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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle

You are here: Home > Forum > Simulations > Released > Brighton > Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 21:09 #55240
Chris Playll
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Since the Brighton Sim does not have any scenarios, I am not sure what level of failures to expect. The only failure that I have come across is when I lower the Keymer level crossing barriers but, when I click "clear", I get the message "Crossing blocked by road vehicle".

On the first occasion the problem disappeared after about 15 minutes and I was able to recover the situation. On the next occasion the the problem lasted for over 2 hours. Since I was unable to move the train for Lewes, I continued, as best I could, to see what happened, but eventually I had a queue of 15 trains from Keymer junction back to Balcombe and no London bound trains left at Brighton. At this point I gave up the simulation and went back to a an earlier saved version. Are such long failures an intended feature of this simulation?

In real life I assume that the signaller would have information via CCTV or another source about the seriousness and likely duration of the blockage and could decide the appropriate action. In the event of a serious blockage I assume that the best plan would be to cancel all the dividing and joining train operations at Haywards Heath, cancel all trains on the Keymer to Lewes line and advise passengers for Lewes to travel via Brighton.

In Simsig information about the predicted length of failure does not seem to be available, so I am not sure how long to wait before starting to edit the timetable. What is the best way to deal with this situation?

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 21:11 #55241
Peter Bennet
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It's not a failure, it's in lieu of the CCTV and you seeing the crossing is occupied, you just raise the barriers and start again.

See WIKI

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
Last edited: 08/02/2014 at 21:13 by Peter Bennet
Reason: Added WIKI

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 21:12 #55242
UKTrainMan
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When this happens, what you need to do is cancel any routes set over the Level Crossing, click the "RAISE" (sometimes "RAI"button to raise the barriers so as to release the trapped vehicle, then recall (re-set) the route(s) over the crossing and lower ("LOWER" / "LWR"the barriers again.



Addendum: Post being typed out before 'Peter Bennet' had posted.

This video on YouTube is a prime example of the problem you've just experienced, and also quite effectively shows you what you basically need to do to resolve it too.

Side Note: Those barriers in that video came down again rather quickly after the crossing was cleared; is SimSig accurate in how long it takes to re-lower them?

Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for.
Last edited: 08/02/2014 at 21:39 by UKTrainMan
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 21:12 #55243
SPADmad
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I'm assuming that you raised the barriers breifly, then re-lowered them to allow the vehicle to get off the crossing?
Thats what I do and ive never had a problem like urs at keymer (or anywhere)

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 23:04 #55246
Chris Playll
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Thanks for the help. I had tried to raise the barriers, but could not do so as I had not realised that I needed to cancel the route first. I have just reloaded my saved simulation and it all works OK.
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 23:18 #55250
JamesN
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I don't set the route over the crossing until I get crossing clear - a) so I don't have to pull up if it is blocked, and b) incase the route clears (highly unlikely) without the barriers being lowered.
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 23:43 #55254
Stephen Fulcher
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Tim,

The SimSig crossing lowering sequence is a little slow, but not by as much as you might think.

Whilst it is true that the barriers come down quickly, you have to remember that they are only part of the system, first you have the yellow road light and then the flashing red road lights before the barriers will start to lower.

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 08/02/2014 at 23:50 #55256
UKTrainMan
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" said:
Tim,

The SimSig crossing lowering sequence is a little slow, but not by as much as you might think.

Whilst it is true that the barriers come down quickly, you have to remember that they are only part of the system, first you have the yellow road light and then the flashing red road lights before the barriers will start to lower.
What I'm talking about/referring to is the raising and re-lowering of barriers. In that video linked to, it does seem to me to happen awfully quickly - and by my judgement quicker than it seems to be happening in SimSig currently?

Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for.
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 00:07 #55257
Stephen Fulcher
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I see what you mean.

That is quicker than SimSig would allow, but is perfectly safe.

What I suspect happened here is that as soon as the Signaller got the up indication he hit the lower button again, which would start the lights going straight away and down they would come.

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 00:38 #55260
AndyG
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" said:
I see what you mean.

That is quicker than SimSig would allow, but is perfectly safe.

What I suspect happened here is that as soon as the Signaller got the up indication he hit the lower button again, which would start the lights going straight away and down they would come.
IRL, can the barriers be raised/lowered without stopping the red wig-wags, in other words, the barriers can be lowered as soon as the signaller operates the lower button?

I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 00:55 #55263
headshot119
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Andy depending how far you to have to raise the barriers depends whether you kill the wig wags off.

I've certainly raised barriers just far enough to let a group of rather stupid pedestrians out, then dropped them straight away.

In Simsig it's not as easy to replicate that.

"Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 01:27 #55265
Stephen Fulcher
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The short answer is yes, but the long answer is a little more complicated.

The cancellation of the alarms and lights is controlled by a circuit controller band within the barrier machine. Once the barriers reach a certain angle the band will make and the HER relay will pick up killing the alarms and lights.

The angle of the barriers for this to happen is dependent on the age of the installation. The older installations I have worked on they cut out at 45 degrees, but in some modern ones they have to be almost fully raised.

In the case shown in this video, the red lights would have almost certainly cut out as the barriers are almost vertical when they stop.

If the lights are still flashing, the barriers would lower immediately on demand from the box, if they are not, then the whole sequence would have to start again, whatever the position of the barriers, although if they were part-way up but the lights had gone out it would not be necessary to raise before lower.

As for SimSig, the most useful thing I can say here is that the level crossing system is a simulation that is NEVER going to be totally accurate, no matter how hard Geoff and his team try. There are no CCTV monitors in the sims, with the countless thousands of images of each unique crossing that would be required to be accurate. In its present form, it is more than adequate for the purpose it serves, and there is little value in changing it substantially.

I would argue in fact that the number of vehicles that are stuck on crossings in SimSig, rare as it is, is still disproportionately high, but that is also irrelevant to this discussion as there is value in retaining such features.

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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 08:17 #55272
clive
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The level crossing code uses typical timings with a bit of random variation (for example, to simulate waiting for a short queue of cars to go through). But it's based on the full cycle each time, not half-raising then lowering again.
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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 08:19 #55273
clive
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" said:


As for SimSig, the most useful thing I can say here is that the level crossing system is a simulation that is NEVER going to be totally accurate, no matter how hard Geoff and his team try. There are no CCTV monitors in the sims, with the countless thousands of images of each unique crossing that would be required to be accurate.
Perhaps we could do what's done at Hornby Junction.


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Keymer level crossing blocked by road vehicle 09/02/2014 at 19:41 #55313
mfcooper
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It also depends on the Level Crossing.

At Mitcham Eastfields, pressing the "Up" button will fully raise the barriers and the lights will stop flashing (if the interlocking will allow the barriers to raise). You have to re-start the sequence from the beginning to re-lower the barriers.

We have no option to part-raise the barriers.

Last edited: 09/02/2014 at 19:42 by mfcooper
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