"...for following train to pass"

You are here: Home > Forum > Wishlist > Features wish list > "...for following train to pass"

Page 1 of 1

"...for following train to pass" 11/05/2015 at 09:15 #72075
kbarber
Avatar
1712 posts 		Apologies if I'm mistaken in the way Simsig works. What I'm interested in is sidings etc that are also exit points.

If I understand it correctly, a train entering a siding that has further locations in its timetable will remain in the sim. But if there's no further locations it will exit the sim. Also, if a train needs to be put into an untimetabled location, it needs to be told to abandon timetable - but at that point it enters the siding with no further location and therefore exits.

So my suggestion is a 'Shunt to clear the line' feature.

There would be two additional F2 features - 'Shunt clear in forward direction' and 'Shunt clear in reverse direction' (or similar). They would be used when the train phoned in from a red signal where it was to be recessed.

Using 'forward direction', the train would keep its timetable but be enabled to move off its expected route. On arriving in clear at an exit location it would reverse its direction and wait to be signalled back out. (A refinement would be to have it phone at intervals - 30 minutes or so? There might also be a reply option of 'Wait until {TIME} before phoning back.) It would remember the track circuit it had been standing on when it was instructed to shunt into the siding. On being signalled back out, it would return to that track circuit, then reverse direction again and wait for the normal signal to clear, then resume its interrupted journey in the normal manner.

Using 'reverse direction', the train would again keep its timetable throughout. On being instructed it would reverse its direction and wait for the signal to set back into the siding, then on arrival it would reverse direction again and wait for the signal to leave and resume its journey. Again, there could be suitable phone calls.

This feature would be particularly suitable for on-track machines (see my 'Cannot be relied upon...' feature request) that needed to be regulated from recess point to recess point as it would be extremely difficult to find a path all the way through (and would become impossible in the case of any disruption at all). It could also be used for ordinary freight trains in case of disruption. (Of course it's all the more appliccable to older-style operations - both Euston and Stafford have essentially 1960s layouts, so it's not impossible we might see operations of those eras at some point.)

F2 is reasonably authentic in this scenario - it replicates the signalman instructing the driver (this kind of thing would normally be arranged 'on the fly' and the driver wouldn't know he was going to be recessed before arriving).
Log in to reply
"...for following train to pass" 11/05/2015 at 12:12 #72086
Peter Bennet
Avatar
5362 posts 		" said:
Apologies if I'm mistaken in the way Simsig works. What I'm interested in is sidings etc that are also exit points.

If I understand it correctly, a train entering a siding that has further locations in its timetable will remain in the sim. But if there's no further locations it will exit the sim. Also, if a train needs to be put into an untimetabled location, it needs to be told to abandon timetable - but at that point it enters the siding with no further location and therefore exits.
Just to explain (other Developers may do it differently). Generally where there is a single siding the siding is not an exit point and a train will go in and sit tehre till something happens. If it's multiple sidings then generally the train will drive in and fall-off the sim. The reasons for that should be obvious (you would block access otherwise).

What can be done though is to set the line as a reversing point as well as an exit, so a train can be timetabled to reverse and stay in-sim. This does require the train to be shorter than the length of the siding TC as otherwise if it hits the end of the TC it will fall off (note: untested for the purposes of this note but it's my recollection of what will happen).

But if you do that then you remain with the situation of potentially blocking up the line while the train is sat there.

An example of where this happens is at Peterborough yard and locos that reverse into the depot. When the sim was initially released all these locos had to fall-off into the yard and then re-enter to access the depot. I added a reverse point as described above to make it simpler.

Hope that helps.

Peter
I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
Log in to reply
"...for following train to pass" 11/05/2015 at 15:19 #72089
kbarber
Avatar
1712 posts 		Thanks Peter, so that would require someone to ensure the TC length was greater than the longest train that would need it. Are siding TC lengths authentic? (In the sense that they are as long as the sidings are in reality - I know most of the sidings we're talking about here have no TCs in real life.)

Even where there's a single siding or reversing point, I suggest an F2 command that leads to auto reversing once the train is in might be helpful for this kind of manoeuvre.
Log in to reply
"...for following train to pass" 11/05/2015 at 17:03 #72090
Peter Bennet
Avatar
5362 posts 		" said:
Thanks Peter, so that would require someone to ensure the TC length was greater than the longest train that would need it. Are siding TC lengths authentic? (In the sense that they are as long as the sidings are in reality - I know most of the sidings we're talking about here have no TCs in real life.)

Even where there's a single siding or reversing point, I suggest an F2 command that leads to auto reversing once the train is in might be helpful for this kind of manoeuvre.
In my case non-exit sidings should be correct length, otherwise I make them 100m (may vary between Sims or where I forget).

Peter
I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
Log in to reply
Back