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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 21/02/2024 at 20:48 #155439
bugsy
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As the title says, I've got 13 trains (one of which is at Adwick Jn.), are held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station and every few minutes the driver of one of them calls complaining and every time I give them the same answer "wait 15 minutes, etc. etc"

It would be helpful if I could just tell every driver to wait for a proceed aspect and to stop pestering me. Ok, perhaps not the last bit 😅

Has something like this been suggested before and is it even possible? I suppose it might be quite complicated and you guys (the Devs) have probably already got enough to do.

Thought that I'd ask anyway.
.....


Edit: Just as a matter of interest, I've barely got to grips with the previous points failure an hour or so ago.

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Last edited: 21/02/2024 at 20:50 by bugsy
Reason: Added text

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 21/02/2024 at 21:07 #155441
i26
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F2 > Right click on train > Incident Options > Pause. Yes you have to unpause when the failure is cleared but it stops the calls.

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 03:48 #155445
flabberdacks
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The answer has always been 'no' for a variety of reasons. I think I first asked the question perhaps 11 years ago, and I wasn't the first by any means.

You can get through the standing at signal calls rapidly by using 'A' to answer the next call in the queue and then arrow keys->enter to tell them to call back later. Just don't go too quickly, lest you miss a call relating to something else.

Last edited: 22/02/2024 at 03:49 by flabberdacks
Reason: None given

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 13:37 #155451
bugsy
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Thanks for your answers guys.
your suggestions are much appreciated

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 13:43 #155452
Giantray
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[quote=bugsy;post=155439]It would be helpful if I could just tell every driver to wait for a proceed aspect and to stop pestering me. Ok, perhaps not the last bit 😅


The phones are a test of a Signaller's patience and calmness in dealing with failures. I have worked very busy locations with over 50 trains on my patch at a time. During failures, the GSM-R, prior to that CSR and SPTs are constantly ringing in from Drivers. On top of that during a failure, you would be getting calls from station staff, Mobile Ops Managers, S&T and other on track staff, plus Controls etc. I would often have two or three calls going on at a time. And you couldn't ignore a phone call because any call could be an emergency/urgent call. By telling a driver to wait for a change of aspect, they will still ring in if nothing has happened fo a while, a lot of the time, less than 15 minutes that Simsig allows. Part of the rule book requirement is to remind the signaller they are waiting and also they will want updated info to pass onto their passengers.

I often wished there was a way to stop the phone calls, but in real life there isn't.

Professionalism mean nothing around a bunch of Amateur wannabees!
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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 13:48 #155453
bugsy
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Giantray in post 155452 said:
[quote=bugsy;post=155439]It would be helpful if I could just tell every driver to wait for a proceed aspect and to stop pestering me. Ok, perhaps not the last bit 😅


The phones are a test of a Signaller's patience and calmness in dealing with failures. I have worked very busy locations with over 50 trains on my patch at a time. During failures, the GSM-R, prior to that CSR and SPTs are constantly ringing in from Drivers. On top of that during a failure, you would be getting calls from station staff, Mobile Ops Managers, S&T and other on track staff, plus Controls etc. I would often have two or three calls going on at a time. And you couldn't ignore a phone call because any call could be an emergency/urgent call. By telling a driver to wait for a change of aspect, they will still ring in if nothing has happened fo a while, a lot of the time, less than 15 minutes that Simsig allows. Part of the rule book requirement is to remind the signaller they are waiting and also they will want updated info to pass onto their passengers.

I often wished there was a way to stop the phone calls, but in real life there isn't.
Interesting points (pun intended). I shall bear them in mind

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 13:53 #155454
JamesN
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You've managed to get all those points failed simultaneously? Talk about bad luck!

A couple of observations that may reduce things a little, albeit some are only with hindsight.

The only thing stopping 1W42 departing D281 > via 'W' > D307 is 1J43. If you'd held it back a couple signals further back then you'd have pathways to run 1W42, then 1J43, then 2P06.

Similar story with 4R79 - sometimes the better course of action is to take a step back and keep things further away than snarl up a busy station with lots of conflicting moves, hold the train back on WS2 or even at Bridge Jn until it was past departure time from Doncaster Station.

If a route won't clear, don't leave it set - it will be locking up other points/routes that you may be able to use.

Last edited: 22/02/2024 at 13:54 by JamesN
Reason: None given

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 16:48 #155456
lazzer
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Related to this issue is something I do when playing any timetables dated before when GSM-R came into use. As it was rolled out over a several-year period, I usually take 2011 to be date I use (as that's when it came into use on my region).

When I'm playing a timetable before 2011, I disable the "Train waiting at red signal" message in the F3 pop-up. This stops the continually-annoying notifications that signify drivers have arrived at red signals, and have pressed the SG button. Obviously, I keep the "Train still waiting at red signal" message activated, as the delay between the train arriving at the signal and me getting a "still waiting" phone call from the driver simulates the time it takes for the poor sod to have to get out of the cab and walk to the SPT - something I haven't done in 13 years!

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 22/02/2024 at 20:02 #155462
bugsy
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JamesN in post 155454 said:
You've managed to get all those points failed simultaneously? Talk about bad luck!

A couple of observations that may reduce things a little, albeit some are only with hindsight.

The only thing stopping 1W42 departing D281 > via 'W' > D307 is 1J43. If you'd held it back a couple signals further back then you'd have pathways to run 1W42, then 1J43, then 2P06.

Similar story with 4R79 - sometimes the better course of action is to take a step back and keep things further away than snarl up a busy station with lots of conflicting moves, hold the train back on WS2 or even at Bridge Jn until it was past departure time from Doncaster Station.

If a route won't clear, don't leave it set - it will be locking up other points/routes that you may be able to use.
You're right of coarse. I remember letting those trains travel too far.
The points failure has cleared now so I'm trying to clear the backlog as best I can.

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 12:58 #155472
Joe S
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Hi Bugsy - if you have it, would it be possible to post the save game at all? I'm up for some carnage and fixing it... or having a go, anyway.

Cheers,
Joe

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 16:35 #155473
bugsy
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Joe S in post 155472 said:
Hi Bugsy - if you have it, would it be possible to post the save game at all? I'm up for some carnage and fixing it... or having a go, anyway.

Cheers,
Joe
High Joe. Please bear with me. I'm struggling to find a save just before the points failure.
As soon as I do, I'll post a save for you

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 17:06 #155474
mfloyd
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Bugsy, you need a save just after it occurs not before as it may not happen again, it may select a different random failure
Ripley, Derbyshire
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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 17:47 #155475
bugsy
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mfloyd in post 155474 said:
Bugsy, you need a save just after it occurs not before as it may not happen again, it may select a different random failure
I've just found that out. Fortunately, I did a manual save at 10:22:27 and it's all going haywire.
I'll post it for Joe

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 17:50 #155476
bugsy
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bugsy in post 155473 said:
Joe S in post 155472 said:
Hi Bugsy - if you have it, would it be possible to post the save game at all? I'm up for some carnage and fixing it... or having a go, anyway.

Cheers,
Joe
High Joe. Please bear with me. I'm struggling to find a save just before the points failure.
As soon as I do, I'll post a save for you :)
Here you are Joe. Have fun. By the way, the sim time is 10:22:16 as you can see. That last time I gave was the time that I actually save the game.

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13 trains (so far) held up by a points failure at Doncaster Station 24/02/2024 at 18:02 #155477
Joe S
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Lovely, cheers!
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