In game, traction lock is enabled and you lose power, the train start slowing down to stop (you can notice this in Voralberg route), in real life hope is the same
I think so too, they cant afford to have trains damaged in case driver loses focus for a second and forgets about it... also, I believe IRL they usually place it so the track is sloped down, so in case this happens the train still has some momentum, goes forward and doesnt get stuck in the neutral section without power
The MCB will be opened automatically. On older locomotives, there will be damage, but not anymore. Surely, then, when you go the other way, you'll be going uphill.
could be, my point was more of like they usually design those sections so you dont get stuck there - one way would be that, or in other cases at a place where the train has some speed already - I remember that e.g. REX6 from Bratislava Petrzalka enters a neutral section very soon after departing platform, so the trains already have to go like 30-40 kph... tho it is relatively short
Disobeying the withdrawal of the pantograph caused a power outage in the vicinity of Prague. There was a break in the trolley wire and a subsequent fire. The short circuit reached the high voltage substation in the Libeň district.
Disobeying an order will always cause damage to railway infrastructure. Pull down the pantograph. In this case, the neutral section is missing.
Most modern trains these days nothing will happen the overloads will drop out and automatically reconnect. With older style stock from years back if a driver ignored a neutral section and was still taking power the overloads would drop out. The driver would then have to coast the train until the amps basically went to zero reset the overloads and then the train would take power again when the power handle was placed back to a power notch.
With modern stock as Aero & 390 says it is all automatic and coasting through is more a comfort thing. In fact I found the consequences of not powering down early on when we got our new trains; I didn't power down as I were on the limiter (yes I know complacency and all that, but I haven't done it since!) and thought I were coasting until I did feel the jolt of the power being lost and then gained again and this led to a rather frustrated TM at the end of the journey but nothing else. On older stock it is much more important as it isn't all automatic.
Sadly not mate, I am on the wrong coast for that. I nearly did make a move, but the Mrs said otherwise!
Yes, though glad I didn't move as I can't stand the 390s. Plenty of memories of the 86s and 87s, as I always made sure our trips to the south of Scotland took us into their territory, brilliant machines.
anyway, since we are speaking about neutral sections here - just playing ECML and I noticed the Azuma seemed to lose power (traction lock icon flashed on HUD briefly) while on notch 1... I didnt throttle to off obviously since I barely noticed and I was blasting away at around 110mph lol an associated a bit off topic question too - does the Azuma in game have some kind of MCB?
I didn't think that the Neutral sections on PBO-DON were working in game. I assume this were Bawtry, where there is a neutral section, if it were through here then that would be correct as through the neutral section you could be expected to lose power as it is automatic on the 80xs.
Thats a shame but there are a few issues with that route that i have logged as bugs and yet to be implimented so hopefully it is a route they will take the bugs on and send out in a patch.
since that post I finished my run, and I had like 2-3 situations like that... not much annoyance, just wondering if those were neutral sections, since I saw no markings and the traction lock icon just kinda flashed and then gone
My worst experience of neutral sections in game was when I briefly tried that Trans Siberian simulator. Not shutting off power pretty much destroyed the loco! Think it might also require you to drop the pan. Funny thing is SimRail, for all its good points, doesn’t yet simulate neutral sections.
Possibly, there are multiple along this section of line. Do you know roughly where a couple of them are, even if it is the distance from where you were heading. I assume that due to you mentioning 110mph the one you mentioned first is Bawtry which is about 8 miles south of Doncaster and like I say that would be a neutral section so you could expect to lose power. Also though, like I said, I never though the neutral sections on this route actually worked so that is interesting if they are working for you.
dunno if they truly work... I just saw the traction lock icon flash and disappear, and I was able to take power... anyway, does 801 have an MCB somewhere? just wondering at such speeds it is nigh impossible to react so I guess 801 has this covered automatically?
They don't, at least the one at Bawtree doesn't. I drove a 5-car 801 slowly through the neutral section, there is signage and magnets each side of the rails, and the line volts light stayed lit throughout and I was able to stop in the neutral section and move off.
anyways, how do those signs/magnets look? and again, does 801 in-game have a MCB or just panto button?
The sign and magnets are shown in this screen shot from the TSC Cross - City line where the neutral sections are fully simulated and the AC traction responds realistically. A distance before the sign shown is a similar one with a black square and white symbol serving as an advanced warning of the upcoming neutral section. TSC had had working neutral sections since WCML Over Shap so TSW has some catching up to do. I can't find a way of operating the MCB in the Class 801 in TSW but don't know whether it's directly controllable by the driver in reality in any case. Perhaps someone who signs them can comment?
It is automatic in the 801, if you go through without doing anything all you get is an angry TM from the jolt when the power is lost and then gained. In real life all that needs doing is making sure the power is off for comfort and the train sorts the rest out for you. I would say go and give the 385 on EDN a drive to see what it is like but I think that although the neutral sections work there they are not entirely right and cause the brake to apply.
by "power is off" you mean throttle is off, right? so 801 doesnt have a button/switch like German locos do that is labelled as "main circuit breaker"? cos on German stuff, you can open/close the MCB, and if you pull the panto down and back up, you also have to close the MCB again... here you can just pull or raise panto and the rest is handled automatically? making sure I understand
on ECML I saw a couple of those signs in black colour when driving the 158, but they were only on the leftmost posts for some reason... those magnets I saw at a couple places, but only at some did it flash the traction lock icon
I believe there it just locks the traction until you put throttle to off/zero... at least thats how I remember it, havent played it for some time
They're normally on the left, there is one on the right as well in the screenshot because it's a 4 track section with neutral sections on the other pair of lines. I didn't highlight the APC magnets on those though.
so they arent on the left of each track, like in Germany :/ aw ... so here all I have to do is just throttle off (tho I guess in-game even if you dont have zero throttle it doesnt do much)? also, I guess then that 801 doesnt have an MCB switch like German machines? just panto button?
ok so I think I got this: 1) first there is this black sign, I guess it shows the neutral section incoming, then, some distance afterwards... 2) there is this white sign, after which, like one post after... 3) there is a pair of these guys, and after like a wagons' length or so, there is another pair, which is where the traction lock icon flashes and if I understood you guys right, this results just in momentary loss of power even if in throttle above 0 aaaand sorry for repeating myself, but does 801 have an actual MCB button, or is the MCB functionality just pure automation?
just driving the EDN, direction to Edinburgh, and it seems they have turned off that neutral section... as I went over it, literally nothing happened
In modern British trains the MCB is opened and closed automatically by the magnets you took a screenshot of. Although, neutral sections on ECML don’t work so a better route to see them work is the Goblin.
finally, a clear answer, thank you... so indeed the only thing you need to do when you see the black sign announcing a NS is to put throttle to zero to give passengers comfort, kinda, as someone said, ok
Sorry for the delayed reply, I weren't at home last night and reliable internet didn't belong in the same sentence! But yes, sorry, literally all that needs to be done it setting the PBC to off as you approach the neutral section, no need to do anything else as this (i.e.MCB) is automatic. I won't quote you again but from you're post above you can reduce the throttle at the 'black sign' and probably best to in game but in real life I tend to leave it until just before going through the section, then just gently bring it back up after. However like I say do it for the 'black sign' as you don't have the luxury of route knowledge in game, which is a great help! I am sorry for being vague but often I am typing these replies after getting home so my brain is just frazzled, but also I don't want to go into too much detail and say something I shouldn't.
even on German/Austrian routes, first there is a sign announcing neutral section and you only have to open MCB at the next sign, but I tend to do it just in case at the announcing sign... and then I wait till I am way past the one saying I can close it, and I close it then thanks for the answer
