Building a map

A step-by-step way to build a map in the map editor, from bare track to trains running on it. Work through the steps in order, and check each one before you start the next.

Example Junction, the small map the guides use: two lines, a siding with a shunt signal (S1), and a branch that crosses Line 2 on the flat. Buffer stops (TERM), platforms (EC1, EC2) and the zone border (blue) are all here.

The order to work in

1. Track. Lines join where trains should change track, and cross without joining where they shouldn't.
2. Buffer stops and platforms. Buffer stops on track ends; platforms beside the track, named and numbered.
3. Signals. A signal at the end of each platform, one before each junction from every side, shunt signals out of sidings and depots, and automatic signals along plain line. Each one facing the right way, with a zone. See Signals in the map editor.
4. Next signals. Tell every signal which signals trains can run to from it. See Next signals.
5. Conflicts. Keep trains apart at every junction, crossover, flat crossing and platform used in both directions. See Conflicts in the map editor.
6. Settings. Which platform each signal stops trains at, which signals players control, and speeds.
7. Routes. The services that run on the map. See Routes in the map editor.
8. Check and test. Fix what the Check tab finds, then run trains with Test. See Testing a map.

Save often (Ctrl+S). Nothing you do is saved until you do.

It's a diagram, not a scale plan

The map is drawn like a signal box's track diagram. How long a train takes to get somewhere comes from the distances you give the signals, not from how long the track looks. So keep the drawing neat and easy to read rather than true to life.

Drawing track

Press T for the Draw track tool.

Drawing track. Each click adds a point; the dotted line shows where the next piece will go. The bar along the top repeats how the tool works.

• Click to put down the first point, then click again for each bend.
• To stop, click the last point again, right-click, or press Esc.
• Hold Shift to keep to 45° angles. Hold Alt to turn snapping off while you place a point.
• Ending a line on another track joins them and makes a junction.

Tips from the official map:

• Lay main lines across the screen, and only go up or down where the line has to turn.
• Put parallel tracks 20 units apart. A crossover between them is then one diagonal, 20 across and 20 along.
• Keep points on the 5-unit grid. Snapping (the magnet in the toolbar) does this for you.
• Leave a short piece of plain track before each junction, on every side trains approach from. A signal needs somewhere to stand there.

Joins and crossings

Two pieces of track are joined only where they share an end, or where one ends on the middle of another. If two tracks cross without a shared point, that is a flat crossing (a diamond): trains can't turn there, but two trains crossing it can collide, so it needs conflicts. The branch in Example Junction crosses Line 2 like this.

When you select a piece of track, the Inspector's Type sets how it works:

• Normal: ordinary track.
• Underpass: goes under the other track, like a bridge. Trains on it can't collide with trains above, so it needs no conflicts.
• Unused: drawn faded. Trains never run on it.

Buffer stops

Press E and click the end of a track. A buffer stop must sit exactly on a track end, or the game won't draw it. With ids shown (I), buffer stops are labelled TERM and a number.

Platforms

Press P and click beside the track. A new platform takes its station name and number from the nearest platform, so check them in the Inspector.

• Put platforms 5 units from the middle of the track, parallel to it. They are normally 20 long.
• A platform serves the one track beside it.
• Platforms with the same Station name are one station. Number them 1, 2, 3 and so on.

A platform on its own does nothing. Trains stop at it only when a signal or buffer stop is set to stop them there. See Stopping trains at platforms.

Zones

Each zone is one player's area of control in a game.

• Every signal belongs to a zone (its Zone setting): the player who controls it.
• Zone borders (press B) outline each zone's area on the map. Type the zone in Zones first, then click the corners, and click the last one again or press Esc.
• Labels (press X) show station names. Click where it goes, then type the name in the Inspector's Text. Size 4 is the size the official map uses. A label's Zones setting picks which zones show it; leave it empty to show it everywhere.

Use View in the toolbar to see the map as one zone's player will.

Common mistakes

• A signal facing the wrong way.
• A next signal that skips a signal, or has no track joining them.
• A platform that no signal or buffer stop stops trains at.
• Junctions without conflicts, or conflicts between trains that never meet.
• Routes that start on plain line instead of in a siding or depot.
• Routes that never end.