I just purchased a few DLCs, including Dresden-Chemnitz and Chur-Arosa routes. In many of the scenarios there are red lights to stop at, which just don't seem to change. Is there a way to get around these, or is this just another broken part of the game? Any suggestions appreciated.
There shouldn't be "many of the scenarios" for which this happens. You could check the actual scenario names against the list of known red light issues, in the "Technical Reports" forum. Sometimes you just need to wait as much as 10 minutes for a light to turn green.
How long are you waiting at these stops? Because I don't know about Dresden-Chemnitz, but on Arosa you will sometimes have to wait like 5 minutes for the other train to come past you.
With Chur-Arosa, it is at the station where you need to reverse to couple log carriages. I can't remember which scenario it is, but you can wait over 20 minutes. It just doesn't change.
Remember to contact the signaller as well. It’s not only realistic but some shunting moves in scenarios require it before the aspect will change. Just don’t contact them more than once at the same signal as sometimes I find it freaks out and everything goes wrong.
In addition to the other answers, also be aware that if a red signal on German routes has two white lights, those lights are the okay for "manoeuvering" (moving within a station) to proceed, to you are allowed to pass the signal.
Some red lights are bugged so you will be sitting there forever. Affects some routes such as harlem line and some services and scenarios here and there which are likely due to pathing issues by the dispatcher. I know one of the loco moves in the journey chapter for arosa makes you go past a red light to couple to the locos but if you go past it, it will trigger a spad so you can't finish it. It's best to contact signaler at each red light and see if there are any trains you have to wait for. Sometimes it's an few minutes, sometimes longer. If it never changes and there's nothing on the line and the dispatcher says wait for light to change, then it's likely a bug
A quick and easy way is to open the plan view, 9 key on PC and scroll around see if any trains are moving towards you or around you. Or if trains are just stood everywhere then the session is probably borked. Although DTG have done some work towards improving the save game it is still possible to get a redout when reloading a game. Sadly it seems to have once again gone on the backburner along with all the other bugs and issues. Then there is the nagging thought that DTG's response to earlier complaints about the save game was to remove the feature entirely when they launched TSW3. It was only a persistent and vociferous campaign by the community which led to it being reinstated. So moaning about the save game and signalling state restoration has become a bit of a taboo subject.
Thanks. I'm tending to think it's best not to use Scenarios and just pick a trip out of the timetable.
You can still get signalling redouts on timetable runs if you save and resume later. However it varies from route to route. Used to be a massive problem on Brighton main line, now not so much. You may also find on a timetable run if you finish a run and return to free roam to take over the next leg, or another train, the time and objective data in the top LH of the screen may vanish if you save and resume, also rendering any further progress useless.
While there are some legitimate red light issues in the game, it is also very easy to confuse these when in fact they are actually working. The issue here is that AI trains (as well as the player's own train) request the right of way for a track FAR in advance. There are technical reasons why it's done like this, but this also means you might be stuck at a signal for 5 or 10 minutes, depending on the situation and what the AI is doing. Make use of context. Try and contact the in-game signaller. If it mentions something about your train being off-path or something similar, double check if you are following the timetable instructions. Otherwise, that's a problem. IF the signaller tells you to wait for the signal to change, then that indicates that things are indeed working, and you just need to be patient for the train ahead to pass. You can double check this by opening the map and scrolling around, try to spot what trains are around you and make note of what they're doing. Also take notice of the signals, there should be at least one green or yellow aspect signal. If all signals in your area are red, then everything is gridlocked and that's a problem. If you're not sure of what the signal is in front of you, the signal HUD on the top right simplifies it and should tell you if you're clear to proceed or not. The timetable also might give you a clue as well. If there is indeed some heavier traffic and red signals expected, the timetable often allows more slack in timing than there is normally, and should allow you to arrive on time even if there was a red signal.
There´re many helpful hints here. I´m not sure if this has been mentioned already: Sometimes you need to invert and just drive a little bit into the opposite direction, towards the red signal. This will tell the in-game signaller (pretty dumb ass if you ask me) that you´re reversing your path. I remembered exactly this problem on the Arosaline scenario you mentioned. See below: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/add-alpine-photoshoot-to-arosaline-bugs.50018/#post-497236
