Here is a list of things I think the preservation crew should at least look at for the Peninsula Corridor: 1) MP15 layer causes timetable issues, 143 service broken. As mentioned in several places here, the additional layer added by the MP15 DLC causes game breaking timetable issues, namely the special train gets stuck outside of SF when starting the 143 service from the menu. 2) The headlights on the cabcars for AI are not turned off at any point after they are turned on, whether it be at CEMOF or in San Francisco. This is very annoying in SF as the trains that have arrived into SF that go back south will run with their rear headlights on. 3) Platform 4 at San Francisco is setup to require you to open the doors on the wrong side. See service 380 for example, the platform is on the right, the instruction only completes if you open the doors on the left side. This affects all services that use platform 4 in SF. 4) Incorrect San Jose track assignments can lead to AI standoffs. The tracks that trains use in San Jose for the most part is completely incorrect. I am only suggesting this because we have seen the tracks trains use in San Jose changed in previous updates. Train 287 originally used track 7 or 8 I believe, but after an update it now uses track 3. Caltrain made the track assignments for the pre-covid timetables (2018-19, what the route uses) completely public, so I will attach the assignments for the timetable when the route is set. The issue that it caused by the incorrect assignments is that they have trains departing northbound from tracks 6+. In reality with very few exceptions all northbound trains depart from tracks 2-5, with continuing southbound trains to Tamien and Gilroy using track 6, with 7-9 used for trains going back to CEMOF or laying over in SJ. An example I encountered was running train 254 about 4 minutes late into SJ. The deadhead move from CEMOF that forms train 365 was already waiting on the yard lead, and followed my train (254) as soon as I cleared the block. The issue was that it was supposed to use track 6, which was already occupied by train 263. 263's path took it along the same track 365 was already on, before it crossed over to the NB track. This lead to a standoff that was not possible to resolve. This would not have occurred had the trains used the correct track as the signaling is setup correct for those types of moves. A smarter dispatcher could also probably prevent something like this, but an easy solution would just be assigning trains to the correct tracks. This way, NB trains would not need to access the SB track at all, and could not be conflicted by SB trains or CEMOF deadheads. I assume there are more examples of this happening throughout the day if you are slightly off schedule, but I have reproduced it several times by running 254 around 4-5 minutes late out of Santa Clara into San Jose. Edit - sometimes, mainly during the rush, several trains that terminate in San Jose use tracks 7+, and then will either go to CEMOF for a little bit, or perform a southend shift to end up on tracks 2-5 for their northbound departure. Southend shifts are where the train pulls south out of San Jose clear of CP Bird, then shoves back into the platform track it is supposed to use. This area is out of bounds in-game, but the track does exist so it could be used by AI services to perform this operation. 5) 25th Ave grade crossing gates are stuck in the raised position. This crossing is the road crossing located between Hillsdale and Hayward Park, and has its gates stuck in the open position and the lights not flashing. 6) Working crossings and addition of pedestrian crossings. The Caltrain route has a really large number of crossings, so it would be cool if even just the ones near the stations would function. The crossings on Caltrain are NOT linked in with the signals, you will have a green even if the crossing is up, they are not connect to each other. The crossings are simply triggered when the train is a certain distance away. Given that this is a line with regular 79mph express trains, all of the pedestrian crossings at stations and elsewhere feature full light, bell, and gate crossings. The game does not even have signs at these, which is completely inaccurate. These were actually present in the TS20xx version of the route, although not animated. Here is a photo of the one from the south end of Sunnyvale station. 7) Service 227B. This was incorrectly added to the original timetable and never removed. There is no 227A or 227B, just 227. Train 227 was the 7:06AM departure from Gilroy, 7:59AM from San Jose. Apart from once in 2005, Caltrain does not use letters in their train numbers. 227B was depicted as an evening Gilroy to SF train, something which has never existed on the weekday timetable ever in real life. I have concluded that the train is not massively tied into the schedule either, so removing it should not break anything else. The train runs from the portal south of San Jose to start the service, and upon arrival in San Francisco the consist is not used again. The portal service is tied to train 156, but this also runs into the portal, and realistically should stay there since this train goes to Gilroy, and the set spends the night there.
Hoping I can add on to this thread; 6B) Crossing gates at stations. This one is rather interesting, because as shown in the videos below, crossing gates are initially triggered by track circuitry, but when a train stops at the station the gates go back up, then upon departure they lower again, not sure what mechanism causes this in real life, but it appears that the engineer sounds the horn, and there's a microphone on the gates that picks that up and starts to lower the gates, obviously I don't expect something so odd to be programmed in, but it's kinda cool. This happens with both pedestrian and road gates located at the ends of stations. (time-stamped links of various examples): Edit: Timestamps didn't embed, skip to 20:35 for an example of pedestrian crossing being horn activated at mountain view, then 44:10 for an example of a road crossing being horn activated at Redwood City 8) Wheelchair ramps missing from platforms. Most low-level commuter stations in the United States (some Amtrak stations are an exception) are built with ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps (or a mobile ramp operated by a station staff member) that allow a passenger in a wheelchair or mobility device to board the train at level with the assistance of a foldable metal bridge deployed by the conductor (pictured below is a DB conductor deploying the foldable ramp, it is incredibly hard to find a picture of this in action for some reason but it gets the idea across). I'm not asking for conductors and mobility-impaired passengers to get added to the game, it would be nice to see the ramps added to the stations in-game, as it also provides an extra challenge since you have +/- 1 yard to properly line up the head loco/cab car with the "Spot A/Spot B" signs (which for those who don't know, the purpose of those signs is to allow the engineer to line up the train with the ADA ramp) Example of ramp/bridge deployed by a conductor: Sunnyvale with ramp: Almost same-angle in game:
I've occasionally experienced the engine sounds of the F40PH-2CAT to be dissapeared completely and forever, when starting a service when there's multiple F40PH-2CATs with running engines waiting a the station. AI trains do have sound, but the player train has no engine sound, even not while leaving the area and being far away from the AI trains.
Another thing that is missing from the TSW 2 version of the route is the echo effect that was present in the TSW2020 version. It was there in all of the tunnels, as well as under the large bridges in SF. It was a great immersion factor and worked really well, so I don't really know why it didn't carry over to TSW2. The sounds volumes were also mixed so much better in TSW2020, so I hope the gets addressed. The F40 in particular is really messed up in terms of volume levels, as well as issues with opening the window making some sounds quieter and others louder. All of the stock suffers from issues in this regard though. Another thing is the crossings used to have a noise attached to them, and you could hear it slightly when driving past with the windows open, that was really cool. Would like to see that return in some way, whether that be with completely new and functional crossings that have sound with them, or just sound on the static ones like we had before. EDIT - having just done a run in TSW2020 - the echo is so good in this route. It honestly blows my mind how it was not carried over. It is there on Pen Corridor in all the tunnels and all the bridges where it would act like that irl. It is stronger in the tunnels than under a bridge, as it would be irl. Just having the engine sound amplify as you hit one of the tunnels in notch 8 provides so much immersion, as does having the horn echo as you blow for a crossing while passing under a bridge. This NEEDS to come back to the route, and definitely needs to be there for all future projects.
The MP-15 layer also breaks a number of the UP GP-38 services, as coupling results in derailments due to cars spawning clipped together.
