PC Tsw3 Es44c4 Training Module - Problems With Switching And Coupler Unlocking

I decided to explore Cajon Pass by means of Rail Journeys. The UI would not let me proceed directly to the more advanced journeys without having first passed the training modules. So I played rookie and navigated through the menus starting at Main Menu: To the Trains, Rail Journeys, Cajon Pass, Passing Grade, Rookie, ES44 Training Module, Get Started.

This module starts off really well, with everything being clearly explained. The voice-over is especially good. Things go well until you reach the point where you've stopped in the head shunt. Here you're asked to change the junction indicated, either by using the map, or by walking to it. If you use the map, you find no junction indicated, so you don't know which one to change. If you decide to walk, it is indicated and when you get there you can see that the rails are currently set to the right. But when you look at the operating lever, the caption wrongly says that it is set to the left. When you then operate it as requested, the caption changes to 'Right', but the rails don't move and the instruction doesn't advance. To move on, you have to operate the lever a second time, at which time the rails move and the caption changes to 'Left'.

You are then instructed to check that the locomotive's coupler is unlocked by releasing its Cut Bar. You are told that if you don't do this, the locomotive will bounce off the freight cars during coupling. So you unlock the coupler, the instruction advances to tell you to do the same on the freight car and the locomotive's coupler promptly locks itself again. So you click it to unlock it and 2 sec later it locks itself again. The same happens on the freight car's coupler. You just cannot find a way to leave them unlocked. When you subsequently couple up with locked couplers, you fully expect to bounce off, but all goes well.

It's such a shame that these errors exist as this module is otherwise really good.

 

Don't trust the tooltip, just look at the position of the knuckle and you will see if a coupler is really un/locked. The cut bar returns to the default position and then indicates a locked coupler. However, this is not true, the coupler still remains unlocked and only locks again when coupling. I think the tooltip means with "coupler locked" that the coupler really stays locked and does not unlock again after coupling. It is simply described unfavorably and should actually be called "cut bar locked".

Left unlocked, right locked

 

Thanks for that sequencer. I think it would really help rookies if these details were corrected.

 

IRL what keeps the knuckle open prior to coupling? Is it spring-loaded?