How to Merge Routes

Merging Routes

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

• Identify
  • which route will be the base route that 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 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?
  • exactly where the merge will occur in both routes.
  • the height of the baseboards in the base route and the merged route at the merge point. Are they exactly the same height?

Common Problems

Most route mergers will have problems but most of them can be 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. The resulting track gradient should be compatible with the two routes. 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 would use a minimal 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 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 merged route only the Route assets and data will be loaded, no Session assets or data will be loaded.

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 Merge MiniMap has similar controls to the MiniMaps in the Driver and Surveyor. 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 or by holding the left mouse button down while moving the mouse up and down. 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. Each click will move the merged route one baseboard in the direction selected. In the example shown on the left, the terrain conflict can be removed by moving the merged route to the left (clicking the left arrow) until the last red baseboard disappears.

Move the Merged Route into its New Position

Use the direction arrows at the top, bottom and sides of the MiniMap window to move the merged route into its correct position. In the example shown on the left, clicking the Left arrow 5 times moved the merged route 5 baseboards to the left so that there was 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.