On the roadmap stream this morning TrainSim-Adam mentioned that they were looking for a way to include passenger information on historic routes where an electronic sign would not be appropriate. Could I suggest the good old fashioned pull down destination signs with a clock to show when the next train leaves? I have no idea if these were used around the world but given Australia stole pretty much everything railways from England or USA it probably is . This one is from a preserved railway in Victoria Australia called Puffing Billy.
In a fair few stations in the UK even up until quite recently they had a "next train" board somewhere on the platform that they would slot a board into to show the destination of the next service. I guess "digitising" a non digital display might be difficult as the last thing you want as a passenger on the platform is for the non-digital board to "scroll" to the next departure location, but I'm sure there could be a fade out / fade in method that wouldn't be too jarring (though I'm, sure some would complain)
Interlaken West had one of those up till the late 1990s (Pre station rebuild) - it looked odd seeing the guy slotting in a strip for "Inter City Express" - for a then brand new ICE1 to come around the corner.
I seem to remember them at Gravesend... can't remember how far back though I guess the railway is one of those incongruous things, old assets and new assets mingling because it would be way too expensive to upgrade everything all the time
Depending on the era, you could have a Solari style display either on the main concourse or individual "flaps" on each platform. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display
Split flap displays are just mesmerizing, I hope they get added for the routes on which they are fitting. Also, thanks, I never knew the name for them .
Maybe instead of the route map which we get to "collect" we could paste up old fashioned printed timetables appropriate to each route. That's what people had at most stations in the era Trans Pennine is set in, only Manchester Victoria, Leeds and Huddersfield stations would have had electronic information screens. At least you'd be able to see what time the next train is due and it would have a small effect on game resources. Downside, it might be hard to read.
"I'm, sure some would complain" yes they would - no matter what the solution was . I would think a fade would be a good compromise on functionality vs performance. In an ideal world a person would walk out and pull down the next one but asking for that is going to mean something else in the game would get missed and on a long line with a lot of stations and traffic they would be happing all the time.
We also need a system to tell us when the next freight is due. Finish a run on SPG or indeed from tonight Clinchfield and you have no real clue when or where the next return working is going to pop up. My suggestion there would be something similar to Derail Valley where you have a yard or station house and put some sort of notice or roster board on the wall.
I don't know how they do it on freight only routes, but on passenger routes there'd basically be no info on the ETA of passing freight trains on stations. I think it'd be pretty unrealistic to put that info anywhere in the virtual world. If people want this kind of information accessible, IMO it best be added to the pause menu or HUD interface. (As in real life, you would need to look up that information on the internet nowadays). Occasionally, when freight trains or empty stock trains need to stop at a station, in my country I've seen PIS display a "Do not board" destination. But I doubt that really is a solution for passing freight trains.
See, my thought on this would be some form of built in "real time trains" where the timetable is shown on a pause menu or camera option and you can essentially "look up" when trains are going to be going through stations, and this could have an option to include or disclude freight, ECS etc
Yes picking up freight at a passenger station would require another solution. Maybe some sort of virtual working timetable then, that the player could call up with the relevant details.
