PlayStation Purple Tracks On Map

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Bkulesza, Dec 22, 2019.

  1. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    What do the purple bits of track on the map screen mean? I've been playing this game for like 2 years & have no clue what they signify.
     
  2. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    The purple's the direction marker when you hover over the switches isn't it? If you click the switch arrow, it should move to show you the change in direction.
     
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  3. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    No, if you look at any map, without being in-train or near a switch, there are purple patches on the rails on every map.
     
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  4. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    I'd never noticed them before and now I'm wondering the same thing.
     
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  5. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    They are on every map. Someone has to know.
     
  6. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, now I'm wondering! I think it must symbolise some sort of restriction, but I can't see exactly what. I just had a wander around Sunnyside Yard on LIRR. There are three purple sections, two on the bit of track which loops around to the train wash, and one single bit of track to the north.

    The curves have lights at either end (overhead gantry at one end, small ground lights at the other, both in the westward direction out of the loop, but there are no other signs and the section between them isn't purple...
    Train Sim World_20200213215236A.jpg Train Sim World_20200213221857A.jpg Train Sim World_20200213222102A.jpg

    Then the small section at the top of the yard is just a bit of track, again with no signs or obvious restrictions...
    Train Sim World_20200213222307A.jpg Train Sim World_20200213222314A.jpg
    There are also a few examples of these at the ends of branches, including one on RRO.

    Since the orange sections seem to be sidings where trains can be left, I'm wondering if these are specifically areas which should be kept clear, for access perhaps. That top section seems to be the only path through which doesn't have an orange block, so maybe that's the one that's always clear for through traffic when all of the orange sidings could be in use?
     
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  7. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    The RRO example at Wuppertal-Oberbarmen is at the end of the yard where the cranes are loading the containers. Here, the track just ends, but I guess if carriages are being dropped off for loading, it would again make sense for this track to be kept clear so the locos can drive into it and run around to the other end of the line. Makes the purple a sort of No Parking zone?...
    Train Sim World_20200213211627A.jpg Train Sim World_20200213224958A.jpg
     
  8. matthewbguilford

    matthewbguilford Well-Known Member

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    Hmm, I’ve wondered this as well. I know one color means that the line your on is the signaler has reserved it for your train. Also some colors are used for tunnels and underground tunnels If you guys explore on some routes you will find symbols and colors on some maps that were made to be used in the future!
     
  9. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    Some good ideas! I like the no parking zone, I'm going to keep that in the back of my mind.

    Once I finally got my bearings with this game & started using safety systems, I was sure that was going to explain the purple tracks, but that does not seem to be the case.
     
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  10. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    This is just outside of London Paddington:
    PS_Messages_20200215_145539.jpg
     
  11. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    This one is from Peninsula Corridor, I think near the CEMOF building. The sections in purple here are the link tracks for access to the sidings and around to the extra branch off to the right, so it certainly makes sense that they would be no parking zones in this instance. Perhaps in the London example above, there are restrictions to stopping near overhead light gantries to prevent the driver ending up in a position where the lights aren't clearly visible from the cab?

    Train Sim World_20200214220915A.jpg
     
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  12. septafan

    septafan Active Member

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    It’s a purple mark at bay shore station also
     
  13. Mr T

    Mr T Well-Known Member

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    I have a theory about what the purple tracks could mean. They could be tracks that have been manually added by the team, the parts that didn't work when using the cookie cutter for the majority of the tracks. If you look at some of the pictures above they seem to be either extra short / long / weirdly shaped tracks rather than fitting the standard shapes and sizes. It's only a theory and I could be wrong but that's how it looks to me.
     
  14. DTG Matt

    DTG Matt Executive Producer Staff Member

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    The three types of markers are:

    Platforms
    Sidings
    Destinations

    The purple ones in question are the destination markers - these are not necessarily sidings, not necessarily platforms, but notable areas that trains might want/need to stop in, having these makes it easier to author content and allows the UI to say "go to this place" rather than "go to this random marker in the world".

    The ones outside paddington are actually the Royal Oak Carrige Sidings, so in theory perhaps ought to have been yellow but i think the idea is that generally things are not *stored* there, they're used to bring a loco hauled train in, run around it outside of the terminus and then push the coaches back in to the platform as I understand it - so they're a bit more transitory rather than places to rest vehicles like a siding might be expected to be used for.

    Hope that helps

    Matt.
     
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  15. Factor41

    Factor41 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't far off! :)
     
  16. Matto140

    Matto140 Well-Known Member

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    As Matt says, it's destinatoin area where train can stop for operational reason.
    The best example is piece of main track before Laufach at MSB which use banker locos to get out of siding.
     
  17. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    Thank you all for the responses!
     
  18. alexwest1818

    alexwest1818 New Member

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    If you hadn't told me what they meant, I would never have guessed.
     
  19. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    To be honest, they are not used for loco-hauled trains simply because, well, there are no loco hauled services out of Paddington apart from the sleeper train (I’m not counting HSTs as loco hauled). They have the following purposes:

    1. They can act as backing out roads so that you are can do a shunt. E.g. If you’re in platform 2 and you want to get to platform 1, you can go into the backing out road, switch ends and then get back into the station. You can actually access platforms 1-5 from the Royal Oak Sidings.

    2. As well as that, it can act as a stabling point as you say for a short period of time so it isn’t occupying a platform for a considerable length of time especially when you consider in real life London Paddington operates at a frequency of 20 trains per hour in each direction.

    3. (Kind of the same point as 2 but you’re not turning around) It can act as a loop for empty coaching stock coming from the West e.g. depot. Again for the same reason as point 2 so you are not occupying a platform for a considerable amount of time or equally, not blocking the mainline when your platform is still occupied. I.e. Far better to have you in a loop (RoyaL Oak Siding) than have you on Line 1, for example, because you will be blocking other trains from departing and arriving Paddington.

    Here are 2 real life examples that happened today 20/02/2020 (well, one of them was cancelled). The first image is what I described in point 3. The second image is what I described in points 1 and 2.

    BB866DE3-4352-419B-99B5-3ADE6EDE08F8.jpeg E473598E-A177-427E-B4D8-36921FEE19C5.jpeg

    I’ve just checked and the cancelled service should have left off platform 3 and arrived back on platform 1. It would have remained in Royal Oak sidings until the 1728 to Cheltenham left and then would arrive into platform 1 at 1733.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
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  20. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    Olaf, thank you so much for that explanation!

    I had posted about this subject in another thread asking about the two parallel purple lines on TVL map. They are located just below the turntable in the freight yard, bottom left corner.
    I'm inclined to think that they signify something different in this instance, since this is the main line. Perhaps you'd have some insight on that?
     
  21. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    PS_Messages_20200221_181003.jpg This is the place on TVL I'm referring to.
     
  22. stujoy

    stujoy Well-Known Member

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    They are just for TSW programming purposes and have no special purpose in real life. They are just standard sections of the track. They are only purple because TSW programmers have placed a potential waypoint there for objective markers in services in the game.
     
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  23. Olaf the Snowman

    Olaf the Snowman Well-Known Member

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    I’m inclined to agree with stujoy. The three lines from the left to right are Up Goods 1 (UG1), Down Main (DM) and Up Main (UM). The other 2 good loops (Up Goods 2 (UG2) and Down Goods (DG)) separate and meet up again on the other side of the depot.

    The only thing I can think of sticking with the theme of ‘destination markers’ is that the lines *may* once have been bidirectional so that you can do a shunt in order to access the depot. Considering the BR (British Rail) theme of the route, some of these depots (e.g. Tees yard, Saltley depot in the West Midlands, Selhurst near London, etc...) used to be absolutely massive in BR days and are now a shadow of what it once used to be. I’d imagine back in its hay day there would be have been quite a few crossings (junctions) between UG1, DM and UM in order to do shunts to access Tees Yard. And even the sectional appendix updated last March shows a crossing between the DM and UG1 although it appears this has now been taken out in the last 8 months probably to save on maintenance as it is no longer needed.
    Very minor details so I’m not blaming the developers but it looks like they have omitted these crossings/junctions for the sake of simplicity so I wouldn’t take the route on TSW to be 100% accurate representation. Even the Royal Oak Sidings is not correct because if you have a look in TSW, you can only get into/come from platform 1 because they haven’t included all the junctions/crossings. In real life, however, you are able to get into/come from platforms 1-5. (And it should be a main aspect at the end of Royal Oak sidings not just position lights).

    26127FF9-12C6-4CA9-92E6-854CED79F6C6.jpeg
    That junction is probably within the ‘purple lines’ and I’m sure back in BR days, there would be far more around the area. As I say, this crossing has been taken out though sometime in the last 8 months.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
  24. Bkulesza

    Bkulesza Member

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    Seems like we've pretty much got this figured out. I have a much greater understanding now!
     
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