Merging Routes
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The Merge Routes option in the Surveyor Main Menu allows two different routes to be joined together. |
Before You Start Merging
Before you start the merge process there are some important points you will need to consider and there may be some preparation work that will have to be performed.
Identify
- Identify
- which route will be the base route that will form the backbone of the combined routes. This will usually be the larger route.
- the route that will be the merging route that will be joined to the base route.
- the orientation (North-South or East-West) of the routes to be merged. Are they the same or different?
- the height of the baseboards in the base route and the merging route where the merge will take place. Are they exactly the same heights?
Common Problems
Most route mergers will have problems. Some problems will be identified during the merging process where they will be easily fixed. Others may require you to do a bit (or a lot) of extra work before you can merge two routes into one. For some problems the best solution is to select different routes to merge.
| File:MergeRouteHeightProblem.JPG |
The most common problem in the "can be hard/difficult to fix" category is when the two routes have been built at significantly different heights or altitudes. The solutions to this will vary depending on the height difference. Common solutions:-
- add extra baseboards to the base route that will create a gradual gradient from the base route level to the merging route level
- use a spiral tunnel on a single extra merging baseboard to bring the track to the correct level
- add portals to both routes so that a consist entering the portal from one route will emerge from the portal on the other route
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The most common problem in the "impossible to fix" category is when both routes have different orientations (N-S and E-W) and you were hoping to join them end-to-end in the same direction to make an even longer route. Once a route has been created its orientation cannot be changed.
The Merging Process
- Load the Base Route into Surveyor
- Should you load the Route or the Session?
- The answer depends on whether or not a Session has been created for the base route and if that Session contains assets (scenery, consists) and settings (rules, driver commands, industry and wagon loads, weather, time of day, etc) that you want to continue to use in the new merged Route and Session. If the Session contains nothing that you need then load the Route only into Surveyor. Note that when you add the merging route only the Route will be loaded, no Session assets or data will be loaded.
