FSRAIL HACK: Wider banks for 1-track old rails (limitations)

A new bitmap for older, dirty, single track rails (type 2)
that show a thicker bank. No train, no electric wires possible.
FS95/98/2000, flat or 3D no matter.
Not recommended for beginners.


For some time I have found that, outside of stations, 
the single track rails, when used with banks, displayed 
an unrealistically thin appearance.  
So I hacked the bitmap to get, when used as a new TWO-track 
rail, a better volume to those rails.

Of course since the underlying logic of FSRail thinks this
is a dual rail, you can't put trains or feeder wires on it.
FSrail would place the train off the rails, and show two 
separate wires, none of them over the rails.
Anyway, as those older rails are primarily used to represent
discontinued lines, electric features are not fundamental.
However, %6 = 6 or 7 (lighted track, with or without lamps),
are perfectly applicable.

To make the transition between ordinary and these wider rails,
just use a standard single-to-double track switch.

Instructions for use:
In short, just copy the bitmap to the texture directory,
declare a new rail texture variant for brbf001 and brbf029 
and use it...that's all.


In detail:
Select the FSRail \includes\ directory, and open with an ASCII
text editor (Notepad for instance) the file BRBF001.INC.
Page down to the end of the file (it's short) and find the first
available rail type; you'll find a pair of lines that says:

Mif( [ $101 == 'x' ] )
Bitmap( br0f001.pat 0 0 0 0 )

The cue is that the bitmap is B-R-0(zero)-F-001 and not another value. 
(Caution: The first line sports zero too, but this is not to be used. 
         Look starting from the end of the file.)
Change the first '0' in the the bitmap call to the found 'x' value. 
If you did not yet add rails (default setup), the 'x' value will be 6.
For a default setup thus : Bitmap( br6f001.pat 0 0 0 0 )

Congratulations! By changing that single 0 digit to (say) 6, 
you just created hundreds of new rails, all lengths and types: 
straight, curved, barriers, bridges, bumpers etc. 
What a great engineer you are!
This is one of the many wonders of FSRail.

Do the same with file BRBF029.INC, in the same \includes\ directory,
so that you have for instance : 
Mif( [ $101 == 6 ] )
Bitmap( br6f029.pat 0 0 0 0 ).
Your size adapter switches also are now functional in FSrail! 

Extract the bitmap I supplied into your scenery \Texture\ directory
with a name of brXf001.pat (i.e. for default 'br6f001.pat'). 
Copy it a second time but now name it brXf029.pat (e.g. br6f029.pat).

To place the rails in the scenery, just select your number 'x' instead
of 2 in the digit coding for the rail texture (unit digit in Visibility).
For a default setup, you would for example change the 7000 into 7006.
Just remember to use DUAL TRACK rails! 
When you need real dual-track rails, use standard visibility = xxx2.

This hack will work for all single-track rails, but not rail switches 
and crossings, nor with some stations, that have crossings imbedded! 
Nor does it have any effect on triple and quad rails.
These already have wider footprint anyway.

That's all folks...

If you want to connect these wider rails to ordinary single-track rails,
or to a single track 'branch' of a switch, just use a left or right 
standard switch (found in the 'Place or Attach Rail' dialog under SWITCH, 
then first block 'Connecting two rails of different width', and choose 
either Par12050 or Pal12050 according to your layout's needs. 
Here too, select a visibility range of e.g. 7006 and you're set.

Of course the same technique can be applied to the other 'colors' of 
rail (with value 1 or 3 for instance). 
Just copy the corresponding color scheme in the bitmap.


Hope it's clear, and remember: the people from FSRail (support@fsrail.com)
will not help you with this, it's not an official patch. Me the culprit!

And as a last note: altered or not, renamed or not, the bitmap is
still a copyrighted object from Burkhard Renk. 
Don't sell it, don't change it without his permission.


Daniel Schleusner, Brussels, Belgium  (daniel.schleusner@iname.com)