VR: Learning a new route

Learning a new route

Whenever I get a new route my first urge is to crank 'er up and take 'er for a spin. When I do that I soon find I'm totally lost or, as they say, "up the creek without a paddle." The best thing to do is back out and take a more measured view of the situation. Think about it. Would any locomotive engineer be asked to drive a new route without ever having seen it? Not on your (or his) life! Then why should we expect to be able to handle a new new route fresh out of the box?

Here are a few tips for getting the most out that new route.

First look

Survey the route to see what it's about.
I use TrainzMap (available at http://www.vistamaresoft.com/trainz/) to see the entire track plan.
Use Trainz Surveyor to get a feel for the topography.

Place a small consist and take a trial run.

If you decide you'd like to use the route in earnest, continue to the next steps.

Serious use

In Surveyor, place bookmarks at key places in the route.
Bookmarks are identified by the little green or red circles along the upper edge of the Surveyor window. If a circle is green a bookmark has been assigned to the circle. Click the circle to go to the bookmarked location.
To assign a bookmark, place the cursor on a cirle and hold the right mouse button down for a few seconds. If the circle was red it will turn green, and the current location is now bookmarked. As you may have surmised, you can override a bookmark by placing a new one over the old.
Create and place appropriate consists.
When creating consists, I find it useful to think in terms of groups not longer than 10 cars. If I want a longer train I simply place multiple groups, either of the same consist or a selection of consists. Sometimes I'll rotate a consist when it's a duplicate of one I've already set down.
Save in Surveyor.
Consider a naming strategy (e.g., 1956 or 1976, etc. if you are thinking of operating in different eras).

I find that a little effort up front will result an many satisfying hours later on. Give it a try. You may find that new route, which at first appeared frustrating and daunting, is really a lot of fun.