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ANGLICIZING TANIGUMI
Mr. Gaku's Tanigumi tram line is too good to pass up. If you are having trouble with the Japanese characters and would like to see English instead, here are some suggestions.
Route Name. Route files can be given any name you like, just make sure they have the proper ending (extension). The original Tanigumi line is in the older format and requires an RW extension. I named the file Tanigumi.rw. Very original!
The Tanigumi line provides a good opportunity to run that Brussels 7000 PCC I downloaded. So, I made another rendition of the route file with the PCC as the train. I called this one Tanigumi PCC.rw. Again, very original.
Mr. Gaku just released his night-time version of the Tanigumi line. I'll let you figure out a name. Note, however, that it's in the newer format, so the extension is CSV.
Route text. When the route file loads at runtime, the text that displays in the lower left panel tells about the route. This text is at the top of the route file, before the [Train] statement. I replaced the Japanese characters with Maitetsu branch from Black Field (Kurono) to Tanigumi by Gaku.
Train text. When the route file loads at runtime, the text that displays in the lower right panel tells about the train. This text is from the Train.text file in the mei750 folder, which should be in your Train folder. I replaced the Japanese characters with Maitetsu 750. Built in 1928 and converted to one-man operation in 1984.
Station names. I pieced the route together from several sources and confirmed it by studying the object names and their locations within the route file. The following are the station names and their locations as I put them in my route file. Just replace the Japanese characters after the open parenthesis following the word station with the appropriate English-spelling name.
| 0 |
KURANO |
| 900 |
KURONOKITAGUCHI |
| 2000 |
TOYOGI |
| 2800 |
INATOMI |
| 3900 |
SARAJI |
| 5625 |
KITANOBA |
| 6900 |
AKAISHI |
| 8400 |
NAGASI |
| 10975 |
TANIGUMI |
References. There are two station name sites. One has photos of eight stations (Kuronokitaguchi is absent). I'll include that site when I find the URL (my printed copy is via the Alta Vista translators, which doesn't include the true URL). The other site is:
Http://www.kokon.net/english/line/1/2/00499.html Some of the spellings are different from the first site.
There are several other sites you may want to visit. The first is a brief article describing the imminent demise of the Tanigumi line (September 2001).
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~mt5h-nitu/jrs/members/rbns/mtrm/755.htm
The second has some color photos of the cars.
http://www.yahashi.com/PHOTO/P004.HTM
The third has wonderful color photos of the cars along the route.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~uq6k-nko/railway/emei_sho.html
The first reference mentions that the rail fans are out in force photographing the line. Appropriately, I have created some photographers that can be added along the line. They're ready on my downloads page.
Alfred Barten, 5 September 2001
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ANGLICIZING MINOBU
Mr. Gaku's latest simulation, the Japanese National Railways Minobu line, features beautiful mountain scenery in the foothills of Mount Fuji. Like his other lines, this one has exceptionally fine graphics and smooth operation, outstanding sounds, and smoothly curved rails.
You can download the railway and train files from Mr. Gaku's Minobu web page. This page is in Japanese, but the two download buttons are labeled in English. I found that when I extracted the downloaded files using WinZIP, there were a number of errors in the files. When I used WinRAR for extraction, the files were fine.
Here are my suggestions for replacing Japanese characters with English text.
Route Name. Route files can be given any name you like, just make sure they have the proper ending (extension). The original Minobu line is in the newer format and requires a CSV extension. I named the file Minobu.csv.
Route text. In the CSV format route files, there are two places for text at the top of the file: Route.Comment and Route.Timetable. When the route file loads at runtime, the comment appears in the lower left panel and the timetable text appears at the top of the timetable when you display the timetable by clicking the upper right corner of the display. In place of the Japanese characters in the route file, I entered JNR Minobu Line Kajikawazaguchie to Minobu by Gaku for the comment and Minobu Line for the timetable. A few words of caution: 1) Do not use commas or semi-colons. They have programmatical meaning and will produce unexpected results when used as part of your text. 2) I had difficulty changing the CSV via Excel without having BVE produce an annoying [424] syntax error message. I solved the problem by making my changes via Notepad. If, by accident, you forget and change the file using Excel, you may find that when you then open the file with Notepad that there are quotation marks around the line of code that was changed. Remove the quotes and you should be OK.
Train text. When the route file loads at runtime, the text in the lower right panel provides information about the train. This text is contained in the Train.text file in the 115-2000 folder, which should be in your Train folder. I replaced the Japanese characters with Series 115-2000 DC suburban railcars - 4-car set. The JNR numbering schemes are described here. In the 115 number, the 1 for the first digit indicates DC powered railcar, the 1 for the second digit indicates commuter/suburban operation, and the 5 for the third digit indicates the fifth in this series. The 2000 number probably refers to some special safety equipment. Photographs of these trains show the Minobu trains as 4-car sets. I do not know whether or not this is always the case.
Station names. I found the station names here and confirmed them by studying the Minobu object files. The following are the station names and corresponding route locations. Open the route file and use the location numbers to find each station, then replace the Japanese characters after the word .Sta with the appropriate English-spelling name.
| 0 |
Kajikawazaguchie |
| 5000 |
Ochii |
| 6425 |
Kai-iwana |
| 8000 |
Kunado |
| 10,700 |
Ichinose |
| 12,625 |
Kai-tokiwa |
| 15,100 |
Shimobe-onsen |
| 16,600 |
Hadakajima |
| 21,100 |
Shionosawa |
| 23,275 |
Minobu |
Alfred Barten, 15 September 2001
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ANGLICIZING TSURUMI
The Tsurumi Line, by the Residents of Kawasaki, is a big change from the countryside scenery of the Tanigumi and Minobu lines. The Tsurumi Line is a JR commuter line in a heavy-industry area in metropolitan Tokyo. The area served lies just south of Tokyo on the seacoast of Tokyo Bay. Hiroshi Naito has provided an article, complete with map and photos, of the Tsurumin Line on the Japanese Railway Society website. You can find the article, which is in English, at http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-King/1687/index.html. The Type 103 overhead electric powered multiple-unit train that comes with this route once ran on most of the Tokyo commuter lines, so you may find this very useful if you have other Tokyo area routes. In any case, it's a fun train to operate, being quick and responsive.
You can download the railway and train files at http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-King/1687/index.html. This page is in Japanese, so you will want to use one of the translator sites (e.g., AltaVista World) to determine where the download links are. You will then have to access the site without the translator in order to properly download. After you extract the files, you will have difficulty with the Panel.cfg file inside the train folder (103trm). Fortunately, Luigi C. of Italy posted the necessary English content for this file on the Crotrainz-Train Sim UK forum (see http://www.crotrainz.com/forum/DCForumID4/226.html) and Danny MacPherson attached the completed file to an email on the Yahoo BVE list. You can download Danny's file here.
Here are my suggestions for replacing Japanese characters with English text.
Route Name. Route files can be given any name you like, just make sure they have the proper ending (extension). The original Tsurumi line is in the newer format and requires a CSV extension. I named the file Tsurumi.csv.
Route text. In the CSV format route files, there are two places for text at the top of the file: Route.Comment and Route.Timetable. When the route file loads at runtime, the comment appears in the lower left panel and the timetable text appears at the top of the timetable when you display the timetable by clicking the upper right corner of the display. In place of the Japanese characters in the route file, I entered JR - East from Omigachi to Tsurumi by the Kawasaki Residents for the comment and Tsurumi Line for the timetable. A few words of caution: 1) Do not use commas or semi-colons. They have programmatical meaning and will produce unexpected results when used as part of your text. 2) I had difficulty changing the CSV via Excel without having BVE produce an annoying [424] syntax error message. I solved the problem by making my changes via Notepad. If, by accident, you forget and change the file using Excel, you may find that when you then open the file with Notepad that there are quotation marks around the line of code that was changed. Remove the quotes and you should be OK.
Train text. When the route file loads at runtime, the text in the lower right panel provides information about the train. This text is contained in the Train.text file in the 103trm folder, which should be in your Train folder. I replaced the Japanese characters with Japanese Rail 3-car Type 103 EMU set. The JNR numbering schemes are described here. In the 103 number, the 1 for the first digit indicates DC powered railcar, the 0 for the second digit indicates commuter/suburban operation, and the 3 for the third digit indicates the third in this series.
Station names. I found the station names on the map in Mr. Naito's article. The following are the station names and corresponding route locations. Open the route file and use the location numbers to find each station, then replace the Japanese characters after the word .Sta with the appropriate English-spelling name.
| 0 |
Omigachi |
| 575 |
Showa |
| 1725 |
Hama-Kawasaki |
| 2875 |
Musashi-Shiraishi |
| 3425 |
Anzen |
| 3950 |
Asano |
| 4575 |
Bentbashi |
| 5400 |
Tsurumi-Ono |
| 6075 |
Kokudo |
| 6975 |
Tsurumi |
Alfred Barten, 26 September 2001
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ANGLICIZING IIDA
Mr. Gaku's simulation of the Japanese National Railways Iida line features more beautiful mountain scenery, exceptionally fine graphics, smooth operation, outstanding sounds, and smoothly curved rails.
Iida is located in the heart of Japan, roughly midway between Tokyo and Osaka. The line is an older line with lots of history. It is considered a "leisurely" run when compared to Japan's more modern lines, and features popular weekend family tours in Spring and Summer. You can read more about the line at http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~mt5h-nitu/jrs/members/naito/iida/troko.htm and http://www.city.iida.nagano.jp/city/citye21.htm.
The entire line consists of 95 stations. Mr. Gaku's rendering consists of 25 stations at the northeastern end.
You can download the railway from Mr. Gaku's site at http://www.popkmart.ne.jp/gaku/. You can also download the latest version of his train 119 at this site.
The railway download includes two routes, one a local run that calls for train 119; the other a limited express run that calls for train 115-2000 (the same train as the Minobu Line). Mr. Gaku's site is in Japanese, but the two download buttons are labeled in English.
I found that when I tried to extract the downloaded railway files using WinZIP, there were a number of errors, and the process yielded zero extractions. When I used WinRAR for extraction, the process proceeded flawlessly.
Here are my suggestions for replacing Japanese characters with English text.
Route Names. Route files, and the folder (if any) in which the files are grouped, can be given any name you like. Just make sure the route files have the proper ending (extension). The Iida routes are in the newer format and require a CSV extension.
I named the folder iida 7 to represent the current version. Inside the folder I named the file on the left (the one that calls for train 115-2000) iida limited. I named the other file (the one that calls for train 119) iida local.
Route text. In the CSV format route files, there are two places for text at the top of the file: Route.Comment and Route.Timetable. When the route file loads at runtime, the comment appears in the lower left panel. The timetable text appears at the top of the timetable when you display the timetable by clicking the upper right corner of the display. In place of the Japanese characters in each route file, I entered JNR Iida Line Nanakubo to Okaya by Gaku for the comment and Iida Line for the timetable. You may want to distinguish between limited express and local in the two route files.
A few words of caution: 1) Do not use commas or semi-colons. They have programmatical meaning and will produce unexpected results when used as part of your text. 2) In the past, I have had difficulty changing the CSV files via Excel without having BVE produce an annoying [424] syntax error message. I solved the problem by making my changes via Notepad. If, by accident, you forget and change the file using Excel, you may find that when you then open the file with Notepad that there are quotation marks around the line of code that was changed. Remove the quotes and you should be OK.
Trains. As mentioned, the limited express route uses train 115-2000 from Mr. Gaku's Minobu line. The local route uses train 119. If you have been running the Sydney, Australia, Eastern Suburbs Line (http://members.dingoblue.net.au/~mictom/bve/esr.htm), you probably have a modified version of train 119. You may want to rename this train folder (e.g., 119ESR) to distinguish it from Mr. Gaku's, which is the original. If you rename the folder, you will have to make an appropriate adjustment within the Eastern Suburbs route file where the train is identified.
Train text. When the route file loads at runtime, the text that displays in the lower right panel tells about the train. This text is from the Train.text file in the train folder, which should be in your Train folder. For train 119, I replaced the Japanese characters with Series 119 DC city railcars. For train 115-2000, I had already replaced the Japanese characters with Series 115-2000 DC suburban railcars - 4-car set as part of the Minobu anglicization.
Station names. I could not have provided this segment without the help of Luigi Cartello and Takumi Murayama . Luigi, another fan of Mr. Gaku's beautiful work, tracked the Iida Line through its various incarnations as it grew to reach its present length of 25 stations. Fortunately, the first two releases were accompanied by English versions, which enabled Luigi to record in English all but the final two stations. Mr. Murayama was good enough to provide the two remaining station names in response to Luigi's e-mail to Mr. Gaku. Just as was I getting ready to post this segment, Luigi relayed a response he had gotten from Mr. Gaku, which confirmed our translation. Next time, of course, we'll go directly Mr. Gaku. The process will be easier, but not nearly as much of a challenge.
So, without further delay, here are the station names and corresponding route locations for the current version of the Iida Line. Open the route file and use the location numbers to find each station, then replace the Japanese characters after the word .Sta with the appropriate Romanized name.
| 17200 |
Nanakubo |
| 19925 |
Ina Hongo |
| 22235 |
Iijima |
| 24250 |
Tagiri |
| 26200 |
Ina Fukuoka |
| 28750 |
Komachiya |
| 29775 |
Komagane |
| 31400 |
Ootagiri |
| 33325 |
Miyada |
| 34725 |
Akagi |
| 37525 |
Sawando |
| 38750 |
Shimojima |
| 42100 |
Inashi |
| 42975 |
Inakita |
| 44950 |
Tabata |
| 47175 |
Kitatono |
| 49650 |
Kinoshita |
| 51075 |
Ina Matsushima |
| 53675 |
Sawa |
| 55575 |
Haba |
| 57450 |
Ina Shinmachi |
| 58650 |
Miyaki |
| 59800 |
Tatsuno |
| 65075 |
Kawagishi |
| 68300 |
Okaya |
Alfred Barten, 17 October 2001
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