Imagine you start a scenario, IE a time table but it’s YOUR time table for the day with all the routes you’re gonna drive for the day. Maybe you start the day off with a return run on the Lewes shuttle, have a break att Brighton where the AI driver greets you and take the train over. Then you get on a service to Eastbourne. Get relieved for a break at Eastbourne and run a Brighton service as far as Lewes again. Get off and get relieved by an AI driver again who continues the run and you change platforms and wait for your service to the seaside. You do a return run to Brighton and your day ends with parking your train at the platform to be picked up later for a return run only now the schedule is thinned out so you park the train instead of being relieved by an Ai colleague. How would that sound for realism?
Though it would be awesome to be built into the game, with a few minutes of planning you can do this yourself using a timetable app like this one: https://smtimetables.herokuapp.com/ The other day I did 14 straight services on ECW, starting with the depot move into Brighton at 4am, empty stock moves to Seaford, back to Brighton, Lewes, back and forth, all leading up to the Class 66 service at 7am, which I ran to NewHaven, loaded the aggregate, and drove back to Lewes, then caught and drive a connecting from Eastbourne back to Brighton, then back out on the line again, before ending my route with a return to depot service. For long layovers between services (15+ mins) I keep the game running and take care of something around the house (let dogs out, tidy kitchen)
I won't write out the whole thing, but it centers around being at Lewes for 7 and 10am to run the three associated freight services in the class 66 Start at Lover's Walk Depot @ 3:50am Shuttle around as you see fit (I worked the "L" services from Brighton to Lewes) but get to Lewes for 7am to catch the 66 on platform 1 at 7:07. Drive the 2 subsequent services (loading wagons and back to Lewes platform 1 by ~8:26am), and from here choose your own adventure of either going back to Brighton or head to Seaford. Shuttle around for another 60-90 minutes and be sure to be at Lewes platform 1 by 10am to catch the next freight service departing at 10:11. Rinse and repeat
Okay, yes I see that this could be done, but if you want the line to be alive you will have to add in all the AI trains yourself even though they already exist in time table mode. Not something I look forward to doing. Better if you could just keep all the AI in from start. Maybe if scenario planner 2.0 allowed us to copy the partial or entire time table service list into scenario planner and go from there…
Its not really, as timetable mode allows you to take any service you wish following completion of your first one and if you miss your next drive due to late running it doesnt matter), this would be structured, plus if you ran late on your first run it would have a knock effect to not only your now late 2nd service but to the timetable as a whole.. I actually really like the idea but Id want to see a better save function included for it to work. Not everyone can commit to a 8 hour shift in one sitting.