Learn how to use Train Simulator Classic LogMate to capture errors, trace missing assets and diagnose crashes, broken scenarios and faulty add-ons.
LogMate is Train Simulator Classic’s built-in diagnostic logging tool. Run LogMate.exe from the game’s RailWorks installation folder, leave it open, then reproduce the fault. It displays warnings and errors from the simulator, helping you identify missing assets, broken scenarios, script failures and the content loaded immediately before a crash.
How do I run LogMate?
Start LogMate before reproducing the problem so that it can capture the relevant part of the simulator session.
- Close Train Simulator Classic. Beginning with a clean session makes the output much easier to interpret.
- Open the installation folder. In Steam, open Train Simulator Classic’s local files. This takes you to the main
RailWorksfolder. - Run
LogMate.exe. Leave its diagnostic window open. If it launches the simulator automatically on your installation, use that instance rather than opening a second copy; otherwise start Train Simulator Classic normally. - Reproduce one fault. Load the affected route or scenario and repeat the exact action that causes the error. Avoid testing several unrelated scenarios in the same session.
- Return to LogMate. Record the first relevant error and the lines around it. The final message is not necessarily the original cause.
- Repeat after making one change. Close and reopen LogMate for a clean comparison, then test the same route, train and scenario again.
If the simulator cannot reach its menus, start LogMate first and then attempt a normal launch. When that produces no useful evidence, work through our startup-failure checks for Train Simulator Classic instead.
How do I read LogMate errors?
The most useful entry is usually the first new failure that names a file, blueprint, provider, product, vehicle or scenario component.
| Message or clue | Likely meaning | What to check |
|---|---|---|
Failed to load, not found, or an incomplete asset path | A required asset is absent, damaged or installed under the wrong folder structure. | Read the provider and product names in the Assets\Provider\Product\... path. |
| Vehicle, consist or scenario blueprint failure | The scenario references missing rolling stock, a damaged consist or an invalid blueprint. | Test another scenario on the same route to separate a scenario fault from a route fault. |
| Texture, geometry or blueprint parsing error | An add-on may be incomplete, incorrectly packaged or corrupt. | Reinstall only the named content and clear the simulator’s cache before retesting. |
| Script or Lua-related error | A locomotive, signal or other scripted asset has failed to initialise or execute correctly. | Check dependencies and whether the fault occurs with that asset in every scenario. |
| Explicit allocation or memory failure | The selected executable or available memory may be unsuitable for a complex route or scenario. | Use the 64-bit executable where the content supports it, then reduce complexity and retest. |
A flood of messages after the first failure is often a cascade. For example, one missing vehicle blueprint can generate later consist, driver and scenario errors. Fix the earliest specific failure before chasing every line below it.
Warnings are not automatically fatal. Train Simulator Classic and older add-ons can produce non-critical diagnostic messages during successful sessions. Compare the failing case with a working scenario and concentrate on entries that appear exactly when loading stops, an object disappears or the simulator closes.
What should I do when LogMate reports a missing asset?
Use the reported path to identify the asset’s provider and product, then determine whether it belongs to core content, DLC or a separately installed add-on.
- For core files or Steam-supplied content, verify the installed game files and confirm that the relevant DLC is enabled.
- If owned content remains absent from the simulator, follow these checks for DLC that is installed but not appearing.
- For an
.rwpor manually added package, check its folder structure and use our guidance on installing and managing packages with Utilities. - Clear Train Simulator Classic’s cache after repairing or replacing assets, restart it, and repeat the same LogMate test.
The asset path identifies what the simulator attempted to load; it does not tell you which package originally supplied that file. A mistake we see constantly is installing a reskin without its required base locomotive. Reinstalling the reskin alone cannot supply the missing model, cab or sounds.
How can I tell whether the route or scenario is broken?
If other scenarios on the same route work, the fault is probably tied to the failing scenario, its consist or its additional rolling-stock dependencies.
Test the route with known-working stock, then test the suspect train elsewhere. This separates route assets from scenario and vehicle problems without making several changes at once. Before editing the original, use the controlled scenario testing and editing steps to make a copy and preserve the working data.
Why is LogMate blank or inconclusive?
A blank or unhelpful LogMate window usually means it was started too late, the failure occurred outside the simulator’s logging system, or Windows prevented the two processes from communicating normally.
- Launch LogMate before Train Simulator Classic and reproduce the fault from a fresh session.
- Run LogMate and the simulator at the same Windows privilege level rather than starting only one as administrator.
- Make sure the content is actually loaded; an asset cannot generate a loading error while it remains unused in the menu.
- Do not expect a clear asset name after every crash. Graphics-driver resets, operating-system faults, abrupt process termination and some memory failures may leave only secondary messages or no final entry.
LogMate does not repair files or prove that its last line caused the crash. Treat it as a way to narrow the search: isolate the first meaningful error, change one variable, and reproduce the same test.