Operations Note: Clicking on a footnote ([2]) or note tag ([note 12]) in the main body of text will navigate you (position the page) to the exact text for the entry. • Then: Clicking there on the ? symbol, will return you back to read on from where you started.
The KEY to operating most tools is to understand how and when -, +, [, ] affect the active tool tip on the one hand, and when a secondary hotkey selects a class of asset on the other. The Primary hotkeys F1, F2, ... , F7 select the active tool tab, which when pressed will toggle the tab and tool panels open or closed, as do mouseclicks as indicated.
A selected tool in the tool panel is often still active, so a key sequence selecting the 4th TAB-Tracks and Trackside such as F4, then T+M+F4 will activate the 'Trackside Tools TAB' ([F4]), the 'T' for Trackssub-tool menu and then the 'M' for Move Vertex tool, which will allow you to drag track vertex elements around. The last F4 closes the tool panel and lets the user have more screen while adjusting Tracks. The 4th TAB-Tracks and Trackside mouse button can instead be used to toggle the active tool menu open and closed.
In reality, a practiced route builder will likely be toggling back and forth between several tool panels and their respective active tool sub-menus and active tools while doing fine detailing of a section of map, say where a road (spline objectF3+S) runs beside a small stream (another spline asset) both of which parallel the tracks for a time, then the stream crosses under the tracks and perhaps so does the road— all running mostly together. That main scenery runs along side farmer's fields (fences being another spline, and crops often another; while farm equipment, vehicles, and animals are Objects, a different sub-menu); and down the street a few thousand meters—a row of rural housing (Objects, using F3+O) which need individual placement (LMB and a likely adjustment of Height, Rotation, and a Move or two of its position, for each and every one, (not to mention their yard elements such as trees, swings, sidewalks, driveways, hedges and so forth). Creation of even a small detailed area becomes a marathon of intense concentration and takes a practiced eye and fore-planning.
A common enough circumstance, but integrating the Trainz assets with their respective heights, shaping the landscaping as you go means the route builder will be using a veritable flurry of hotkeys and mouse operations, perhaps switching tools as often as once every three-to-five seconds! TS12 is notorious for being responsible for slowing down that process, as the game can't keep up with the mind and hands of a practiced artist at their trade. Instead, with TS12, one often has to wait while the tool switch gets each tool to be reloaded into what seems to be the same patch of memory—a sloppy programmer assumption and bad effect for the Trainz Power user.
A full table of Surveyor Hotkeys using the Trainz command line tag titles as they occur in the ..\Settings folder of the Trainz installation is in the appendix here.
Section VI Track, Trackside, and Markers TAB[edit | edit source]
surveyor
MODE TRACKS
F4, 4th TAB, Track mode Tools
COM TRACK SPLINE FILTER
T
COM TRACK OBJECT FILTER
Y
COM TRACK TRACKMARK FILTER
V
COM TRACK NAME MINUS
-
COM TRACK NAME PLUS
+
COM TRACK ADD
A
COM TRACK MOVE
M
COM TRACK ROTATE
R
COM TRACK GET
G
COM TRACK DELETE
D
COM TRACK STRAIGHTEN
B
COM TRACK TOGGLE JUNCTION
J
COM TRACK RENAMING STUFF
N
COM TRACK SPLIT
Q
COM TRACK SPLINE HEIGHT
T+H
COM TRACK SPLINE REMOVE
T+X
COM TRACK SPLINE INSERT
T+I
COM TRACK SPLINE SMOOTH
T+S
COM TRACK GET GRADIENT
T+J
COM TRACK APPLY GRADIENT
T+K
COM TRACK GET CURVE
T+L
Section VII World Tools TAB or Layers TAB[edit | edit source]
F6 World Tools TAB and menus Trainz 1.3–TS2009, Since then, 6th TAB down or 2nd from Bottom now selects 'LAYERS Tool Menu and Tab' from TS10 and up. The rarely neededWorld Tools (of the Hotkeys below) have been moved into the Surveyor options menu.
F6, 2nd from Bottom TAB - The World Tools TAB and menus
MODE WORLD
F6 Opens World Tools TAB and menus
COM WORLD CLOCK ADD
A
COM WORLD CLOCK MOVE
M
COM WORLD CLOCK DELETE
D
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_RED_MINUS
SHFT+-
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_RED_PLUS
SHFT++
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_GREEN_MINUS
CTRL+-
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_GREEN_PLUS
CTRL++
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_BLUE_MINUS
ALT+-
COM_WORLD_CLOCK_BLUE_PLUS
ALT++
COM WORLD CLOCK MINUS
-
COM WORLD CLOCK PLUS
+
COM WORLD WEATHER MINUS
[
COM WORLD WEATHER PLUS
]
COM WORLD ENVIRONMENT MINUS
CTRL+[
COM WORLD ENVIRONMENT PLUS
CTRL+]
COM WORLD ORIGIN ADD
O
COM WORLD ORIGIN FIND
F
COM WORLD ORIGIN EDIT
E
Section VII Camera's and Rulers Tools TAB[edit | edit source]
MODE TOOLS
F5
COM TOOLS PLACE CAMERA
A
COM TOOLS MOVE CAMERA
M
COM TOOLS DELETE CAMERA
D
COM TOOLS PLACE RULER
R
COM TOOLS MOVE RULER
T
COM TOOLS DELETE RULER
Y
COM TOOLS PASTE HEIGHT
S
COM TOOLS PASTE ROTATION MINUS
[
COM TOOLS PASTE ROTATION PLUS
]
COM TOOLS PASTE HEIGHT RELATIVE
L
COM TOOLS SELECT BOX
B
COM TOOLS COPY PASTE
P
COM TOOLS CANCEL SELECTION
X
Section VIII Trains and Consists tools TAB[edit | edit source]
Traincar and Consists Mode Tab and Tools
MODE TRAINS
F7, 7th and Last/bottom Tab
COM TRAIN FILTER
T
COM CONSIST FILTER
C
COM TRAIN NAME MINUS
-
COM TRAIN NAME PLUS
+
COM TRAIN ADD
A
COM TRAIN MOVE
M
COM TRAIN ROTATE
R
COM TRAIN GET
G
COM TRAIN DELETE
D
COM TRAIN PROPERTIES
P
COM TRAIN CHANGE HEADING
H
COM TRAIN DECOUPLE
X
CMD QUICK DRIVE
CTRL+F2
A full table of Surveyor Hotkeys using the Trainz command line tag titles as they occur in the ..\Settings folder of the Trainz installation is in the appendix here.