So I've been watching some videos of railfanning in the eastern US and I've found that the way ditch lights are set up in TSW is not quite adequate. Fundamentally, the issue comes down to the directionality of ditch lights. In real life, you can have the ditch lights turned on on the long hood end but be going forward-and that's true for an old EMD or a new GE. In TSW, the only way to have the ditch lights on for the long hood end is to be going in reverse, in TSW the direction you are going controls the ditch lights, and in real life it does not. Problem is, I have no idea how you do control which side of the locomotive the ditch lights are on for. Anyone out there have a clue? Because with TSW you can't really say the setup is wrong without knowing how the real thing is controlled.... Are there multiple ditch light switches? Does the MU headlight configurator control which side the ditch lights are allowed to be on? (I see this one as a likely possibility!-set the switch to intermediate unit, ditch lights work as usual, reverser dependent, set it to controlling with long hood coupled/short hood lead, the ditch lights will stick to the short hood no matter what [no point in turning on for the long hood if there is a unit coupled at that end!] and so on) Or are the ditch lights on EMDs actually controlled from the headlight dial al la AC44? (I highly doubt that one as you can have the headlights off but ditchlights on as I have seen in these same videos, and on the TSW AC44, even with headlights set in reverse the ditch lights on the front will still flash-and I have also seen footage to counter that.) Heck, is it possible to have the ditchlights on for both ends of the locomotive at the same time?
It would depend on the direction you're operating. Most, if not all, locos in Train Simulator have their lights rely on the direction of travel. If the reverser is set forward, the headlights, ditchlights, and front class lights turn on. If the reverser is set backward, any lights at the back of the locomotive turn on. Now, I know you're referring to activating locomotive lights individually (using any lights on the loco without one being affected by which lights are on and which direction the reverser is set), but I think the problem is that because of how complicated the lights are, it's almost impossible to allow players and AI trains to set them individually based on their preference rather than based on the reverser and other Train Simulator factors. Some locos in real life have one light switch that controls both the headlights and ditchlights in the front and the rear headlights and ditchlights in the back. Most have two light switches that affect front and back head and ditch lights. It really depends, but I'm not a developer so I don't really know the exact reason behind it either.
I would advise that you avoid bumping old threads (is this a new forum record?) because they probably are no longer relevant and it could result in disciplinary action from the moderators. However, your reply is genuinely helpful and contributes to the topic, so you are fine in this case. In the future, just double check the latest post date. pschlik It has been a long time since we've seen you around. Hope you're doing well. Cheers
I've been posting suggestions left and right nonstop. You didn't notice? And I didn't know the thread was this old. Plus why is it fair to discipline me just for replying to an old thread?
I'm not sure when this would even be an issue, since rarely today IRL and never in TSW do locos run long-hood first, except when shunting (in which case ditch lights would be turned off)
We do long hood running on trainee runs, and on local shunts where customer service is key and no time to turn a loco. The same applies to normal running as a long hood, ditch lights must work for the road crossings. There are 3 way switches in the EM and ED locos and all work via the jumper cable.
So what, did the OP get a clear answer until now? NO. That's why necro threads are occasionally good... Did YOU know that some railways around the world use locos in long hood lead?
Moderators have said that it's acceptable to revive an older thread if the poster has something useful to add. In this case he/she does. And we really don't need members to police the forum. That's what Moderators are for.
It really is a bizarre policy IMO. A number of other forums I'm on, necroposting rather than creating a new post on the same topic is actively encourage, as it keeps the number of duplicated posts and repetition down. But ultimately it's DTG forums and their rules, although it's not up to us police the forums and I'm sure the mods would see it without needing to be tagged IMO
I guess tagging the mods for necrobumps is a pointless thing as it means stuff we’d actually need support with gets missed
There are cases where locos may run LHF. In fact, where I live (Manchester), it was actually slightly common to see locos running LHF, and I've also seen locos run LHF in other places as well, South Windsor, East Hartford, and Hartford as well as Bloomfield, Springfield, and Boston. They frequently ran LHF through the Tolland Turnpike crossings and they weren't switching either. I think it may depend on the situation or where the loco is coming from.
You're not a mod. And I'm not saying this to be a jerk, I'm saying it because it's true. You're trying to be forum police and it's not working. It's failing. I feel as though you're trying to intimidate me. Little really intimidates me, I want you to know that asap. Unless I hear what you're saying, directly from an official developer, I'm not taking your advice or double checking anything. Edit 0: Before anyone says that I'm replying to a reply that's been around for probably about a month now, I know that, but I just wanted to make myself clear. If you're not a mod, and I feel like you're trying to boss me around or make demands, I'm not going to hold my tongue and I'm sure as heck not going to take you seriously. Please don't boss me around, it's not nice and I become very argumentative towards people when they're being rude.
No, you DON'T tag a staff until it's absolutely necessary. Is someone dying, are threats being made? Are people fighting? That's when you tag a mod or dev. If none of those things are happening, please don't try to police the thread if you're not an official DTG mod/dev. It's rude and it's very disrespectful to try and be someone you're clearly not.
I never claimed to be a moderator. My reply was a courtesy to you, because you are a new-ish/inactive user, to remind you that necroposting can result in disciplinary action from the mods. It was a friendly reminder to be careful. Sometimes they will leave threads up if the continued conversation is relevant and constructive, but in general it is good etiquette and practice to avoid necroposting, especially for threads that are 4+ years old. Being confrontational like this is exactly how you get threads locked. But thank you for showing everyone what a big tough guy you are. I will be sure not to make the same mistake of interacting with you again. Cheers
And the OP hasn't been active on this site since May 2021, and their last post was 2019. highly doubt bumping this thread would do them any good.
Okay, okay, okay, look. I think we both got off the wrong foot, it's just, the way you came about your advice... It looked to me like you we're trying to be rude. It looked like you we're trying to push buttons. Don't agree? Not following me? "I would advise that you avoid bumping old threads (is this a new forum record?) because they probably are no longer relevant and it could result in disciplinary action from the moderators. However, your reply is genuinely helpful and contributes to the topic, so you are fine in this case. In the future, just double check the latest post date." It sounds like a passive-aggressive reply. And any thread is relevant if it's pointing to a feature that may be useful. Just because I reply to an old thread doesn't mean you have a reason to just randomly reply to tell me something a mod or dev should be telling me. Your advice would have been useful, but you killed it with "I would advise". I don't know about anyone else, but starting a reply [let alone a sentence] like that can make one think you're coming off as hostile or rude. You don't advise anything, you should start it off like this "Hey man [/ma'am/sir,if you know the gender of the person you're replying to], I didn't want you to take this the wrong way, but the devs/mods don't want people replying/reviving old threads", not like this "I would advise that you". With that out of the way, I apologize for being hostile because I have a bad habit of becoming hostile/argumentative when I feel someone is being rude or disrespectful as I love kindness and don't like hostility, it gets me going and I hope we can put this behind us (not trying to be weird or anything).
Does anyone know if there is a way to activate the ditchlights of a Gallery Cab car using a key or does it have to be activated in first person and with a mouse/ gaming controller?
J is the default key for ditch lights in the active cab. For rear cab, could be possible to use external camera (3).
J does activate the ditchlights for me but it does not activate the alternating ditchlight effect. For me, it was only available by pressing a button in the cab called "manual crossing light." So J does not turn on the flash. Is there an alternative button for that?
Not that I'm aware of, but in many units the flashing engages when you use the horn or the bell. You can try other combos like Shift-J or Alt-J.
