What's is your favourite/least favourite safety system and why? And or which do you find the most interesting. I can definitely start with my least favourite (mostly just because I find it highly irritating). ATC and ACES/ASES. Whilst I think these are probably one of the safest just because they seem to be so afraid of speed, it is highly annoying to try and get up to 125mph only to be shot down to either 60 or below for a slight curve or no apparent reason (especially prevalent on NEC New York - Trenton and a little bit in Boston Sprinter). Like why slow me down to 30 mph 1.3 miles from the station! And then give me a penalty 100 yards from the actual stop marker and make me stop short. (I recognise that user error may play a large part in this) Also trying to get the brakes into suppression in time can be interesting especially when in some locos suppression is quite close to the emergency brake application or the brakes are lapped. My favourite is probably PZB/LZB and whilst arguably it can be just as annoying as ATC and ACES at least it lets me be remotely on time and travel at line speed. Also I know when to expect a speed restriction.
Yeah but they're seperate safety system. If you split the vigilance types, why not split up PZB and LZB as well. They're quite different and one can be used without the other.
Agreed, t'was merely an observation how they'd been organised Personally I like AWS, can take or leave TPWS, but DSD and Vigilance really grind my gears
I pretty much always use these two together which is probably why I grouped them together and also I made it at 00:46.
Naturally AWS and TPWS, as its in my native country, and gives you a bit of room to manoeuvre whilst maintaining safety. I'd say second place would go to the TVM, once you get use to it, it's very simple, but extremely effective and efficient.
While I see what you wrote, you poll is flawed. Can't select Favourite/least Favourite Safety System! You should have two different threads each with it's own poll. Meaning... Favourite Safety System And Why? Least Favourite Safety System And Why? -- If you want this thread to be about "Favourite Safety System And Why", then you need to edit the thread title and first post.
I guess favourite is PZB... once you get the hang of it its very logical and it keeps you on your toes, and basically makes it impossible to SPAD. Once you understand it it applies the same way on all the German routes. Also the ACSES/ATC on the American routes is great when it works well (as in when its not buggy in the route, it is still hit an miss on each route). Least favourite is the AWS I guess, its just slapping a button every once and a while to keep you awake basically and you can easily still SPAD (not that I do anymore but it doesn't actually prevent anything like PZB and ATC do). Between that and the prevalence of 1 handle EMUs the British routes can become pretty boring.
TVM for sure because i like both TGV and Javelin, but like also english safety sistems whit LZB and PZB
Once again AWS is my favourite the systems simply because it gives a audible warning for signals each train having a different alarm is nice (most do). TPWS on the other hand, I despise with a passion. The way it forces you to slow down, no indication of the trigger speed, and makes you wait a lifetime for it to do off. It’s most annoying on BCC, with 323’s brakes being more than capable at slowing down within a closer distance.
I really think you should split off Sifa, which is annoying AF, whereas DVD/Alerter etc are fine. Why? Because Sifa is not interlocked with the controls, it goes off on its short 30 sec timer regardless of what you're doing, and inevitably it wants to go off whan yoiu're in the middle of something complicated and stressful. The other systems are smart enough to realize that if you're operating the controls, you aren't dead.;
pzb is infuriating if you don’t understand it, but once you dedicate a bit of time to learning how it works then german routes become so much more interactive. i spent some time over the christmas holiday getting to grips with pzb and i think i’ve only touched german routes since. it may seem confusing at first, but once it clicks it’s so easy
One interesting thing I found with ATC is when I discovered, the hard way, that it (on LIRR) allowed more than one train in a section. Especially when you didn't have it turned on and then suddenly the taillights of the train ahead of you appear suddenly with no time to brake.
There is nuance to either system, the older BR system goes off every minute regardless of what you do, its literally just a timer. Sifa on the other hand has a feature in that it can be prematurley reset, you do not have to wait for the light or horn to go off, as such you can reset the timer before you get to a critical point and even run with never getting the light to illuminate. The East German Sifa 86 is a little more annoying mind with its randomness :P
I think favourite has to be the aws system. Does a lot for the driver to alert himself or herself to potential issues and it covers not just signals but speed warnings etc. Also least favourite has to be tpws or dsd. It's just annoying really. Especially more so on the 87 where it goes off every minute regardless of whether moving handle or not (believe that inactivity thing came about later). Also tpws is annoying as you just can't predict if it will trip you..and resetting and waiting is a pain. But now I have known to avoid it
