For most of my experience on this game as far as manual switches go has been with American freight routes. On those routes you could always roll over incorrectly set switches when going against them. I always assumed that this was most likely an incorrectly implemented feature. Or that my dyslexia was reading that very awkwardly worded options setting wrong. However, last night I was on BML with 313 doing the four part run from the depot (can’t remember the name) to Brighton and I noticed I got derailed if I didn’t have the switches set correctly when going the wrong way over them. So is this a bug on certain routes? Or something that’s been corrected without being noted in the patch notes? Or are large freight locomotives in North America heavy enough to manually flip the switch tracks without them needing to be changed?
Any switch ordinarily will re-align itself in a trailing move- that is, a train "running the switch" from the direction to which it was not set. However, eons ago Parliament passed a law requiring all switches (sets of ponts) in the UK to be equipped with points locks- which prevents this (and instead causes derailments).
It also happens on Cane Creek. I got a derailment at Moab running through the manual switch when it was set to the opposite line. Seems to be a DTG inconsistency, maybe even at the route building level when setting the point properties. Only way to be sure is use the 2D view to ensure all the points are aligned to your path, even when these are hand points.
That would certainly explain the consistency at which I derailed on the BML line. I’ll keep an eye out for that. Thank you.
I feel Iike I’ve derailed around the refueling rig on SPG before. But it’s been so long since it played that route I really can’t remember.
Not in the case of hand points Bill, these should go across when a train passes through in the trailing direction. Even on main lines there are locations where trailing points are not fitted with FPL's so if these are required to be traversed by a passenger train in the facing direction someone, usually the MOM or PW, has to go out and clip/scotch them. That's why trains approaching Worcester Shrub Hill from the Norton Jn direction cannot run into the Up Platform as at least one set of points that comes into the Up Main that would have to be passed over don't have FPL's. In all my years in the railway control, came across a number of incidents where points had been run through (usually in engineering possessions) but can't recall any that caused a derailment. A headache for the PW/S&T though, definitely!
Cost, I guess. Though spring (or sometimes hydraulic ram) points are standard on single lines worked by RETB or No Signalman Token arrangements, under normal circumstances with proof of detection given by the "Points Set" indicator on approach.
I got caught out on a depot run with the 377/4 on BML a while ago. I was pleasantly surprised since, for the most part, those switches are thrown for you. I derailed a couple of times before I caught on.
