How to Install Surfliner 2 Route into Open Rails

[Tacky3663]

Hi,

I recently downloaded the Surfliner 2 route by Jeff Farquhar and am wondering how I would Import this route into OpenRails. Since I have little to no experience doing this, this would be a massive help.

[crstagg]

Hi,

I recently downloaded the Surfliner 2 route by Jeff Farquhar and am wondering how I would Import this route into OpenRails. Since I have little to no experience doing this, this would be a massive help.

The Readme.txt Lists requirements and provides instructions for installing.

FYI you don't "Import any route into OTRS;" you use ORTS to run a route from an MSTS installation or from a non-MSTS installation created as described in section 4.4 of the OR Manual.

[Tacky3663]

Do you need to have MSTS installed to be able to use this for Open Rails?

(I'm probably seeming like a total noob for not knowing this)

[jonpd]

Do you need to have MSTS installed to be able to use this for Open Rails?

(I'm probably seeming like a total noob for not knowing this)

No. I have this route running under Open Rails and I do not have MSTS on my system. The only things you do need are the contents of the GLOBAL folder, some of the common trainsets such as GP38, SCOTSMAN, etc. that are aliased by other trainsets. Also some installations may need shapes and textures from the original 6 MSTS routes so you may need to add them if only temporarily while the route is installed.

Open Rails is a lot more flexible than MSTS regarding routes. You can set up a directory anywhere say C:\myroutes and under it create the GLOBAL, ROUTES, and TRAINS folders. There can be multiples of these. I have mine organized by geography and type, e.g. folders for Australia, UK, Europe, India, etc. with the GLOBAL, ROUTES, etc. under each of those. That way the rolling stock and consists for each that tend to be unique to each region are separated and things are less cluttered. You then go to the Open Rails Options -> Content tab and enter the path to your folder. You can have as many entries as you want, even on different disk drives.

Jon

[jonpd]

One caution with Surfliner 2. I have had issues with running some of the activities under OR, the timings seem to come out differently and train meets do not always work out. Your mileage may vary.

Jon

[mikeebb]

One caution with Surfliner 2. I have had issues with running some of the activities under OR, the timings seem to come out differently and train meets do not always work out. Your mileage may vary.

Jon

This should be expected. If the default activities were built using timings based on default stock and MSTS, which is likely, then they will not work right in OR which uses different (more realistic) physics. Stock physics need to be modified to work well with OR, but even then I suspect that the activities won't work right. New/revised activities that are based on OR performance are needed.

The classic, for me, is the default Amtrak southbound activity starting at SLO. I've modified the player service to use a FPM/3DTrains Surfliner trainset (with no physics modifications; acceleration and braking are slow). Unless I significantly overspeed, I can't make it to Grover Beach in time to take the station track (which is the main line). If I stick even close to the speed limits, I'll get shunted to the siding for a freight that's holding the main, but there's no platform on the siding, and if I back out after the freight leave I'm way late for the station stop and am listed as having missed it. AFAICT the only way to make it work in OR without running at least 20 over the speed limit is to leave SLO at least 20 minutes late, then hold where the double track ends at the south end of SLO for the freight to come by. At that point, I'll be close to an hour late at Grover Beach, but the rest of the meets should work.