Why Are There Tunnels?

[Beebop]

"Huh, yeah!
What are they good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Say it again."

 

There are two railroad tunnels on the Kuban map.  
I put a train at one end and a stop waypoint on the other side.

I set it in motion.
The train enters the tunnel.
The train stops.  (sometimes it rolls back a bit)
Does it come out the other side?
No!

So why are they there?
And why is there a tunnel object? I'm not going to use it anywhere else.  It's already "Template Scenery".

 

Or am I missing something?  I haven't seen anything about getting a train through a tunnel although I could have missed something..

If there is a solution could someone please point me to it?

 

I wonder how many mission makers directed a train through the tunnel only to find out this happened:

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Beebop

[IckyATLAS]

I agree , I am not happy how they are modelled. These are not real tunnels. Could have been made.

Again probably priority matters, dev resources an time. There are so many unfinished things. 

Anyway we try always to find solutions. So there is one that works like that:

 

SETUP

You need to have two identical trains. One going towards the tunnel entry, and the other one going from the other side out of the tunnel.

The two trains must be perfectly identical with the same carriages and loco.

The one going towards the tunnel is the active one at mission start and will start from wherever you want on the track going to the tunnel. The other one will be positioned as nearly as possible to the tunnel exit. You can have about two or three of the last railcars inside the tunnel without problems. All this needs careful positioning of the train. This train will be Deactivated at the start of the mission, and as such not visible if you overfly the tunnel or put a camera looking at the tunnel exit.

 

ANIMATION I Train to the Tunnel

The first train will go full speed towards the tunnel. For that position the Waypoint related to this train nearby the entry of the tunnel.

The train will go past the waypoint due to speed.  

You will use the waypoint to trigger a Delete MCU that will delete the train. This waypoint will also trigger a timer which duration will be the duration the train stays in the tunnel up to exit.

The train can enter the tunnel on about 50 meters before crashing or having issues.

So if you position well the waypoint you will see the train locomotive enter the tunnel at full speed and then the train will vanish. 

There is a small time delay between the waypoint reached and the Deleting of the train. During this small lapse of time the train continues to move in the tunnel.

This is a delicate part to well design so that the train enters as much as possible in the tunnel before vanishing.

The locomotive smoke enters the tunnel too so the effect is nice.

 

ANIMATION II Train from the Tunnel

Now the timer that simulates the train in the tunnel is running.

Once the time has past the Timer will trigger an Activate MCU that will activate the second identical train.

You will also activate the Waypoint that is object linked to this train. 

SO now you have your train that has exited the tunnel and is running happily on the other side.

 

LIMITATION

There is unfortunately a small issue. A train cannot be Activated in motion.

This means that when the second train at the exit of the tunnel will be activated it will first be standing still, and will start moving slowly until it picks up to the same speed as the train that entered the tunnel.

 

A small price to pay for this otherwise working solution.

 

 

[Beebop]

Although not perfect it is a workaround that should work.

You're right about the "Exiting Train" having to start from a standstill.  Of course the ideal would be the train exiting at set speed before the pilots eyes.

 

Thank you for taking the effort to detail this procedure.  I am going to put it on a Mission Notes file I am keeping for future use.

?

[jollyjack]

Alas ... it seems you can make a sub go subbing the seas with waypoints set to below zero, so why not a train?

Planes can start from under (runway) ground level too in case you haven't got your map settings right.

Would like to see some groups from work around situations. BTW why is a tunnel called tunel? Russia-speak?

Lets face it, IL2 is fabulous for finding workarounds. Got an idea, lets ask the devs for a prehistorian Tyrannosaurus Rex, that can eat trains ...

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by jollyjack

[Beebop]

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

Alas ... it seems you can make a sub go subbing the seas with waypoints set to below zero, so why not a train?

Underground railroads maybe too political?

 

1 hour ago, jollyjack said:

Got an idea, lets ask the devs for a prehistorian Tyrannosaurus Rex, that can eat trains ...

 

Good idea!
 

[jollyjack]

This one needs a Yak, not some jet IMO ..

[Beebop]

Ya take the Dino's where ya find 'em.

This one is from the Middle East.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Beebop

[Jaegermeister]

The Tunnel was needed for the Bridge at Remagen. It showed up first in Kuban and they used the same one on the Rheinland map. I wish there were more so you could try to bomb trains before they reach a tunnel or try to skip a bomb into the tunnel entrance. Trains often hid in tunnels late in the war.