On a lark, I turned off all my signal helpers on my HUD today; driver's eyes only. (Ask any sailor about "Seaman's Eyes Only" helm control. Its the same level of terror.) And I took one of the old diesels on a Mainline run. A 37 and a 33. So here's my question. Are drivers that do this in real life ok? Are they drunks? Does NHS give them higher priority for mental health care? I've never racked up so many SPADs in one game. Granted, I'm new at this. And having SO MUCH FUN! (I NEED a class 31/1 timetable for SEHS)
When you drive a loco. on a regular basis ( IRL & in-game ) you get used to its braking characteristics. So you can anticipate its performance, braking distance, etc. Environmental conditions also play a role in the adhesion that you'll get from the 'rail-wheel interface' which is simulated well enough in TSW. Ultimately it comes to practice only, so good luck
It takes a few months to learn a route in real life and at least 3-4 weeks to learn a train. so yes it’s normal. But the more you play the more you will remember signal locations and get used to how the train operates.
IRL the drivers would have real world knowledge of the route or would be guided by a pilot, as in a driver who knows the route So between them they know the train and the route and can work safely.
We’re all mental, yes. It takes time to get used to the feeling of brakes. I struggle to drive locos I sign in the real world (33/37/47) in game as I’m so used to feeling the braking through the seat of my trousers! It doesn’t feel right virtually.
Generally signals are not a problem though I tend to leave the distance to the next one switched on in the HUD but the aspect hidden. However I might try turning it off. Speed limits are another matter though, imperfect though the HUD sometimes is. Really there should be an AP buff or nerf according to how many aids you use.
I find that turning on AWS helps. I actually always drive with my signal HUD off (because signal HUD displays the wrong signal aspects), and I'm doing fine. You're never gonna get a red signal before passing a yellow signal first, that should give you plenty of time to reduce your speed.
Yep from this evening forward, the signal distance is going off. Even on SoS and PFR even if it increases my SPAD risk.
Signal distance was the first thing I turned of. Doesn't even show German distant signals, which are too important to be missed.
Also drive exclusively in cab view for the entire route, even in the Steam loco. No flying 8 cam for Vern
Oh absolutely AWS is the first thing I turn on. Or PZB. The real challenge was driving an old Class 33 between those curve around Strood, keeping to the timetable for the passengers, and trying not to redline the engine. (I feel like Class 33s must have caught fire a lot operating a Mainline). But during rush hour, lol, I wasn't just chasing yellows. I caught them quite well, and 500m or so between signals in some spots was a real treat. Which lead me to my natural conclusion that any ML driver asked to handle a Class 33 on that area must be stark raving.
Class 33's were sloggers like their smaller Scottish Class 26 and 27 cousins. Fantastic to experience when they hauled 8 coach trains on Waterloo to Exeter or handling the 4TC push pull units between Bournemouth and Weymouth.
Generally if you pass 2 yellows drop your speed to 60mph. Then to 30mph when you pass a single yellow. Doing that usually means that you can stop in time when you see a red.
So far so good. However I can see several areas where not having the signal distance shown could get interesting. Driving in the dark. Shunting, particularly those locations where yards are partly under manual control and partly the signaller. Where the timetable or scenario compiler has plonked the stop marker right next to or even beyond the signal with little or no trigger radius. Edit: Routes where the signalling is not set up correctly, Rivet IOW comes to mind where you get a clear distant or green onto a red.
Going based off the few WCR drivers I have met, being half barmy seems to be on the list of desirable characteristics to work for that company. It is hard with the older locos as a large part of driving them is about being able to feel what's going on which you just can't recreate virtually. I even struggled with the HSTs when I first started playing GWE and I had signed them for a fair few years in the real world.
I think that goes for most sim games, trying to reproduce on a 2D screen what is often very much tied to “seat of the pants”. There is no way we would throw a real car round like we do in a rally game and I’m sure a RW pilot would sense his 747 is about to stall or drop the tail long before you realise it’s too late in FSX or MSFS. There’s also a certain attention to detail which focuses the mind when your life or wellbeing (or career) depends on not fuddling it up. Anyhow so far so good on Clinchfield, 4 miles to go on the HUD so probably about 7 on the ground! After that will do some colour lights in the UK then maybe PFR, SoS or a German route as a test of my mettle. Did someone say tea and biscuits..?
Update. Well this is actually a new and refreshing way to enjoy the game. Where better to start than the CC Class 700 diversion via Lewes. From the getgo you are following a stopper, but when you get that single yellow, you get the speed down fast. No looking at the HUD and noting the next signal is a mile and a half away so I can keep going at 50 until 500 yards out. Without the distance counter it could be round the corner behind a tree. It focuses the mind and concentration. So yes, definitely the way forward.
I would have loved to see that. Of all the locos in this game, I've become obsessed with the little ugly Class 31s. Sadly, in most places in the US, you see the mile long EMDs or the 4400 bruisers at a distance. As close as I could get to the junction yard in west Fort Worth, I saw more rattlesnakes than train numbers. Having little more than a few days here or there in the UK, even I could understand why trainspotting is a much bigger deal there. I would never want to even BE on a Clinchfield train. It's almost as forgiving a place to be stranded as Cajon.
Class 33’s are ace. They dig in and love to climb, but their brakes are a different beast entirely. Generally one shot and hope for the best!
I agree. The thing I would add is that when you don’t use the aids it’s interesting how quickly you learn where the signals are - because you have to. I’m not a psychologist, but it’s interesting how when information is freely displayed in front of you, your brain doesn’t retain it. It’s as if your brain says ‘I know I can get that information whenever I want it, so I don’t need to retain it’. With the signal distances off, as soon as you go past a single yellow and need to know where the red is, it’s starts exercising your mind. The first time you just have to drive really slowly until you find it, but the next time you get a single yellow at that location, you find you can visualise where the red is, and can control the speed appropriately. Although there are a lot of signals on every route, in reality the vast majority of signal checks are at the same signals over and over, so quite quickly you find you get confident as to where the key signals are. Once you do that, and you get it right without the driving aids, it’s extremely satisfying. Much more so than just driving by numbers based on the HUD, in my experience.
Can't say I remember the location of every signal, although I do remember the few that have caused me to SPAD a few times. However, without signal HUD you do start to appreciate the repeater signals on UK routes, as well as any extra distant signals on German routes.
Also the Bahnstrecke Witten/Dortmund-Oberhausen/Duisburg Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr at night you are pretty much in the blind in the rural sections around Essen Kray & Wattenscheid areas.
I think we have it harder than the real life drivers, they route learn so they know every inch and they do it on the same class train. We go all over the place and drive every model under the sun from steam to high speed EMU's. Every train we take out has got different braking characteristics not to mention different control setups too. Nah we're the experts!
We also run across far more mileage than the average driver does in their “link”, not so frequently and having to learn signalling systems from more than one country and era, too. So the occasional bit of help is justified but I’ve now managed a couple of runs in Germany with the signalling aid completely off and didn’t stuff up.
This turned out to be the biggest help. I hadn't really noticed that about the British aspect markers until you pointed it out. Thanks!
