I have been banging my head against this for an hour, but I cannot come up with any combination of control-jiggery and waiting to get the brake demand light to go out, and allow me to recharge the system! What am I missing? (Yes, the emergency valve is closed. Yes, the reverser is in neutral.)
If the emergency is fully out you should, in neutral be able to apply emergency brakes, then hold them in release for 20 seconds to recharge the brakes
Brake lever to full (maximum pressure on the gauge) Throttle off, Reverser to Neutral, Press Emergency plunger (if up) and then click on it again to release/pull it back up, Wait 90 seconds for the Train Stop Override fault light to extinguish, Once light is extinguished reverser into forward and release brakes.
Did all of that. Five minutes later, light is still on. Bizarrely, what did seem to wirk was removing the reverser handle and putting it back in. Which makes no sense.
I have 2 theories: 1. Once the brake demand light turns on, the timer for the brake demand light to go out only starts after pressing the AWS acknowledge button. 2. Could it be possible that you have stopped on a TPWS grid which is causing the brake demand to be activated constantly?
Hmmm- now that is possible. Since I was just starting from a stop, I was only going 2-3 mph when I got tagged, and the loco could well still have been on the grid.
According to Dad Rail, in real life, if you stop on an AWS magnet/TPWS grid, you can either change ends and move off it (not applicable if you only have one receiver fitted to the train), or you will have to isolate the TPWS and drive very slowly to the depot.
Just want to chime in here as I've had this Brake Demand activating and I'm not sure why. I like trying to drive with the TPWS and DSD cut in for "realism", but I'm still unclear why this TPWS system is activating. I've been on top of the AWS Reset (Q key) so it's not like I'm ignoring a warning. Btw, I've found that to reset the Brake Demand, you have to do some combination of pressing the Train Stop Override and the AWS Reset (similar to what aeronautic237 said) Edit to add: According to this guide (AWS and TPWS section 9.3), the TPWS only activates when a mistake is made. To reset you only need to press the "Acknowledge button in the cab" (AWS Reset?)
TPWS brake demand will activate when you don't acknowledge an AWS warning in time, but you are doing this correctly, so this is probably not why. TPWS brake demand will also activate if you pass a signal at Danger. In game, some signals are placed behind the TPWS grid. This is unlikely, but just to be sure, have you had any close calls with red signals? TPWS brake demand will also activate if you approach a buffer stop or red signal too quickly, even if you do not pass the signal. Have the brake demands been happening on approach to buffer stops or red signals? Is it possible that you were sitting stationary on an active TPWS grid? This will also trigger a brake demand. I believe that is all the possibilities (there could be more). It may help if you could outline the situations in which the TPWS triggers for you (which route, which train, where on the route, which service)
That's why drivers are taught to stop a loco length off any red signal, to prevent this. But please remember the 66 has been a broken mess since TSW3, so you've probably just encountered one of the many bugs in the many versions of the same 66. If you encounter it, like you found, remove the reverser handle and it will reset everything.
aeronautic237 and Bryer, thank you both for your helpful replies. I've done a few more missions with the 66 without issue so I suspect I just wasn't paying attention before, or stopped on the grid like you mentioned. Good tip on removing the reverser handle, I didn't think of that! I've also noticed that the 66 does seem quite buggy... Ugh. I'm doing a run through of the East Coast High Speed (?) missions atm, and I think the 66 missions are the only ones remaining. I've noticed the revs and power randomly drop out while in motion, I have to wonder if that's one of the bugs you mention.
No, those are transitions, perfectly normal. The electrical analogue to a mechanical transmission changing gears.
