Hi All. After a very enjoyable spell really getting to know the new class 66 on the East Coastway with all its functionality (having recently purchased TSW3) Im now enjoying the class 377/4 on the same route. I have a question though that I haven't been able to find an answer to. Is it possible to determine train length when passing speed limit boards similar to the class 66? If so how, and if not how best to go about this while not using the HUD or external camera? Im sure I'll have more questions so I'll just update this post as they appear.
It's just based on judgement and experience of when you know the rear of the train has passed the board. Obviously for a reduction in speed the limit applies from when the front of the train passes the board.
With an EMU, the driver should be familiar with the unit length (or double or triple where applicable), whereas freight trains very in length with every run.
Train length is provided in the despatch notes, and with the class 66 onboard electronics can be set to notify you when the rear of the train has passed speed change points etc. I was curious whether similar functionality was available for 4, 8 and 12 car EMUs. For context, try guessing when the rear of an 8 car EMU has cleared the end of the 10mph restriction in Lewis without leaving the cab view Additionally this is primarily directed as a UK based question. I only use UK routes and generally only one in particular. I appreciate that elsewhere in the world technology and SOPs may differ.
1. Is the class 66 speed notification available in game? 2. When the in game speed marker changes, find a suitable landmark on either side of the track to remember the change, also remember the EMU train length.
As regards 1- yes if you select the SEHS route class 66. You need to program it with the length which requires you to convert from yds to ft which is no big deal, then a single press to arm it (long beep) and another press to trigger the countdown visible on the units screen. Completion of the countdown indicated by another beep. Point 2- yeah thats going to be the way forward. Of course we have the luxury of vegetation not being cut down, growing etc so any markers can be relied upon Trying to play without the HUD as much as possible hence the conversation on this.
If you use the standard 66 then just a single press of the button will arm the system. Much simpler but nowhere near as fun..
As I said above as a driver you get the knack of it and so you know that when you pass a certain point you can power up. Route knowledge is key. In the game it's much easier as you can pinpoint something with the HUD and know it's going to stay the same forever and ever. Edit my last point was essentially said above but when I was typing the post weren't there.
Some modern EMUs do have such a feature (often activated by a double-press on the DSD), but I don’t think the 377s do. At certain locations in the UK there are ‘acceleration boards’ located beyond the termination point of a speed restriction, to indicate to the Driver where they can accelerate. This is most common where there is quite a low speed restriction, which a lot of trains pass through. For example, there are often acceleration boards to show trains where they can accelerate after leaving the speed restriction when departing major termini. Acceleration boards are usually just re-purposed stop car markers, generally on very short posts, next to the track. The train lengths marked are the most common ones at the location in question - so 4, 8 and 12 is common. At other locations, it just forms part of a Driver’s route knowledge to know where to accelerate. Drivers often use landmarks to know where to accelerate, and these are passed down from Driver to Driver in the course of route-learning - with no knowledge of who came up with them in the first place, or whether they are even accurate! In my experience, they tend to be overly-conservative, meaning that acceleration takes place some time after the rear of the train is clear of the restriction, and time is wasted. The value of acceleration boards is they are located based on proper measurements, so you can be confident they are accurate.
Thanks Icyrrjp, appreciate it. I'll have a look for any such markers as I haven't been looking too hard tbh so might have missed them. Otherwise as you say, it'll be the old fashioned way! Edit- it's the East Coastway through Lewis primarily. That 10mph section in an 8 car is painful..I'll try a double tap too, that's great info if it works!!
No problem, Sunscreen. Just for clarity as I didn’t explain very well; when I refer to the double-tap train length feature, I’m referring to certain unit types in real life. As far as I know, no TSW train recreates this.
sunscreen#8305 I played East Coastway today, for the first time in ages, and noticed that - at one location at least - it does in fact have acceleration boards. Departing Lewes in the Eastbound direction, there are 4, 8 and 12 car acceleration boards (the blue boards with the white numbers) telling you when you can accelerate out of the 10mph PSR.
Are you sure those are acceleration boards? If you cross check the various lengths against the speed change point it doesn't marry up very well. There is some service infrastructure lineside there and I suspect it might be associated with either that, or repositioning onto the up line via the points just to the east of Lewis Station..
Sometimes such boards are provided to enable a Driver to know where to stop if changing ends to set back through a crossover, so that they know when the rear of the train is ‘behind’ the controlling signal. In such cases the boards usually say ‘reverse’ or similar beneath the number, which these don’t, but there isn’t much consistency in real life so this could still be correct. Ultimately it’s part of a Driver’s route knowledge so the only person who could give a definitive answer for this specific location is a Driver who signs the route!
Amount of times I've been on a train the rear coach has been doing considerably more than 10mph after leaving a speed restriction tells me this isn't always followed.
I tend to use counting up slowly to the number of coaches in the train when doing greater than 30mph. When doing less than 30, count to double that. By slowly I mean one-thou-sand two-thou-sand etc. After a while I've sort of got a feel for count a bit faster if you're going faster and count a bit slower if you are going slower.
On the German routes and the NEC, I use catenary poles that are usually 90 meters apart. I count the numbers of poles until all my train has passed the signal.
Yep, Leaving Clacton on Sea, the rear of the train was definitely always leaving the platform well over the speed limits
