I have been watching a few streams of people playing LIRR and also seen some questions pop up. Since I was responsible for the simulation setup (including screen design and Simugraph) of the M7 and M9, I thought I'd share some advice that will hopefully help players. Anything stated below describes how a feature has been implemented in the game, and should not be interpreted as a description of how the system works in the real world. 1. Train Number Input On the M7 and M9 the train number corresponding to the service that is being run has to be input to enable the PIS and the destination indicators on the left screen (CDP) in the cab. The correct train number is automatically input as soon as the train starts moving if the system is operating in the automatic (default) mode. If you press the "Train Number" button on the CDP a keypad will pop up where you can insert strings of numbers (and letters by using the coloured "Alpha" keys). As soon as you press OK with any string of letters/numbers input the system goes into "Manual" mode. At this point on you are responsible for the input train number to be correct. If it is incorrect the PIS and CDP destination indicators will remain/become disabled. To find the correct train number you can either: (a) go into the menu screen and select "Schedule" (b) Bring up the timetable window (T key on PC) Note: If you are running several services in a row (by reaching the final destination and then waiting for a new service to start) you need to select the new train number upon the next service becoming active. 2. Anti-Rollback Feature Both the M7 and M9 has a so called "anti-rollback feature" which is intended to prevent the train from rolling back on inclines during departure. When the system is active, an indicator is displayed on the right screen (TOD) "Anti-Rollback". The system becomes active after you have stopped the train with the master controller in the brake range (i.e. Min Brake or more) and is disabled if: (a) The master controller is held in "Coast" for 1-2 seconds (depending on the train type) (b) The master controller is moved to more than 40% power. 3. Third-rail gap "pump back" brake. At certain sections on the route (typically, but not exclusively, around junctions) the third rail is broken, leaving a gap. Because the A and B units are connected via a high voltage bus, only if all 4 third rail shoes are "gapped" does traction become unavailable. In this situation the train transitions (very rapidly) to regenerative braking in order to supply certain systems with power. This is only available above circa 15 mph, and the power generated is not sufficient to supply the HVAC (which will shut off as soon as the two-car unit is gapped). On the M9, in the "Third Rail Voltage" page (accessed via the similarly named button on the CDP) has a function called "Ice Mode". When pressed the pump-back brake is disabled to prevent it from becoming intermittently active in icing conditions (which can cause the third rail shoes to lose contact). 4. Wheel-slip/slide indicators. If you are familiar with the old LIRR route or the Harlem Line route, you might notice a difference on the TOD of the M7 and M9 with regard to the wheel slip/slide indicator. During a wheel slip the text "Wheel slip/slide" will become yellow to indicate that the wheels are slipping. During braking there is an additional indication for a wheel slide. With the master controller in the brake range a green square pops up. If the wheels start to slide this green square will change in size and colour to indicate the severity of the wheel slide. If it is red and fully covers the box the wheels are completely locked up. 5. Trouble Screen page. Both the M7 and M9 has a "Trouble Screen" page that is accessible from a button at the bottom of the CDP screen. If there is an active fault on any car in the train, this car will change colour on the top formation indication. An unacknowledged fault on the train will make the Trouble Screen button flash alternating red and black (M7) or white (M9). Pressing the button takes you to the Trouble Screen page where a list of the active faults are displayed in either yellow (minor fault) or red (major fault). When cycling through the faults with the arrow keys the car (or cars) which are experiencing this fault will change in colour corresponding to the severity. When pressing "Acknowledge" the "++++" indication (which means that the fault is new/unacknowledged) disappears and going back to the Main Screen, the Trouble Screen button no longer flashes. The minor faults (yellow) are mostly cosmetic (and looks cool ) and won't have an impact on the operation of the train. Red faults do have an impact on the train, but are only caused by your own actions. These red faults are: (a) Parking Brake applied (b) ATC Input wrong (c) ACSES Input wrong. I will explain (b) and (c) later on, but you can rest assured that there will be no random faults that degrade your train. 6. ACSES and ATC test. Both the M7 and M9 has ACSES and ATC tests implemented. To run these tests the reverser has to be in Forward, the brake pipe has to be charged, the master controller has to be in "Min Brake" and the train has to be stationary. Note that not all of these conditions have to be satisfied throughout the test (brake pipe being charged and Master Controller being in Min Brake). On the M7 the ATC test is initiated by pressing the "ATC Daily Test" on the CDP, the text indication will show if the test is ready to start. The ACSES test is initiated by turning the "ACSES Departure Test" key on the right side of the control desk. On the M9 both the ATC and the ACSES tests are accessible from the same button on the CDP, called "ATC/ACSES Departure Test". On this page you press the button corresponding to the safety system you want to test. If you fail any of the tests an error message will pop up on the display (think of it as a soft fail). If you abort the test by for example moving the reverser out of Forward or moving the Master Controller to Coast you will get a fault on the Trouble Screen page (hard fail). The hard fail does not disable safety systems in any way or prevent movement of the train, but as mentioned you do get a fault on the Trouble Screen that only disappears after you have successfully completed the corresponding test. For fun, I will leave the exact steps up to you to find out 7. ATC advice. I would recommend watching either the DTG video on safety systems on LIRR or cActUsjUiCe videos. I will only point out some special details here. ATC acts quite differently on the new LIRR route as compared to both the old LIRR, Harlem Line or the NEC routes. As soon as the cab aspect (the vertical column of indications on the ADU) changes to a speed below the trains current speed (or you exceed the current aspects overspeed setpoint) the "OVERSPEED" indication on the TOD speedometer gauge will illuminate (i.e. not the ADU) and the train will automatically go into braking at a fixed deceleration rate (the Brake Assurance Rate). When ATC is braking, the "ATC Forestall" indication illuminates on the TOD. When the trains deceleration rate satisfies the Brake Assurance Rate (BAR) an additional indication, with this name, illuminates on the TOD. An alarm will also sound. To prevent an emergency brake application, you as the train engineer have to satisfy these conditions: (i) Move the Master Controller to "Coast" or lower. (ii) Acknowledge the alarm. If you do not satisfy the conditions in time the train will go into emergency brake venting the brake pipe. When the train has decelerated below the underspeed setpoint corresponding to the ATC aspect (typically 1-2 mph below the aspect speed), as long as the train is not in emergency and condition (i) is satisfied the brakes will automatically release. That is, you are not required to reach some specified brake position by yourself (as is the case with many other ATC variants), "Coast" is sufficient. Note: The BAR is quite harsh and in low adhesion weather conditions it is possible to not be able to achieve it which will invariably lead to an emergency brake application unless you are lucky to decelerate below the underspeed setpoint within the normal time limit (circa 7 seconds). Therefore it might be wise to keep a slightly lower speed if you anticipate ATC downgrades and the weather is inclement. On the M7 this BAR indication will illuminate regardless of whether ATC is enforcing a speed request brake, but on the M9 it requires ATC to be braking. 8. ACSES advice. ACSES on the new LIRR route works quite similarly to how it works on the NEC routes. When active it prevents the train from exceeding the track speed and also passing "Stop" signals (in gameplay terms the types of red signals that are game enders when passed). With route knowledge you can prevent ACSES from intervening since the conditions for it's intervention are predicable (i.e. you started braking too late for a track speed restriction or approached a stop signal too fast). It uses two curves: (i). Alert curve (ii). Penalty curve When the Alert curve is intersected the "OVERSPEED" light on the ADU is illuminated (note the difference with this overspeed light and the one on the TOD) and you have a short time window to start braking and prevent the train from intersecting the Penalty curve. Upon intersecting the penalty curve a warning alarm is also played (which sounds slightly different from the ATC warning sound) and you need to acknowledge this alarm or ACSES will go into a penalty brake application, even if you never intersect the penalty curve. However, the ACSES penalty brake application does not dump the brake pipe, it only applies maximum service braking. If the Penalty curve is intersected, regardless of whether you have acknowledged the alarm, and regardless of what the master controller position is, ACSES will intervene with a penalty brake application (max brake). 9. General screen/switch information. Quite a bit of work went into designing the screens and making them functional. If you are interested in this sort of stuff I just want to recommend going into all the implemented pages and trying out the buttons and see what they do Some of the switches in the cab also affect the screens/screen indications, not to mention their effect on the train state. I hope you have many hours of enjoyment running the trains on LIRR Commuter!
I'm loving the M7 and M9 intractability, outstanding work! I especially love the fault messages, adds a lot more life to the game. They're really fun to drive. I noticed the HVAC cutting out in the M9 and was wondering if that was the 3rd rail causing it, great detail! My only question is: Is there any way to change the M7s display brightness? Or is that only possible on the M9?
As you're on PC you can use GodMode's ToD4 emissive RGB controls to "fight" the unbalanced AutoExposure if there's no dimmer. Default Reducing the Green channel of the emissive texture from 2000 to 200 at night does the trick The BIG disadvantage is the signal emissives are also affected...
IRL I would assume the hvac should turn off when it reaches a certain set point and then turn back on when it reaches another. Unless you force it on. Maybe it’s simulating that? Idk so far I’ve been turning hvac off completely but I’m interested in an answer myself
HVAC turns off when you lose third rail power in two-car unit and then turns back on automatically when voltage is recovered. However, the startup is delayed for about 10 seconds.
I would like to also express my gratitude. Much of what I enjoy in this game is the result of your work and attention to detail.
the M7 and M9 master himself. Thank you for making the M7 and M9 to be my two favorite trains in the game. These are your babies and you put lots of work and love into them. The VDU's on them are just beautiful. I'm having a blast. The M7 and M9 headlights IMO the best in the game. You can drive in dense fog and actually see see at night. Brandon, Joe, team, and yourself brought LIRR2 to life. thank you, Eddie
Thanks everyone, that makes me happy to read DTG JD Any chance this thread could be stickied in this subforum for a while?
cwf.green I agree. Everything you touch in TSW turns to gold. Many thanks. I got an M7/M9 question. When departing from a station and all is clear ahead, are these trains designed to go directly into full power, or is the throttle increase more gradual? I’m curious if you know the real world procedure.
I really appreciate when a developer actually steps out of its silence and is here to help and guide people. We need more people like you, cwf.green
I’m getting a trouble message on the M9. First time I’ve encountered it. Says “Fault Code: 1347 Incorrect Input. Cut in ACSES , insert Master key, set reverser to forward…. Etc”. That’s funny to me because systems are enabled at all times here. Brakes won’t charge as a result. - Unrelated. I had an 80 speed code, with a “stop” aspect ahead and a train crossing over in front of me. Thought these scenarios were impossible with forced safety. Thankfully I stopped on my own.
It varies too much to give a "cookie cutter" answer. If you are departing with restrictive cab aspects or if the track speed is really low (like Long Beach etc) you wouldn't go full throttle, but if the signals are clear and the track speed is high that is definitely done by some engineers. I'll let you make your own interpretation on the "Cut in ACSES" part of the statement, but in general that trouble message will appear if you started the ACSES pre-departure test and aborted it by moving any of the controls outside of their required setting for the test. Charging the brake pipe is automatic in this DLC and only requires that no emergency brake condition (like ATC penalty brake) is active, train is stationary and the master controller is in "Max Brake".
Once again, thanks for your work and dedication to recreating trains the more accurately possible, and giving the necessary explanations !
There's a small locker behind the drivers seat (on the left side). If you open that, there will be a parking brake lever inside.
Thank you for answer. Now I'm trying to finish the ACSES system test. Functional system error screens push this game forward. Excellent work.
Apologies if this is mentioned somewhere else, but: Is there a train code to get the PIS to display "Not in service", or something like that for ECS/Depot moves? E.g.currently running Train 5502 WSY-Hillside Facility, 09:27 but that Train Code just gives a blank PIS.
for some reason all the empty moves have blank PIS. I will bring this up to see if the "not in service can be implemented. I filled a Jira for this. hope this information if helpful
Has anyone completed the ACSES departure test on the M7? I always end up at signal 6. Then I don't know how to continue.
I ran the training scenario on both the M7 and M9 and the trains run fine. But when I try to run any scenario with either train from any start point, I can only drive a few hundred feet, then the alerter goes off, the brake pressure rolls to zero and the emergency brake stops the train and it cannot be recovered. What am I missing? Again, the train operates perfectly in the training scenario.
You need to acknowledge if it's alerting at you. It could also be other things. What is atc/acses telling you? If it's telling you a speed lower than line speed, you have to go the lower speed. If it's a speed change, you have to brake. Would recommend reading the manual
Thanks for the advice. Apparently these trains are not so simple "key, forward, lights, brake pipe, load and go."
one question - on Harlem, you could anticipate some things when you saw ATC/ACSES transponders between rails... here it is done by "radio" or sth? cos I dont see anything between rails, so I guess I can "anticipate" stuff only from the HUD or some early warnings, right?
thanks for universal answer to anything ... and here was me thinking getting a clear answer would be easy
found the actual post with the answer I was looking for: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...lirr2-safety-systems.81238/page-2#post-838301
Sorry I understand it has been some time since this thread was active but I would really appreciate some help with the departure tests. I follow the steps posted at the top of the thread but then the emergency brakes come on and the alarms just ring forever. I have tried acknowledging the test at different points but it comes to the same result.
Are you sure you're following what the signaling systems are telling you? Where is it happening? Do you have a video?
I'm not really confident with those tests myself, but when you're in emergency, usually you must put the brakes to 'max brake' so that they can recharge
I'm not having a problem with the system out on the journey it's just when doing the departure tests they get stuck and I'm wondering what to do to fix it and also if they are even simulated properly.
Because it's been a while since release maybe I can give a few hints I'm basing this on the M9, but other than how to actually start the ACSES tests (key vs page button), the M7 and M9 are virtually identical. ATC test: 1. Press the screen button to enable the test (min brake) and then acknowledge once to initiate the test. 2. Acknowledge all the codes except for the second 15 and let it go into emergency. 3. Acknowledge after the brake pipe is vented. ACSES test: 1. Begin the test in min brake. 2. Acknowledge when the MAS code changes. 3. When the penalty brake is applied, wait a second for the brake cylinder pressure to rise before acknowledging (don't spam). 4. After the brake pipe is vented, move the master controller to Max Brake and acknowledge. 5. Reset the MC to Min Brake and acknowledge to proceed. 6. Rinse and repeat. You'll know if you passed the test when the "- -" shows up on the MAS and the test light extinguishes.
Hello. I've been playing TSW4 for a few months now and really love it. I just bought the new LIRR commuter route though, and I hate to say that so far I'm finding it frustrating. I have a couple of questions... hoping someone can help. Is there a way to turn the ATC off? (or whatever it is that beeps at you and shuts the train down every few seconds). I can appreciate the realism of it, but If I have a choice I'd rather play without it, at least for now. also, in the tutorial it says to press the charge brakes button, but the green button that used to be the charge brakes button on the old version is non-functioning here. I spent some time clicking on every possible button and switch, and as far as I can tell, there is no charge brakes button.
Unfortunately there safely systems can’t be turned off. But please don’t get frustrated as I took me a bit to get use to it. Once you learned it you will come really find it very satisfying. Here a video link that was created by Matt. Hope it helps and if you need more information please let us know
When driving train # 4324 and # 3810, which are both empty, I get this trouble screen message: Besides this message, the train works fine. Does someone know what this error means ?
That message doesn’t affect the operation at all. You can just acknowledge it and keep on playing the service.
