A Train Carriage object
comprises: CAD, doors, join points (to other Carriages) and a maximum capacity.
After clicking the Train Carriage button on the Objects
toolbar, select the Carriage’s CAD (The CAD should leave spaces for the doors
that will open at the platform, as shown above), then press Enter to continue.
To define the doors, draw a line in the CAD where each door
that. Doors can be defined on a single side, or both sides, depending on
whether the same Carriage will appear on different platforms.
Tip: Employ snaps here (e.g., Snap to Intersection on the
Snaps toolbar) to ensure doors are precisely defined. When all doors have been
defined, press <Enter> to continue.
Join Points are two connection points (front and back),
where Carriages are linked together, to form Trains. They are automatically
snapped to the longitudinal centre line of the Carriage. They also specify
their distance from the ends of Carriages' CAD, and hence the separation
distance between Carriages.
The front Join Point is indicated by a small red circle:
The rear Join Point is indicated by a small green circle:
Every Carriage has a name and a maximum capacity (optional),
used to control the number of entities seeking to board. Entities do not enter
Carriages at capacity. Instead, they wait for the next Train. Entities do not
try to board other Carriages, if their assigned Carriage is full. If no maximum
capacity is specified, entities board until the Carriage is physically full, or
the Train dwell time is over.
Note: To help re-use
defined components, you are prompted to save the Carriage to a Catalogue, at
the end of the process.
