Moving switches and crossings

This Chapter deals with moving switches and crossings only. Static switches and crossings are described elsewhere.

While these macros are less often used than moving straight rail, or moving curves, they are of great importance since they serve to connect the moving and the static parts of a railway or lead the traffic in interconnecting moving railway lines.

Switches connecting moving and static rails

This class of macro consists of a moving line going straight forward and a static line that connects to it at an angle of 10 degrees at end 3. End 3 is always close to end 1, end 2 is the common end.

The following macros are available:

Length+static\main line | Dual
62.5m single | M1S221rs, M1S221ls
100m single | M1S221r1, M1S221l1
100m dual | M1S222r1, M1S222l1
125m dual | M1S222rl, M1S222ll

The main purpose of the 62.5 and 125m versions is their use together with the switches M1sw... to separate two moving lines for a station and connect a static line within this construction.

The calling sequence for these switches is identical to the one for moving rails:

with the same parameters:

Parameter | Value | Meaning
%1 |  | Geographical width
%2 |  | Geographical Length
%3 | 0 | Rail is placed on the surface of the FS terrain.
| Unequal 0 | Absolute altitude of the rail above sea level in m
%4 | 0.250 | Scale. Should always be 0.250.
%5 | Orientation | Orientation of the rail on the terrain (0 = south-north direction)
%6 | 0-7 | Wires, Pylons and lamps: 0 no wires, no night illumination 1 wire, no night illumination 2 wires, simple pylons, no night illumination 3 wires, massive pylons, no night illumination 4 wires, massive pylons, lamps, night illumination for FS2000 5 wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 6 no wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 7 no wires, pylons with lamps, night illumination for FS2000
%7 |  | Train # for primary timing. If negative, trains run left.
%8 |  | Timing of primary train in form ssnn Ss = Time the train enters the macro southbound Nn = Time the train enters the rail northbound
%9 | 0-105 | Embankment color 0: No embankment 1-FF: FS color 100-104: Texture 105: Seasonal texture
%10 |  | Range in m Rail is visible if within range. Typical value is 7000. The last digit is used to encode the rail texture.
%13 |  | Timing of secondary train in form ssnn Ss = Time the train enters the macro southbound Nn = Time the train enters the rail northbound If %14=0 the train %7 is displayed twice per cycle
%14 |  | Secondary train

Switch separating a static line for a station

This pair of switches also has a straight line with a train running on it. With a length of 300m and two time slots the speed of 90 km/h is suitable for the entry of major stations. A static rail is separated and bent to be parallel at the correct distance for a platform to fit in. The left switch is called MPl222st, the right switch MPr222st. The calling sequence is as in the above list.

Tilted versions of these switches exist climbing 3m on a 300m length. The macros MPl222ct and MPr222ct have both ends (1 and 3) 3m above end 2, MPl222dt and MPr222dt have the both ends below end 2. These tilted versions allow building stations on ground that has a slope.

Adapter for moving rails of different width

These adapters are not real switches because they behave like a normal rail and do not create an additional end point. All adapters have a length of 125m, one timeslot, and a speed of 75 km/h. The calling sequence is the same as in the above table.

The following adapters are available:

Name | Northern end width | Southern end width
M1adap12 | Dual | Single
M1adap23 | Triple | Dual
M1adap24 | Quad | Dual

Switches connecting 3 moving lines

This family of switches is the first set of macros you meet that separate the traffic of different lines. For all of these switches the primary train runs from the common end 2 to the right end 1, the secondary to the left end 3. So you decide which train runs where just by selecting the primary and secondary train of the end point.

Consequently the rails attached to one of the northern ends may not have double traffic. The following switches are available:

M1swi111 | 125m long, connects three single lines
M1swi222 | 125m long, connects three dual lines. Direction change by 2".
M1sws222 | 62.5m long, connects three dual lines. Direction change by 4".
M2swi222 | 250m long, connects three dual lines and opens up wide enough to directly attach two stations with a platform in between. Direction change by 2".

While the short switch saves space it turns the trains twice the number of times the longer versions do so it is only suitable for short trains.

The calling sequence is:

Parameter | Value | Meaning
%1 |  | Geographical width
%2 |  | Geographical Length
%3 | 0 | Rail is placed on the surface of the FS terrain.
| Unequal 0 | Absolute altitude of the rail above sea level in m
%4 | 0.250 | Scale. Should always be 0.250.
%5 | Orientation | Orientation of the rail on the terrain (0 = south-north direction)
%6 | 0-7 | Wires, Pylons and lamps: 0 no wires, no night illumination 1 wire, no night illumination 2 wires, simple pylons, no night illumination 3 wires, massive pylons, no night illumination 4 wires, massive pylons, lamps, night illumination for FS2000 5 wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 6 no wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 7 no wires, pylons with lamps, night illumination for FS2000
%7 |  | Train # for primary timing. If negative, trains run on left lane.
%8 |  | Timing of primary train in form ssnn Ss = Time the train enters the macro southbound Nn = Time the train enters the rail northbound The primary train is the train between end 1 and end 2.
%9 | 0-105 | Embankment color 0: No embankment 1-FF: FS color 100-104: Texture 105: Seasonal texture
%10 |  | Range in m Rail is visible if within range. Typical value is 7000. The last digit is used to encode the rail texture.
%13 |  | Timing of secondary train in form ssnn Ss = Time the train enters the macro southbound Nn = Time the train enters the rail northbound If %14=0, the train %7 is displayed twice per cycle
%14 |  | Secondary train The primary train is the train between end 3 and end 2.

If you want only one train running between end 3 and end 2 and none to end 1 use as train # %7 and as timing %13, set %8 to 0. If you add two of these switches back to back you get a real crossing.

Crossings connecting 4 moving lines

This set of macros again contains two groups. All have in common two parallel dual rails at a suitable distance for the stations and the dead end station run in parallel and connected by an intermediate X or XX.

All macros allow one train to run twice on each of the parallel rails. For two macros you can also select that either all trains run over the cross, or the primary runs straight and the secondary runs over the cross. This makes them sort trains.

Available are:

Name | Description | Active switch
M1Pa22x1 | 100m long, 1 time slot, 60 km/h, intermediate single x | no
M1Pa22x2 | 200m long, 1 time slot, 120 km/h, intermediate single x | no
M2Pa22x3 | 300m long, 2 time slot, 90 km/h, intermediate single x | no
M1Pa2xx1 | 100m long, 1 time slot, 60 km/h, intermediate double x | no
M1Pa2xx2 | 200m long, 1 time slot, 120 km/h, intermediate double x | yes
M2Pa2xx3 | 300m long, 2 time slot, 90 km/h, intermediate double x | yes

Calling sequence:

Parameter | Value | Meaning
%1 |  | Geographical width
%2 |  | Geographical Length
%3 | 0 | Rail is placed on the surface of the FS terrain.
| Unequal 0 | Absolute altitude of the rail above sea level in m
%4 | 0.250 | Scale. Should always be 0.250.
%5 | Orientation | Orientation of the rail on the terrain (0 = south-north direction)
%6 | 0-7 | Wires, Pylons and lamps: 0 no wires, no night illumination 1 wire, no night illumination 2 wires, simple pylons, no night illumination 3 wires, massive pylons, no night illumination 4 wires, massive pylons, lamps, night illumination for FS2000 5 wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 6 no wires, no pylons, no lamps, night illumination for FS2000 7 no wires, pylons with lamps, night illumination for FS2000
%7 |  | Train # starting at end 1.
%8 |  | First timing of first train in form ssnn Ss = Time the train enters the macro southbound Nn = Time the train enters the rail northbound
%9 |  | Embankment color for the macros without active switching. With active switching, the values mean: 0 = both trains run parallel 1 = all trains run crossed 2 = primary trains run parallel, secondary crossed
%10 |  | Range in m Rail is visible if within range. Typical value is 7000. The last digit is used to encode the rail texture.
%13 |  | Second timing of first train.
%14 |  | Secondary train running always from end 3.
%15 |  | First timing of second train.
%16 |  | Second timing of second train.

For the active switching the following hints may help:

This is a complicated macro. If it does not perform as you expect on your first try then imagine how many hours of effort it took to design it. Yet a double crossing with automatic control is not added to any model railway (on a sloped terrain!) in five minutes.

The northern ends 1 and 3 always have one train that can appear twice. For %9 = 0 or 1 the southern ends also have one train running twice. For %9=2 both ends can have mixed trains.

The parameters are only propagated to the end points if you lay down or attach a rail but not if you change them. So if you get the trains running as you like without accident write down the parameters before removing the rail and replacing with a new one. This may be inconvenient but a great deal of information is lost if you just change a rail instead of attaching it in context. Writing a routine that evaluates all possible contexts and interprets the changed rail accordingly would delay the program by three months and make it much more expensive.

Carefully check the end points after the crossings are laid. If they contain only one train at secondary timing you can transfer the timing to primary for your convenience.

These crossings are complementary to the dead end stations, attach end 1 or end 3 to them.

Tilted versions (1%) of the xx versions exist called cx and dx. The cx version rise towards end 1 and 3, the dx towards end 2 and 4.