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Where to start

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Where to start 08/09/2010 at 21:09 #1729
headshot119
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I wish to make a 2010 summer timetable for either Exeter or Bristol as those are my favorite sims. Where is the best place to start, and where can you find information like the WTT to start?
"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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Where to start 08/09/2010 at 21:09 #11326
headshot119
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4869 posts
I wish to make a 2010 summer timetable for either Exeter or Bristol as those are my favorite sims. Where is the best place to start, and where can you find information like the WTT to start?
"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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Where to start 08/09/2010 at 21:38 #11327
Peter Bennet
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5360 posts
You can sometimes pick up old WTTs at preserved railways also Kurt is/was the keeper of the RCTS collection. Failing that you can use the public timetable but you would have to invent ECS and freight- as long as it's advertised as semi-fictional it should be OK.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Where to start 09/09/2010 at 07:24 #11328
Noisynoel
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989 posts
If it's your first time writing a timetable I would suggest avoiding Bristol until you've got your feet under the table. A good place to start with timetabling is th Gloucester sim.
Other than that good luck & feel free to asdk if you need any help.

Noisynoel
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Where to start 09/09/2010 at 10:59 #11329
GeoffM
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6282 posts
Most of mine I've picked up from model railway exhibitions and the like. I've also had a couple off eBay. Agreed that Bristol is not one to start your first timetable on.
SimSig Boss
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Where to start 09/09/2010 at 14:30 #11331
headshot119
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4869 posts
Thanks for all the help guys, I'm going to start with Exeter, and see where things go.

What are the compulsory timing points for Exeter?

"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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Where to start 10/09/2010 at 20:30 #11368
bill_gensheet
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For a current sim, yes a public timetable is a good start especially as they can now be printed out, you may need a couple of copies.
For freight you have Freightmaster books.
That just leaves ECS, and you may well be able to pick up some or all of those from the stock diagrams on the internet or in the regional / unit gen groups on Yahoo etc. They are also a good source of additional trains and charter timings
They would also be good placs to ask questions and (moderator/group policy permitting) let the users know about the timetable / SimSig once it works as a return for the information you've collected.

Bill

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Where to start 10/09/2010 at 21:43 #11370
Tristan
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60 posts
The compulsary timing points for exeter are as follows.
From Left to Right:

Ivybridge
Totnes
Newton Abbot
Paignton
Dawlish Warren
Honiton
Exmouth
Topsham
Exmouth jn
Exeter Central
Exeter st Davids
Cowley Bridge Jn
Crediton
Eggesford
Barnstaple
Tiverton Parkway or Tiverton Jn
Taunton
Cogload Jn
Bridgewater
Castle Cary

I hope this is what you are looking for.
On another note the stoppers in this Sim are captive so will not leave the sim,
and the single line means that lots of attention is required when producing the local services.
Bellieve me I have built my own fictional Exeter TT and it can get quite complex, but it is very rewarding when somthing nearing the finished article is produced.

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Where to start 11/09/2010 at 09:32 #11380
58050
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I tend to think that the first question to ask yourself is what era or year you first want to do. The older the year the more difficult it is to get what you need to make the timetable for the relevant sim as accurate as possible. Yes the easiest way to start is with a public timetable, however 'Train I.D.' are missing from this publication & would then either need the Passenger & Parcels Train Service Working Timetable to obtain the indivifual train headcodes. I myself at present haave approx. 6 different timetables being written & subject to what various publications I am able to get hold of determine how far I can get the timetable finished. Somethings are easier to obtain than others. For freight train services not only do you need the relevant WTT doe the area concerned, but there are alot of additional trains that run regularly that don't appear in WTTs. These being trip services. Trip Services cover alot of various workings & these are more dominant in timetables written for the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s & 1990s. Without having a freight WTT, then as someone has posted earlier Freightmasters is a good publication to start with. One timetable I am currently writing is a timetable for Westbury based between 1993-1994, the main reason for this is that I have a complete set of Trainload Freight & a train Service Guide for RES services for those years which give individual details of the formation of each train & associated Empty AStock moves. I also have the complete set of Freight Train WTTs for the whole of the Western Region from 194-1995. The passenger & parcels ones have been ordered & will arrive shortly. Trip Notices are exetremely hard to obtain. In over 20 years in the sphere of railway operations I have only ever been able to get hold of about 7 copies of this notices & one of those I lost some years ago. The latest 2 were Birmingham Division which vover Banbiry, Bescot, Coventry, King's Norton, Tyseley, Saltley, Stourbridge, Nuneaton areas. One copy was dated May, 1977 & the other copy dated October, 1980. As werllas these I got several amsendments to other Trip Notices dating between 1973 & 1983. I managed to get these from a good friend who was a Bescot driver who retired about a month ago, otherwise he was going to give them away to someone else. Glas I stopped him & he gave them to me. The Notices five timings for all the Cl.08 shunters working in the area as well as the local trip engines & also all the coal trip workings. The important thing to realise about all the trains in the trip notice is that they DO NOT appear in the WTTs. So without them you have the potential of missing about a dozen or more trains. However that is subject to how accurate you want to make the timetable. Also for additional information for trains that are classified as excursions or other special workings which occur occasionally then the best place to ge that information is from websites like 'The Chesterfield Observor' which I used when writing the Dheffield 1983-1984 timetable & other similar sites or by 'Special Traffic Notices'. However these will not give you details of the 'Royal Train' working which I tend to avoid in my timetables as it is quite complicated with all the additional workings that are associated with it.
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Where to start 11/09/2010 at 11:50 #11384
sloppyjag
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480 posts
If you are using current public timetables headcode/train description information can be found using the Traveline site. This also details booked platforms at stations which gives an idea of what the next workings of terminating trains are.
Planotransitophobic!
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Where to start 11/09/2010 at 17:57 #11390
postal
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5190 posts
You also need to bear in mind that the times in the public domain often differ by one or two minutes from the times in the WTT. This can mean that you have a pathing conflict using the public times although it all fits using the WTT. You may need to tinker with the times a little if you are using the public book.
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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Where to start 26/10/2010 at 10:49 #12152
headshot119
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4869 posts
Well I managed to break my arm, so making a TT is a good way to pass the time.

Anyway a couple of questions.

1) Why can't your terminate a train at St James Park? I get errors about non sensible place to start/end.
2) Why when I duplicate a service that starts or ends at St James Park does the new service have an odd calling pattern?

"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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Where to start 26/10/2010 at 12:25 #12155
Peter Bennet
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5360 posts
I suspect that that station is not a KEY LOCATION for sim purposes. I'll not bore you with the details save to say that certain timetable locations are KEY- generally main stations where activities are expected or Junctions or mandatory timing point in the real WTT (latter not strictly necessary for Sim purposes).

If it's not coded as a Key Location then undertaking the activity will be difficult.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Where to start 26/10/2010 at 22:40 #12171
UKTrainMan
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headshot119 said:
Well I managed to break my arm, so making a TT is a good way to pass the time.
Nice...or maybe not.

headshot119 said:

Anyway a couple of questions.

1) Why can't your terminate a train at St James Park? I get errors about non sensible place to start/end.
2) Why when I duplicate a service that starts or ends at St James Park does the new service have an odd calling pattern?
Regarding #1;

As far as I remember from what I've either read or been told about the TT analysis, it's not definitive(?). On a certain KingsX timetable I've run through the analyser, it complains about a train that terminates at Hornsey to form an ECS working carrying on along the same line, whilst the analyser does throw up a question about this activity, it isn't a problem whilst running through the timetable in-game.

That said, having had a look at St James Park as a location, I note that there are only shunt signals in the opposite directions. Signalling rules state that trains in passenger service cannot be signalled via shunt signals due to the reduced overlap, so turning trains around at St James Park would require the train to form an ECS service to reverse somewhere outside of the station and return to the other platform to form the new service. Of-course there is nothing stopping the terminating train forming an ECS working to go elsewhere, but terminating in the same platform to form a new passenger-carrying service (a Class 1 or Class 2) wouldn't be permitted under signalling rules, for the reason as already stated.


Regarding #2;

Could you elaborate further? What exactly changes? Would you consider taking and posting screenshots?

Cheers.

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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Where to start 27/10/2010 at 07:19 #12176
Peter Bennet
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5360 posts
Have now checked the data for Exeter and KX and it is as I said because both locations are not a KEY locations.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Where to start 27/10/2010 at 08:20 #12177
Noisynoel
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989 posts
Headshot,
As Peter says, St James' Park is not a key location. There are two options with these trains, firstly, show the trains going to James' Pk and the next working from there. Te train does actually run but usually requires the interention of F2 to get it to do what you want, alternativly,and this is what I've done, just show the passenger Train terminating/starting at Exmouth JN (Rev) instead, and using that as the location for your next train working. Whilst not 100% correct, it will work without issue and won't throw any error up.

Noisynoel
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Where to start 27/10/2010 at 21:22 #12196
headshot119
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Thanks guys, I've just terminated the workings at Exeter Central to reverse via the CE siding past St James, TT is progressing well with all the branch trains now done
"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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