Signals..when Removing Them From The Hud

Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere.. had a scout but didn’t see them..

For added realism, I’m considering not having upcoming signals in the HUD.

We know GREEN = go as fast as you like up to the limit.
Double yellow.. possible yellow to follow .. keep current speed
Single yellow… possible red to follow. Drive at reduced speed…

How do you know how far it is to the next signal? Safety systems only give you a couple of hundred yards notice.

Given that some signals are ‘miles apart’ and others just yards apart, how can you ever run to a timetable if you’re always running a vastly reduced speed if you get a succession of yellows as you presumably always have to be ‘ready to stop’ when there are or can be large gaps between signals?

Until you see it, you don’t know what aspect a signal is .. just unsure how a real driver deals with this. Wouldn’t it be impossible to memorise the location of every signal on a route?

 

Route learning is the key in the UK and the way the safety systems work demands that. Drivers are "signed" for specific routes and can only drive solo once signed off for a particular route. So be prepared for running a few routes time and time again lol. In contrast German safety systems are less about route learning and more about handling the more complex safety systems

 

You can turn off the signal aspects without turning off the signal locations, which is what I use. It's down to route knowledge to know at least the approximate locations of the signals. Signals are always going to be placed at braking distance that is suitable for the line speed. Always start braking as soon as you see the double yellow, I doubt there is anywhere with the signal spacing to allow you to stop from full speed from a single yellow (especially if the line speed is 125mph).

 

It is possible to memorise signal locations along a route and it is what real drivers do and it's why they take so long to train.

In TSW, turning off 'Next Signal Aspect' should help. Instead of showing the colour of the signal, it shows a grey circle at the signal's location so you know how far away the next signal is but you will only know its aspect when the signal is close enough to be seen.

Since we can't see signal aspects until we're quite close, we should expect the most restrictive aspect until we learn otherwise (yellow follows a double yellow, for example). "If this causes late running, so be it."

Timetables are normally set to minimise adverse aspects, but in the event that they can't they'll have some catch-up time built in. I think these are called 'Performance Allowances' but I'm not quite sure. There are also other allowances in a good timetable that allows the driver to catch up if they're delayed.

 

To add to the above. Lines which are faster will generally have a greater distance between signals - lower speed areas will have signals closer together. In practice, on a mainline at typical line speed, you will usually start slowing at a double-yellow aspect. Not full service yeet-all-passengers-into-the-first-coach levels. More a case of beginning to bleed off a bit of speed in preparation for the next aspect being more restrictive. If the next signal is green - then all good - back up to speed. If double-yellow still, maintain your lesser speed.

After all, they are cautionary aspects for a reason and go a long way to enabling trains to keep moving - rather than running into reds, stopping, starting, rinse and repeat.

 

If you disable "Nearest Signal Aspect" in Settings > Hub & Gameplay, you will only see white dots indicating the signal locations. The distance to the nearest signal is displayed in meters/miles.
Wenn man in den Einstellung > Hub & Gameplay > Nächster Signalaspekt deaktivieren. Dann sieht man nur weise Punkte wo die Signale sind. Die Enfernung zum Nächsten Signal wird in Meter / Mile angegeben.

 

Thanks for your replies guys.. very helpful… no shortcuts just repeat repeat repeat…. Think I’ll just pick a couple to learn and get good at them.. I could see using a low traffic route would be ‘easier’ to learn where there’s no intersecting routes. Ie on the PZ line you’re only ever following the train in front and I’d have thought that if that train was delayed for any serious reason, engine or power failure between long run signals , there’d be a way of notifying the driver through comms.

It’s a bit like learning to fly.. you do the same things over and over until it’s all second nature.

Is there any way to increase or decrease traffic so that you can remove the assumption that next signal is green on a busier service route where there’s a higher % chance that something could go awry? (At the risk of asking a really dumb question given that you’re running timetables). That’s asked taking into account the really helpful answers given!!!

 

Each to their own really - the more you enjoy the route the easier it is to learn. If you live in Dresden, you'll have a better time learning the Dresden routes because you'll have a personal connection. If you can't find a personal connection to the route then you'll have to settle for whichever you enjoy most. YouTube could help with route-learning.

If you're stuck at a red signal for a while (maybe longer than 2 minutes?) you can press the SG button on the GSM-R to ask the signaller what's happening, and they'll respond with text that says wait or contact signaller. If you get the second option then you'll have to reach for the telephone and then you'll be told about the failed train.

You can reduce layers using the layer selector but I don't know how you could tell whether or not you're affecting the service you're about to run. There's also free roam which will give you no traffic, or you could simulate your own traffic by placing a train in front of yours in Scenario Planner.

There are also some threads somewhere on here about awesome TSW service mode runs - have a look at that spreadsheet for challenging services on your route. Alternatively, there's the Chaos runs thread which is full of services that you deliberately make yourself late for so that you get lots of adverse signal aspects.

 

Excellent.. thx

 

I do this too but would prefer without the dots beneath the line. I feel it's like cheating. When chasing yellows, you know how much braking force you have to apply for a smooth stop by the red signal...

 

I’ve had a couple of goes with the signal indicators removed.. it does make the game a fair bit more challenging and with the stopping point also removed, speed / brake judging has gone out the window but sure I’ll get that back. A high speed run from Euston would be really interesting!

 

I used to have the signal aspects turned off but two things scuppered that. The new lighting and the distance the signal light draws in and becomes big enough to discern the aspect. If the signals on routes still had the distance visibility of GWE (possibly soon to be downgraded by the remaster) and other early TSW routes, I would not have signal aspects turned on but now the signals are impossible to discern until a few hundred yards away (very close on German routes with their tiny lamps) on PS5 and therefore I find it impossible to run without the HUD aspects on. It all comes down to a choice between seeing them too early (HUD) or far too late (no HUD) and only one of them is useful. Some later routes are better than others for visibility but many of the ones I play a lot are the really bad ones.

 

The one big thing no game can give you is spatial awareness.. the ability to judge distance and space around us which we do naturally. You make fair points and it’s a trade off but at least it’s playable with HUD on.

 

I personally hate the hud and never use it. To me on of the joys of the game is to learn the routes the hard way, both speed limits and signals. I never save ether so if I mess it up I'll restart. and yes I have spadded at Carlisle after an hour long run and rerun the full lot form the beginning.