picker. See section 4.12 for
more information.

Show Waybills
This shows available waybills
from participating industries on
the route. See section 4.11 for
more information.

Toggle Schedule Information

This displays the schedule (if applicable to the session).

Show Message Window

This displays the message window which contains many
messages about the movements of trains throughout the
route.

Show Junction Overlays

This toggles whether junction names (and arrow controls)
are visible at all times or only when you hover your mouse
over them.

32
Switch Between Imperial/Metric Units

4 - DRIVER
Toggles the settings from Imperial to Metric or vice versa.
This will affect parts of Trainz that involve the display of
measurement/speed information such as the Time & Speed
HUD Panel.

Dim Headlight
Changes the headlight to dimmed state or if dim, turns off.

Bright Headlight
Changes the headlight to a bright state or if already bright,
turns headlights off. This button can also be found in the
bottom-right corner of the screen. Read on for more details.

Ditchlights On
This toggles the selected train’s ditchlights on and off. Read
on for more details.

Raise/Lower Front Pantograph

If applicable, this toggles the selected train’s front
pantographs up and down. A pantograph button can also be
found in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Read on for
more details.

Raise/Lower Rear Pantograph

If applicable, this toggles the selected train’s rear pantographs
up and down. A pantograph button can also be found in the
bottom-right corner of the screen. Read on for more details.

Start Sanding
This toggles sanding the tracks in front of the selected train
to help prevent wheel slippage.

33
 Start Ringing Bell
4 - DRIVER

If applicable, this begins ringing the selected train’s bell. This

button can also be found in the bottom-right corner of the
screen. Read on for more details.

Reverse Train Facing

This toggles the direction that the train considers forwards.
This button can also be found in the bottom-right corner of
the screen. Read on for more details.

Enable Decouple Mode

Clicking on this display all of the available couplers as bright
red. You will also be able to see them through other objects.
This button can also be found in the bottom-right corner of
the screen. Read on for more details.

On Screen Help (Ctrl-H)

Toggles the display of on screen icons such as turnout
direction markers.

iTrainz Chat
This icon changes colour depending on various events
when online (eg, to show that you are online, or if there is a
message waiting, etc). See section 3.6 for more information.

Trainz Online Browser

Provided you have an internet connection, this opens an
in-game browser that lets you surf N3V Games approved
websites without leaving Trainz.

34
Help Mode

4 - DRIVER
By first clicking this icon and then clicking on an object that
you wish to quiery, Trainz will open the in-game browser
taking you to the wiki entry providing details or help for that
object.

4.4 DCC Controller (W/X/S)

In DCC mode, a simple rotary dial
controller is available in the bottom right
panel of the HUD. This dial controls the
movement of the currently selected train
and is analogous to a model railway DCC
controller knob. Click LMB and drag it
clockwise on the dial to move forward. Dragging the dial so
the arrow points upwards will stop the train. Dragging the
dial anti-clockwise will move the train in reverse. Clicking
LMB on a position of the dial will also move the dial to that
location.

Stop (S)
To quickly reset the dial and bring the current
consist to a halt, Click LMB on the Stop icon.

You can also use the “W” and “X” keys for forward
and reverse controls and the “S” key for stop. If you are using
the keyboard to control the throttle, you can refer to the
position of the rotary dial on the HUD to see your current
throttle setting.

35
 Decouple
4 - DRIVER

To decouple traincars from your train, first click

the decouple button. A series of coupler icons will
appear where the train can be decoupled. Click
on the coupler where you want to make a break
in the train. Go to section 4.6 for more details.

Pantographs (KPend / KP1)

Click LMB on the Pantograph button on the right
of the throttle to raise and lower them or press
the ‘End’ key on the keypad. If the locomotive
has multiple pantographs subsequent key/button
presses will raise them individually or together before cycling
back to all down.

Reverse Train Facing (ALT + C)

If your locomotive has two cabs, or two control
desks in the same cab, you can click LMB on the
Reverse Train Facing button to change to the other
cab. This can also be done (from Cab Interior View
only) with the key combination ALT + C.

Bell (B)
To activate or deactivate the locomotive bell, Click
LMB on the bell button or press the “B” key.

Ditchlights (;)
To activate or deactivate the flasher for the
ditchlights, Click LMB on the ditchlights button, or
press the “;” key.

36
Lights (L)

4 - DRIVER
To activate the headlights, click LMB on the Light
button. The lights will cycle through off, dim and
bright settings. You can also control the headlights
with the “L” key on the keyboard, which will
switch the lights on and off. Shift + L will change between
dim and bright.

Horn (H)
To operate the horn or whistle, Click LMB on the
Horn button to the right of the throttle control on
the HUD. For long blasts of the horn, simply hold
the “H” key down longer or Click LMB + Hold on
the Horn button. Some horns may have a set length, and will
play for the same duration each time.

Note: Your locomotive may not be fitted with some of these

devices. Only devices fitted to this loco will be operable.

37
 4.5 Signals
4 - DRIVER

Trainz signalling is mostly a basic block signalling system, but

there is a large amount of flexibility built in to allow customized
signal systems that reproduce many of the different types
found around the world. Many signal systems convey similar
information in very different visual ways. Colour light signals,
semaphore signals and position light signals have different
ways of showing these aspects.

Typical indications are as follows:

Line Clear (Green)

The next signal is either green or yellow, proceed at line

speed.

38
Caution (Yellow)

4 - DRIVER
The next signal is red, proceed prepared to stop at next signal.

Stop (Red)

The block is occupied, terminates, or is closed.

39
 On densely used track or where line speed is high, a fourth
4 - DRIVER

aspect (Advanced Caution) may be used to give advance

warning to trains that they have to slow down.

This would be used between Line Clear (green) and Caution

(yellow). The US searchlight (far left) would be flashing to
indicate to differentiate this from the caution signal.

Where there are junctions, the signalling can give an

indication of which direction the junction is set.

These signals are showing the diverging route is set, and

you will need to be travelling at mid speed. The exact
interpretation of ‘mid speed’ is railroad specific, but is often
30mph or thereabouts. The signal doesn’t specify left or right
- just that the route you are taking is not the mainline route.

40
 4 - DRIVER
This signal is showing the left hand diverging route
is set. It doesn’t specify how fast the junction
should be taken - in this case this information
would be given by a separate speedboard with a
left hand arrow on it near the junction.

This signal is showing the route to the right

is set. The highest signal is the mainline
route. Any signal arms mounted lower
indicate that a lower speed limit applies to
that route. The exact speed is not specified
directly - that information would be
provided by a speedboard.

Signals are divided into two types - automatic and controlled.

A controlled signal is generally used to protect one or more
junctions or other track features. Controlled signals show
Stop by default, and only clear to a proceed aspect in the
presence of a train. An automatic signal shows clear (green)
by default unless the track is occupied or blocked ahead,
when it will display the appropriate restriction.

41
 There are many reasons why a signal won’t clear - and you
4 - DRIVER

can get a hint about why a signal is showing a specific state

by hovering over it with the mouse cursor - this will show a
tooltip with a message showing why that state has been set.
You can also click on the signal to move the camera to an
obstruction (e.g. a train in advance of the signal).

When a train encounters a green light, it is permissible to

pass the signal at normal speed. The signal will change to red
once the block in advance of the signal is first occupied (i.e.
the train has passed the signal and travelled the length of the
overlap distance). It will not change to caution (yellow) until
the train has completely vacated the block in advance of the
signal - this requires that the back of the train has passed the
next signal by the length of the overlap distance.

4.6 Junction levers

You change the direction of the Turnout (Junction/Switch)
by Clicking LMB on arrows associated with the Switch. The
green arrow points in the direction the Turnout is set to. If
you are in the Cab, hold the Ctrl key when you Click LMB or
use the J key to change the junction ahead (Ctrl-J if you are
reversing).

You can also change turnouts in the 2D Map View, which is

useful for planning your train’s movements well in advance
of its progress. Keep in mind the position of other trains on
the route when setting up junctions far away.

Tip: Click between the arrows to change their direction.

42
4.7 Turntables and Transfer Tables

4 - DRIVER
To operate a turntable or transfer table, click the curved
arrow to rotate the turntable in that direction. The turntable
will slowly rotate to the next track, and stop lined up with
it. Clicking repeatedly will allow the table to rotate across
several tracks.

Once the table is lined up with your track, drive the loco
slowly onto the table. Stop in the middle, making sure the
train is clear of both ends. Then rotate the turntable to the
track you want to depart on, and pull slowly off the turntable.

4.8 Decoupling
To activate decouple mode, click on the Decouple icon (or press
the “Ctrl-D” key), then move your cursor over the couplers
between train cars until you see a red decouple icon. When
the red decouple icon appears, click LMB to decouple the
consist at this point. When you have successfully performed
the decouple operation, the red coupler icon “opens” and a
message is displayed on the screen.

The act of decoupling creates a new consist and your

camera remains focused on the same car or loco as before
the decoupling operation. To re-couple, ensure that you are
operating at speeds below 5mph (8kph). Experiment with
different camera positions to make this task easier.

43
 4.9 Cab mode
4 - DRIVER

Cab Mode provides a more realistic driving experience taking

into account much more detailed aspects of locomotive
performance, the length and weight of the train, and the
gradient.

Each of the levers, switches and dials in the 3D cab can be

used to operate the locos or you can use the Hotkeys or HUD
to carry out the same function. (This lets you control the
locos from outside, even in Cab Mode).

The following tips will get you started, but we recommend

you play through the cab mode tutorials included with Trainz,
and also that you check out the ‘Engineer’s Guide’ in section
of this manual for more detailed information about driving
using Cab controls.

Cab controls (Diesel or Electric locos)

To start a locomotive in cab mode, first release the train
brakes (“Q”). If the brake cylinder has not emptied, you may
need to also release the independent brake (“D”). Put the
reverser into forward pressing “F” (make sure you have not
increased the throttle before altering the reverser).

Increase the throttle (“W”) slowly and the train will begin to
move forward. Don’t increase it too far too quickly, or the
wheels will begin to spin. If they do, use “X” to decrease the
throttle and/or “S” to set the throttle to idle. If you are having
difficulty pulling away, you may also find applying sand (“V”)
helpful - this will increase the level of traction slightly. Don’t
forget to turn the sanders off once you are underway!

44
Slowing and/or stopping a train can be quite a challenge in

4 - DRIVER
cab mode. There are three different brake systems available.
The Independent brake is simple to use (one handle
progressively applies and releases the brake) and fast to
act, but it will apply the brakes on the locomotive only. This
provides effective stopping power for a locomotive without a
train, or for a light train moving slowly. It will not be effective
for a heavy train.

The train air brake applies brakes down the entire train - but
is more complicated and slower to take effect. There are two
types - standard and self-lapping. A standard air brake handle
has ‘release’, ‘lap’ and ‘apply’ positions.

Move the handle to ‘Apply’ (“A”), wait for a period to allow

the brake pipe pressure to reduce, and then move the handle
to ‘Lap’ (“Z”). The brakes will slowly apply down the train to
the requested level. How hard the brakes apply is controlled
by how long the lever was in the ‘Apply’ notch. Think of filling
up a bucket to store power (apply) and then pouring it out to
apply the brakes (lap); the more water you put in the bucket,
the more you have to use.

You can apply the brakes further - simply move the handle
back to ‘Apply’, and then back to ‘Lap’ again. Though you
cannot partially release the brakes - you can only fully release
the brakes by moving the handle to ‘release’. You must then
wait for the brakes to fully release before you can apply them
again.

A self-lapping brake handle has a range of ‘Apply’ notches

- which will automatically lap the brakes at specific braking

45
 levels. This means you don’t have to wait in ‘Apply’ for a set
4 - DRIVER

period of time - you just move the lever to the level of braking
you want. Just like the standard air brake, you can apply the
brakes further - this time by moving the lever further, but you
cannot partially release the brakes. You must fully release the
brakes and re-apply them.

Be careful with the air brakes - if you repeatedly release and

re-apply the brakes in quick succession, you can run out of
air and the brakes will no longer apply properly. The air will
return over time, but make sure not to waste it in case you
don’t have enough braking power for when you really need
it!

The third braking system is the dynamic (or regenerative)

brake. Not all locomotives have a dynamic brake fitted, but
for locomotives that are fitted, you can move the dynamic
braking lever into the ‘brake’ position (“E”), and control the
level of braking with the throttle lever (“W”/”S”/”X”).

Dynamic breaks use the locomotive’s own engine to power

their application which means that they are quick to respond,
and will generate a lot of force to slow the train, but they
become ineffective at low speed. They are ideally suited for
descending hills.

Tip: Watch the information in the Cab HUD Panel to get

information on speed, throttle, brake settings and Reverser
direction.

Cab controls (Steam locos)

Entering the cab of a steam locomotive for the first time

46
during a new session, you will find that the light-up crew will

4 - DRIVER
have prepared you a nice hot fire. Fire temperature can be
gauged by looking at the colour of the firebox; an orange
fire is relatively cool, and a white-hot fire is required to raise
the necessary pressure to power the locomotive. You should
have a nice head of steam already raised and you can check
the gauge pressure either in the cab or on the Cab HUD Panel.

To pull away, release the brakes (same as for a diesel or

electric loco), check that the reverser/cutoff is in full forward
gear (the HUD should show 75% forward cutoff - use “F” to
increase this if necessary) and open the throttle (regulator)
a small amount (“W”). Open the throttle further (“W”) for
more power. Reduce the throttle (“S”) to reduce power.
When a steam loco slips, it often spins up very fast, so you
may need to fully close the throttle (“X”) and wait for the
wheels to stop spinning before opening the throttle again.

As you pick up speed, to maintain steam pressure, you need

to reduce the demand for steam. This is usually done by
reducing the cutoff level. Consider this like the gears in a car
- 75% is like first gear, and 15% like fifth gear. First is great
for starting, but you can’t go very fast. As you pick up speed
you change up the gears. Fifth is great for cruising down the
highway. You may need to change down to 3rd or 4th when
climbing a hill. The steam loco is the same - so slowly wind
back the cutoff as you accelerate. You’ll want the full 75%
when you are just starting out, but you’ll get the best out of
the loco at about 15% or 20% cutoff at full speed. Open it
back up to 30% or more when climbing a hill.

The brakes work much the same as a diesel or electric loco

47
 - you have independent (steam) brakes for the locomotive
4 - DRIVER

and tender, and air brakes for the whole train. There is no
dynamic braking on a steam loco.

Maintaining the boiler pressure is essential for good

performance. If the pressure drops off by any margin, the
performance of the locomotive will drop off dramatically.
Boiler pressure is maintained by heating the water in the
boiler, which you do by having a nice hot firebed.

Add coal to the firebed by pressing the spacebar. Do this

progressively over time, rather than dumping a large amount
of coal into the firebox in one go. Fresh coal is cold, and
adding lots of it in one go will actually cool the fire down,
making it burn slower and produce less heat.

As the fire heats up, the boiler pressure should start to

rise. Always ensure there is sufficient water in the boiler by
checking the water gauges; they should show be half to two-
thirds in the glass. Water level in the boiler is increased by use
of the injectors (“I”/”O” and “shift+I”/”shift+O”). Again, add
water gradually, as it is cold when coming from the tender -
and will cool the boiler if added in large quantities, resulting
in a drop in pressure.

To increase the rate the coal burns at, draft the fire. There
are three sources of draft - the steam exhaust (increased by
working the locomotive hard), the primary airflow (increased
by running fast) and the blower (which uses steam directly
from the boiler to create artificial draft). The blower is
generally used to build pressure when stationary, not while
driving.

48
 4 - DRIVER
When the nominal boiler pressure is exceeded, Safety Valves
lift to vent excess pressure to the atmosphere. A good crew
will avoid this waste of steam and fuel by striking a good
balance between the temperature of the fire, the pressure
in the boiler, and the conditions of the road ahead. When
approaching a heavy ascent for example, a hot fire will be
required to maintain adequate steam pressure. Conversely
when approaching an easy section with a very hot fire,
pressure can be eased to prevent lifting safety valves by
adding more water to the boiler.

Observe the water level in the locomotives tender

periodically, especially after working the locomotive hard, as
it may require topping up. Steam routes often have water
supplies provided at regular intervals for this purpose.

Note: Nominal Boiler Pressure is different for each locomotive

type.

Note: Take care not to add excessive coal, as this will lower
the temperature of the fire for a time. A great rule of thumb
is “a little coal often”, try between 2-4 shovels every kilometer
(that’s 3-6 shovels every mile).

4.10 Industries and passenger stations

An industry will operate automatically by stopping a
compatible vehicle in the right place on the track (or
sometimes dragging one slowly past, if the industry supports
moving load/unload operations).

49
 Ctrl+RMB on an industry will bring up a menu. Click ‘Properties’
4 - DRIVER

to describe the industry and its current commodity levels.

4.11 Waybills – Who Needs What

The waybill entry on the ‘tools’ menu will bring up a list of
industries that have created waybills showing that they
require certain products for delivery. Click LMB on each
industry icon in the list to show what quantities of products
are required.

Waybills are automatically produced by an industry when

that industry reaches a percentage of capacity of a particular
commodity. Once the full amount required by the Waybill
has been delivered, the Waybill is deleted from your list
(although another one may well have appeared in its place).

4.12 Commodities
You can allocate which commodities are carried by a particular
item of rolling stock. Click on the ‘Show Commodity Picker’
entry on the ‘tools’ menu to bring up the Commodities Menu.

Click on an appropriate icon and then click on an item of

rolling stock. The icon shows that the rolling stock is now
limited to carrying only that type of Commodity. To stop any
commodity being loaded or unloaded, use the “Stop” icon.
To allow the default load only, use the “Default” icon. You
can only assign commodities to vehicles built for carrying
that type of commodity.

50
5 - Introduction to QuickDrive

5 - INTRODUCTION TO QUICKDRIVE
QuickDrive allows you to configure a limited set of variables
for conveniently constructing simple Driver sessions.

Whilst in Surveyor, QuickDrive can be accessed by Clicking

LMB on the QuickDrive icon or with Ctrl+F2.

QuickDrive can also be accessed directly from the routes

menu by selecting a route and clicking the QuickDrive button
on the right hand side of the routes menu.

Using QuickDrive, you can operate trains on a route without

any preparation in Surveyor.

After starting a Driver session with QuickDrive, you will see

the QuickDrive settings window.

51
 Control Type
5 - INTRODUCTION TO QUICKDRIVE

Here you can switch between Cab and DCC control. Click on
the image of your chosen control type to select it.

Environment
Here you can change the weather type, time & date, game
rate and derailment realism.

Consists
Click LMB on “Consists” and you will see the current consists
on the route. Here you have the some consist options:

Clone - Allows you to place another instance of the same

consist. As before, the popup will appear notifying you that
placement mode is active.

Delete - Requests your confirmation before deleting the

consist from the route.

Driver - Allows you to assign a driver from among those you

have enabled under “Drivers”.

New Train
Click LMB on “New Train” to display consist management
options. From the Global Consist Library select Surveyor List
or a custom list and find a suitable consist.

Click LMB on the consist of your choice and a pop up window

will appear saying “placement active”, this means that the

52
consist can now be placed onto the track in the usual way

5 - INTRODUCTION TO QUICKDRIVE
by Clicking LMB on the track. You will now see the popup
displays options to either reverse or delete that particular
consist.
Click the close window button when done.

Tip: Make sure the track you click on is long enough for the
consist.

Drivers
Here you can select the available drivers for the session by
Clicking LMB in the checkbox beside each driver.

Commands
Use this menu for selecting the commands you would like to
be able to issue to the drivers in the session.

Tip: QuickDrive, like the Control Type rule is one of the session
rules implemented by default when creating a new session. It
can be removed from a session by entering Surveyor’s Edit
Session dialogue explained in section 11.

Tip: QuickDrive can be accessed at any time during a Driver

session which has the rule enabled. Click the User Rules
Menu icon in the top right of the menu bar to re-open the
QuickDrive settings.

53
 6 - Multiplayer
6 - MULTIPLAYER

Joining an Existing Multiplayer Session

To join a multiplayer session, simply follow these steps:

Start Trainz and open the Routes menu.

Select a Multiplayer-capable Route (e.g Debrecen -

Nyiregyhaza) to view the available sessions.

In the route’s sessions list, select an active multiplayer

session. If there are any active multiplayer sessions they will
appear below the regular sessions.

Enter the multiplayer session as you would any other session.

A multiplayer-specific connection dialog is displayed before
Driver begins loading.

If you don’t have the latest content required for the selected
session, you will be prompted to download it at this point.
Selecting “Yes” will download the updates and automatically
launch you in to the game. Selecting “No” will cancel the
session join and return you to the Routes menu.

When you load into Driver, you’ll notice that the Multiplayer
Session is still loading. This can take a minute or so depending
on the route and your connection speed.

Once you’re in the game, the multiplayer window will change

to show a list of players currently in the game.

Click LMB on “Choose a Driver” to see a list of available

drivers and trains in the session.

54
Click LMB on an eye button to view that train’s location on

6 - MULTIPLAYER
the map, and then Click LMB on the arrow button next to the
driver of your choice to select that train.

Drive your train around!

Chat During Multiplayer Sessions

During a Multiplayer Session, a special chat channel is visible
which allows communication between participants. This chat
channel is not a regular window, but can still be dragged or
resized to suit. Session admins and officers are denoted in the
chat and you should take care to follow their directions - they
have the power to kick you from that Multiplayer Session if
you are being disruptive.

We recommend that the first thing you do when joining a

multiplayer session is to greet your fellow participants and
ask how you can best help out in the Session. Don’t be afraid
to ask for advice regarding Trainz Multiplayer or the specific
session that you have joined.

55
 Gameplay
6 - MULTIPLAYER

In Trainz Multiplayer, you control one or more Drivers. Each

driver is assigned to a train, so through the driver you can
control a train. You cannot control a train which does not
have your driver, and you cannot control a train which is
already controlled by someone else’s driver.

Multiplayer introduces a new level of interactivity to the Trainz

environment. Just like on a real railroad, the safe passage of
several trains requires the co-operation of railroad staff.

With real people working each train, operational possibilities

of online sessions are virtually limitless!

Before hosting your own multiplayer session, it’s probably

worthwhile for you to take some time to familiarise yourself
with the routes and to participate in a few established
multiplayer sessions. This way you can get a feel for the
capabilities of Trainz Multiplayer before you’re lumped with
the responsibility of assigning tasks to other users.

56
Hosting a Multiplayer Session

6 - MULTIPLAYER
Anybody can start a Multiplayer Session, however it helps if
you’ve got some friends ready to join you. Follow these steps:

Start Trainz and open the Routes Menu. Select a Multiplayer-

capable Session and enter the session as per normal. You’ll
note that Driver begins like a single-player session. You
need to take additional steps to begin hosting a Multiplayer
Session.

The Multiplayer options dialog is visible on the screen. If you

close it, you can use the new Multiplayer button near the
right of the Trainz main menu bar to bring it back.

If you want, you can customise the options in the Multiplayer

dialog. We recommend that you give your Multiplayer
Session a short, descriptive name.
If you wish to start a private multiplayer session, you can
specify a password. If you do this, you’ll need to let your
friends know the name of your session and the password to
use.

Click “Start Session” to begin the multiplayer session. This

allows other users to find your Multiplayer Session in the
Routes Menu.

Wait for some friends to join your session! While it’s possible
for random Trainz users to join in (when you haven’t set a
password), it’s best if you organise some friends to join you
straight away.

Once other players are in the game, you can assign them

57
 drivers by clicking on them in the player list and choosing
6 - MULTIPLAYER

“Assign Driver...”

You can also promote or kick players by clicking on their

portraits in the multiplayer window list and selecting the
relevant options.

You are now the Admin of your multiplayer session. Let your
participants know what you’d like them to do, and away you
go.

Note: Trainz Multiplayer requires that any content used

in a Multiplayer Session is available on your computer in
unmodified form. If you’ve modified the content, Trainz
will automatically revert your modifications and (where
necessary) download the latest version from the Auran
Download Station. Don’t worry- Trainz will always ask before
modifying content, and will move the modified files into a
“backups” folder in the Trainz program folder in case you
need to get them back later.

58
7 - Engineer’s Guide

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
The following section is provided to expand on the controls
and concepts discussed in the section 4.

7.1 Train Braking System Overview

The Westinghouse or ‘Automatic’ airbrake is the standard
braking system used by TS12. It was introduced in 1869,
and has endured with essentially little modification to the
present day.

TS12 currently considers all the vehicles in a consist to be fitted

with Westinghouse equipment regardless of era or region.
The system is based on a pressurized air pipe connected
to reservoirs on all the vehicles in the train. Simply put, a
pressure reduction in the pipe results in airbrake application.

When the brake pipe is pressurized or “charged”, the

Westinghouse is considered a “failsafe” system. This means
that a brake application can be actuated by anything from
an emergency application on a loco, passenger car or guard’s
van, a burst hose, a derailment or an otherwise parted train.

Flow - Brake Pipe Flow

The Flow field displays the movement of air in the train Brake
Pipe. It should return to zero before attempting to move away
from a standstill, as the presence of brake pipe flow indicates
that the brakes have not released on all of the vehicles in the
train. The time it takes to make a full service application is
dependant on the length of the train. The brakes will release
on the forward vehicles much more quickly than they will on
vehicles at the rear.

59
 It may take several minutes to release the brakes on a very
7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE

long train after a full service application. The Flow Gauge is

the only true indication of system equilibrium when viewing
from the cab, as Brake Pipe Pressure is measured at the
locomotive.

If the flow gauge pointer is bouncing it means the brakes on

the train are in the process of applying or releasing, avoid
heavy acceleration during this time.

Brake Pipe - Brake Pipe Pressure

The Brake Pipe field displays the pressure in the Brake Pipes.
Flexible hoses connect the Brake pipe or Train Pipe between
vehicles along the length of the train. Pressure changes
required to control the braking are relayed from vehicle
to vehicle via this pipe. The Train Pipe is fed by the Main
reservoir. The maximum pressure is generally prescribed
by the Railway’s administration and is maintained by a feed
valve. Over use of the airbrakes over a long descent can
deplete the air in each vehicle’s auxiliary reservoir more
rapidly than the brake pipe can recharge them resulting in
runaways.

A fully pressurized brake pipe results in brake release.

Brake Cylinder
The Brake Cylinder field displays the pressure in the Brake
Cylinders of the currently selected locomotive/car. Each car
is fitted with one or more brake cylinders. A piston inside the
cylinder moves as a result of pressure changes in the train
pipe. The piston’s force is transmitted via rigging to brake
blocks or discs at the wheels. Since a pressurized cylinder

60
results in brake application, a reading of 0 Brake Cylinder

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
pressure indicates that the brakes are released on the
locomotive. The Brake Pipe Flow Gauge and the Train Pipe
Pressure Gauge are the driver’s means of estimating brake
cylinder pressure at the rear of a train.

If there is any brake cylinder pressure showing on the gauge

or HUD, the brakes have applied on the vehicle you have
selected. By selecting a vehicle toward the rear of a long
train, you can see how much longer it takes for the brakes to
apply at the back of the train.

Main Res - Main Reservoir

The Main Res field displays the pressure in the Main Reservoir.
This is a storage tank for compressed air used by the braking
and some auxiliary systems. It is fed by a compressor.

Equalizer - Equalizing Reservoir

The Equalizer field displays the pressure in the Equalizing
Reservoir. The Equalizing Reservoir overcomes the difficulty
of setting the brakes to a desired level on a long train. Small
changes in train pipe pressure made by the driver will
not display correctly on the gauge until the pressure has
stabilized along the length of the train, as brake pipe pressure
is measured at the locomotive.

When applying the brakes, air will vent from the Equalizing
Reservoir and its rate is not affected by the length of the train.
A relay valve detects pressure reduction and discharges air
from the brake pipe until its pressure is the same as that of
the equalizing reservoir. This serves as a guide for the driver
as to the pressure the train pipe will settle at, and thus how

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hard the brakes will apply. Watch the equalizing reservoir

when making a brake application to gauge how hard the
brakes will be applied.

Throttle - Notch Setting

The Throttle field displays the current throttle notch setting
which can range from 0 (no application of tractive effort) to 8
(maximum application of tractive effort).

Reverser - Which Way

The Reverser field displays the Reverser setting. The Diesel/
Electric Reverser has 3 positions; Forward, Reverse and
Neutral. As it suggests it determines the direction of travel.

Brake - Stopping or Going

The Brake field displays the current application of brakes.
The train brake can have the following settings: Release, Lap,
Application, Emergency and Handle Off.

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7.2 Driving in Deisel / Electric Cabin Mode
Train Brakes (Q/Z/A/Pause Break)
The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Train Brake is
“trainbrakelap lever”.

Release (Q)
Select the Release setting by moving the trainbrakelap lever
into the “Release” position or by pressing the “Q” key.

In this position it connects the train pipe to the main reservoir,

raising pressure in the pipe and thus releasing the brakes.
While motoring, it gently maintains brake pipe pressure to
counteract any leaks in the system. Leave the handle in the
Run/Release position while motoring.

Lap (Z)
Select the Lap setting by moving the trainbrakelap lever into
the “Lap” position or by pressing the “Z” key.

This shuts off the flow of air from the main reservoir into the
train pipe, and closes the connection to the atmosphere that
is made during a brake application. It can be used to make a
partial application, and TS12 also permits a partial release
both on Freight and Passenger trains.

Watch the equalizing reservoir when making a service, and

when its pressure has decreased by 10-30 psi, move the
handle to the lap position.

Modern locomotives are fitted with self-lapping brake

systems, which shut off the flow of air automatically when
a reduction is made. To make an application on self-lapping

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systems, simply move the handle into the initial service

position, the brakes will be held at that level until they are
released. Greater braking effort can be achieved by moving
the handle further into the braking range.

On self-lapping systems, simply move the handle to the initial

service position and leave it there. If braking is insufficient,
move the handle further into the braking range.

Select the Application setting by moving the trainbrakelap

lever into the “Application” position or by pressing the “Z”
key.

This shuts off main reservoir connection and opens the train
pipe to the atmosphere. The resulting reduction in train pipe
pressure causes the brakes to apply. A full application or
“equalization of pressures” occurs at 64-psi for a 90-psi train
pipe such as that in use on the F7 diesel.

Air vents out of the equalizing reservoir, and its gauge

provides a guide as to the amount of reduction being made.
The flow of air must be lapped off at the desired pressure by
moving the brake handle to the lap position.

Gradually the Brake Pipe pressure will stabilize at the same

pressure as the equalizing reservoir. A heavy freight train can
generally be slowed by a Brake Pipe reduction of 10-psi, a
fast moving passenger train can require heavier reductions
of up to 30-psi.

The brakes of a long train will take more time to react, as

changes in pressure must be transmitted by the train pipe

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to every vehicle in the consist. The brakes will be held at this
level until the handle is moved to the release/run position,
when air will flow from the main reservoir into the brake
pipe and the brakes will gradually release. The flow gauge
serves as a guide to air movement within the Brake Pipe, a
reading above zero indicates that the brakes are either in the
process of application or release or are otherwise venting air
somewhere in the consist.

Note: Use the ‘A’ key to apply handbrakes to consists without

locomotives to prevent them from rolling away.

Emergency Brake (Pause Break)

Select the Emergency setting by moving the trainbrakelap
lever into the “Emergency” position or by pressing the
“PauseBreak” key. Like the service position, this allows air to
escape into the atmosphere, though the air is vented from
the system more rapidly so the train will stop more quickly.

Independent Brake (E/D)

The Independent Brake as the name suggests is independent
of the main train braking system. It is used to apply braking
force only on the selected locomotive.

Note: Not all locomotives have an independent braking

system. The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the
Independent Brake is “independentbrake lever”.

In Cab Interior View, the independent brake lever has a

continuous range from fully off (red range) to fully on
(green range). Set the Independent Brake by moving the
independent brake lever across this range.

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In keyboard control mode the Independent Brake is set

by pressing the “E” key. However, this only toggles the
Independent Brake between being fully on or fully off.
Application of the Independent brake takes some pressure
away from the Main Reservoir and the Brake Cylinder pressure
will rise. Remember this only applies to the locomotive and
not the rest of the train.

Independent Brake Bail (D)

The Independent Brake Bail can only be operated from the
keyboard by pressing the “D” key. It immediately vents only
the locomotive brake cylinder without affecting the braking
effort on the rest of the train.

If the Train Brake or the Independent Brake is applied when

you use the Independent Brake Bail, the locomotive Brake
Cylinder will fill again with air and rise in pressure. This is
mainly used to “stretch” the train by allowing the locomotive
to “run away” from the rest of the train. This stretches the
train to the limits of the couplers and reduces strain.

Reverser (F/R/V)
The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Reverser is
“reverser lever”. The Reverser has three settings: Forward,
Reverse and Neutral. You select the Forward setting by moving
the reverser lever into the Forward position or by press the
“F” key. Select the Reverse setting by moving the reverser
lever into the Reverse position or by pressing the “R” key. The
Neutral setting is selected by moving the reverser lever into
the Neutral position or by pressing the “V” key.

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As the settings indicate, the Reverser position determines
the direction the train will travel relative to the cab with the
driver. This is important to remember in dual cab locomotives.
The Neutral position disengages any tractive effort regardless
of throttle setting. The locomotive should always be stopped
before changing the reverser setting to the opposite direction.

Note: You cannot change the position of the Reverser unless

the Throttle is at the idle position.

Throttle (W/S/X)
The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Throttle is
“throttle lever”. In Cab Interior View select the required
Throttle setting by moving the throttle lever to the required
notch position (0 = no tractive effort, 8 = maximum tractive
effort).

When using the keyboard press the “W” key to increase the
Throttle one notch position, while the “X” key reduces the
Throttle one notch position and the “S” key immediately sets
the Throttle notch position to zero.

Correct use of the throttle depends on various factors such

as the type of locomotive, the weight and length of the train,
the severity of grades and weather conditions. The variety
of operating conditions cannot be discussed in the context
of this manual, and generalized operating instructions are
therefore provided.

For each throttle position, a definite maximum load current

and corresponding tractive effort may be developed. The
increase as the throttle is moved from one position to the

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next is immediate. Since the total tractive effort of the

locomotive is divided into eight steps available at the eight
throttle notches, it is necessary to advance all the way into
the last notch in order to develop full tractive power. Further,
since the current is controlled, it is perfectly safe to do so, in
fact it is often necessary under certain conditions.

The load indicating meter or Ammeter provides the best

guide for throttle handling when accelerating a train. By
observing this meter, it will be noted that the pointer moves
to the right (increased amperage) as the throttle is advanced.
Thus for maximum acceleration without slipping, the throttle
should be advanced one notch each time the pointer begins
moving back toward the left, until full power is reached in
notch 8.

It is well understood that the worst treatment that can be

given to a traction motor is to allow it to stand at “stall” for
any appreciable length of time with load current applied to
it. It is therefore most important, having given due care to
ensure that the brakes are released, and that the train slack
is out, to start the locomotive to move as quickly as possible,
accelerating to a speed that will bring the load meter pointer
down in a minimum of time.

When starting off, it is good practice to advance the throttle

promptly to a notch that will start the train moving. If after
starting, acceleration is too fast, you can back off the throttle
once all the slack is out, in order to maintain desired speed.
Once the slack has run out, the throttle may be advanced
as desired to suit operating conditions and the needs of
the schedule. It is good practice to hesitate at each notch

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position, to allow the engine to come up to the new run

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
speed, and to prevent slipping.

When decelerating, it is also important to consider the

action of slack running in and out on the train. Always avoid
reducing the throttle from high power to idle before allowing
traction motor voltage to decay. Pressing the “S” key returns
the throttle to 0, but it is only intended for emergency use,
as such sudden changes in power propagate a wave motion
throughout the train. This kind of surge increases the risk of
drawbar or coupler failure, along with possible damage to
loads or a very uncomfortable ride for your passengers.
Avoid heavy handed use of the throttle, sudden changes in
force send surges along the train.

Dynamic Brake (C)

The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Dynamic
Brake is “dynamicbrake lever”. To activate the Dynamic
Brake, ensure the Throttle is set to the Neutral position, then
move the dynamic brake lever fully into the green range or
press the ‘C’ key. The throttle lever and corresponding keys
are now used to control braking effort.

To deactivate the Dynamic Brake move the throttle lever

to the 0 notch setting or press the ‘S’ key. Then move the
dynamic brake lever fully into the red range or press the ‘C’
key. The Dynamic brake is now inactive and the Throttle will
once more control tractive effort.

The Dynamic Brake is a means of reducing locomotive speed

by an electrical system, which converts the traction motors
into generators. The operation and effect of this system

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applies braking power only to the locomotive(s). Power

required to rotate the generators through gearing on the
wheels and axles, retards the locomotive’s travel. Current
generated by the traction motors is dissipated in resistance
grids located in the engine hood of the locomotive.

The grids are cooled by motor driven fans that are powered
by a portion of the current generated. Although similar in
effect to an independent air-brake application, Dynamic
Brake is fully electrical; it does not produce friction between
brake shoes and tires, thus avoiding heat and wear on these
parts. The load indicating meter shows the current generated
by the traction motors and may be compared in effect, with
a brake-cylinder pressure gauge.

Dynamic braking is valuable in many phases of locomotive

operation. It is particularly valuable when descending grades,
though it can effectively be used to retard train speed while
coming to a halt if desired (10 mph minimum), reducing the
necessity for air brake.

Advance cautiously through the braking range until desired

braking effort has been reached. The amount of braking
strength available varies with train speed, and with the
throttle in notch 8 continues to rise, as the speed decreases
until reaching its maximum value at around 20 mph. It is
permissible to start from a standstill on a downgrade with
Dynamic Brake applied.

When braking a heavy train on a severe grade, the maximum

available braking effort may not be sufficient to maintain
desired speed. An application of the Train Brake may be

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used in addition to the Dynamic Brake, in order to maintain
permissible track speed.

Grades
When starting to climb a hill, the locomotive and train will
slow down, and the increased load will be indicated by the
load meter pointer moving toward the right.

When traveling down a hill, due care may be required to keep

your train under control. When making a long descent, keep in
mind that several successive brake applications and releases
can result in depletion of the system, and it’s therefore
sometimes necessary to plan your approach to braking. It
may be necessary to set a constant partial application to
control your speed.

Many locomotives are fitted with dynamic brake, which may

be used in conjunction with the train brake to control speed
when descending a grade.

When descending a long grade, try to estimate how much

braking is required to keep the train moving under controlled
speed. It’s safer to make an application that may initially
slow the train more than desired, than it is to make several
successive applications and releases.

Operating Over Crossings

The severe mechanical shocks encountered by the traction
motors when passing over crossings and station yards, may
cause the brushes to bounce and flashover the motors.
At speeds above 40 mph, reduce the throttle to fifth notch
position or below while all units are passing over the crossing.

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 This is not necessary at low speeds. It is also recommended
7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE

during dynamic braking at high speeds for the same reason.

This procedure will ensure decay of motor and generator
voltage to a safe level before the shock occurs.

Running Through Water

Under ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any
locomotive be operated through water deep enough to
contact the bottom of the traction motors.

Water any deeper than 3 inches above rail level is likely to

cause damage to the traction motors. Every precaution
should be exercised under circumstances of water over track,
and speed should not exceed 2 mph in such conditions.

N3V Games cannot accept responsibility for damage

caused by attempting to operate your Trainz in sub-marine
environments.

72
7.3 Driving in Steam Cabin Mode

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
So you want to get one of the steam-powered behemoths
from yesteryear moving? Controlling a steam engine is
quite different from a diesel or electric engine. Forget about
dynamic brakes and “notch” throttle settings, these machines
use steam regulation as the method of control.

Of course you still have the train brake, but the regulator/
reverser are the combined throttle/power settings and
balancing these and maintaining your steam is the art of
steam engine driving.

Making Steam - Fire & Water

A Steam Engine needs a full head of steam to operate
effectively. To generate the steam you build a fire in the
firebox by shoveling coal through the firebox door found in
the middle of the backhead. The backhead is that part of
the boiler that makes up most of the front of the cab of the
locomotive.

You must also have the boiler filled up appropriately with

water. A hot fire and an empty boiler is a catastrophic
situation. Maintaining the water level in the boiler is of great
concern. The water glass in the engine shows you the level
of water in the boiler. Try and keep it at about 2/3 of the way
up the glass.

When the session begins the light-up crew has already got
your boiler up to pressure and your water levels will be good
to go. While standing in the station or otherwise stopped,
you may use the steam available in the boiler to add more
water to the boiler. To do this, you adjust the valve on the

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 backhead that controls the provision of steam into the Steam
7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE

Injector.

Boiler - Under Pressure

The Boiler field measures the current steam pressure in the
boiler. The steam pressure in the boiler is dependent on a
number of factors and maintaining a head of steam is one of
the challenges in running a steam locomotive.

Of course driving the locomotive uses up steam and reduces

the boiler pressure. The following information about General
Steam Driving Principles will help you learn how to drive a
steam locomotive with an eye to maintaining your head of
steam.

Regulator - Give Me Steam!

The Regulator field displays the current position of your
regulator the range of values is expressed as a percentage
(0-100%).

The Regulator in conjunction with the Reverser setting

determines how much and at what portion of the piston
stroke that steam is sent to the cylinder.

Together the Reverser (or Cutoff setting) and the Regulator

act as the Train’s throttle.

Cutoff - How Much Steam?

The Cutoff field displays the percent cutoff as dictated by
the position of the Reverser lever (sometimes known as a
Johnson Bar) is expressed as a percentage (minus 75% to plus
75%). Negative values indicate the valve gear has been set to

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move the locomotive in reverse.

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
The higher the Cutoff value, the greater the duration of steam
application to each piston stroke. Long cutoff, represented by
higher percentage values (40 to 75%) for the cutoff, maximize
the tractive effort applied to the locomotive wheels. This is
mainly used to get the locomotive moving from a standstill or
when tackling an ascent.

Short cutoff, represented by lower percentage values (less

than 40%) for the cutoff, are used to maximize the speed
attainable by the locomotive during easy sections of the
route and where speed restrictions permit.

Water - Nearly Steam

The Water field displays the percentage of the boiler filled
with water. The water level should be maintained at around
66% as a hot fire without much water is a potentially
catastrophic situation. The steam pressure in the boiler may
rise faster than the safety valves can cope and…well you just
don’t want to go there!

The injectors allow water to move from the tender (or engine
mounted water tank) to the boiler. Moving the water into
the boiler can also be used to reduce the rate of pressure
increase in the boiler as the thermal energy of the fire is now
being used to heat the incoming cool water.

Steam Cabin Mode Controls

Reverser (F/R)
The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Reverser is
“reverser lever”. The reverser determines the steam Cutoff

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 and has a range of -75% to +75%. Negative values indicate
7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE

the valve gear has been set to select reverse movement,

conversely positive values set the valve gear to select forward
movement. The neutral or mid-gear position (0% cutoff)
prevents any tractive effort being applied to the locomotive
wheels.

You adjust the reverser setting by moving the reverser lever

either forwards/backwards or by pressing the ‘F’/’R’ keys.
The Neutral setting is selected by moving the reverser lever
into the Neutral position.

Regulator (W/X)
The tooltip text in the Cab Interior View for the Regulator
is “regulator lever”. In Cab Interior View select the required
Regulator setting by moving the regulator lever to the
required position (0 to 100%) or pressing the “W” key to
increase or “X” to decrease.

Fireman (Space)
To maintain your steam you need to ensure you have a fire
in the firebox sufficient to maintain boiler pressure. As the
fire burns it consumes fuel (coal or oil). To stoke the fire by
adding fuel, press the ‘Space’ key. In some locomotives you
will see an animated fireman actually shoveling coal – make
sure you have opened the firebox door with your mouse in
Cab Interior View or your fireman will not go to work. As the
fire is stoked, it burns hotter (red is a cool fire, white is a hot
fire) and starts to raise the boiler pressure.

Injector (I/0)
The injectors are used to force water into the boiler and

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can be controlled independently of each other by using the

7 - ENGINEER’S GUIDE
mouse, or in tandem using the keyboard shortcuts.

The Steam Injector is a precision piece of equipment which

uses a venturi system to use high pressure steam to push
water from the tender into the boiler under pressure through
a check valve which only allows water into the boiler if the
pressure behind the water exceeds the pressure in the boiler.

Use the Steam Injector to bring the water level up to the right
level and then turn it off.

Once the train is moving, the Steam Injector can be set

carefully to just the right setting so that the amount of water
entering the boiler matches that being used up as the steam
is used to drive the train. If you have equilibrium here, the
water level will be maintained at a given level. But as an
engineer, you must continually adjust the flow of water as
steam will be used up at different rates depending on the
speed of the engine and how hard it is working which can
vary dramatically with grades.

Blower (N / Shift+N)
Accelerates the flow of air through the chimney pulling a
strong draft through the firebox to keep the fires burning
strongly when the loco isn’t working hard. When closing the
regulator, turn on the blower to maintain your fire and to
avoid dangerous backdraught through the firebox.

Reverser & Regulator

The Steam Reverser Handle (also called a Johnson Bar or
Steam Cutoff) has multiple positions and adjusts the steam

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locomotive’s valve gear in such a way that the pistons drive

the driving wheels in the appropriate directions. In the center
or neutral position, no tractive effort will be developed by
opening the throttle.

When first starting a steam engine, place the Reverser

Handle in the full forward position. Once the consist is
moving forward at a constant speed, bring the Reverser
Handle back towards the short cutoff position, thus adjusting
the valve gear appropriately for most efficient operation
to preserve your use of coal and water. Move the Reverser
Handle forward into the high cutoff range when accelerating
or climbing grades.

The Reverser is used with the Regulator to control a

combination of speed and tractive effort.

Correct use of the Regulator depends on various factors such

as the type of locomotive, the weight and length of the train,
the severity of grades and weather conditions. The variety
of operating conditions cannot be discussed in the context
of this manual, and generalized operating instructions are
therefore provided.

Opening the Regulator on a steam engine delivers steam to

the valves which govern the distribution of the steam to the
main cylinders which in turn drive the driving wheels through
the main rods on each side of the engine.

When starting off, it is good practice to advance the Regulator

very gently. The finest of steam era engineers started their
trains so smoothly that passengers hardly noticed that they

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were moving. It is also important to pick up the slack in all
of the couplers in along train. Once the slack has run out,
the Regulator may be advanced as desired to suit operating
conditions and the needs of the schedule.

Steam engines are notorious for the ease with which you
can get wheel slippage, which is quite a spectacular site to
watch. To avoid slippage, start gently and do use the sanders
if conditions warrant. Sanders deposit sand just in front of
the driving wheels to improve traction.

When decelerating, it is also important to consider the

action of slack running in and out on the train. Always avoid
reducing the Regulator quickly. Sudden changes in power
propagate a wave motion throughout the train. This kind of
surge increases the risk of drawbar or coupler failure, along
with possible damage to loads, spilled soup in the dining car
or a very uncomfortable ride for your passengers.

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8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
 8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
8 - Introduction to SURVEYOR
Driving or operating locos is a big part of the Trainz Simulator
experience, but Surveyor is where the creative juices can
really flow. Surveyor is a toolset that is both fun to use and
powerful enough to create your ultimate dream railroad.
Anyone can jump right in and have some fun, and with time
and patience become a master world-builder!

Using Surveyor and your imagination, you can create terrain,

paint it with textures and then populate it with trees, shrubs,
buildings, roads, power lines, animals and people. You can
create lakes and rivers, change the weather conditions and
even change the color of the sunset.

With Surveyor, you have the tools available to create your

railroad, with track, stations, signals, maintenance facilities,
turntables and the plethora of trackside infrastructure that
combine together to form a working railroad. You can edit
the default Routes or start from scratch and construct your
own creation. You can also download a huge number of
Routes created by others from the Trainz Download Station
and modify them to suit your tastes.

Example Workflow
The following exercise is designed to serve as a brief
introduction to the Surveyor tools and workflow. This will
help to familiarize you with some of the concepts that are
visited in depth later in this document.

To begin, start TS12 and choose Routes from the Main Menu
screen.

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Click LMB on the “Create Route” button near the top-left

corner of the screen. We are going to create our route from
scratch. A new window will pop up as follows, asking you for
some map details.

For now, simply click the tick button in the bottom-right

corner of the box.

The first thing to learn in Surveyor is how to move around

the baseboard and control your camera. Mastering these
two basic skills will make your time in Surveyor much more
enjoyable.

The baseboard in effect is the “table” upon which you build

your route. The grid lines run from North to South and from
East to West.

82
In the middle of the baseboard is your Surveyor Compass.

8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
There is also a small white arrow on the screen. The arrow
is your default cursor, which you can control by moving your
mouse. Move your cursor to the right of the Compass and
Click RMB. The compass will move to that position and the
screen will be re-centered on the compass.

Position your cursor over the compass in the middle of the

screen and Click RMB+H, slowly moving your mouse cursor
towards the edge of the screen. You will notice the compass
following the cursor as you move around the baseboard.
Learn to control the speed of the movement by moving the
compass close to or away from the centre of the screen.
Keep practicing these movements until you can successfully
control the direction and speed you wish to move.

Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to rotate the camera

around the compass. The left and right arrows rotate the
camera. The up and down arrows change the elevation of
the camera. Press the Page Up and Page Down keys to zoom
in and out or you can use the mouse-wheel on your mouse
if you have one.

Tip: A new feature of TS12 allows you to keep zooming out to

satellite altitudes – and then transition into the map display.
Feel free to have a play!

When you zoom in close, you will be able to see the four
directions (North, South, East, and West) marked at the
bottom of the compass. This is helpful to stay orientated in
your TS12 world, positioning your rail system properly with
respect to the rising and setting sun. Yes, on a clear day the

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8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR

sun does rise and set in your TS2010 World!

Tip: Spend some time using a combination of the mouse and

keyboard to control your view of the Surveyor landscape. This
is an important skill to develop and some time invested early
on will reward you later with effortless flitting around your
map as you construct your rail empire.

Topology
Let’s start by clicking on the Topology Tab (F1). It’s the Tab at
the top of the Tab Panel on the far right of the screen. When
clicked on, the menu will fly out to the left.

Now select the Height Up tool in the top-left corner (Each

tool will have a ‘tool tip’ label which will pop up when you
move the cursor over the button) by Clicking LMB. Notice
that the name of the currently selected tool will be displayed
next to the name of the tab (in this case, “Topology – Height
Up”). Now Click LMB+H on the radius knob, and drag it until
its dial is in about the 12 o’clock position. Alternatively, you
can Click LMB on the position you would like the knob to turn
to. Set the sensitivity to the 12 o’clock position using one of
the described methods. When you move the mouse cursor
back onto the Surveyor map, it will change into a dotted
circle.

Place the circle around the centre of your square baseboard

and Click LMB+H. The longer you hold the LMB the higher
and bigger the hill becomes. Move the mouse around while
holding LMB and you can create various peaks and ridges
as shown below. Don’t go overboard here as you’ll want to

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 8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
leave some room for your track, not that mountain ranges
have ever stopped a track laying engineer.

Tip: The Undo/Redo buttons are found on the top menu

panel. Use them if you want to retrace your steps backwards
or forwards respectively.

Ground Texturing
Once you are happy with your hill, Click LMB on the Paint Tab
(F2) from the tabs at the right of the screen.
The Topology menu disappears to be replaced by the Paint
menu. Scroll down the texture palette until you find a texture
you like. Again select the radius of the texture effect by Click
LMB+H on the Radius dial and moving it until you are happy
with the size of the painting circle. Then Click LMB to apply
the texture to the terrain.

Select a couple of different textures and play with blending

them (overlapping), rotating them using the “direction” tool
or the “[“ or “]” keys. Select and Texture with a directional
pattern in it. Click LMB+H on a spot on your route and press

85
 the “[“ or “]” keys repeatedly. You can also hold the “[“ or
8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR

“]”to rotate the texture whilst painting.

Change the size of the pattern (the scale of the texture) by

using the Scale tool. Change the size of the area covered (the
white circle) using the Radius tool or the “+” or “-“ keys.

Using these tools, you can get some very artistic and realistic
effects. Keep playing until you are happy with the result.
Now make sure that you are back to having only the
mountain, nicely textured in the centre of the route. Use the
Undo function to undo any extra texturing that you may have
been playing with.

Industries
Now let’s place a couple of linked industries. First select the
Object tab (F3) from the tab panel and select the Coal Mine
object.

You will find this by typing in “Coal Mine” into the search
bar at the top of the asset list. You can also use the Content
Search Filter to locate items, it is described in section 9.8.
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8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
Clicking LMB on the Add Object button.

Click LMB on the map to place the Coal Mine. You can move
and rotate the object by Clicking LMB on the Move and
Rotate buttons respectively. To use these tools, Click LMB+H
on the object that you wish to move/rotate, in this case the
coal mine, and then move the mouse accordingly. Position
the Coal Mine as shown below.

Next set the coal mine’s properties by first Clicking LMB on

the Edit Properties button (the ‘?’ icon) and then Click LMB
on the Coal Mine. First let’s give it a name. Do this by typing in
“Lignite Coal Co” in the name box at the top of the properties
window. We will set the rate of coal production to 200. Do
this by Clicking LMB on the underlined default production
rate and entering 200 into the pop up window. Similarly we
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will change the diesel consumption to a value of 0. Set the

Start Amount for each to 0. Click LMB on the tick and we have
defined the properties for our active Coal Mine.

Next we’ll set up a coal-fired power station. As we did for

the Coal Mine, select the Power Station. It is in the same list
as you found the Coal Mine. Place it on the other side of the
baseboard (and the mountain) from the Coal Mine. Move
and rotate the Power Station as required to line up the tracks
so they are parallel to the tracks of the coal mine, as shown
below. Set its properties, which in this case is only to name it
to “High Power Co”.

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Laying Track

8 - INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYOR
Now we will connect these two industries via a simple oval
loop. The goal is to link up the Coal Mine’s loading track to the
oval and run it around to the Power Station’s coal unloading
track. Go to the tab panel and select the Track tab (F4).

Now choose the track “Auran Track TS2009 Oak”. Make sure
you are in Add Track mode. Start laying track by Clicking
LMB on the board where you want to start the track. You
will notice a white circle associated with the track wherever
you Click LMB on the board. These are called “spline points”.
We will manipulate these points later to move the track
either horizontally or vertically. These spline points are also
attachment points for bridges, tunnels and other track -
compatible objects.

The track is drawn between consecutive spline points. Click

LMB on the map to add another spline point and the track
will smooth itself out between the two points.

Attach one end of the track to one of the coal mine loading
tracks (there are four) by first selecting the Add Track mode,
and then clicking LMB on the spline point of the track you
wish to attach it to. Now Click LMB in a number of spots
around the mountain to form a smooth curve.

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Remember to click on the end of the spline with the LMB

so that you next track section is attached to the previous
section (you can also hold down the Shift key if you wish to
keep laying track without having to select the previous end
point). At the end of this curve, attach the track to the power
station’s track by clicking LMB on the end spline point of the
power stations track. Do the same on the other side to form
a continuous loop.

You can smooth out your track laying by Click LMB on the
Move tool button in the track menu and then Click LMB+H on
any of the track spline points and move the mouse around,
and watch as the track follows. Play with this until you are
happy with your loop of track.

Just for fun, let’s add a siding. Click LMB on the Add Track
Button, and then click on a section of your existing loop of
track. A new spline point appears and you can now Click LMB
again, away from the loop and create your siding. Trainz will
automatically add in a lever, which will allow you to change
the direction of the junction by clicking on the red arrow in
Driver mode. You can also name the junction by entering
“Trackside mode”, Clicking LMB on the “Define Name” button
(the “?” icon) and then clicking on the junction you wish to
rename.

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Locomotives, Rolling Stock and Consists
We will now place a consist (a ‘train’ of locomotives and
rolling stock) on the track. Select the Trains tab (F7) from the
Tab Panel. Now scroll down and select a locomotive from the
list of available items. Let’s choose a CR GM Class locomotive.
Once it is selected, Click LMB on any spot on the track to
place the locomotive. The locomotive will appear on the
track with arrows above it defining the ends of the consist
and which direction will be forward when you drive it.

Next, select the black coal car called “TRS Coal Hopper” from
your list of engines and rolling stock. Click LMB on the placed
locomotive towards the back of the loco and the coal car will
appear behind the locomotive. Keep on Clicking LMB on the
last car in the consist to add more coal cars. Stop when you
have added 5 coal cars. You have now created a consist.

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Let’s name the consist by clicking by first Clicking LMB on the

Edit Properties button and then Click LMB on the locomotive
that is on the tracks. In the pop-up window, click on the
existing name (VR GM Class 1 in the screenshot below) and
type in “Coal Train” to replace it.

Give it a running number of 32 by clicking on the text “no

running number” and then typing 32 into the new window,
and then click on the tick to save your changes.

Assign a Driver
Our next challenge is to assign a driver to the Consist.

Tip: This is optional, as you may wish to drive your own trains
in your route. Using Drivers adds a whole new dimension to
TS12 so we will do that next.

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From the Menubar at the top of the screen, Click on “Edit
SessionRules” icon (the button has an image of a notepad
on it) (CTRL+R). You can also access it from the Main Menu.

This window is where the rules that define a session’s

behaviour are added and configured. As this is a new session,
the 6 default rules are already included and configured so
some minimal functionality is already available and the
session can be run.

Tip: If you save a session without entering any Rules, a default

set of Rules is applied for you.

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Click LMB on the 2nd rule, named “Driver Setup”, so that

it becomes highlighted in blue. Then Click LMB on the Edit
button to open the properties window for that rule.

Tip: In any of these windows if you decide not to go through

with the change, click on the “X” button to cancel your
selections.

The Driver Setup Rule is responsible for assigning driver

characters to trains for the session. It will automatically try
to find every loco and assign drivers to them. In this case,
you will see how a driver character has been assigned to the
“Coal Train” locomotive that we placed earlier.

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As this is a simple session without the need for complex
driver attachments, the automatic assignment done by the
rule is sufficient, but for the sake of configuring a rule, click
on the driver character icon to bring up a list of drivers.

Choose any driver from the pop-up list and click on the green
check (tick) to return back to the Driver Setup rule properties
window. You will notice that the driver character icon has
changed and that the driver you chose is now assigned to the
locomotive.

Close the Driver Setup rule properties window by clicking

LMB on the tick at the bottom right. Then exit the Edit Session
window with changes saved by clicking LMB on the tick near
the bottom right corner.

Sessions and the rules used to define them are examined in

more detail in section 11 of this manual.

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Using Rules
Rules are a very powerful way of expanding and customizing
your Trainz experience. Based upon the TrainzScript
programming language, Rules provide non-programmers
the capabilities to “program” a variety of instructions and
behaviors for Drivers, locos and even interactive industries.
Every Session has a number of default Rules pre-loaded. In
Surveyor, click on the Edit Session Rules icon, then click on
Start-up Options, then click Edit. Here you can change the
Start-up settings for your Session such as weather, time of day
and realism level. Click the checkmark to save your changes.

As shown in the previous section, you can allocate Drivers

to various locos by clicking on Driver Set-up then Edit. You
can also add Driver Commands for each Driver. R-Click on
the small arrow and choose a Command from the list. To add
more Driver Commands to your list, edit the Driver Command
Rule.

There are over 100 Rules included and many more available
on the DLS. Rules allow you to add customized displays,
speed rules, lighting, objectives, scoring systems, customized
audio and much more. It is even possible to create a whole
scenario in a single Rule.

Save and Drive

Click LMB on the ‘Main Menu’ button in the top left corner of
the screen to pull down the main menu list. We will look into
the main menu list later in this manual. Now Click LMB on
the Save option to save your creation and make it available
in the Routes list.

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Tip: Save your work in Surveyor regularly to ensure you don’t
lose your work should the unforseen happen. You can also
use the Save As option in the menu to save different versions
of your route.

Ideally, you will have previously learned to use the Driver

mode either through the previous chapter of this manual or
through the tutorial sessions. If not, this is a good time to
do so. Once you have learned how, you can load your new
layout into Driver and experience the thrill of driving on a
route that you have designed from scratch!

Tip: In TS12 you can try out your new route and session
simply by clicking on the ‘QuickDrive’ icon or by pressing
CTRL + F2. This will transfer you directly into Driver. When you
leave Driver mode, you will automatically return to Surveyor
so that you can immediately continue working on your route
after testing it.

Well done! You have created your first route by going

through the basic steps of building the terrain, texturing
it, placing objects, laying track, putting down consists,
and assigning drivers. This has been a quick peek into the
powerful capabilities of Surveyor, feel free to experiment
within Surveyor and discover its flexibility.

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9.1 Surveyor Title Bar
The Title Bar appears at the top of the Surveyor screen and
has several tools, plus the Main Menu drop-down box.

Surveyor Main Menu

Clicking on the word Main Menu button
on the title bar opens up the Main
Menu drop-down box. See section 9.2
for more information.

QuickDrive (Ctrl-F2)
The QuickDrive button is shortcut that you can use to
run the current session in Driver. This can be handy
for session creators who can jump quickly into their
session and test it without having to quit Surveyor. See
section 5 an introduction to using QuickDrive.

Edit Session Rules

This button opens up the Edit Session window
where the rules that define a session are added and
configured. See section 11 for further details.

Content Search Filter

This button opens up Content Search Filter which is
handy for quickly finding particular items for your
route. This feature is discussed in more detail in
section 14.

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Wireframe View (F9)
The Wireframe View button (F9) replaces the textured
terrain with a see-through wireframe. This mode is
useful for seeing what lies beneath the ground such
as under hills when placing and moving tunnels. Use F9 again
to return to the regular view.

Undo (Ctrl-Z) and Redo (Ctrl-Y)

Undo and Redo are very
useful functions for clearing
up mistakes and recovering
deleted objects etc. The number of levels you can undo or
redo is determined by your computer memory. To use, just
click on the appropriate Icon and your last step is Undone or
Redone. If you have done a number of things quickly, such as
painting a number of textures, be aware that these may all
be become undone in one click.

9.2 Surveyor Main Menu

Creating and Saving Routes & Sessions
Click LMB on New Route to begin a new project. You will be
asked to Save if you have made changes to a route that you
were working on. In the Create a New Route window that
next opens up, enter or select the following information:
Give the new route a Route Name (replacing the name ‘New
Route’ and give this instance of the route a Session Name
as well. This allows you to have a single route with multiple
instances of it available. For example, you may have different
sets of trains in different sessions. The options are endless.

Select a Geographical Region from the list for your route.

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 One impact of selecting a region is that the cars will drive
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on the appropriate side of the road for your region. It will

also affect the default latitude and longitude settings for the
World Origin, the placing of Trackside objects and the default
selection of Metric or Imperial measures.

Set the Working Scale to Real Scale if you wish to develop a

virtual railroad rather than a scale model one. This setting
affects the markings on rulers that you can use to size things
up on a route as you build it. If you select HO scale instead for
example, the rulers will measure distance in actual inches or
meters in HO scale. If you are developing a virtual version of
a model railway select the appropriate scale.

Set Working Units to metric or imperial measures as you

wish. This will affect the measurements used when displaying
the operating conditions in the engines as you are operating
them.

Save and Save As

Use Save if you simply want to save the route and session
that your are working on with the same names that you used
previously.

Use Save As if you wish to save either the route or the session
you have created with new names.

In either case you will see one or more of the following

menus appear depending on where you are in the route
and session building process. Note that the buttons that the
items that you select have green buttons. If you cannot click
on a red button to turn it green, it is because that option is

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not available to you at this time.

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If you wish to save it with a new name, click on the name
New Route and a drop down menu appears.

You may now either type a name of your choice on top of the
New Route name or you can click on any of the names in the
list below if they have a (c) beside them. The (c) beside the
name means that this is a route that has been created earlier
by yourself or is a downloaded route created by someone
else. The names in dark black type such as “British Midlands”
are routes that came with the TS12 product and cannot be
overwritten. So you have the option of clicking on any of the
routes with a (c) beside them if you wish to overwrite them

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overwrite a route, you will see the following menu:

Click LMB on Yes or No depending on which choice you would

like to make.

Tip: Be careful when overwriting a route as the route being

overwritten is erased forever. Some route builders chose to
store successive versions of a route with a different name or
with a version number so that they can recover a prior version
if they wish.

WARNING: If you Save As and use the same name for the
Route you have just edited and Click LMB on the green tick
you will get a dialogue box appearing that asks if it is OK
to overwrite the route. If you Click LMB be aware that all
dependent Sessions for that Route will be lost. If you don’t
want to be in danger of losing Sessions choose a different
name for the Route. As the Routes that come with TS12
cannot be overwritten, this warning does not apply to
Sessions dependent on these Routes.

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If this variation of the menu appears, you now must decide
if you are going to overwrite the route and the session
information or just the route information. Click LMB on one
of the buttons to the left of the following three options.

Do Not Save Session - This will save the route as you now have
developed it but will not replace the session information such
as the trains placed on the route and the information you
have modified using the Edit Session menu item described
below.

This allows you to save just the route that you are working on
with the same name as you loaded it with.

Overwrite Existing Session - This will save the route as you

now have developed it and it will also replace the session
information such as the trains placed on the route and the
information you have modified using the Edit Session menu
item described below. The existing session information will
be overwritten.

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 Create New Session - This will save route as you now
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have developed it. It will also create a new session with

information such as the trains placed on the route and the
information you have modified using the Edit Session menu
item described below. So now you will have a route with
more than one session saved for it as the Session you loaded
the route with will continue to be saved as well with the old
name.

If you choose this option, enter a new name for your session
in the field provided.

Tip: One of the great features of TS12 is that you can save
many different session setups for a given route. E.g. an early
morning passenger run or a midnight freight haul.

If this menu appears, you may save the new route and session
with the current route name (New Route) or you can click on
the field and enter a new name for the route. The existing
session (Default) will be stored with the new route.

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the existing session information or creating a new session.
Click LMB on the red button to the left of Create a new
session and enter a new session name by Clicking LMB on
the field below it and entering a new name. Note that a drop
down list of existing sessions appears. You may select one of
these for overwriting if you wish.

If you select Save or Save As and there have been no changes

since the last save operation, this message will appear. Click
LMB on OK to return to Surveyor.

Delete Missing Assets

Delete Missing Assets will remove any links to missing
objects. This may have occurred if you have downloaded a
new map and don’t have all the custom content installed, or
have older content that is not compatible with your version
of TS12.

This menu will appear asking you to confirm or deny the

action.

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Mini-Map (Ctrl-M)
Click on Mini-Map to bring up an overview of your current
map. Ctrl-M is a quicker way of bringing up this map. You can
also toggle the Mini-Map on and off using Ctrl-M.

Whilst in mini-map mode, you can navigate around the

terrain quickly by zooming out and Clicking RMB to move the
baseboards around the screen.

There is also the ability to show/hide certain types of items in

the Mini-Map view. Click LMB on the “Map Display Options”
text in the top left corner of the Mini-Map window and
select/deselect the items you want to show/hide as desired.
Click on the “X” in the upper left corner of the Mini-Map to
close this window.

Find Object (Ctrl-F)

Find Object (Ctrl-F) brings up a dialogue box that lets you
type in the name of an object. The map will be re-centered
if any “named object” with that name is found. An error is
displayed if there is no object by that name.

Various objects can be named such as turnouts, signs,

stations even scenery. By selecting a type other than “All”
you can narrow down your search.

Merge Route
Merge Route is an important tool for joining one saved route
to another. Select Merge Route and a list of all your saved
maps are displayed.

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Choose which map you would like to join to the current

9 - SURVEYOR IN DEPTH
map from the list and click on the Check Mark. You will see
the baseboards from both maps and red shading on the
baseboards where the current map and the new map overlap.

Use the four small arrows at the bottom of the box to move
the map to be merged left, right, up or down and use the four
white arrows on the mini-map to navigate around the mini
map. Click LMB on Proceed once you have uncovered all the
red overlapping sections.

Tip: You cannot rotate a new map but you can join to it on
any side. Large maps will take some time to merge. Before
merging, rotate the camera so that you are facing North. This
helps you understand which side of your existing route you
want to join to.

Once you have merged two maps, you will have to edit the
joins to smooth out different level terrain, and also to join
track from the old section to the new.

You can change the map name, scale or measurement units

using the Edit Project dialogue box.

Edit Route
Click LMB on Edit Route and a window opens in which you
can modify the properties associated with a route. This is the
same screen that appears when you clicked on Create New
on the Surveyor main menu.

You may now change the Route name, add a Description,

change the Working scale and the Working Units.

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 Edit Session
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Click LMB on the Edit Session item to open up the Edit Session
window. This window is where sessions are constructed and
configured using rules. A default minimal session with several
basic rules is already provided.

Edit Environment
The Environment Options allow you to adjust various settings
that affect the look and feel of the entire route that you are
creating. These settings are used to can change the skybox,
weather, height of the snowline, time of year and lighting.
The individual elements of the Edit Environment Menu are
described in detail in section 9.7.

9.3 Options
Video Settings
Trainz is a 3D program that allows users to add unlimited
objects into a scene. The better your computer hardware, the
more objects you can display on screen and the smoother the
graphics will appear. You can adjust the performance settings
at any time in-game using Options/Video Setting in the Main
Menu. There will always be a trade off between performance
and graphics and it is up to you to find a combination that
suits each individual route. Note that you can also adjust your
screen resolution and turn shadows on or off under Options
on the Trainz Launcher.

The draw distance can be increased from 1500m to 5000m.

The scenery detail slider will not only reduce the distance
that objects will be drawn, but also the Level of Detail of
objects that take advantage of this feature. As more items

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are created that use Level of Detail, performance can

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improve dramatically since objects that are miles away can
be reduced in complexity.

Available Settings:
• Maximum Draw Distance: Set how far into the distance
objects are drawn. Higher values will increase the work your
computer will have to do and lower the game performance.

• Scenery Detail: Adjust the visual quality of scenery objects.

• Texture Detail: Adjust the detail level of textures throughout

the game. Higher values use more RAM and may reduce
game performance.

• Anisotropy: Lower values result in a smoother, sometimes

blurry scene. Higher values improve the crispness of distant
objects and objects that are on an angle to the observer.
Anisotropy may reduce performance on low-end video cards.

• Train Detail: Adjust the detail level of Train objects such as

locos, consists, wagons etc.

• Good Weather Fog: Controls the density of the distance fog

effect during fine weather conditions.

• Bad Weather Fog: Controls the density of the distance fog

effect during rainy or snowy conditions.

• Gamma: Adjust the depth of blacks and whites, lowering

the gamma will make the simulator appear darker, increasing
will make it lighter.

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• Enable in game video: Some Driver sessions may include

video content incompatible with your installed video drivers
or video codecs. If you find you are having difficulty with in-
game video you can use this option to temporarily disable
any videos from being displayed.

• Auto-hide the menu bar: Ticking this option will cause the
top menu bar to slide out of view when not in use. Move
your mouse to the top of the screen to make the menu bar
visible again.

9.4 Surveyor Settings

Surveyor is a tool that prevails with experimentation. It is
free-form, open-ended software at its best and our users
continually find ways to utilize it beyond anything we
originally envisioned.

With this freedom also comes a dilemma. The Surveyor tool

has no constraints on the amount and variety of objects that
can be placed in your 3D world. Therein lies the issue; the
more types of objects you add, the slower the performance
when playing in Driver mode will be. You can minimize these
frame rate effects by keeping the variety and number of
objects minimal. Their effect on frame rate is in that order,
first variety and then quantity.

Available Settings:
• Compass Speed: If the mouse is moving too fast for you
when you hold down the RMB, adjust the Compass Speed
slider to the left. Adjust the slider to the right if you find you

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• Fixed track vertex height: Set to On ensures that as you
lay track, its height is constrained to the gradient between
two spline points. The spline points are also “fixed” at that
height so that when you adjust the terrain height, the track
doesn’t move. You can then use the track laying tools to edit
the spline points to your satisfaction.

• Spline Point Rotation: Set to Off turns the white spline point
markers from spinning to static.

• Function Keys Open Panels: Set to On the Function Keys

(F1, etc) open the tab panels. When the option is set to OFF,
the Function Keys will enable the panels but will not open
the panels. Getting to know all the hotkeys can really speed
up your map making progress.

• Randomly Rotate New Objects: This setting is handy for

when you are placing forests etc. You may want to switch it
to Off when laying rows of houses.

• Contextual Information: Sets the level of helper graphics

that are displayed in Surveyor. Set it to Off and only the
graphics relevant to the current tab are displayed (e.g. Track
spline points won’t display whilst the Texture tab is open).
Select the keys option for Compass Movement to use the
cursor keys for moving the compass. The mouse will then
move the camera.

• Automatic Junction Placement: When a junction or

“turnout” is created, Surveyor automatically adds a switch

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off should you prefer to manually add a particular type of

control switch to your junctions, such as an electric turnout
motor.

• Spline Editing Detail: This controls the amount of detail

visible in spline objects whilst they are being moved around.
If your computer’s performance is suffering while you are
moving splines into position, you can set this option to
Simple. This displays a white line rather than the 3D spline
details whilst it is being moved.

• Compass Movement: Toggles between mouse and

keyboard for controlling compass movement.

• Camera Behaviour: Select Panning as the default Camera

Behavior and the map slides left or right when you navigate
around the terrain. Set to Rotation the map will rotate slightly
as you navigate.
• Default to Last Used Assets: Set to on this option will keep
the last asset you were last using selected in each Surveyor
tab.

• Auto-save interval: Adjust this slider to increase or decrease

the time span between auto-saves while working in Surveyor.

• Only display favorite content: TS12 allows you to flag

objects for easy listing in both the routes/sessions selection
menus as well as in Surveyor. Ticking this option will cause
the Surveyor Content Filter to reveal only the items marked
as favorites by default. If you wish to view the entire list of all
items by default then you should un-tick this option.

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Items such as locomotives, scenery objects, structures,
industries etc may also be set or unset as favorite items.

When “Only display favorite content” is enabled, you can

temporarily reveal all items (both favorites and otherwise),
by modifying the Content Search Filter to remove the 5-star
rating criteria. See section 12 for details about setting
favorites.

9.5 Adding and Removing Favorites

To edit your favorites, enter ContentManager by selecting
“Content” from the Trainz launcher.

To see all the current favorites, apply a search by selecting

“rating” and then 5 stars and then L-Clicking “Apply”.

To remove an item from your favorites list R-Click on an item,

hover the mouse over “rating” and select 0 stars.

To mark an item as a favorite, perform the same steps as

above but select 5 stars. See section 11 for more information.

9.6 Global Consist Library and QuickDrive

Allows you to create, edit and delete consists which can be
accessed when using QuickDrive. QuickDrive is a default
session rule that allows various elements of the Driver
session to be adjusted from within Driver.

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For more information about using QuickDrive see Section

5. The Global Consist Library dialogue displays the Surveyor
consist list by default. When you add a consist to the Surveyor
list, it becomes available in the Global Consist Library.

In here you’ll also find options for adding and customising

consist lists. This allows you to create several consist lists. For
example you might have a dedicated list for passenger and
another list for freight.

Creating a custom list

Click LMB on “Create new list”, enter a name for your new
list in the popup and click the tick to accept. In the top left of
the consist dialogue, your list name is now displayed beside
“Current List:” Click LMB on your list name and choose
SurveyorList from the drop down menu. You are now viewing
the SurveyorList again.

Note that beside each consist listed is an option to “copy to”

another list. Above the consist list to the right are backward/
forward buttons for scrolling through the pages of the list.
Click LMB on “Copy to” beside a consist of your choice, and
select your new list from those available.

Click LMB on “SurveyorList” beside “Current List:” and select

your list. The selected consist now appears in your custom
list; with options alongside to Edit, Copy, Rename or Delete
it.

Click LMB on “Edit” to start a simple consist editor which

enables you to add individual vehicles to a consist from your

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collection of train vehicles.

Global Interface Addons

Allows you to activate or deactivate interface add-ons such
as the iTrainz chat interface.

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9.7 Edit Environment Menu

The Environment menu is accessed from the Surveyor Main
Menu by selecting “Edit Environment”.

Dynamic Lighting
The first tab to open when
you select Edit Environment
is the Lighting panel. This
panel allows you to set the
colors of the sky and water
at various times throughout
the day.

Time of Day (“+” or “-”)

The main clock is a 24-hour
clock and the small red lights
around the outside are color
control points. Click on the
12 o’clock light and it will highlight and the three-color RGB
dials will also be highlighted allowing you to adjust the overall
tint for that time of day.

To choose the time of day, click LMB+H and drag your mouse
or use the “+” or “-” keys. Note that the lighting in your route
changes as you work so that you can see the effect in real
time.

Tip: The “+” and “-” are the keyboard keys between the “0”
and “backspace” keys on your keyboard. They are not the
keys on the number pad at the right of your keyboard.

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For more advanced lighting effects the sky tints can be
composed of different bands.

Click the Sky Preview and a white line

appears at the bottom of the window. Click
in the center and the white line moves to the
center. Click at the top of the window and it
moves to the top. These are the three-color
bands in the sky that you can adjust using the RGB dials.

Note: You must have one of the green buttons on the clock
selected to be able to select a band in the sky.

Let’s begin with the lower band. Click on the bottom of the
sky preview (make sure you have one of the green lights
around the clock selected). Now move the three RGB color
dials and notice the sky colors change. Repeat this for the
middle and upper bands. There are three other colors that
we can change and they are ambient, sun and water.

Note: Remember you can associate different settings with

each of the green lights around the clock.

Ambient Color Preview

Click LMB on the top Ambient Color Preview
box and adjust the RGB values to set the
directional lighting primarily changing the
color hue of buildings and other objects.

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 Sun Color Preview
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Click LMB on the middle Sun Color Preview

box and adjust the RGB values. This alters
the ambient lighting, primarily affecting the
terrain.

Water Color Preview

Click LMB on the lower Water Color Preview
box and adjust the RGB values. This alters the
color of areas of water.

Add Clock (A)

To add new green lights, select the Add Clock (A)
tool and Click LMB on the outer rim of the clock to
add new “lights” as required.

Move Clock (M)

You can also select Move Clock (M) to move the
lights to a new time slot by dragging them around
the clock.

Delete Clock (D)

Click LMB on Delete Clock (D) to delete the green
lights by Clicking LMB on them.

Reset Colors
If you wish to reset the RGB colors to the
defaults used by TS12, Click LMB on the Reset
Colors button.

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Diurnal Cycle

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To run the full 24hour cycle and see the effects,
click on the Diurnal Cycle button. This runs the
full day in around 30 seconds. Click on it again
to stop the cycle at any time. You can also Click
LMB and drag the hour hand to see how the
colors blend over time.

World Origin Tools

The second tab, signified by the globe icon, contains the
World Origin and Session Date settings.

The World Origin is a marker

that you place anywhere on
your route to set the latitude,
longitude and altitude of the
origin marker.

Trig Stations (found in the

Objects Menu) can then be
placed anywhere on your
route to identify the exact lat/
long and altitude of location.
Zoom in close to a Trig Station
and rotate to see the digital
readout of lat and long.

Tip: Use the ‘?’ icon to name the Trig Station using the format
“xx xxx.xxx N/S xxx xx.xxx W/E” and then use Ctrl F to bring
up a list of all named objects. Click on the lat/long you are
looking for from the list and you effectively have an unlimited
number of bookmarks.

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The placing of a World Origin marker adjusts the sun position

(the higher the latitude, the lower the sun position).

The altitude set in the World Origin controls the snow

variation in objects where snow is seasonally supported. The
default snowline is set at 2000m.

If the World Origin’s altitude is set to 1999m, then a tree

placed on an untouched baseboard won’t display the snow
season. Raise the tree up a meter and it will appear to be
covered in snow.

Add/Move World Origin

To add a World Origin and then move it if you wish,
Click LMB on Add/Move World Origin (O) and then
Click LMB anywhere on your world to add the World
Origin or Click LMB+H to move it around. Having added the
World Origin, the next two commands below will become
available to you as well.

Find World Origin

To find the World Origin in your world, Click on Find
World Origin (F) and the view will be centered on
the World Origin.

Edit World Origin

To edit the properties of the World Origin, Click
LMB on Edit World Origin (E) and you can set up the
latitude (setting it north or south of the equator),
longitude (setting it East or West of the Greenwich Mean
Time line), and altitude.

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Choosing a date here controls the time of year for your session.

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Some scenery provides seasonal variation and will change
appearance to reflect the time of year and hemisphere. The
default origin is northern hemisphere, so you can expect to
see summer variations mid-year.

To change the hemisphere that your route is located L-Click

Edit World Origin and enter co-ordinates for the desired
location in the world.

Weather
The third and final tab controls the weather. Here you can
select from differently detailed sky textures.

The Weather Control (“[“ or

“]”) slider shows what your
route will look like in rain
(move the slider left) or snow
(move the slider right).

The Clouds text box is for

selecting the type of cloud
cover that will appear on
the route. Change the clouds
by scrolling through the list
until your find the clouds
you would like to use; or click
LMB on the current selection
to view a drop down list.

The Water text box works in the same manner, and is used
for selecting the water conditions. Note that the due to sky

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reflections the overall appearance of water is effected by the

choice of sky.

Here you can also change the game’s wind strength, and edit
the altitude of the snow line.

9.8 Content Search filter (Ctrl+Shift+F)

As so much content is shipped with TS12, you may
at times need help finding the item you’re looking
for. The number of items displayed in the list can
be reduced by relevance to your search using the Content
Search Filter (pictured), on the right side of the Main Menu.

Click on the “+” and the Name filter appears. With the Objects
tab open, click in the Name entry field and type T and notice
how the list shortens. Type R, and this search is refined even
further. Complete the word “tree” and the list displays only
objects containing the word “tree”.

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9 - SURVEYOR IN DEPTH
type “pine”. Now you see only the objects with both “tree”
and “pine” in the name. Click on Name to see a drop down
list of other available filters.

Once you’ve found what you’re looking for click on Clear

to reset the filters. To close the Search Filter click on the
Content Search Filter icon (Ctrl-Shift-F) once more.

Bookmarks
Bookmarks can be set at various points along your route
that you may wish to frequently return to. Navigate to a
particular place on your route and click RMB on one of the
buttons under Bookmarks. Notice that the button turns green
to indicate that a bookmark has been stored. Now navigate
away from that location and click LMB on the green button.
The camera will return to the bookmark location.

Pick List
The pick list is another handy device for helping to find your
favorite content. Located at the bottom of the Content Search
Filter dialogue, the Pick List can store your frequently used
ground textures, scenery objects, splines, track, trackside
objects, and trains.

To add an item to your pick list simply find the item in the
relevant menu, LMB+H on the item, drag it to the Pick List
and then stop holding the LMB. To remove an item LMB+H
on the item and drag it out of the Pick List window.

You can also share and customize your pick list with Content
Manager, see section 14 for information.

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 10 - SURVEYOR TOOL TABS
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Down the right side of the Surveyor main screen are seven
menu tabs containing all of the tools you will need to
successfully make your own route and session in Surveyor.

Leave your mouse cursor hovering over the first tab and you
will notice a yellow text box appear saying Topology ‘F1’.
This message is a “ToolTip” and gives you information about
the function of that icon. You will also notice the “Hotkey”
information (‘F1’) telling you which keystroke you can press
as an alternative to clicking on the icon. Most functions in
Surveyor have a ToolTip and Hotkey associated with them.

If you are in doubt as to what a particular icon will do, simply

hold your mouse over it and the ToolTip will tell you what
action that icon performs.

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Basic Topology Functions
The Topology Menu provides
the tools for creating various
types of terrain. In this section
you will learn how to make
hills, valleys, mountains, lakes
and rivers.

Tip: You will learn these

features faster if you first start
a new route per the instructions
from section 9 before trying the
features to be described in the
rest of section 10.

Click on the Topology Tab (or

press the F1 key) to open the
Topology Menu. Here you
will see a number of different
tools that can be used to shape
the terrain. Hold your mouse
cursor over each one to see a
short description as well as the
appropriate Hotkey to press. To
see the whole menu as in the
diagram above, click on the
“Advanced” button to expand
the menu.

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 Height Up (U)
10 - SURVEYOR TOOLS

Click on the Height Up (U) and notice that the

Mode changes to Height Up. Click on Height
Down (D) and Adjust Height (A) to see how each
time a tool is selected, the Mode changes. Click
on the Height Up icon once again to select the
Height Up tool, and notice that your mouse cursor changes
to a circle. This circle is the “area of influence” for your cursor
when using the land shaping tools.

Click LMB once near the center of your baseboard. Notice

that the terrain is stretched upwards. Next, Click LMB+H, and
the terrain continues to rise as long as you hold down the
LMB. Notice how the hill becomes very steep and the base of
the hill is the approximate size of the cursor circle.

Click LMB on the Radius Tool (“+”) to enlarge the circle of

influence to its maximum size. Click LMB and hold near the
compass icon once more. The hill this time is a lot wider and
flatter. Click LMB on the Radius Tool (“-”) to reduce the size of
the circle of influence.

Tip: The “+” and “-” are the keyboard keys between the “0”
and “backspace” keys on your keyboard. They are not the
keys on the number pad at the right of your keyboard.

Zoom Out (Page Down) so that you can see the whole circle.
In Surveyor, you will often need to zoom in and out and use
the arrow keys to rotate your camera to get the best view of
what is happening. Whilst holding the LMB, move the mouse
around the terrain and the hill “follows” your cursor. Zoom In
(Page Up) for a closer view.

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(“]” and “[“) to the maximum setting and Click LMB. Now the
hill grows a lot faster. You may need to zoom out again (Page
Down) to see the whole hill.

As you make hills, you will find you need to Click RMB to
move your camera position and also orient the camera in the
direction you wish to face by using your arrow keys. A little
practice makes hill creation a breeze.

Height Down (D)

Height Down works the same as Height Up
tool. Firstly move to a flat area then make an
indentation by Clicking LMB where you want
the terrain to be lowered. Again, notice that
size of the cursor circle determines the amount
of land that is lowered and the sensitivity determines how
quickly it lowers.

Adjust Height (A)

Adjust Height (A) allows finer control of the up
and down movement. Click LMB and hold then
push your mouse away from you to raise the
terrain. Click LMB and hold then pull the mouse
towards you to lower the terrain.

Combined with the zoom function (Page Up, Page Down),

spinning the camera (arrow or cursor keys), and adjustment
of the radius and sensitivity dials, you can now make a wide
variety of different hills and valleys. Practice this until you are
comfortable to move on.

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 Get Height (G)
10 - SURVEYOR TOOLS

Select Get Height (G), then Click RMB on the side of

a hill. Notice that the number in the Height Value
field changes. You have captured the height of the
spot you clicked on. This is useful when you want to
then go to another spot and set the spot to the same height.

Watch the Height Value field change as you Click RMB on

different parts of the terrain.

Use Height (H)

Click on Use Height (H) Then Click LMB to apply the
selected Height Value to the terrain. The Use Height
tool creates a plateau at your selected height and
the radius of your cursor circle determines the
amount of land that is leveled at one time.

Click LMB+H then move your mouse around the terrain to

plateau a broader section.

Plateau (P)
Plateau (P) works in a similar fashion, and simply
creates a plateau at the current height of the
compass. Click LMB on the side of a hill to create
a plateau at that level by raising or lowering the
terrain.

As an alternative to Get Height to select a Height Value, you

can also enter specific height in the Height Value field. You
can enter positive or negative values. Negative values allow
you to depress the terrain.

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Add Water (W)

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To create a “riverbed”, make your circle radius as
small as possible. Next, enter -10 in the Height Value
field. Then click on Use Height. Now make your
riverbed by Click LMB+H, then “painting” the new height
along the terrain creating your riverbed as shown below.

Now Click LMB on Add Water (W)

and paint the water texture along the
riverbed by Clicking LMB and moving
your mouse around. The radius of the
cursor circle determines the texture panel size. You results
will look like that shown below where we have partially
completed the “water painting” job.
Paint enough squares so that they will
cover the area of your riverbed.

Adjust Water Height (E)

At first as you see above, the water “floats” above
the terrain. Adjust Water Height (E) works like the
Adjust Height tool. Select the Adjust Water Height
tool and Click LMB and hold (on the water texture) then drag
your mouse forward and back, adjusting the water texture
height until it is the appropriate
height. Note how it properly fills
the riverbed as you move the water
downward.

Remove Water (Q)

Click LMB on Remove Water (Q) and you then delete
the water texture one panel at a time by Clicking
LMB on each water panel.

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 The Baseboard
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Baseboards are in effect the “table” upon which you build

your route. The baseboard sections are 720 meters by 720
meters square and the default grid square is 10 meters by
10 meters in size. If you chose Imperial measures instead of
metric the grid squares still remain that size.

Alternatively a 5 meter by 5 meter grid can be adopted for

finer control over cuttings and embankments etc.

Add Ground (X) – 10m Grid

Navigate to the edge of a baseboard by Clicking RMB
to move the compass. Then select the Add Ground
(X) tool. Click LMB in the void just off the edge of
the baseboard to add another baseboard in that direction.
Bring up the Surveyor Main Menu by clicking on the word
Surveyor on the top menu which drops down if you move
your cursor to the top of the screen.

Select Mini Map (Ctrl-M). You will see a mini map showing 2
baseboards. Zoom in and out by clicking on the “+” and “-”
icons.

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10 - SURVEYOR TOOLS
and “backspace” keys on your keyboard. They are not the
keys on the number pad at the right of your keyboard.

Close the mini map by clicking on the x in the top-right corner

(Ctrl-M) to toggle back to the full screen view.

Navigate to another edge and add two more baseboards

then press Ctrl-M to view the mini map once more. Navigate
around the mini map by Clicking RMB. Notice the main map
also moves. This is very useful for navigating on large maps.
Use Ctrl-M to close the mini map once more.

Add Ground (X) – 5m Grid

Navigate to the edge of a baseboard and then RMB on the
Add Ground (X) tool. A dialogue appears with the option to
choose from either 5m or 10m grid. Select 5 meter and click
the tick to accept. Click LMB in the void just off the edge of
the baseboard to add another baseboard, this time with a 5
meter terrain grid.

Click on an existing 10 meter baseboard to upgrade it to 5

meter.

Delete Ground
Click LMB on the Delete Section button. Then Click
LMB on any baseboard section to delete it.

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Advanced Topology Functions (Shift-F1)

The Advanced features menu can be opened and closed by
using Shift-F1 or clicking on the Advanced Tab.

Displacement Maps
The final group of Topology tools relates to using a
displacement map. A displacement map is a grayscale image
used to create an instant height map.

There are two ways to apply displacements to the terrain.

Firstly, let’s consider “Select and Fill”.

Select Area (B)

Click on Select Area (B). Click LMB and drag the
mouse to make a large square as shown below.
The size of the square (or it can be a rectangle)
determines the area that will be affected by the next
operation.

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Fill Area (F)
Scroll through the Displacement Maps (by clicking
on the left and right arrows) until you find one
called the Volcano, then click on Fill Area (F). The
terrain is instantly transformed into the shape determined by
the grayscale images of the displacement map chosen. In this
case, we have our volcano.

Note: If you can’t Click LMB on this button, it is probably due

to your not having used Select Area (B) to select an area to
fill.

Click Undo to remove the volcano.

Repeat the process using the Valley grayscale map to build

a valley. Then move the Direction dial and increase the
Threshold dial. Click LMB on Fill Area once more. This time
the valley is bigger and faces a different direction. By holding
Shift whilst selecting your area, larger areas are selected at
one time.

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Cancel Selection (D)

Click LMB on Cancel Selection (D) to cancel the
selection.

Get Displacement
Click on Select Area (B). Click LMB on the baseboard
and drag the mouse to make a large square that
covers an existing area of modified terrain. Now
click the “Get Displacement” button and you’ll notice that a
displacement map has been derived from the shape of the
terrain. This can now be used to apply the same terrain effect
in another area.

Displacement Brushes
Displacement maps can alternatively be used like paint
brushes, adding irregular detail to the Height Up and Down,
Use Height and Plateau tools.

Scroll back through the list of displacement maps until

“none” is selected. Click on the Height Up tool and you’ll
see the familiar circle of the default tool. Now scroll through
the displacements to Valley01 and notice that the Height
Up brush has become a square. Its size and sensitivity can
be adjusted as before. Click and briefly hold LMB over the
baseboard to apply the displacement to particular areas in
real time.

Making Your Own Displacement Maps

You can also make your own displacement maps using a
simple paint program (e.g. MS Paint) and then drop them
into the \World\Custom\Displacements folder in your TS12
directory to make them accessible.

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10.2 Paint Menu (F2)
Basic Paint Functions
The Paint Menu provides
access to a wide variety of
ground textures. Textures in
Surveyor are “bitmaps” which
are created to look like various
ground types such as sand,
grass, rocks or gravel. You can
even create your own textures
using a simple paint program
or a digital camera. (The
resultant .bmp file must be
a tiling 128x128 pixel image)
Click on the Paint Tab (F2) to
open the Paint Menu. You
will see a number of default
textures, grouped by region.
Use the slider button to scroll
through the list.

Click on one of the textures, and you will see a copy of it

appear in the small current texture window. Click LMB on the
terrain and use your mouse as a paintbrush to paint on the
texture.

Scroll through the textures until you find a striped texture.

Paint a section of terrain. You can see that a complex texture
pattern makes easy work of creating stunning ground
textures.

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Rotate the Direction Dial 90 degrees. Apply the texture again.

Notice how the texture direction has changed.

Hold down the “[“ key and apply the texture once more.
Notice the direction dial is spinning and the texture is being
applied in various directions. This tool helps to eliminate
repetitive patterns in your textures when you don’t want
them.

Now move the Scale dial to the minimum setting and apply
the texture, then move the scale dial to the maximum setting
and notice the difference when you apply the texture this
time. You can avoid repetitive texture patterns and create
ultra-realistic effects by using the scale and direction tools
along with choosing the right textures.

Get Texture (G)

Click on the Get Texture (G) tool then Click LMB on
a texture already painted onto your terrain. Notice
the current texture window changes to show the
newly selected texture. This is a useful way to find a texture
that you have already used without scrolling through all the
textures to find it again.

The Radius Dial (“+” or “-”) changes the area of influence of

your cursor circle. Use the larger radius for quicker painting
and the smallest radius for more accurate and detailed work.

Tip: The “+’ and “-” are the keyboard keys between the “0”
and “backspace” keys on your keyboard. They are not the
keys on the number pad at the right of your keyboard.

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Fill Grid (L)
The Fill Grid (L) will fill all unpainted areas of an
entire baseboard with one texture. This is useful
for finishing off an area where fine texturing is not
required.

Tip: You can use the Pick List at the bottom of the Content
Search Filter as a place to store multiple textures or objects
that you would like to use. Simply LMB+H on the texture,
drag it to the Pick List and then stop holding the LMB. You
can now easily go between your items on the pick list without
having to search for each one every time you want to use it.

Select Area (B)

You can also texture a rectangular area by clicking
on the Select Area (B) and using the mouse to drag
a rectangle of any size.

Fill Area (F)

Then Click LMB on a texture in the favorites box
and use the Fill Area (F) tool to texture the whole
rectangle. If you do not select an area first, Clicking
LMB on Fill Area (F) and Surveyor will fill all areas on which
there are no textures with the selected texture.

Note: If you can’t Click LMB on this button, it is probably due

to your not having any textures in the favorites box.

Cancel Selection (D)

Click LMB on Cancel Selection (D) to cancel the
selected area.

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10.3 Objects Menu (F3)

Object Management Functions
There are a huge number of
objects in TS12 that you can
place onto the terrain. There are
two different types of objects
- objects and splines. We’ll
explain spline objects later. For
now we will concentrate on
single objects.

Open the Objects Menu by

clicking on the Objects Tab
(F3). The default mode is Add
Objects. Begin by scrolling
through the list of objects by
clicking on the left and right
arrows of the object list. The
selected object shows as a
rotating 3D object in the viewer
window.

Note: You can control what is shown in your list by selecting

specific Object Regions (such as USA) and Object Types (such
as Trackside).

Add Object (A)

Check that you are in Add Object mode, or Click
LMB on Add Object (A) to select this mode. Click
LMB on the terrain and the selected object is placed
wherever you click. You can repeat this several times quickly
adding a number of trees or buildings.

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Tip: It is easy to click twice and get multiple copies of your
object. Just use Undo to delete the unwanted copies of the
objects.

Tip: If there is a green checkmark with the letters “IND”

shown in the lower left corner of the Viewer window, this is
an indication that this is an “interactive” piece of industry
capable of participating with “interactive” rolling stock.

Move Object (M)

Click on the Move Object (M) and Click LMB+H on
any object and then drag the object around the
terrain to new positions.

Rotate Object (R)

Now click on the Rotate Object (R) and Click LMB+H
and move the mouse left and right to rotate the
objects. Note that a display shows you the number
of degrees of rotation.

You can use the move and rotate tools to create rows of
trees or to align houses along a road. You can set objects to
“randomly rotate” or not by choosing the Randomly Rotate
option in the Surveyor Options menu from the Main Menu.

To find a particular object in the list of objects, click on the

Object Selection text box, and then type the first few letters
of the object name. Type in “tree” and the list automatically
positions alphabetically at “tree”. Click on the Up and Down
arrows (or use the “+” or “-” keys) to scroll up and down the
list.

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Tip: The “+” and “-” are the keyboard keys between the “0”
and “backspace” keys on your keyboard. They are not the
keys on the number pad at the right of your keyboard.

Above the Object Viewer Window are the Object Region and
Object Type lists. Scroll through and select either a region or
an object type or both in order to shorten the selection list.

Get Object (G)

Click on the Get Object (G) tool and then Click
LMB on an object already placed on the terrain.
Notice that the object selected now appears in the
selection window.

Change the mode to Add Object (A) and Click LMB again
on the terrain where you wish to place another copy of the
newly selected object.

Delete Object (D)

Select Delete Object (D) then Click LMB to delete an
object. Continue Clicking LMB to delete a number
of objects. If you click on the wrong object, click
on Undo (Ctrl-Z) to undo the last action and replace the last
deleted object.

Adjust Height (H)

When placed on a route, Objects are placed at
ground level at that point in the route. If the ground
is raised the object follows it. But you can place an
object at a relative height to the ground at any point.

Click LMB on Height Adjust (H) to enable the adjustment of

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the height of any Object. Note that only objects which have
been designed to be height adjustable will allow you to adjust
their height. So if you cannot adjust the height of an object,
the likely reason is that it wasn’t designed to do so.

While in the flight of fancy shown below we have height

adjusted a station to make it defy gravity, this function is very
useful. For example, you can place objects on top of each
other such as a building on a platform.

Holding the Ctrl key in conjunction with this move will adjust
the object’s height in increments of 0.1 units and holding the
Shift key will change the height by units of 0.05.

Edit Properties (N)

Click LMB on Edit Properties (N). Then Click LMB on
any object in your route. A menu will then open up
allowing you to edit the properties of the object.
For simple objects, this usually involves naming the object if
you wish.

For more complex operating industries, you are given the

opportunity to change production and consumption rates
for resources and other properties as we experienced in the

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earlier tutorial with the power plan and the coal plant objects.
Finally there is an option to move the object between layers.
See section 10 for more details about layers.

Special Object Types

As well as the regular objects that are static and exist primarily
for cosmetic purposes, there are also a range of interactive
and special object types with unique features. These objects
usually have track included that can be linked to the track on
your main route.

Industries
An industry is a scenery item with
track and which also produces
and/or consumes products. Train
vehicles can load and unload
products at an industry allowing
real world railroad activity (i.e.
the transportation of goods) to be
simulated. The products produced
and consumed by an industry can
be viewed and tweaked by using the Edit Properties button
as mentioned above. Section 8 of this manual has a simple
example showing how to place and integrate an industry into
a route.

Tip: Industries can be easily found in the scenery object list by

selecting the “Industry” category.

Note: To be of any use, an industry’s track must be connected

to your railroad. To load or unload, the vehicle used must be
capable of carrying that particular product.

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Fixed Track
Fixed track scenery items are fixed,
non-flexible segments of track and
can be thought of as the Trainz
equivalent to the sectional track
model train manufacturers have.

A piece of fixed track can be placed

like any ordinary scenery object
and then connected to normal
track splines. It is also possible for fixed track pieces to snap
together when one piece is moved in close proximity to an
end point of another.
The end points of a fixed track are identified by the red arrow
seen hovering above the track.

When rotating a piece of fixed track, other pieces of fixed

track attached to it will also be rotated resulting in the track
pattern being maintained during rotation. The same also
applies for moving connected pieces of fixed track.

Tip: Fixed track pieces can be easily found in the scenery

object list by selecting the “Fixed Track” category.

Note: Gradients are not really supported with fixed track. It is

advisable to use fixed track for flat areas only.

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Animated Junctions
These junctions differ from normal
junctions in that they are pre-
defined fixed track pieces and
have animated components. As an
animated junction is a pre-defined
fixed track piece, extra detail like
guide rails can also be present in
an animated junction.

Animated junctions are added and manipulated on the

Surveyor baseboard in the same way fixed track pieces are.
Note: You will find the animated junctions in the “Fixed Track”
category. The names of all animated junctions included with
TS12 are prefixed with “Turnout”.

Turntables
Turntables are scenery objects
with multiple incoming pieces of
track where a special traverser
track segment (usually rotating)
can move around to offer access
to all track pieces. Simply placing a
turntable object on the baseboard
and connecting the tracks is all that
is required to have it functioning.

Tip: The names of all turntables included with TS12 are

prefixed with “Tside Turntable”. There is no turntable object
category.

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Crossings
A crossing is a scenery object
that allows rail track and a road
to cross each other. As well as
being a scenery object that can be
connected to the route’s track, a
crossing can also be linked up to
road splines.

Crossings support animated gates

that are automatically activated as a train enters and leaves a
proximity region surrounding the crossing.

The operation of crossings is automated and even the Carz

will stop when the gates are lowered for a train to pass
through.

Tip: TS12 contains some examples of fully Train Controlled

Level Crossings, where the bells and flashing lights turn off
when the boom gates go up.

Add the level crossing road/rail junction “XING 1 US” from

the Scenery Objects Tab.

Use the Edit Properties dialogue in the Scenery panel to

uniquely name the crossing, e.g. Mycrossing.

Add the crossing lights “XING 1 US lights” to both sides of the

crossing and name those in accordance with the name given
to the crossing - e.g. Mycrossingsig1 and Mycrossingsig2.

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Backdrops
Backdrops are rendered regardless
of the view distance settings. This
means they will always be visible
and won’t disappear like other
distant scenery items, thus making
them suitable for scenic backdrops.

iPortal
The iPortals is a special type of
portal asset that allows train
consists to be transferred between
your Driver session and that of
another online TS12 user.

This is not the same as full

multiplayer game functionality. The
iPortals allow a train to be moved
between two separate sessions. Otherwise the sessions are
still independent and have no other links or synchronization.
Placing and Configuring an iPortal

An iPortal is a scenery object with track and is placed and

linked into your route in the same way an industry is. The two
iPortal assets can be easily found in the scenery items list as
they both start with “iPortal”.

To function in the Driver session, the iPortal needs to

be configured. There are no rules needed, just open the
properties window for an iPortal placed on your route.

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To get the iPortal working, not only must your TS12
installation be configured to work with your Planet Auran
account, but the iPortal itself also has several parameters
that need setting as well.

iPortal id
Unique ID name that this portal is to be identified by.

Send to user
Name of the remote TS12 user that you wish to exchange
train consists with. This setting isn’t needed if you are just
transferring trains to other iPortals on your own route.

Destination iPortal id
Unique ID name of the destination iPortal that this iPortal is
to exchange trains with. This can either be remotely located
on another user’s system or from your own route.

Send Trains
Specifies whether trains are sent over the internet and
exchanged with another user or just transferred locally to
another iPortal.

Check for trains

Enable this option if you want the iPortal to wait for trains
that another iPortal may send to it.

Driver mode after create

Determines how trains emitted from the iPortal will be
controlled on your route once they have exited the iPortal.
Trains transferred through an iPortal will retain their vehicle
loads so one potential fun activity is to operate your route

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else through the iPortal.

Don’t forget to use iTrainz Chat so you can communicate with

your friend and arrange iPortal exchanges. iTrainz Chat will
also let you know if your friend is online.

Spline Management Functions

The next mode to explore is Spline
Mode. Splines are generally long thin
objects such as roads, power lines,
fences and rows of trees. They consist
of two or more “spline points” denoted
by white circles. These spline points
can be placed any distance apart and
the spline object is then “stretched”
between the spline points as you place
them on the route.

Spline Mode (S)

To enter Object Spline
mode, Click LMB on
the large Spline Mode
(S) button at the top
left of the tab menu.

Add Spline (A)

When you Click LMB on Spline Mode (S), the default
selection will be Add Spline (A).

Click LMB on the terrain to anchor the first spline point, and
Click LMB again some distance away to place the second

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spline. These spline points determine the points of a spline
that may be selected or moved. For example, in the picture
below, we have paced the “Powerline B” spline on the route.

To extend the spline further, Click LMB again on the last spline
point, then Click LMB once more nearby to extend the spline.
You can simplify this process by holding down the Ctrl key
then placing several spline points. Release the Ctrl Key and
place your final spline point to anchor the spline in place.

Move Spline (M)

You can move any spline point by selecting the Move
Spline (M) tool and then Click LMB+H and dragging
the spline point to a new position. Sometimes when
you place a spline point, the spline “snaps” to a nearby spline
point and creates a curved spline. To avoid this happening,
hold the Shift key down when placing the spline points. This
“forces” the spline point to go where ever you tell it to go.

You can also use Shift-Click LMB to a spline to be placed on

top of another. This is useful to create a right angle turnout
such as a fence.

Get Spline (G)

Click LMB on the Get Spline (G) tool and then Click
LMB on a spline object already placed on the terrain.
Notice that the spline object selected now appears
in the selection window. This is a quick way of finding the
spline you want in case you wish to place additional ones into
your route.

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the terrain where you wish to place the newly selected spline
object.

Delete Spline (D)

Click LMB on Delete Spline (O) then click on a section
of spline between two adjacent white circles to
remove unwanted spline sections. If you delete a
section that is not an end section of a spline, the spline will
be split into two splines.

Split Spline (Q)

If a spline is already curved, you can split it into two
sections by using the Split Spline (Q) tool. Simply
Click LMB on the middle spline (or any non-end
spline point) and you now have two separate splines.

Toggle Traffic
Many of the roads (which are splines) that you
will be placing on your route will have vehicles
(affectionately known as “Carz”) traveling on them
automatically. You will see them moving in Surveyor after
placing the roads. Clicking LMB on Toggle Traffic turns all
traffic off on these types of roads.

Clicking LMB on the button again will have traffic resume. If

the Toggle Traffic mode is ON, the button will be lit up in a
bright green color. Please note that when you toggle traffic
on and off, it affect all spline roads on your route.
Roads are placed as splines as shown on the next page.

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Advanced Spline Management Functions (Shift F3)
Click LMB on the Advanced Menu (Shift F3) to access even
more tools. A drop down menu is then revealed as shown at
the bottom of the tool tab above. This provides you with the
following tools.

Spline Height (H)

The Spline Height (H) tool can be used to raise or
lower the height of certain types of splines (for
example catenaries or road bridges). Click LMB on
Spline Height then Click LMB+H on a spline point (the white
circle) and drag the mouse forward or backwards.

Delete Spline Point (X)

Click LMB on Delete Spline Point (X) and then Click
LMB on a white spline circle to remove unwanted
spline points. You cannot delete an end spline point,
but you can delete the whole section using the Delete Spline
(D) tool.

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Insert Spline Point (I)

Click LMB on Insert Spline Point (I) then Click LMB
between two existing spline points. Notice that a
new spline point is created. You may need to zoom
in closer in order to insert a new spline point.

Note: Don’t overuse spline points as each one will add

load onto your graphics card and may noticeably degrade
performance.

Smooth Spline (S)

Lay a road spline down on level ground on your
route using at least four spline points. Use Spline
Height (H) to pull up two spline points in the middle
of the road. The road now floats above the ground.

Click LMB on Smooth Spline (S). Now Click LMB on the raised
spline section and the spline is instantly raised up to meet the
road. To make a few minor adjustments, click LMB again on
the road a few more times. Sometimes it takes a few passes
to get the road just right.

Find another level untouched area of your baseboard. Next,

make and texture a small hill using the Topology tools.

Lay a single section of road spline over the top of hill with a
single pair of spline points at either end. Note that it clings
to the surface of the hill. Now Click LMB on Smooth Spline
(S) and then Click LMB on the road. As shown below, this
will level the terrain between the two spline points, thereby
creating a cutting through the hill to flatten the road.

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Smooth Spline (S) levels the track between two spline points,
bringing the land up or down to match the levelled spline.

Tip: Turntables and railroad crossings are actually standard

objects rather than track objects but they both have spline
points so that you can attach spline objects such as roads and
track to them.

Tip: Place a rail crossing as you would do a normal object and

then connect track segments to the track spline points. Next,
connect road splines to the road spline points. If you have
laid the crossing correctly, when you load the map into Driver,
road traffic will stop and allow your trains to run through the
crossing.

Tip: To get your catenaries to match your track in an electric

route, it is generally best to place the spline points directly on
top of the track spline points. This ensures that the curvature
matches that of the track and makes it easier to match the
height. When laying your catenaries, press Alt-O to show the
track spline points then hold the shift key to allow placement
of the catenary spline on top of the track spline.

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Get Vertex Height

Click LMB on the Get Vertex Height and Click LMB on
the highest spline point on your spline. The height is
displayed in the Height Value box.

Apply Vertex Height

Click LMB on Apply Vertex Height then Click LMB on
another spline point. The spline point is raised to
the same height as you first vertex. This is useful for
ensuring level spline segments.

Remove Gradient
Click LMB on Remove Gradient and then Click LMB
on a spline section to remove the gradient between
two spline points.

Edit Properties
This can be used to name the spline and also set its
layer.

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10.4 Track Menu (F4)
Track Mode Tools
Learning how to lay track, place
signals and create turnouts
can be the key to running a
successful TS12 Driver session.
Track sections in TS12 are
made up of flexible length
track pieces created by placing
2 spline points. We call this
“flexi-track” and it makes laying
any lengths of track extremely
simple. Select the Track Menu
(F4) and the default selection
will be Track Mode (T).

Add Track (A)

The Add Track (A)
tool should already
be highlighted, so
you are ready to lay your first
length of flexi-track. Click on
the left or right arrows of the track selection dialogue to
select the type of track you wish to lay, then Click LMB on
the baseboard where you want to anchor your starting point.
(We suggest you start with Single Track).

Click LMB again a short distance away to place another spline

point. A straight section of track has now been laid between
the two spline points.

To extend the track further, Click LMB again on the last spline

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point (the white circle), then Click LMB once more nearby to
extend the track. Unless all three spline points are exactly in
a straight line, you will notice that the track is now curved. To
connect two sections of track, just drag the end spline point
of one on top of the end spline point of another and they will
automatically connect.

Move Track (M)

To bend the track in any direction, select the Move
Track (M) tool and then Click LMB and hold on one
of the white spline point circles. Drag your mouse
around the terrain and notice how the track bends. The
shape of the curve is also affected by how close the spline
point you are pulling is to the next spline points.

Straighten Track (B)

Click on Straighten Track (B) and then Click LMB on a
bent section of laid track. Notice that the section of
track straightens between the two spline points and
the next track segment is also affected.

Note: Double track cannot be straightened.

Click again on the straightened track and it returns to a curved

track. This tool is especially useful when creating turnouts
and yards and tidying up messy track sections.

Choose a different type of track by clicking on either the

Track Region or Track Type dialogue box and scrolling down
the list until you find a bridge. Lay a short section of bridge on
the flat ground just as you did for the single track.

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Get Track (G)

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Click on Get Track (G) and then Click LMB on your
original track. The bridge showing in the selection
window is replaced by the track. Press “A” to change
the mode to Add Track and you are ready to lay another
section of track.

Delete Track (D)

Click on Delete Track (D) then click on the bridge
section to delete it.

Note: any trackside objects you place on a track segment will

also be deleted when the track is deleted.

Split Spline (Q)

Click on the Split Spline tool (Q) and click on a
middle spline point (white circle) in the track. The
track breaks in two at that point.

Edit Properties
This can be used to name the track section and also
set its layer.

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Creating a Turnout
Depending on which part of the world you live in, there are
different names for where one section of track branches
off from another. Sometimes these are called turnouts,
junctions, points or switches. We call them turnouts in this
document.

This section will teach you the basics of creating turnouts.

To create a wye turnout, begin by laying two spline points.
Next, Click LMB to the left of your first section of track and
drag the new section towards the existing track.

Click LMB about half way along the first track and the track
bends to the shape of a turnout. You have just created your
first turnout.

To tidy up the turnout and make it look a little better, select

the Straighten Track (B) tool then click on the lead out track
to straighten the section leading into your new turnout.

Add a new spline point to your turnout by going to the

Advanced Menu (Shift F4) and selecting the Insert Spline (I).
Click on the left-most track to add the new point.

Use Move Track (M) to grab the new spline point and move
it around until you are happy with the shape of the turnout.
You now have a perfectly created wye turnout.

Note that a turnout lever has automatically been added to

the Turnout. The Red and Green arrows indicate which way
the turnout will be set when you begin to operate your new
route. To change the turnout’s set direction, either Click

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LMB on the turnout in Mini-Map mode or use the “Junction
Direction”.

The Switch lever can be deleted using the Trackside Object

Delete function. But you must replace it with another of your
choice if the Turnout is to function properly.

Later we will show you how to change turnout levers and add
signals to complete the job.

Tip: If you are trying to move or delete a piece of track and

it won’t move or delete, you will receive an audible beep.
This means that the track is attached to a non-movable item
such as an interactive industry object, rail crossing or perhaps
even a loco or item of rolling stock. In the case of vehicles,
they need to be moved at least 2 spline points away from the
section of track you wish to edit.

Animated Junctions
Animated junctions are supported in TS12 but cannot be
created as track splines. Instead, you need to place an
animated junction object on the baseboard.

Advanced Track Mode Tools (Shift-F4)

In TS12, there are two ways you can lay track. Either lay the
track and bring the land up to meet it, or create the land,
then lay your track over it. We’ll show you both ways using
Advanced Track Menu (Shift F4).

Click LMB on the Advanced button to drop down the

Advanced Track Menu.

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Adjust Spline Height (H)

Begin by laying a short section of curved track using
4 or 5 spline points. Click LMB the Adjust Spline
Height (H) and Click LMB and hold on a track spline
point. Drag your mouse forward and back to raise and lower
the spline point. Raise the track off the ground, and then
bring the camera down close to the ground to get a better
view.

As you can see below, the track spline points will have arrows
attached to them showing you the height of the track above
the ground.

Smooth Spline Height (S)

Select the Smooth Spline Height (S). Click on the
raised track section and the ground is instantly
raised up to meet the track. To make a few minor
adjustments, click again on the track a few more times
between each pair of spline points. Sometimes it takes a few
passes to get the track just right.

Find a level untouched area of your baseboard. Next, make a

small hill using the Topology tools.

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Lay a single section of track over the top of hill with a single
pair of spline points at either end. Note that it clings to the
surface of the hill. Now Click LMB on Smooth Spline Height
(S) and then Click LMB on the track. As shown below, this
will level the terrain between the two spline points, thereby
creating a cutting through the hill to flatten the track.

Smooth Spline (S) levels the track between two spline points,
bringing the land up or down to match the leveled track.

Delete Spline Point (X)

Click LMB on the Delete Spline Point (X) and Click
LMB on a track spline point (not a spline end point
as they cannot be deleted). Notice that the spline
point is removed and the curvature is also affected.

Insert Spline Point (I)

Click on Insert Spline Point (I) to add a new spline
point. Once again the track curvature is affected.
Careful placement of spline points is one of the
secrets to good track laying. But be careful not to put in too
many as the more you have the greater the complexity of the
route and the harder your computer has to work to give you
smooth operations.

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Get Gradient (J)

Next, select the Get Gradient (J) and Click LMB on
your raised track section between two track spline
points. The gradient between those points is shown
in the Gradient Value box as a percentage slope. The value 2
means 2% or 1 in 50.

Apply Gradient (K)

Enter a new gradient value in the Gradient Value
text box, then click on Apply Gradient (K). Click the
track near your first spline point to raise the track.

Now click on Undo (Ctrl-Z) and then Click LMB near the 2nd
spline point. Notice that the gradient has now been applied
in reverse. The rule is that the gradient is always applied
“away” from the spline point closest to where you click.

Remove Gradient
Click LMB on remove Gradient and then Click on a
track section to remove the gradient between two
track points.

Get Vertex Height

Click LMB on the Get Vertex Height and Click LMB
on the highest spline point on your track. The height
is displayed in the Height Value box.

Apply Vertex Height

Click on Apply Vertex Height then Click LMB on
another spline point. The spline point is raised to
the same height as you first vertex. This is useful for
ensuring level track segments.

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Show Curve Radius
Next, click on Show Curve Radius then move your
mouse along a track segment. The curve radius is
shown next to your mouse cursor. The number is
the radius measured in meters so a low number means a
tight curve and a high number means a straighter track.

Track in TS12 usually tries to “average” a curve so you can use

Straighten Track to “end” a curve. This stops the track trying
to bend back in the other direction.

Even using Show Curve Radius, creating a nice curve can be

a little tricky at first. Here are some tips. Move your camera
vertically above the track and zoom out. Lay down five spline
points in a gentle 90-degree curve. The curve is probably a
little wobbly.

Use Move Track (M) to straighten the ends then use the
Straighten Track (B) to straighten the two end sections. You
now have a nice consistent curve through 90 degrees.

Building Bridges
Bridges and tunnels work much the same way as for normal
track but can be a little harder to lay due to the type of
terrain involved. It is sometimes easier to make the bridges
and tunnels on flat ground then move them into place.

Select the Track Type “Bridges” by clicking on the Track Type

arrow keys, then scroll through the list of bridges until you
find the bridge type you are looking for.

To place the bridge, select the Add Track (A) tool and lay the

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bridge just like you did for the track by clicking to place spline
points. It is best to lay bridges between two hills although
you can lay the bridge and then remove the terrain beneath
it.

Below we have placed the bridge called “Bridge Stone Pole

1t” on some flat terrain.

You can insert a spline point in the middle of the bridge using
Insert Spline Point (I) and then Clicking LMB on the bridge
section to insert the new point.

Click on Move Track (M) and Click LMB and drag the middle
spline point. This allows you to bend the bridge. Don’t bend
it too far or it will “break”. Below we have inserted a spline
point into the middle of the bridge and curved it.

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When you depress the ground under the bridge, the bridge
piers will reveal themselves as shown below. Note that we
have painted the ground and added water as well.

To create a bridge that is level, you can use the Get Vertex
Height tool. Click on the spline point at one end of the bridge
and you will notice the Height Value is entered into the Spline
Height dialogue box.

Click on the Apply Height tool then click on the other two
spline points. This applies the same height to each of those
spline points.

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Building Tunnels
Tunnels work in the same way as bridges. Repeat the steps
above but firstly select a tunnel rather than a bridge. For
your first tunnel, lay it on a flat section of ground so that the
hills don’t interfere with the operation. (You can always add
the hill afterwards). Here is an example of the double track
“Tunnel Stone” placed on flat terrain.

Once you have 3 spline points in a tunnel, select Move Track

(M) and Click LMB and drag the middle spline point to create
a bend in the tunnel. Notice that in TS12, the tunnel exits
“snap” to the terrain at 45-degree increments. You may
need to re-route your track to align it correctly to the tunnel
entrance and exit.

Ensure that you hide the tunnel exit properly by using the
terrain Height Adjust tools and the track Smooth Spline tool
to tidy up the entrance.

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To join track to bridges or tunnels you should always use
single track (even for a double track, bridge or tunnel). Lay
the spline point away from the bridge first and then move
the track towards the end spline. The track will snap to the
bridge object. Use Smooth Spline to tidy up the terrain.

Trackside Object Management

Trackside Mode (Y)
The second mode in the Track Menu is Trackside
Mode. Click LMB on Trackside Mode (Y) to
change the Track Tab menu to the Trackside
Mode menu.

Add Object (A)

To add a trackside object Click LMB on the Add
Object (A) button. The select the object you wish
to place from the list. Click LMB at one or the other
side at some point of the track. Your object will be placed
beside the track and will be “attached” to it. So if you move
the track it will move with it.

Tip: Some of the most important Trackside objects are the

AI Direction Markers. These are used by the Drivers for
navigating (pathfinding) around your route. A Driver under
AI control will not enter a track segment against the direction
of the AI Direction Marker. Therefore these are useful for
controlling Northbound or Southbound traffic etc, but, used
incorrectly, they can also provide barriers stopping Drivers
getting to where you want them to go.

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Move Object (M)

Click LMB on Move Object (M). Then Click LMB+H on
a Trackside Object on your track. Drag your mouse
along the track to move the object to a different
position.

Rotate Object (R)

To change the side of the track for a trackside
object, click on the Rotate tool (R) and Click LMB
on the object. It will switch sides of the track and
rotate 180 degrees. The direction that a trackside object
faces is controlled by the selection of Geographic region for
the route.

Get Object (G)

Click on the Get Object (G) tool and then Click
LMB on an object already placed at the trackside.
Notice that the object selected now appears in the
selection window.

Change the mode to Add Object (A) and Click LMB again at
another point on the track where you wish to place another
copy of the newly selected object.

Delete Object (D)

Select Delete Object (D) then Click LMB to delete a
trackside object.

Continue Clicking LMB to delete a number of objects. If you

click on the wrong object, click on Undo (Ctrl-Z) to undo the
last action and replace the last deleted object.

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Junction Direction (J)
If you have a turnouts placed on your route, each
should have a switch lever attached to it. The switch
lever at a turnout has a green and red arrow. To
change the default direction of travel (for when you drive on
this track in the Driver module), Click LMB on the Junction
Direction (J) tool and then Click LMB once on the green and
red arrows. The direction is now changed (green denoting
the default direction of travel).

You can also make 3-way turnouts by simply adding a third

track to the turnout. There are now three direction arrows.

Define Name (N)

Next, select the Define Name (N) tool and click again
on the turnout. A dialogue box opens allowing you
to type a name for the turnout in the box. Click the
Check (proceed) icon to save the name and proceed.

Australian & UK signals appear on the left of the track, USA

signals appear on the right. European signals vary depending
on the track.

Careful placement of signals will allow you to operate

complex operations involving several moving consists
without incident. It is important to consider that the signals
are there to protect the trains from each other, and any
situation where their paths may cross should be protected
by a signal.

Extended sections of single line should be relieved by sections

of double track or “crossing loops” that enable trains to

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either pass or cross each other. At the entrance to a section

of single line there can be two signals protecting the same
block, i.e. one on each track to enable faster trains to pass
slower ones.

Keep in mind that once your train passes a signal, any

following train will not be permitted to pass until your train
reaches the next signal, so if traffic is going to be heavy, don’t
place them too far apart.

To protect AI trains from over running terminating track, a

rail end marker or buffer must be used.

Note: At the time of writing, TS12 signals are not capable of

detecting a train crossing a block via a diamond crossing.
If you wish to operate a fully automated system, diamond
crossings should not be used in the path of AI trains. However
it is possible through the use of Trainz script to develop a
signaled crossing which does control intersecting trains
properly. It is recommended that you place at least one signal
per track segment (i.e. between each junction).

Trackmark and Trigger Management Tools

Trackmark Mode (V)
The third mode in the Track Menu is Trackmark
Mode. Trackmark mode is used for the
management of Trackmarks and Triggers.
These are used to assist in setting up the
rules for a session, which allows you to design
operations for your route.

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Click LMB on the Trackmark Mode (V) to change the Track
Tab menu to the Trackmark Mode menu.

Trackmarks
Trackmarks mark specific points out on the track in a route.
They are named and then used in Rule building. For example,
they can be used to guide Drivers to take their trains to
specific points on the route. They are also used to program
scenarios such as those in the tutorials described in the
Engineer’s Guide.

Add a red Trackmark by Clicking LMB on the center of the

track where you would like a Trackmark to be placed.

Add Trackmark (A)

To add a Trackmark, Click LMB on the Add Trackmark
(A) button. Click LMB at a point on the track. A
trackmark will be placed on the track and will be
“attached” to it. So if you move the track it will move with
it. Note that the trackmarks will not be visible when you are
operating your route.

Move Trackmark (M)

Click LMB on Move Trackmark (M). Then Click
LMB+H on a Trackmark Object on your track. Drag
your mouse along the track to move the object to a
different position.

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Rotate Trackmark (R)

Select Rotate Trackmark (R) and the default direction
of the Trackmark is reversed.

Get Trackmark (G)

Click on the Get Trackmark (G) tool and then Click
LMB on a trackmark already placed at the track.
Notice that a trackmark now appears in the selection
window.

Change the mode to Add Object (A) and Click LMB again at
another point on the track where you wish to place another
copy of the trackmark.

Delete Trackmark (D)

Select Delete Trackmark (D) then Click LMB on a
trackmark to delete it.

Define Name (N)

To name your trackmarks so that you can find them again
later on and use them in rules, Click LMB on Define Name
(N). Then click on the trackmark and a dialogue box comes
up where you can name the trackmark.

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Finding a Trackmark
To find the trackmark, use the Find Object (using the Type:
Trackside to shorten the list if you wish) or Ctrl-F and select
the trackmark from the list. The trackmark is located, and
the screen is re-centered. This is useful for finding your way
around the map.

Triggers
Similarly, you can also place Triggers, which are used when
creating Rules or TS12Scripts. A trigger is point that can
trigger an event such as a train starting off or sounding a
horn. The can detect specific train passing a certain point
and will then trigger other rules to be executed when that
happens. See the section on Rules for more information.

Simply Click LMB on trigger instead of trackmark in the

selection list and then use exactly the same commands as for
trackmarks to place your triggers as shown below.

A trigger’s scope is defined by its radius which extends

outwards from the trigger along the track. The default trigger
radius is 20 meters and in most cases, this is sufficient. If
needed, this can be altered and the advanced trigger tools.

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For a train to be visible to a trigger, the train must be

within range of the trigger’s radius and there must be no
obstructions such as a junction which can block the trigger’s
view. Therefore caution is advised when placing triggers near
junctions.

Once placed, triggers will most likely be used in session rules.

Several rules such as Trigger Check can monitor and react
to trigger so it is possible to use this to initiate other events
whenever a train enters a trigger for example.

Direction Trackmarks
Direction trackmarks look exactly like regular trackmarks
except they are yellow in color. They are used to indicate to
the AI driver what direction is allowed on a section of track.
Only the placement of the directional trackmarks is required.
The AI drivers will automatically take the trackmarks into
account. By placing direction trackmarks carefully, the AI
trains can be restricted and coerced to take certain paths.

Note: An AI driver will not go against a direction marker,

so be careful where you place them, otherwise you could
be blocking out a potential path that is needed to travel
somewhere on your route.

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Priority Trackmarks
Priority trackmarks look exactly like regular trackmarks
except they are purple in color. They are used to indicate to
the AI driver the priority level of a section of track.

All trains and track sections have a priority value in the range
of [1 - 3] with the default value being 2. This priority value
does not indicate a numerical scale of precedence, but rather
is used for matching by the AI driver. This means the driver
will try and take the train along track sections that have a
priority equal to that of the train.

The priority trackmark is the mechanism used to give a track

section a priority value.

The AI driver will automatically take into account priority

values so nothing else further is needed apart from setting
up priority values on trains and track as needed.

Note: The priority system is not an explicit path setting

mechanism as a driver will still go over tracks of differing
priorities if it can’t find a path along track with matching
priority settings.

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Advanced Trigger Management Tools

The advanced settings of the Trackmark tools menu are used
to set the radius of triggers. The radius defines the scope of
the trigger and is explained in the previous section.

Get Radius
Click on the Get Radius tool and then Click LMB on
a trigger. The trigger’s radius will now be in the text
field adjacent to the button. Note that triggers have
a default radius of 20 meters so this may not appear to have
changed.

Set Radius
Click on Apply Radius then Click LMB on a trigger to
apply the value in the radius field to that trigger.

Adjust Radius
Click on Edit Radius then Click LMB on a trigger
and drag the mouse with the LMB still being held
down to change the trigger radius. There is no visual
indication of the radius as you drag it however. Use Get
Radius to find out the new radius of that trigger.

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9.5 Tools Menu (F5)
The Tools Menu (F5) offers
some additional tools for
helping to create your TS12
world.

Ruler Management Tools

The ruler tool is used to
measure track lengths, radius
when laying curves, even
the size of your basement or
garage.

Add Ruler (R)

To add a ruler,
Click LMB on Add
Ruler (R), then Click LMB at your chosen point in
your terrain and drag the mouse to the other end
point for the ruler and release the mouse button. The ruler
stretches out just like you experienced with spline objects.

Changing the Scale of the Ruler

To change the scale of the ruler, go into the Surveyor Main
Menu and choose Edit Route. Change the units to real Scale,
HO, OO or whatever scale you prefer.

Move Ruler (T)

To move the ruler, Click LMB on Move Ruler (T)
and then Click LMB+H on either end of a ruler
and then drag it to move that end of the ruler.

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Use Delete Ruler (Y) to delete the ruler. Leaving

a large number of rulers on your route can cause
severe slowdowns, so make sure you delete
them when they are no longer necessary.

Camera Management Tools

You can place static cameras, which focus on a section of
track until the whole train passes by, or lineside (tracking)
cameras, which pan across following the train movement.
To select which camera to work with, click on either of the
arrows in the middle of the tool list to switch between Static
and Tracking camera mode.

Place Camera (A)

Before placing a camera, maneuver your normal
viewpoint as close as possible to where you
want to place the camera. Click on Place Camera
(A), then Click LMB exactly where your Compass
meets the ground. This places the camera in 3D
space, and puts you automatically into Move Camera (M)
mode. A Green box and a flashing green light appear.

Move Camera (M)

Use your zoom keys, and cursor keys to position
the camera exactly as you want it to see in
Driver, then Click LMB again to lock the camera
in place. (Note that you stay in move mode until
you choose to add another camera). Zoom out
a little and you will see the 3D camera object. A red camera
means it is a static camera, and green is a tracking camera.

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camera.

Delete Camera (D)

To delete an unwanted camera, select Delete
Camera (D) and Click LMB on a 3D camera
object. Cameras have a “range” in Driver of 150-
200 meters so careful placement is required.

Copying and Pasting Tools

Another very useful tool is the copy and paste function.

Select Area (B)

Click LMB on Select Area (B) and Click LMB and
drag to create a rectangle around the area you
wish to copy. The white box shows the area that
will be copied.

Paste Mode (P)

Click LMB on Paste Mode (P) and Click RMB to
navigate around your terrain to the new location.
Click LMB where you want the selection copied.

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Cancel Selection (X)

Click LMB on Cancel Selection (X) to cancel the selection.

Paste Height, Textures, Objects or Track

You can control what
is and is not copied
and pasted.
You can copy height, textures, objects or any combination
by selecting and deselecting the appropriate icons. These
are “toggle” switches. Whilst in Paste Mode, click on Paste
Height, Paste Textures or Paste Objects to include or exclude
those elements from your paste function. The buttons will
remain highlighted in bright green if toggled “on”.

Paste Rotation (“[“ or “]”)

You can also rotate your selection using the
Paste Rotation dial (“[“ or “]”).

Relative Height (L) or Absolute Height (S)

You can paste either relative or absolute
heights by Clicking LMB on either icon
to toggle between them. The default is
absolute height.

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9.6 Layers Menu (F6)
Layers allow you to split
design elements into easily
manageable sections; they
work in the same way as
many graphical editing
applications.

You can lock layers so that

anything associated with
them cannot be edited and
you can hide layers to make
your route easier to work
with.

Layers exist in either the

route or a session. Layers
applied to a route are
available to all sessions for
that route whereas layers
applied to a session are only
available for that session.

One of the advantages of using layers is the ability to set

visible elements for a particular session, for example placing
extra scenery or a side spur, which is specific to the session.

Note: Ground editing such as height, texture, water etc are

separate from the layer system and cannot be affected by
layers you create.

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Working with Layers

When you create a new route, you are by default adding
objects to the route layer and so they will be present in any
session created for the route.

To switch to working in a session layer, open the layers tab

and Click LMB where it says “Session-layer”. Objects you add
will now be placed in the session layer.

Place a scenery object on a new route, Click LMB on the Edit

Properties button (N). You will notice that besides an option
to name the object, you can also see which layer the object is
on. To move the object to another layer scroll to that layer by
using the spinners on either side of the Layer name.

Add layer (A)

You can add extra layers by Clicking LMB on the
Add Layer button. Enter a name for the new layer
and select Route level or Session level in the popup
dialogue and accept.

Tip: Layers can be dragged between Route and Session level

in the Layers panel.

Delete Layer (D)

Select a layer and Click LMB on the Delete Layer
button to remove it.

Merge Layers (M)

Select a layer and Click LMB on Merge Layers button.
A popup dialogue gives you the option to choose a
specific layer to merge with.
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9.7 Trains Menu (F7)
In TS12, you may assemble
consists and place them on
track anywhere within the
world you have created in
Surveyor. The Trains tab is used
for this purpose.

Building and Placing Trains

Train Mode (T)
Clicking LMB on
the Train Mode
(T) button in this
tab allows you to
assemble consists. A list of all
engines and rolling stock is
displayed below this button.
Below the list are selection
lists for Train Origin and Train
Company. If “All” is selected in both of these lists, all consists
and rolling stock will be displayed. By selecting a region or
company in these lists the list displayed can be restricted to
just that company or just that region or both.

Add Train (A)

Click on Add Train (A) to enable the building of a
consist. Click LMB on the engine or rolling stock asset
in the list that you would like to place on the route.
Note that a picture of the asset appears in the Train Viewer
window in the bottom of the tab. If you Click LMB on the
asset in the Train Viewer window, the picture will rotate to
show you different views of the selected item. Click RMB+H
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on the item in the picture and move your mouse forward and
back to increase and decrease the size of the item in the Train
Viewer window.

Click on a location on a track in your route and your item will

be placed at that point.

Tip: If there is a green checkmark with the letters “IND”

shown in the lower left corner of the Viewer window, this is
an indication that this is an “interactive” piece of rolling stock
capable of participating with “interactive” industries.

Tip: There is a little red button at the top right of the list
labeled the Favorites Toggle. If you click on this button, it
turns Green and the list will display only those engine and
rolling stock assets that you flagged as a Favorite using the
Railyard module (described in the Engineers Guide). This
allows you to eliminate those assets in which you have no
interest making asset selection easier. Click LMB on the
Favorites Toggle button once more to view all assets.

Select items to be added to your consist by Clicking LMB on

one end of the consist or the other to add engines or rolling
stock. The Red and Green arrows adjust to mark the ends of
the consist. Note that if you Click LMB too far away from the
end of the consist, your addition will begin a new consist. The
Green arrow indicates which direction the consist will travel
when moved forward when operated in Driver.

Tip: If you want to move the consist that you are building
to another point on the track, use the Move Consist function
available by switching to Consist Mode (described below)

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Move Train (M)
Click LMB on Move Train (M) then LMB+H a train car.
You can then drag the mouse to move the traincar
anywhere that there is track.

Rotate Train (R)

Click LMB on Rotate Train (R) to enable rotation of
the engine or cars in a consist. Once enabled, Click
LMB on any engine or car in a consist to change the
direction in which it is facing.

Get Train (G)

Click LMB on Get Train (G) to enable you to quickly
find a copy of an engine or car already placed on
the track. Once Get Train (G) is selected, Click LMB
on any car in any consist on the route and that car will be
selected from the list in the Trains tab and displayed in the
Train Viewer window. This makes it easy to find any engine or
car if you wish to add more of them to the route.

Delete Train (D)

Click LMB on Delete Train (D) to enable you to delete
any engine or car already placed on the track. Once
Delete Train (D) is selected, Click LMB on any engine
or car in a consist on the route and that engine or car will
be deleted. The consist will shorten if necessary to close the
space taken by the car or engine and keep the consist intact.

Decouple Carriage (X)

Click LMB on Decouple Carriage (X) and then move
the cursor to a point near the connection between
two items in a consist until an image (colored Red)

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of a coupler appears. Click LMB on the coupler and it will be

seen to open. Additional Green and Red arrows will appear
above the point of uncoupling to mark off the two consists
that have now been made from the one original consist.

Note: To re-couple these consists or any two trains, use the

Move Train (M) button described a bit later.

Edit Properties (P)

Each engine or car in TS12 can be assigned
properties. Click LMB on Edit Properties (P) to enable
the setting of properties for engines and vehicles.
Click LMB on an engine or car in a consist on the route and a
new Properties window opens up.
A name will be assigned to the engine or car by adding a
number to its name as found in the list of locos and cars.
You may change the name to any unique name that you
wish. Names for locos and rolling stock persist only for this
particular session.

You may also change the running number for an engine or

car by Clicking LMB on the underlined text after the words
Running Number. A new window opens in which you may
enter the number of your choice. If the engine or car has been
designed with a number that is changeable, the number will
change to match your selection.

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Train Management Tools
Consist Mode (C)
Click LMB on Consist Mode (C), one of two large
buttons at the top of the tab, to enable the
placing of complete consists available in the list
of consists below the button.
A consist window appears at the bottom of the screen which
display the currently selected consist in the list at the top of
the tab.

Click LMB on any consist in the list and it will appear in the
consist window for your reference.
You can Click LMB on any of the vehicles in the consist
window to change their direction. Click LMB and hold on a
vehicle and drag it outside of the consist window to remove
it from the consist.

Rename Consist Template

Click LMB on the Rename Consist Template
(large gray colored button labeled
“Rename” under the consist list) button to rename the
consist currently selected in the list. A window will open up
in which you may do the renaming.

Delete Consist Template

Click LMB on the Delete Consist Template
(large grey colored button labeled Delete
under the consist list) button to delete the consist currently
selected in the list. A window will open up in which you will
click on the Yes or No button to confirm or deny the deletion.

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Add Consist (A)

Click LMB on Add Consist (A) to add one of your
chosen consists to your route. Click LMB at any point
on the track to place the complete consist there.

Move Consist (M)

Click LMB on Move Consist (M) to enable you to move any
consist on your route along the track to adjust its
starting position. Click LMB+H on any consist to
move it back and forth along the track.

To join two separate consists together, move one consist

along the track until it touches the other then release LMB.
The two sets of associated Red and Green arrows that marked
out the will then combine into one set for the new consist.

Rotate Consist (R)

Click LMB on Rotate Consist (R) to enable the
rotation of any consist so that it is pointed in the
other direction. Click LMB on the consist to change
its direction. The Red and Green arrows will also switch
positions to reflect the rotation.

Get Consist (G)

Click LMB on Get Consist (G) to add new consists to
the consist list. This also allows the quick selection
and replication of consists already within the route.

If the consist is already in the consist list, it will be selected

in that list so that it is easy for you to add to the route. If
the consist is not in the list (likely to be because you have
assembled and placed it previously in Train Mode), you may

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now give it a name in the window that opened up and the
consist will be added to your list for future use. This is a great
way to build up a list of your favorite consists for use on many
different routes.

Tip: When you name a consist, that name persists in the

consist inventory across other routes and sessions where it
is used.

Delete Consist (D)

Click LMB on the Delete Consist (D) button (not to
be confused with the big gray colored Delete Train
Template button in the middle of the Tab) to enable
the deletion of consist placed on the track. Then Click LMB on
any consist to remove it.

Decouple Vehicle (X)

Click LMB on the Decouple Carriage (X) button to
enable the decoupling of parts of a consist to break
them up into smaller consists. Then Click LMB on
the coupler icon that will appear when you move the cursor
between cars or engines in a consist. You will see that the red
and Green arrows will show that you now have two consists.
Use Move Consist (M) to move them apart if you wish.

Change Heading (H)

Click LMB on the Change Heading (H) button to
enable the changing of the heading of a consist.
Then Click LMB on any consist and the Green and
Red arrows will move to opposite ends of the consist setting
the direction that will be forward when the consist is started
in Driver mode.

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11 - SESSION RULES AND MANAGEMENT

11 - SESSION RULES AND MANAGEMENT

Introduction
One of the powerful features of TS12 is the ability to apply
Rules to a Session. TS12 ships with some standard Rules
to get you started, but like other assets, new Rules will
become available for download enabling you to expand the
possibilities.

What can rules do? Well they can set basic parameters in a
Session including which driver is in each Train, the weather
state, control method, set up industry dependencies, what
Driver Commands are available in the Driver Module and set
the time and time rate.

They can also be combined, so that when a particular train

hits a trigger the weather may change or a sound may be
played.

Then there is the ability to pull HTML pages and sound files
into the game. On top of that the Rules can be arranged to
occur in a particular order.

All of this adds up to an open-ended system to manipulate

the Driver experience, even for someone who has no real
programming experience. We expect Rules to be one of the
strongest features of TS12 as there really is no limit to what
can be done using Rules.

Note: If you don’t want to have anything to do with Rules

(Keep It Simple) then fear not, a default set of rules including
assigning Drivers to Trains is automatically saved when you
save a Session in Surveyor.
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In this section we will describe how to use the Edit Session
interface to add, delete and edit rules.

Edit Session
Recall that a Session is different from a route as it may include
for example different trains. Click LMB on Edit Session on the
Surveyor Menu and a window opens in which you can modify
the properties associated with a Session. From here, you
may change the Session Name, add a Description, and the
operating Rules to be used in this session.

Adding Rules
Click LMB on the Add Rule button (labeled
“Add”) to add a new rule to the session.
A window opens up with the set of rules
that you can choose from. Click on any one of the rules to
add it to the list of rules to be included in this session.

Once you have added the rules you want, it is time to edit
them to make them specific to your needs.
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Editing Rules
Each rule may have a number of
parameters associated with it that need
configuring in order to modify it to your
requirements. Highlight the Rule in the list that you wish to
modify and Click LMB on the “Edit” button to bring up the
Rule’s Properties Window. All editable parameters are made
available to configure in this window. By clicking on the
available hyperlinks, you can edit the rule’s parameter.

You can also edit the name of any Rule by Click LMB on its text
descriptor and typing in its new name. This can help identify
a particular Rule in a complex Rule arrangement. Note that
it is possible to have multiple rules of the same type in a
session where each rule instance has its own configuration.

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Managing the Rules
The Rules in your Rules List can be further manipulated by
the four command buttons at the bottom of the Edit Session
window.

The Outdent, Indent, Promote and Demote commands are

used to order the Rules in a Hierarchical and Ordered fashion.
Some rules (like the Trigger Check Rule) require indented
child rules immediately below them. This determines what
happens when the Trigger Check Rule is activated. Other rules,
like the Ordered List Rule also use child rules below them to
fulfill its purpose. The child rules below the Ordered List Rule
can be re-ordered by using the “Promote” and “Demote”
buttons to alter the order in which they are executed.
As you can imagine the combinations are limitless.

You can also Delete Rules altogether by selecting the Rule

with a Click LMB and then Click LMB on the “Delete” button.

Outdent (Rule)
To Outdent a Rule by one level, select the Rule by
Click LMB to highlight it and then Click LMB on
the “Outdent” button. This removes the Rule from
dependency upon the Rule it was Indented under.

Note: Be careful here as Rules subsequent to the Outdented

Rule that are Indented will now only be executed if the
Outdented Rule conditions are met. Use the “Promote” and
“Demote” buttons to re­order the Rule List if this is not the
desired outcome.

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Note: The top level of the Rule Hierarchy is reached when the
Rule is lined up as far left as it can get (Further presses of the
Outdent button have no effect).

Indent (Rule)
To Indent a Rule by one level, select the Rule by
Click LMB to highlight it and then Click LMB on
the “Indent” button. This makes the selected Rule
dependent on the next higher Outdented Rule above it. The
indented Rule will not be executed unless the Rule next up in
the Hierarchy is activated.

Promote (Rule)
To Promote a Rule up the Rule List select the Rule by
Click LMB to highlight it and then Click LMB on the
“Promote” button. Once the Rule has reached the
top of the Rule list, it can no longer be Promoted.

Demote (Rule)
To Demote a Rule down the Rule List select the Rule
by Click LMB to highlight it and then Click LMB on
the “Promote” button. Once the Rule has reached
the bottom of the Rule list, it can no longer be Demoted.

Delete (Rule)
If you want to remove a Rule from the list
select it by Click LMB on it and then Click
LMB the “Delete” button. A dialogue box
pops up confirming the deletion. Click LMB the “Yes” button
to confirm the deletion or Click LMB the “No” button to
cancel.

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12 - Favorites
Favorites allows you to flag objects for easy listing in both the
routes/sessions selection menus as well as in Surveyor.

The Routes/Sessions Menu

When entering the main menu for routes and sessions
favorite items are highlighted by a gold star next to their title.
You can filter the lists by clicking on the gold star at the top of
the column. Only favorite items are shown when lit, while all
items are shown when unlit.

Surveyor Favorites
Items such as locomotives, scenery objects, structures,
industries etc may also be set or unset as a favorite item.

Adding & Removing Favorites

In order to edit your favorites, you will need to enter Content
Manager by selecting “Content” from the Trainz launcher.
In order to see all the current favorites you will need to run
a search by selecting rating and then 5 stars and L-Clicking
“Apply”.

To remove an item from your favorites list, R-Click on an item,

hover the mouse over rating and select 0 stars.

To mark an item as a favorite, perform the same steps as

above but select 5 stars.

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13 - CONTENT and ASSETS

Content broadly describes anything that you can add to
your TS12 software that will expand the collection of objects
available to you within the game. This includes locomotives,
rolling stock, track, vehicles, people, buildings, bridges,
tunnels, routes, rules, sessions, scenarios etc.

Content is created by community members just like you and

is available from many places on the Internet. The major
source of content is a huge library of over 150,000 objects
that can be accessed using Content Manager. This section of
the manual will tell you a little more about identifying and
utilizing new content for TS12.

The KUID System

Whilst you should not need to know much about the KUID
(or Koolthingz Unique IDentifier) system, it is a term you will
come across if you start delving into the world of custom
content. A KUID is simply a way of identifying content for
your TS12 software. Here is an example:

<KUID:43750:12345:02>

The first part of the KUID (43750 in this example) identifies

the content creator, so all content from any particular author
will have the same first set of digits. When you register at
Planet Auran, you will be given a unique content creator I.D.
that you can find in your User Profile.

The second set of digits is the unique identifier for a specific

asset from the author.

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There is also a third number. This is the item’s version
number and is used to allow Content Creators to update their
creations without having to introduce a new KUID.

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14 - CONTENT MANAGER
14.1 Introduction
Content Manager (CM) can be accessed from the Trainz
Launcher. Click on “Content” and take a look at the layout.
CM has a number of functions rolled into one, integrated
package giving you control and access to the many thousands
of assets available for Trainz. The main functions that CMP
offers are:
. • Download Station Index
. • Downloading Content
. • Content Management
. • Archiving/Backup
. • Uploading Content
. • Creating/Editing/Verifying Content
We will examine each of these functions below.

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Menus
The menu items generally duplicate in-game functions. Some
menu actions have keyboard shortcuts which are shown to
the right of the action listed in the menu. Each menu is item
is described in detail ahead.

Status Bar
Displays warning/error messages in red/orange/yellow as
well as a running total of items displayed out of the total
items available including those on the Download Station (DS).

Main View Panel

The Main View panel can show assets in text or thumbnail
mode. Click LMB on the button on the title bar to select one
or the other.

The thumbnail view shows assets via a thumbnail picture as

uploaded to the DS. Thumbnails are downloaded from the
DS as required, so they may take some time to appear.

The text view is more like a spreadsheet with columns

containing various information on each asset. You can elect
to view more or less columns by right-clicking on the header
and selecting the columns to show or hide. The column
width can be adjusted by dragging the vertical dividers in the
header. The order of the columns can be changed by dragging
and dropping the column header to a new location.

Just under the title bar are a number of tabs. Clicking on

these tabs immediately filters the current assets in the Main
View panel which correspond to search filters as described in
the Sorting, Searching and Organizing Content section.

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Action Panels
The width of the panels can be adjusted by dragging the
vertical divider to the right of the Action panels. There is a
minimum width.

You can view/hide the Action panels by toggling with the TAB
key or from the View menu.

Each of the Action panels can be opened and closed by

clicking on the icon in the Action panel’s header bar. The
action panels are:

Download Helper
Used to download files from the Download Station. See
section on the Download Station and Downloading for
details.

Search
Used to find assets. See section on Sorting, Searching and
Organizing Content.

Asset Details
Drag an asset(s) from the Main View panel onto this panel to
see the asset in more detail, including a thumbnail picture.
Use the < and > navigation buttons to scroll through multiple
assets. You can rate an asset by clicking on the star rating
(1 to 5 stars), alter its name and description as well as view
license information.

Uploads
Used to upload assets to the Download Station. See section
on Uploading for details
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Archiver
Used to archive/backup assets. See section on Archiving for
details.

Pick List
This is used as a “clipboard” for commonly used assets. Drag
and drop an asset(s) from the Main View onto the Pick List
panel to add it. You can remove an asset by clicking on the “-”
button to the right of the asset name or remove all assets by
clicking on the Clear button. To view the Pick List assets in the
Main View panel, click on the View In Main List button. This
Pick List can be shared with and used by Surveyor.

Icons
Throughout CM there are a number of icons with specific
meanings which help you quickly identify an asset’s
attributes. All icons have tool tips so if you’re not sure what
the icon represents, hover over it with the mouse cursor.

Category
These icons denote the category of the asset, be it a train,
route or other component of the Trainz world.

Status
These icons give you information on the Location, Archive,
Modification, Version, Editing, Origin and Error status of the
assets.

Ratings
A zero to five star rating for an asset. Adjust the rating by
selecting the number of stars for an asset in the Asset Details
action panel.
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Settings
You can bring up the Settings window by either clicking on
the Settings using File -> Settings. The settings are divided
between four tabs:

Archives
Lists all the archives of which CMP is aware. You can Add,
Remove or Update archives. Note that removing an archive
only removes it from the list, it does not remove the archive
file.

Filters
Lists all the search filters including the default ones. You
can remove individual search filters (default or custom) and
restore the default filters. Warning! Restoring the default
filters will also remove any custom filters.

Internet
Enter your Planet Auran username and password and your
internet connection type to get access to the Download
Station while on-line. Don’t have a Planet Auran account
yet? Then click on the “Register Now!” link to register and
get access to the Download Station and Community Forums
- it’s easy and free!

If you have a First Class Ticket (FCT) this tab also shows how
many days are left on the FCT and your total downloads
(right-click to reset this). If you don’t have a FCT it shows your
daily download total and the limit (currently 100MB)…click
on the ticket to open a browser window which allows you to
upgrade to a FCT.

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All registered users of TS12 gain free access to the Download
Station. However, we limit your daily downloads to 100 MB
and a limited maximum speed.

You have the option of upgrading your Download Station

access with a First Class Ticket (FCT). The FCT gives you
unlimited downloading from the Download Station. What is
more, the downloads are at broadband speeds so you get
what you want faster.

Miscellaneous
Here you can choose Main View settings, icon sizes, sound
settings and delete confirmation choices.

Then there is the option to remove assets from the Download

Helper pane automatically once downloaded, what to do with
assets that are open for edit when launching TS12, ability to
choose a custom script editor and whether you want search
filter parameters to be applied automatically or require the
use of the Apply button.

14.2 Sorting, Searching and Organizing Content

Sorting
You can sort on a column by clicking on the column’s heading.
Subsequent clicks toggle the direction of sort, ascending or
descending order.

Searching
The Search panel allows you to put in one or more search
parameters to find the content you are looking for quickly.
Results of the search are immediately shown in the Main
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View panel unless the Settings for CMP have been selected
so that the user needs to click on the Apply button to perform
the search.

Default Search Filters

A number of default Search Filters are defined for the most
common searches. These are listed in the form of Tabs in the
Main View panel. Clicking on the tab immediately applies the
named search filter.

Note that you can modify a default Search Filter by adding

or removing search parameters. Let’s say you select the “All”
Default Search filter and add an extra search parameter in
the Search panel. When you do this, the Search Filter tab
changes to “Current Search” to indicate that the assets being
viewed no longer reflect the Default Search filter.

Adding a Search Parameter

The default Search panel has a search parameter of “Name”
with no value entered.

To change the search parameter click on the drop down

list and select the required parameter from the list. If the
parameter allows a value to search on, then click on the
value input box immediately to the right of the parameter
and select or enter the required value.

To add another search parameter click on the “+” button to

the right of an existing search parameter and a new search
parameter line appears with the default “Name” parameter
with no value set.

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Each new parameter and value must be satisfied for items
to show in the Main Panel view, in other words all search
parameter lines are “AND”.

There is also a “?” button to the left of the parameter name.

If this is enabled, you can click on it to add a logical operator
of “does not equal” to the parameter e.g. “does not equal”
Built-In will show only those items that are not Built-In to
TS12.

Tip: when searching on Author ID, put in the author’s UserID

(#nnnnnn) rather than their username. Once the items have
been found, CMP downloads further information about the
asset including the author’s username. Thereafter you can
also search using the author’s username.

Removing a Search Parameter

To remove a search parameter, click on the “-” button to the
right of the search parameter.

To remove all the search parameters click on the Reset

button. This returns the Search panel to its default of “Name”
parameter with no value entered.

Current Search and Saving Search Filters

As soon as you modify an existing search filter your search is
displayed on the Current Search tab.

You can also save your own custom searches and they will
appear as one of the tabbed Search Filters in the main view.
Here is how:
Once you are happy with the parameters you have selected

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for your custom search, click on the Save button to bring up

a Save Filter dialogue. Enter a name for the search filter and
click on the Save button.

The search filter is now added to the tabs in the Main View
panel. You can manage your Search Filters in the Settings
dialogue (see Settings).

Keywords
You can use keywords to enhance the description of assets
and make them easier to find. By default all assets have
their name text as keywords. Content Creators can also add
keywords to their content when they create assets to assist
in finding them amongst the thousands available.

You can also add your own keywords to content by right

clicking on one or more selected assets and clicking on Edit
Keywords in the context menu. Enter the desired keyword
and click on the Add button. You can continue adding
keywords in this way to the selected content.

Once the keywords have been added, in the future you can
use the Keyword search parameter to find the relevant items
quickly and easily.

14.3 Disabling, Enabling and Deleting Assets

Once an asset is installed on your computer it is available
within Trainz for use in Surveyor. TS12 comes with several
thousand items of built-in content which are available in-
game.

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Note: Some built-in content is not available for use in Surveyor.
This is determined by the content creator who contributed
the item.

For some, this large quantity of assets can be overwhelming

and you may want to limit what you see in Trainz, or perhaps
you have no interest in a particular country’s locomotives
and rolling stock.

To reduce the number of assets visible in-game you can use

the Disable or Delete function in CM.

Note: When disabling or deleting items you may be “breaking”

assets that are dependant on that item. To check if the item
you are about to disable/delete is a dependency, select the
item, right-click and choose View Dependant Assets. This
brings up a dialogue box listing the assets that are dependant
on that item. Do you still want to disable/delete it?

Disabling an asset means that it is still present on your

computer, but not available within Trainz. To disable an asset,
select it (one or more) and click on the Enable/Disable button
on the tool bar. To make a disabled asset available in Trainz,
select it (one or more) and click on the Enable/Disable button
on the tool bar.

Deleting an asset removes the asset completely from your

computer. Of course this makes it unavailable in Trainz. If it
was a Download Station item it will still be listed in CMP, but
you will have to re-download it to make it active in the game.
To delete an asset, select it (one or more) and click on the
Delete button on the tool bar.
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WARNING: Make sure you back up your custom (non-DS)

assets. Once they have been deleted there is no way to
recover them.

Note: Built-in assets cannot be Deleted, but they can be

Disabled. Installed, non-built-in assets can be Disabled or
Deleted.

Tip: Want to just quickly see an asset in Trainz from within

CM? Select the asset and right-click, from the context menu
choose View In… and then the relevant Trainz module. After
viewing the asset, return to CM by quitting out of the Trainz
module. Note that assets must be on your local machine to
do this as you cannot view items you haven’t downloaded.

14.4 The Download Station and Downloading

The Download Station, at time of writing, has over 150,000
assets available for you to download and add to your Trainz
software. CM maintains an index of assets on the Download
Station which is constantly being updated via the internet as
new assets are added.

Important! Before you start downloading from the Download

Station, you must register your TS12 serial number with Auran
and enter your username and password in the Internet tab of
the Settings window.

Use the searching and sorting capability of CM to browse

through the assets and find what you are looking for; see the
section on Sorting, Searching and Organising Content.

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Selecting Assets to Download
Downloading assets has never been simpler. Just select the
items you want to download in the main view panel (you can
select multiples by using the SHIFT and CTRL key modes),
then drag and drop them on the Download Helper panel.

You can also add assets to the Download Helper panel by

right clicking on them and selecting Download from the
context menu.

A Word About Dependencies

Some assets require other assets (dependencies) to make
them complete, for example a locomotive needs bogies,
engine sounds, engine specifications etc. CM takes care
of this automatically. When you drop an item into the
Download Helper panel, CMP checks the selected assets for
dependencies and then adds them below the parent asset so
the asset is complete.

Assets with dependencies have a “?” icon to the left of

the asset’s name. Clicking on the arrow head will show the
dependencies in the main list.

If you drag a lot of items onto the Download Helper, it may

take some time to check all the assets for dependencies and
add them.

If you already have the assets (parent or child) on the local

machine the Download Helper will not download them again.
If the asset is in a known Archive (see Importing Content and
CDPs Archiving), when you start the download process CM
will get the required assets from the archive.

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To view dependencies for a local asset, select it and Click

RMB. Choose View Dependencies from the context menu.
You can view the dependencies in the main list by clicking on
the ‘View in Main List” button.

Tip: After viewing the dependencies in the main view you can
return to your previous view by clicking on the “Click here to
resume your previous search” text in the Search panel. This is
true of assets that have been correctly created and they and
their dependencies are on the Download Station.

Managing Your Download Helper List

As you add assets to the list and their dependencies are
found, the total size in MB of the selected assets are shown
at the top of the Download Helper panel.

You can remove individual items from the list by clicking on

the “-” button to the right of the asset’s name. Removing an
asset removes its dependencies too. Removing a dependency
just removes it, although the parent asset may not work
properly if the removed dependency was critical.

You can remove all the items in the list by clicking on the
Clear button.

Assets are downloaded in the order they are arranged in

the Download Helper panel list. To change the order of the
list, just drag and drop the assets until they are in the order
you desire. Note that dependencies can only be arranged
beneath the dependency’s parent asset.

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To keep an item in the Download Helper list, but not
download it immediately, uncheck the checkbox to the far
left of the asset. Use this feature to manage your download
quota if you don’t have a First Class Ticket.

Starting and Stopping a Download

Once you have selected the assets for download and
arranged your download list you can begin the download by
clicking on the Start button. CM contacts the DS and begins
downloading assets. As each asset is downloaded a blue bar
shows the download progress for the asset and the DS icon
to the right of the asset’s name is replaced by a Local icon to
indicate success in downloading/installing the asset.

Once the download has started you can stop it by clicking

on the Stop button. Assets not yet, or partially downloaded,
remain in the Download Helper list ready for download. To
resume the download, just click on the Start button again.

Once the downloads are complete you can clear the list by
clicking on the Clear button, or this can be done automatically
by checking the Remove Downloaded Items from the List
Automatically checkbox on the Miscellaneous tab in Settings.

14.5 Importing Content and CDPs

To import existing content, either in folder form, or as a CDP
there are two options available in the File menu.

Import Content allows you to specify a folder containing

the content and upon confirmation, CM will import all the
content it finds in the selected folder and its sub-folders.
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A dialogue box appears listing the items that have been

imported. View the items in the main list by clicking on the
button in the dialogue box.

Import CDPs allows you to select one or more CDP files in an

open file dialogue. CM imports the asset(s) in the CDP file(s)
and a dialogue box appears listing the items that have been
imported. You can view the items in the main list by clicking
on the “View in Main List” button in the dialogue box.

Archiving
The Archive function in CM allows you to “back up” your
downloaded or custom content. It is not designed as a way
of distributing content to others. For that, use the CDP
method instead.

Why not use CDP’s to archive your content? You could, but
the advantage of archives is that CM knows about what you
have put in your archives. Every time you create an archive,
CP records what assets are in the archive and where the
archive has been saved.

Then, when you need the asset (if you have deleted it),
instead of downloading the asset again needlessly, it takes
the asset from the archive. If you have moved the archive,
say to a CD-R, then a dialog box appears requesting you select
the location of the archive. CM then updates the location of
that archive for use next time.

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Some points about Archives beyond what has already been
mentioned above:

1) When an asset is archived it is flagged with an archive

status icon.
2) Built-in assets cannot be archived.
3) If an asset is already installed and an archive containing
that asset is installed the already installed assets are marked
as “open for edit”.
4) You can use the Archive Settings (select Settings) to add or
remove archives as well as update their location.

Creating Archives
Select the assets you want to archive and drag them onto the
Archiver panel. If the asset(s) have dependencies you will be
prompted to select which item’s dependencies you want to
include in the archive. You cannot archive built-in assets.

Another method is to select the asset(s) you want to archive

in the main list, then right click and choose Archive from the
context menu. The asset(s) are added to the Archiver panel.
Any unwanted asset(s) can be deleted from the archive list
by clicking on the “-” button to the right of the asset’s name.
When you are ready to create the archive, click on the Archive
button in the Archiver panel and you will be prompted to
name and save the archive to a location.

The named archive and its location are stored in CMP’s

archive list for future reference.

Note: Assets that are “open for edit” need to be committed

before being able to be added to an archive.

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Installing Assets in Archives

There are a number of ways of installing/restoring assets in
an archive.

1) In CM, select the archive from a list which appears when

clicking on the “?” button in the Archiver panel header.
2) Double-click on an archive (.cmpa) file in Explorer.
3) Drag and drop an archive onto CMP.

In each case the action loads the selected archive into the
Archiver panel and a dialogue box appears asking if you want
all of the assets installed. You can select the “all” option in
the dialogue or you can bypass this dialogue and then select
which assets to install in the Archiver panel…select the assets
by highlighting them (you can use the Shift and Ctrl keys
to select multiple) , then right-click and choose “Install”. A
dialogue box confirms the assets have been installed.

14.6 Creating and Editing Content

Note! Content Creation and editing is something learned
over time by the advanced Trainz user. It’s not within the
scope of this manual to provide all the steps to successful
content creation. The following sections are only a guide to
the simple basics of the Trainz format, and how the available
tools relate to them.

Tip: The Trainz Forum is a great place to meet other would

be creators and also learn tips and tricks from the masters.
There is also a host of official and community developed
guides and tutorials freely available on the web.

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First it is important to know how assets are stored for use in
TS12. TS12 stores its assets in a database, the Trainz Asset
Database (TAD).

To create new assets they must be developed and then

committed to the TAD before they can be used in TS12.

Similarly, assets that you want to edit need to be “copied”

out of the TAD (Open for Edit), edited and then committed
back into the TAD before the changes can be seen in TS12.

To help create valid or content for TS12 we have developed

Content Creator Plus (CCP) which checks content to make
sure it meets our content creation guidelines before it is
committed to the TAD. See the section on CCP for more
information.

To Commit an asset to the TAD that is Open for Edit, select

the asset(s) in the Main View and right-click, then choose
Edit -> Commit from the context menu.

Tip: Keyboard shortcut to commit one or more selected assets

is Ctrl-M.

An asset modified locally is flagged with a Modified status

icon in the Main View.

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Creating Content
Besides importing new content/CDPs you can create new
content for TS12 in a number of ways.

File -> New

Use this option to create an entirely new asset from scratch.
Selecting File -> New from the menu will launch Content
Creator Plus (CCP) and begin the creation process. See
section 15 for more information on Content Creator Plus.
Once the asset has been created it needs to be Committed to
the TAD to become available in TS12.

Create New Version

Use this option to update an existing asset. Select an asset
in the Main View and right-click, then choose Create New
Version from the context menu.

A new version of the asset is created which is Open for Edit

and the KUID version for the new asset is incremented. You
can now make the desired changes and then Commit the
new version to the TAD. This new version will automatically
obsolete the older version it was created from.

Note: You can only use this option with assets you have
created.

Clone
Use this option to base a new asset on an existing asset.
Select an asset in the Main View and either right-click then
choose Clone from the context menu or click on the Clone
button in the tool bar or choose the File -> Clone option in
the menu.

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A new asset appears with a KUID based on your user ID and
in Open for Edit mode. Notice the Clone status icon appears
in the CM main view. You can clone any local assets.

Editing Content
There are a range of options when it comes to editing
content. Similar to creating content, once the content has
been edited, it needs to be committed to the TAD before the
changes are manifest in TS12.

Open for Edit

Use this if you want to extract the asset out of the TAD. To
do this select an asset in the Main View and right-click, then
choose Edit -> Open for Edit from the context menu. The
asset is flagged with an Open for Edit status icon.

Behind the scenes your TS12\User Data\Editing directory

now has a copy of the asset sitting in a folder. If you want to
automatically open the folder in Explorer use the next option
“Edit in Explorer”.

Edit in Explorer
This is the same as the Open for Edit option, but also opens
up an Explorer window with the Open for Edit asset’s folder
showing. To do this select an asset in the Main View and Click
RMB, then choose Edit -> Edit in Explorer from the menu.

Edit in Content Creator Plus

This is the same as Open for Edit, but in addition loads the
selected asset into CCP. To do this select an asset in the Main
View and right-click, then choose Edit -> Edit in Content
Creator Plus from the context menu.

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Edit Script
This is the same as Open for Edit, but also opens the asset’s
script file ready for editing. The default script editor is
Notepad, but you can also select a custom editor in Settings
-> Miscellaneous.

Select an asset in the Main View and right-click, then choose

Edit -> Edit Script from the context menu. If the asset selected
doesn’t have a script associated with it you will get an error
message and the asset will be left in the Open for Edit mode.

Reverting Content
When an asset is Open for Edit it can be returned to its
previous state in the TAD by using the Revert option.

This essentially deletes the asset’s editing folder and turns

off the Open for Edit flag. To Revert an asset select the asset
in the Main View and right-click, then choose Edit -> Revert
from the context menu.

Another Revert option, available only for built-in content, is to

Revert to Original. In this case the modified asset is reverted
back to its original state as supplied with TS12. Select a built-
in asset in the Main View and right-click, then choose Edit ->
Revert to Original from the context menu.

WARNING: When reverting assets all changes made to the

asset are lost. In the case of Revert to Original this means any
and all changes, in the Revert case it means all those changes
made since the asset was last committed to the TAD.

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Uploading
The uploading process has now been streamlined and is
integrated with the Download Station and Planet Auran.

Important! Before you start uploading to the Download

Station, you must register your TS12 serial number with Auran
and enter your username and password in the Internet tab of
the Settings window. Your User ID (in the Settings|Internet
tab) is automatically entered based on your registration
details.

Firstly select one or more assets that you want to upload in

the Main View, then either drag and drop them to the open
Uploads panel or right-click and choose Upload from the
context menu.

The selected asset(s) will be moved to the Uploads panel. A

dialogue box appears giving you the option to also include
the selected asset’s dependencies. Also if any of the assets
are broken or are not your assets then these assets will be
flagged in the dialogue box with appropriate error messages.

Similar to the Download Helper and Archive panels, you can

remove assets from the Uploads panel by clicking on the “-”
button to the right of the asset name.

Once you have your assets organized in the Uploads panel,

click on the Upload button to begin the uploading process.

Firstly a Planet Auran license agreement appears. Once you

have read the license and accept it click on the Accept button.
In CM a dialogue box opens showing the success or failure of

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the upload. If successful, at the same time, CM logs you onto

Planet Auran and the secure website opens up in a browser
window at the Your Content page.

In the Planet Auran browser window you can click on the

“Unprocessed” button to confirm your asset has been
received. It will have a generic name “upload.cdp” and will
also have a time/date stamp so you can identify it.

You can still stop the upload process at this point, by clicking
on the “Do not process” link.

Once a day unprocessed uploads are processed by the

Download Station and the asset now is moved to the “Waiting
for Approval” station. This is where the content is manually
checked for any issues and if it passes the manual inspection
the asset is marked as Approved and you will receive an email
confirming its approval. Please note that as this is a manual
process, the time between processing and approval can vary.

We try and get this done quickly, but we also have weekends,
public holidays, sick days, urgent matters and sometimes an
overwhelming amount of content to approve, so we ask for
your patience.

Once you receive an email that your asset(s) have been

approved the asset is usually available on the Download
Station within six hours.

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15 - CONTENT CREATOR PLUS
Introduction
Content Creator Plus (CCP) is a program launched from within
Content Manager to generate a config.txt file for Trainz model
assets, or to edit and amend existing config.txt files.

Trainz model assets are classified under different Kinds. Each

Kind has particular data requirements to be entered using
the appropriate input dialogue boxes. A data Container is a
portion of the config.txt file that covers a particular function
for the model, for example the model mesh files to be used,
or the effects to be applied.

Within the Container the commands that Trainz recognizes

are called Tags. Each Tag indicates data values to be used
or a function to be implemented. Dialogue boxes and drop
down menus are provided for the data entry and inbuilt error
checking will indicate faulty data or entries. An error message
display will assist in creating a correctly configured model.

Certain input fields are mandatory, while others are optional,

required for more complicated models or additional model
functions. The program can also load a previously created
config.txt file, for validation, amendment, additions, or as the
basis of a new model configuration file.

The program validates the config.txt file as acceptable for the

Download Station prior to uploading a model or package.

The Content Creator’s Guide (CCG) is separately available, for

information on the tags that may be used for each Kind, their
functionality, and the data values required.

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Starting a New Model Asset

From within Content Manager launch Content Creator Plus

using the File -> New option in the top menu.

A screen showing the different Kinds of assets that can be

created will be displayed.

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Choose the correct Kind for the model, and the main input
screen will be displayed.

The main input screen is divided into different display areas:

Tree view
Tag space
Error Message Box

The screen sections of the program are fully resizable by

dragging the frame edges.

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Configuring the Program

The first step is to use the Preferences menu to enter your
Personal Details, located in the top Menu under Edit ->
Preference. These are optional personal details you may
enter. The fields will auto fill the values in the config file,
when the appropriate tags are chosen from the drop down
menu.

Enter your name or forum name in the Name box.

The Organisation entry may be “My Trainz” for example.
The E-Mail address field is a contact address.
Enter your Website address in the Website box.

The License text entry will display the license details you would
like to have included in the model. Typically include details
of model usage, distribution, limitations, or modification
approvals for your model, that you wish to apply. When you
have entered the details, use the Save option. These details
will now be included in all config.txt files for models that you
create, when you choose to place these tags in your asset.

Menus
File -> Save
Save the current config.txt file. Used to save and replace a
previously saved file.

File -> Exit

To exit the program, you will be asked if you wish to save the
config.txt file.

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Edit -> Cut, Copy, Paste
To remove, copy or paste containers or multiple tags, useful
for reproducing similar entries, such as multiple sound files,
or attached track entries for example.

Edit -> Refresh:

To referesh the screen display.

Edit -> Preferences

To set the program preferences.

Help
The Help file and Details about the program.

The Tree View

When an existing config file is loaded using the File -> Open
menu, the program will “parse” the text file and gather
two different kinds of information: the Containers and the
Tags. The tags are values being assigned to a property, and
a container is a section of the config.txt file that groups a
number of tags or other containers.

With many possible tags and containers, the best way to

manage the display of containers and tags is to load them in
a hierarchy as a tree view (as for example, the tree view of
Explorer). When starting a new model, the Tree view will be
empty, and containers and tags will be added as required to
build up the config.txt file for the model.

When opening an existing model config.txt file for editing,

CCP will display all the entered containers in the tree view.

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The tree may be freely expanded or collapsed (by clicking

with the LMB on the plus or minus symbols). When you click
on one of the nodes, it will show the tags that are included
for that container in the tag space so you can add new entries
or edit existing values.

When selecting a mesh in the tree view, a graphical viewport

displays. Buttons below the view port allow the camera to be
moved, and allows the mesh to be rotated or zoomed in and
out. You may use the mouse within the image box to move
or rotate the image. When you click LMB on a container that
holds a mesh, the rendered mesh will change to the one
you’ve selected. The mouse roll button may also be used for
zooming.

While some containers may be renamed, others are required

to retain a unique name. Attempting to rename a container
may give a warning message, for example “You cannot
rename the container “meshtable” because it is a unique
type.”

When you click RMB on one of the nodes a contextual menu

will popup with various sections.

The first section is the available sub container section, and

shows sub containers that may be added to the opened
container. Select a sub container by clicking LMB on it.
Depending on the type of container added, a number of
compulsory or mandatory entry dialogue boxes may appear
in the tag space.

Next is the tag section. This shows the list of non compulsory

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tags. (A non compulsory tag is an optional tag for additional
functionality). Clicking LMB on one of the choices will add
the tag in the tag space that represents the container. Any
non compulsory tags may also be deleted. Occasionally,
some containers have no additional optional tags.

The rename option allows the container name to be changed.

For example, all the meshes under the mesh table can have
a unique custom name, but a container cannot be renamed
using a name that already exists. The tree view will allow the
name to be edited, by clicking RMB on the name, and using
the rename option.

The Tag Space

This section of the program displays the content of a
container. It dynamically changes as you either select
different containers or add/delete tags.

The Kind: This is the label or title of the container (the asset
Kind): When clicking on a container, a new container display
is loaded in the tag space. In this example, the main container
“traincar” is selected, and the name of that container is set
as the title, “Traincar”.

The tag list: The name of every mandatory and/or selected

optional single tags will be displayed on the left hand side of
the space. (On some occasions, it will be a text box, in which
case the tag name may be changed).

The delete button: A tag that has a delete button is a non

compulsory (optional) tag and clicking LMB on the delete

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button will remove the tag from the container (it will be
placed back in the tree view menu, for possible re-selection).
The list of values: For every tag, there is an associated value
to be entered so that the program passes that value to the
tag. There can be different ways of entering the value (combo
box, text box, tick box, or several text boxes).

The Error Box

When a config.txt file is loaded or saved, the program will
validate the data input to make sure that everything is correct.
The error box is used to output error/warning messages to
the user to assist error checking if the model is not working
in Trainz.

Clicking LMB on an error message will display the relevant

tag in the program. Clicking RMB on a message or error line
will display a contextual menu with the option to copy the
message to the clipboard.

Creating a New Asset

In the file menu in Content Manager, using the option File ->
New will open a list, where the Kind for the new asset may
be selected.

The dialogue shows all the asset Kinds supported by the

program. Select a kind and the program will generate the basic
config.txt file structure for that kind, using the mandatory
tags. Mandatory tags may not be sufficient to create a fully
working asset. You may also add additional optional tags and
containers to your config.txt file for a more complex model.

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Opening an Existing Asset
In Content Manager, select the existing model and use RMB
to open a menu, choose Edit in Content Creator Plus and
the program will load the config.txt file for examination or
editing.

While loading the file, CCP will parse the file and show any
warning and error messages based on missing or incorrect
tags, or tags that should not be included in the file.

Note: As soon as the file is opened with CCP, changes are made
to the config.txt file, even if you exit the file without saving.
For this reason, If you wish to retain the original config.txt for
reference, you should open the asset in Explorer, and make a
backup of the config.txt file, before you open it in CCP.

If you import an asset with a Trainz-build 2.4 or earlier, into

CMP, any error messages will assist you in making the asset
compatible with TS12. If you open that asset in CCP it will
convert it to Trainz-build 2.5, and additional errors may be
flagged, requiring fixing.

If you import an asset after entering a Trainz-build 2.5 tag

in the config.txt file, CCP will NOT convert the file to Trainz-
build 2.5 format. It will expect all relevant Trainz-build tags to
have been entered prior to import. Error messages will assist
in file correction.

Formats for Entering Tag Data

Tags require different types of entry, depending on the type
of data required. Some will require a simple text string and
others will require more complex data like a VectorX , a float

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list or a Boolean value. The program will generate different

types of Graphic User Interface (GUI) for different data types.

String, floating point or integer number

These three data types are simple text or numeric values. A
string entry is text, a floating point number (or float) includes
a decimal point, and an integer number has no decimal point.
The value you type in an entry box will be directly associated
with the tag.

VectorX
Vectors are a series of required values. The X represents
the dimension of the vector (the number of input values
required). For a Vector3, there will be three text boxes
requiring three floating point numbers (numbers which
include a decimal point) to be entered.

Float List Entry

A float list for a tag will take a series of floating point number
values.

KUID Entry
The KUID entry is made up of three different parts: The user
ID, the content ID and the version ID ‘
When the personal details option has been filled in, the first
field will be filled automatically with your user ID. Otherwise,
the program will default to a -1 user ID. The second entry is
the content ID which represents the Identification number
of the asset that you are currently creating. The third value
is the version ID which is the version identification number
of the content that you are currently creating or editing.
The maximum value for the version ID is 127. If this limit is

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reached, a different Content ID is used for the model.

Note: When creating a new asset the KUID is assigned

automatically, and is not editable by the user.

Boolean Entry
A Boolean entry is a simple true or false value. It is represented
by a check box.

Clicking LMB in the box will toggle the tick mark on or off. A
tick represents true and for an unchecked box, the entry is
false.

Data Choices
Where a large list of choices is offered, it is convenient to
display the available selections in a combo box.

Open the box and select a value by clicking LMB on that

value. A check mark is shown in the box. Multiple choices
may be selected by ticking additional boxes in the list.

File Browser
A file browser GUI is used to locate data stored on the
computer hard drive, a mesh file name and local path for
instance, a script file, an animation file or a texture file.

Clicking on the small browse button with LMB will open a file
browser.

Once the file is located click LMB on the OK symbol and the
field will be filled with the file name and path name.

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The file type selections in the browser will reflect the types
that are required to fill the dialogue box. In the following
browser opened from the mesh dialogue box, the correct
available mesh extensions are offered (*.IM, *.LM, *.LM.
TXT). From a script dialogue box, the file types will be of the
*.gs or *.gse types. A texture search will offer the *.bmp,
*.jpg and *.tga file types.

Asset Browser
This kind of GUI is a KUID entry but for simplicity, a list of
installed assets by name, instead of kuid, is presented in the
browser. It is used to retrieve dependencies of the model,
such as an interior, bogey or horn sound for a traincar.

Click LMB on the small browse button and this browse form
will pop up. Some browsers will filter the file types so a valid
file is offered for selection.

Browse through the list of installed assets, or type in a partial

name in the top box to locate the asset required, select the
asset from the list, and then click LMB on the Select button.
This will internally store the asset KUID in CM. A null KUID
may also alternatively be selected, where that option is
required by the original asset.

Some files shown may have similar names, and you will
need to determine the correct file. If you know a kuid for
the required asset to be selected, you can locate that kuid in
CM, note the name of the asset and then locate it by name
in this browser. It is advisable to give all assets relevant and
distinctive names.

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After an asset is loaded with the browser, LMB clicking on
the small “C” content button will take you to that asset in
CMP. You can then verify that it is the correct asset, or check
details.

Saving the config.txt File

Use the file menu option Save to save the config.txt file. You
do not need to specify a location. CCP will automatically save
the file correctly.

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16 - KEYBOARD CONTROLS

16 - Keyboard controls
KP = Number Pad
Some controls will not work with this Help window open.
Capital letters represent the letter to press (no need to press
the Shift key.)
A comma (,) means there is more than one option. Choose
either option.
Shift X means hold the shift key down and press the X key.
DCC Mode
Down X, COMMA
Forward W, FULLSTOP
Stop S, SLASH
Handbrake (if throttle at A, APOSTROPHE
idle)

cab mode
Brake Release Q, KP9, KPPGUP
Brake Lap Z, KP6, KPRIGHT
Brake Application A, KP3, KPPGDN
Emergency Brake PAUSE
Independent Brake E, KP4, KPLEFT
Independent Brake Bail D, KP0, KPINS
Throttle Up W, KP8, KPUP
Throttle Down X, KP2, KPDN
Throttle Idle S, KP5, KPCLEAR
Reverser Handle Forward F, KPSTAR

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 16 - KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Reverser Handle Backward R, KPSLASH
Dynamic Brake Toggle C, KP7, KPHOME

Steam controls
Shovel Coal SPACE
Coalman Wave SHIFT SPACE
Fans SHIFT F
Regulator Up W, FULLSTOP, KP8, KPUP
Regulator Down S, SLASH, KP2, KPDN
Reverser Up F, KPSTAR
Reverser Down R, KPSLASH
Injector Up I
Injector Down O
Blower Up N
Blower Down SHIFT N

all locos
Lights L
Lights SHIFT L
Toggle on/off Flashing Ditch ; (semi-colon)
lights
Pantograph KP1, KPEND, END
Horn H, KPPLUS
Sand V, KPMINUS
Bell B

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Interface Display Options

Help F1
Hide / Display All F5
Hide / Display Drivers and Orders F6
Hide / Display Driver Button Bar F7
Hide / Display Custom HUD F8
Hide / Display Driver HUD F9

Camera Movements
Up UP ARROW
Down DOWN ARROW
Left LEFT ARROW
Right RIGHT ARROW
Zoom In PAGEUP (OR MOUSEWHEEL)
Zoom Out PAGEDOWN (OR
MOUSEWHEEL)
Forward Along Consist PLUS (on top row, not
Numpad)
Backward Along Consist MINUS
Interior Cab View 1
Chase View 2
Lineside View 3
Free Roaming View 4
Driver 1 CTRL 1
Driver 2 CTRL 2
Driver 3 CTRL 3
Driver 4 CTRL 4

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 16 - KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Driver 5 CTRL 5
Driver 6 CTRL 6
Driver 7 CTRL 7

Cab Camera Controls

Previous View [
Next View ]
Previous View Fast CTRL [
Next View Fast CTRL ]
Zoom In PAGEUP (OR MOUSEWHEEL)
Zoom Out PAGEDOWN (OR
MOUSEWHEEL)

Other
Metric Speed Display G
Decouple CTRL D
Train Reverse Heading ALT C
Display Work Orders (Scenarios) K
Objective Window (scenarios) ENTER
Switch Forward Junction J
Switch Rear Junction CTRL J
hud_help_toggle CTRL H
Reset Tripmeter T

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16 - KEYBOARD CONTROLS

Map View
Background ALT B
Gradients ALT G
Junctions ALT J
Signals ALT S
Triggers ALT T
Trackmarks ALT M
Industries ALT I
Named Objects ALT N
Objects ALT O
Consists ALT C
Trackside Labels ALT L

General
Close ESCAPE
Find Object CTRL F
Map View M, CTRL M
Pause P
Save CTRL S
Load CTRL L
Display Performance Tuning CTRL T
Dialogue

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 17 - EXTRA FUN
17 - Extra Fun
Want to have some extra fun?

Try pressing Ctrl + Alt + Shift + P on a new map, then stand

back and watch (click on the map and press esc to stop).

Also try Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Z in a map with road traffic or Ctrl +
Alt + A (then click on the map) for a spectacular effect.

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18 - CREDITS

18 - CREDITS
N3V Games Trainz Development Team

Director
Graham Edelsten

Studio Head
Paul Olsen

Programmers
Chris Bergmann
Terry Palmer
James Moody

Artists
Rob Shaw
Saxon Dixon

Quality Assurance
Gareth Pavlich
Siddhartha Mukherjee
Misty Guy

Production Assistant
James Giles

Marketing
Mick Solomons

Operations
Mike Crossman

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 18 - CREDITS
Web Lead
Lionel Thomas

CS and Community Assistant

Zec Murphy

Content Creators
We would like to offer a special thank you to our content
creators, without whom we would not have a product to
release.

Alpha Testing
Thanks to the TrainzDev community for their assistance
during development of the features, tools and content
pipeline.

Beta Testing
Thanks to the hundreds of testers who participated in Beta
testing and helped us make this the best ever version of
Trainz.

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 NOTES

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NOTES

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2011 © Copyright N3V Games Pty. Ltd.