I've stopped at a station on the Ruhr-Sieg Nord line driving the DBpbzfa. I'm on the flat, so I release the brakes. I open the doors and load passengers, close doors when prompted. But the throttle / brake indicator square in the HUD stays red and I cannot continue. I believe this happens when you have engaged the brakes and I assume it's for a period of time to allow air pressure to build up again - please tell me if I'm wrong - but usually after a short period of time if I engage the throttle and then back it off again the indicator square goes to white again and the throttle works. But on a couple of occasions now nothing I do (even turning the train off and back on again) will reset it and I cannot continue, kind of frustrating when you've done 30 minutes of a 50 minute route. I don't believe it's the PZB system as I haven't really started using that yet, and in any case I haven't been overspeed or anything like that. Any help appreciated...
Press the Sifa acknowledge button before you apply power on the Dosto cabcar, there is an in-built safety mechanism And never release the brakes when you have the doors open, even if it's flat
Actually, the Dosto Cab Car has the brakes applied automatically when the doors are open, this does not apply to the BR 143. If you use SIFA, press it. If that didnt work, make sure all the brakes are released and the throttle is set to OFF, not to 0.
Thanks both... The SIFA button is button 0 on the display directly in front of the driver? And regarding brakes... Is it good practice to use the direct brake while in the station then, or just continue using the train brake? And yes, I had got the throttle to off, not zero, but thanks.
Nope. The SIFA button is the pedal on the floor below the desk. If you dont have SIFA active, you can ignore that. Regarding brakes: Use as much dynamic/electric brake as you can. Avoid the train brakes unless you need to stop the train e.g. for a train station or a red signal. For freight trains, it is good practise to apply the direct brake/locobrake in the moment you have stopped and then release the train brakes so you dont need to wait for minutes when the signal clears. Try to re-up the panto and close the MCB. Also look at the brake key. It should be set to on.
As far as I'm aware I don't have SIFA active... And I just re-ran the scenario and it worked fine this time. Is it perhaps a bug? As I said, when it happened I basically restarted the train, reverser off and then on again, pantograph up, MCB closed and brake key off and on, then brake and throttle off (multiple times), but no luck. Thanks for the brake info. Yes, I do indeed use dynamic / electric brakes if I'm just trying to slow down rather than stop, and that's useful advice regarding the direct brake also.
The red square on the HUD is purely an indication of an interlock, which can be caused by a number of different things. All it does is prevent you from applying any power. The usual culprits could be... - Doors not fully locked - SIFA trip - PZB trip - Emergency brake application However, a particular oddity when it comes to the DoStos (and some German locos I believe), is that you need to have both electric brake and train brake levers at zero/driving postion, and the throttle set back to zero. There is usually a notch for the minimum power setting, the throttle must be pulled past this and completely set to zero. Once that's done, you can set the throttle lever to your desired setting. This procedure is to be done everytime you use the train brake I believe, and is what causes an interlock. However don't feel discouraged to use the train brake, as the procedure can literally be done in a single second. The DoStos are very responsive on the brakes as well (and use blended braking if I'm not mistaken. Using train brakes to slow down is totally fine in this instance) Just a quick throttle reset and you're good to go! Another minor tip: the brakes are not fully released from a dead stop when it comes to certain German locos; they require a certain amount of tractive effort, usually around 10 or 20 kN before the brakes come off. Setting the throttle to over 40% should do just fine.
Thanks a lot skyMutt, very helpful stuff. I am sure both brakes were at zero, and throttle was at zero also (as in off). And yes, on the German locos, the electric brake moves with the train brake. Obviously it can be used on its own, but if you use just the train brake the electric brake mirrors it if I'm not mistaken. I've noticed (on my install at least) that on quite a few occasions the red square gets stuck on. Usually a zeroing out as you describe of brake and throttle will clear it, but on a number of occasions I have needed to engage the throttle (the square stays red and there's no power), then zeroing the throttle again will clear it. And on a few occasions (as when I started this thread) nothing at all would clear it, not even a resetting or restarting of the entire train. Doors showed as locked, I don't currently use the safety features, and the emergency brake was not on, so again, perhaps it's a bug that I encountered. Not a huge issue, but as I said, frustrating if you're 30 odd minutes into a 50 minute journey.
On keyboard I sometimes find that the electric brake and train brake levers don’t t always successfully get moved together. More so if moved quickly. Double check the electric brake lever isn’t left on ust a little.
Definitely not, I'm quite sure. On the occasions that it has stuck on completely I have zeroed brakes and throttle multiple times. Also I'm using a controller for brakes and throttle, not keyboard. But thanks for the suggestion.
