CMTM/Set-up in Surveyor
Car Movement and Traffic Management System (CMTM)
Set-up in Surveyor
Now you are ready to move to Trainz Surveyor. Two components must be placed; at least one instance of the CMTM Portal you have just cloned for your route and at least one ECS track.
Portal Set-up All Portals that emit freight cars that will need a destination must be the CMTM Portal you have just created specific to your route. Make sure that each CMTM Portal you place on the route is named exactly as used in the movement records. After the portals have been places, set their parameters as follows: Do NOT check “Produce New Trains”. DO check “Consume all Trains”. These portals will be controlled by the Portal Timetable Rule.
Thanks to Maggs for his permission to modify and use his Re-Rail Portal. The feature I like with these portals is that they can emit a string of freight cars without an engine. This is perfect for simulating an interchange track with a foreign railroad. When delivering a string of cars to the interchange, you must drop kick them into the portal so you don’t loose your locomotive. This switching practice wasused extensively in the past, but is currently usually discouraged on most railroads. But, here is one time when it is the only way to make it work. I have found that uncoupling at 20mph and then cutting the throttle works if the interchange track is level. I also recommend placing a fence post or some other scenery item to mark the entrance of the portal (point of no return for the locomotive).
I do not recommend using the re-rail feature. It can mess up your operations; the train that derails will be re-emitted from the portal that is enabled for this feature. So, you may derail a train in Austin, only to have it re-emitted miles away by PortalEast. When this occurs, every car in the train will be given a new destination.
If you are planning to run passenger trains and through freight trains that will not stop on the route for set-offs or pick-ups, it is recommended you use a non-CMTM Portal for these trains. That way, the CMTM system does not have to attempt to assign records to the cars in these trains.
I like to have several foreign roads cross my mainline. These trains go from foriegn road portal to foriegn road portal and their cars do not need a destination. These portals should be non-CMTM Portals and can be programmed as stand-alone and are not required to be listed in the Portal Time Table rule.
Empty Car Storage (ECS) track placement
The CMTM System uses a specific place to store empty cars - the Empty Car Storage (ECS) track. This track must be identified in Surveyor with a Track Mark that is named exactly as used in the data base. This name MUST have the first three letters to be ECS. Make sure the track is long enough to accommodate all your empty car storage needs. This track is usually a single ended track at the edge of the yard. You may have more than one ECS on your route. Each one should have a unique name.
Session Set-up
Use the Portal Timetable Rule (kuid2:61392:2002:1) to schedule the arrival of trains on your route.
First create a train in Surveyor and save it as PortalWest1, PortalWest2, PortalCNW1, etc. That way you can see the cars you are putting in the train. And it makes it easy to select trains when setting up the Portal Timetable Rule. Make sure that you include specific cars for local traffic. And try to put them on the front end of the train so they can be easily pulled off by a switcher or set-out by the road engine. Don’t forget those empty home road cars or leased cars bound for the ECS track and the gon or flat that is needed by a local industry. Here is where you should consider a schedule for specific types of traffic such as putting livestock cars bound for the local packing plant in the early morning trains or running a late afternoon reefer express.
