With the renewed interest generated by a new AC electrified route based in the USA, I wanted to give the devs some feedback on Signaling/Safety System implementation that could be useful for giving a more realistic experience. Based on the likelihood that this route may involve a NORAC railroad like Amtrak or NJ Transit, I have summarized my thoughts below: Wayside Signals When a train is routed to the non-normal or diverging route of a switch, a proper diverging aspect should be displayed. Examples: A signal displaying Stop Signal / Stop and Proceed / Restricting must be preceded by a signal displaying Approach, Medium Approach, Slow Approach, or Restricting The player should not need to request permission to pass a Stop and Proceed signal. A diverging signal must be preceded by the appropriate warning signal (ex: Approach Slow → Slow Clear, Approach Medium → Medium Clear, Approach Limited → Limited Clear, Cab Speed → Cab Speed). In general, NORAC signal progressions tend to use Clear → Advance Approach (or Approach Medium) → Approach → Stop and Proceed. There are exceptions like Amtrak’s 562 territories where fixed signals are present at interlockings and only cab signals are used between them (no fixed distant or ABS wayside signals) – in which case, CAB SPEED can be used as an additional slow down aspect between CLEAR and APPROACH MEDIUM. Sections of the NEC between New York Penn and Newark Penn as well as between New Brunswick and Trenton are examples of this. Cab Signals When you pass a wayside signal displaying an aspect, the cab signal should conform to that particular aspect. On the Boston Sprinter route, I have seen numerous cases where the ADU stayed at CLEAR after passing an Advance Approach or Approach Limited or Approach Medium signal. The ADU only dropped to the correct APPROACH MEDIUM cab signal after passing the next cut section / block point / impedance bond. In this case the change should have happened at the wayside signal – not midway into the signal block. Medium Approach corresponds to an APPROACH cab signal while Slow Approach corresponds to a RESTRICTING cab signal. In Boston Sprinter, these seem to be frequently mixed up (ex: dwarf signals at Back Bay Station display Medium Approach – Yellow over Flashing Red, but the cab signal changes to RESTRICTING). Cab signals should only upgrade to CLEAR or another less restrictive signal once the head of a train reaches the end of the interlocking for diverging moves. On Boston Sprinter, I have seen cases where the cab signal immediately jumps back up to CLEAR when you reach the beginning of an interlocking rather than the end for a 45 mph switch (thus negating all protection that would be given by cab signals against over-speeding). I have said it before, but it has still not been addressed yet for the MBTA rolling stock – ADUs should only display one aspect at a time (in Boston Sprinter, the F40 and cab car can display MAS and CLEAR 90 at the same time). Yards (or other non-signaled tracks) and major passenger terminals that are stub ended or generally limited to slow speeds (like Boston South Station or NY Penn or Hoboken Terminal) will usually have no cab signals coded into the rails for trains to receive – thus, the cab signals should always display RESTRICTING in that territory. Alerters (Vigilance Devices) Alerters typically use a visual and audible warning with the visual warning preceding or starting at the same time as the audible one. In the past, TSC and TSW DLC has not always used the correct visual behavior for the alerter: Indicators with the word “ALARM” on NJT equipment are not the alerter of the locomotive. That is typically an indicator that denotes when there is some fault with the locomotive (something with the loco needs troubleshooting or maintenance) – this is not used to indicate that an alerter must be acknowledged. As shown in the image, the visual alerter is the upper round cut out in the panel and it would illuminate red (flashing on and off) when activated. Indicators that show the word “BRAKE WARN” on EMD control stands (like MBTA F40) are not the visual portion of the alerter. That is an indicator that denotes excessive dynamic braking – this is not used to indicate that an alerter must be acknowledged. As shown in the image, the visual alerter is above the windshield and it would illuminate red (flashing on and off in a checkerboard pattern) when activated – the Baby Bullet cab car had this simulated correctly. Alerters can generally be reset by moving the throttle, moving the train brake handle, blowing the horn, ringing the bell, or using the reset/acknowledge button. In some of the past DLC (TSC mostly), only using the acknowledge button would reset the timer. Reference Materials NORAC Rulebook: http://www.cottonvalley.org/safety/NORAC-11-02-01-18.pdf Signal Progression for NORAC: http://deltareum.com/signals.htm Amtrak 562 territory references: https://www.trains.com/trn/train-basics/abcs-of-railroading/ahead-of-the-rest/ https://www.railwayage.com/cs/hsr-in-the-northeast-what-next/ EMD F40PH-2D Manual (reference for “BRAKE WARN” light and alerter behavior): http://www.chartertoconductor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/f40-viaom.pdf
Hey NB642, Aside from the "Alerters (Vigilance Devices)" section (which I can't verify because I simply do not know enough about it), everything you said is 100% accurate. I have been working on and off for several months on signal fixes for Boston to Providence in my spare time. Everything you pointed out has been fixed and currently resides only on my computer. I still have quite a bit of work to do and need to have a discussion with DTG on the way forward with potentially implementing my code as a future patch. I'm not going to lie, but some of these fixes require quite invasive changes to core game functionality, and we need to tread carefully if we aren't going to disturb existing content. Long story short, the same ATC/ACSES blueprint is used for each train that utilizes these technologies (ACS-64, M7A, LIRR M7, etc). My signal fixes have numerous additions to them (explicit 100Hz/250Hz pulse codes on both sides of the impedance bond that indicate a cab signal aspect, to name just one). Aside from Harlem, which is a different implementation, none of the existing locomotives even know what pulse codes are, nor do they understand how I've implemented them. If you're unfamiliar with what pulse codes are, I suggest reading this article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_code_cab_signaling#:~:text=Pulse code cab signals work,the leading set of wheels. To that end, it's known that what you said are indeed issues with the current offering of Boston to Providence. I have an immense amount of pride when it comes to Boston to Providence. Hell, I created the damn route during my spare time while on a 6-month overseas deployment and while beta testing the first iteration of the public editor. I want it to be the best it can be. I'd love to be able to share more details regarding my progress, but I'll have to clear it through the company first. Basically, all the signal progressions are fixed, the ADU in the ACS-64 works properly with them (haven't touched MBTA stuff at all, but it will need to be adjusted), and it's just a matter of time before DTG gets involved. Thanks for this post as it's extremely informative for those unfamiliar with some issues that have plagued Boston to Providence since its inception. -Brandon
Thanks for the response, Brandon! I am happy to hear you are still involved in these potential fixes for Boston Sprinter. The route in its current state is already one of my favorite / most played routes in TSW and introducing those fixes for signaling will only make it 10 times better for everyone who plays (IMHO). I can only hope Dovetail will find a way to implement your work in the not-so-far-off future. I used Boston Sprinter as the primary source for examples of current signaling code, but my intent other than to highlight current signals bugs with that route, is to really remind the developers of the upcoming AC USA route of what we really should see for signals in NORAC railroads. In other words, I write this with the hope that this new route (if it is indeed one of the NORAC railroads) will not have any signaling issues from a Day 1 release - though I know this might be overly optimistic. NJ Transit and Amtrak are two railroads that are near and dear to me from a rail enthusiast's perspective, so the I would gladly take the opportunity help to get them implemented correctly (if at least only from a signaling/safety system aspect). I am not a signal designer by trade, but through resources at my current and last line of work, I have a basic understanding of how pulse code signaling is implemented in the northeast USA railroads. For me it is definitely interesting from an engineering and design perspective. Thanks for the dedication to making this content the best it can be! Content creators like you bring a level of quality/attention to detail that is sometimes lacking in the USA offerings compared with the British/German content. As a side note, the general info on alerters is based on what I have seen in various operating manuals for (real world) locomotives, and Youtube videos that incidentally or directly show the behavior.
