How to Merge Routes

Merging Routes

The Surveyor Merge Routes command allows two different routes to be joined together - edge to edge.

Before You Start Merging

Make sure that you have backup copies of all the routes that you are going to merge.

Before you start merging there are some important points you will need to consider and there may be some preparation work that will have to be performed.

Identify

• the route that will be the base route. This route will form the backbone of the combined routes. This will usually be the larger route or the route that contains Session data that you want to keep in the merge.
• the route that will be the merged route. This route 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 baseboards in each route where they will be joined.
• the height of the baseboards in both route at the merge point. Are they exactly the same height?

Common Problems

Most route mergers will have problems but most of those problems can be easily fixed.

Some problems will require you to do a bit (or a lot) of extra work before you can merge two routes into one. But for some problems, the best solution may be to select other routes to merge.

The easiest problems will be fixed as part of the merging process itself. The most common problem in the "hard to fix but do-able" category is when the two routes have been built at different heights or altitudes as shown on the left. The solutions to this will vary depending on the height difference. Common solutions are:- add extra baseboards between the two routes that will create an easy gradient from the base route level to the merged route level. These additional baseboards are usually added to the base route before the merge is attempted. If the height difference is large then many additional baseboards may be needed. If the difference is too big then other options may have to be considered. use a spiral tunnel or switchback/zigzag on a single extra baseboard to bring the track to the correct level. This will reduce number of extra baseboards. add portals to both routes so that a consist entering the portal on one route will emerge from the portal on the other route. Portals can have their own issues and this solution may not suit everyone and every layout. 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.

Selecting and Loading the Routes to Merge

• Load the Base Route into Surveyor

Should you load the Route or the Session?

The answer depends on whether or not the 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 its Session. If the Session contains nothing that you need then load the Route only into Surveyor. Note that when you add the merged route its Route assets and data will be loaded but not its Session assets or data.

Select the Merge Route option in the Surveyor Main Menu This will open a Route Selection window. Select the route to be merged This will be the merged route and only its Route data will be loaded DLC routes cannot be selected for merging

This will merge the two routes and display a "minimap" of the new combined routes with some control options.

The Merge Map

The two tabs shown on the left are the:- Terrain Tab which is automatically selected when the MiniMap is first displayed. This shows the baseboards of the merged route superimposed on the baseboards of the base route. A red background colour on this tab, as shown in the figure on the left, indicates that the two routes have baseboards that are in conflict - they are overlapping. The overlapping baseboards are shown in red on the MiniMap. Layers Tab. This shows the layers that have been copied from both routes. A red background colour on this tab indicates that the two routes have layers that are in conflict. In Terrain View:- You can zoom the MiniMap in and out using the mouse control wheel. There appears to be no keyboard zoom command. You can move the centre of focus, the centre of the MiniMap view, by moving the mouse pointer to a new position and clicking with the right button. The four arrows shown at the top, bottom and both sides of the map display can be clicked to move the merged route in the direction shown by each arrow.

Move the Merged Route into its New Position

Click on the direction arrows shown at the top, bottom and sides of the MiniMap window to move the merged route into its correct position. Each click will move the merged route one baseboard in the selected direction. In the example shown on the left, clicking the Left arrow 5 times moved the merged route 5 baseboards to the left to a position where there were no overlapping baseboards and all terrain conflicts were resolved. A route merge will not proceed until ALL the terrain and layer conflicts have been eliminated.

The Layers Map

Click the Layers Tab to show the layers loaded from the two routes.

In the example shown on the left two of the layers, one from each route, are using the same name "route-layer". This causes a conflict that must be resolved before the merge can be completed. There are three simple options for solving this problem:- Rename one of the layers. Double click on the layer name to enter a new name. The conflict has now been resolved.