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Help! 13/01/2024 at 16:56 #155053
cirrenna
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I've never used this type of signalling sim before, so bear with me.

Just how do I get started in Penzance, please?

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Help! 13/01/2024 at 17:02 #155054
i26
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May be worth taking a look at the Wikki. Would recommend taking a look here first https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=signallingprinciples

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Help! 15/01/2024 at 16:06 #155077
cirrenna
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Exactly where is the timetable, because at the moment I consider that I've just wasted money.
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Help! 15/01/2024 at 16:47 #155078
sunocske
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Timetables come with your install in the Loader, or you can download them from the Download area (be sure you copy them in the right folder to use). Anyway, read the manuals first. It will definitely help you a lot.
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Help! 15/01/2024 at 17:11 #155079
Steamer
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cirrenna in post 155077 said:
Exactly where is the timetable, because at the moment I consider that I've just wasted money.
Please see the Starting a simulation page on the Wiki, which will explain how to set up a simulation and select a timetable.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
Last edited: 15/01/2024 at 17:11 by Steamer
Reason: None given

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Help! 16/01/2024 at 19:56 #155097
cirrenna
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The sim I chose was Penzance, small enough but interesting(I think). The first train is 5A29, which I managed to get onto the main line, and despite "setting up the route to platform 3" I get as far as signal PZ28. After that whatever I try results in nothing.
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Help! 16/01/2024 at 20:16 #155098
Steamer
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As detailed in the simulation manual, you can't set a route towards PZ28 or PZ26 unless those signals have a route set from them and are clear. So to get a train into P3 from the CRW line, you need to set PZ26-> P3, PZ28-> PZ26, then PZ24-> PZ28.
"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Help! 17/01/2024 at 10:44 #155102
cirrenna
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Seems sort of silly to have to set the route in reverse; tried your method, didn't work and now I'm done. More to life than this sim.
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Help! 17/01/2024 at 11:56 #155103
bill_gensheet
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Lest you do return, which timetable were you running ?

I have just run the 2019 included timetable and confirm it works as described.
However you might not have cancelled the route behind the previous incoming train (3Q50). The tracks have to be grey to set a route on them.

The included 2015 timetable starts with a train from depot and no complications of other trains, again works as described.

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Help! 17/01/2024 at 13:29 #155104
geswedey
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That was the way the Great Western Railway liked to signal shunt routes involving multiple shunt signals, by starting to clear signals at the far end of the route back towards the start of the route required it ensured that route was fully available and that no conflicts / Mexican standoffs could happen.

Glyn

Glyn Calvert ACIRO
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Help! 17/01/2024 at 14:01 #155105
Steamer
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bill_gensheet in post 155103 said:
Lest you do return, which timetable were you running ?
The OP mentioned 5A29, which is the first train in the 1976 TT.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Help! 17/01/2024 at 15:44 #155106
Dick
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cirrenna in post 155102 said:
Seems sort of silly to have to set the route in reverse; tried your method, didn't work and now I'm done. More to life than this sim.

May seem silly to you, but as this is a simulation (the clue is in the name), it is how it is (was) in real life.

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Help! 17/01/2024 at 20:19 #155111
TUT
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cirrenna in post 155102 said:
Seems sort of silly to have to set the route in reverse; tried your method, didn't work and now I'm done. More to life than this sim.
It's not silly at all. It's very typical where mechanical interlocking is provided for ground signals to have to be cleared in reverse order and there are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, ground signals are designed to be less conspicuous than main signals so as not to mislead drivers of trains proceeding on main signals and also to underline the fact that they authorise low speed shunting movements towards sections of line that may be occupied, FPLs may not be provided, etc. The downside of course is that they're very easy to miss. This is not so much of a problem if you're sat at the signal waiting for it to clear, but the driver of a train in motion could easily miss one of the shunt signals in the route (of which there may be several) standing at danger, so it would be a big 'SPAD trap' if trains were generally allowed to be signalled from shunt signal to shunt signal. The second reason is that they're often quite close together and there's rarely much point in signalling a train only as far as the next shunt signal. There are exceptions to this and there are example of shunt signals that can be cleared towards other shunt signals at danger < this is not remarkable. But the situation we have at Penzance is entirely typical. Indeed you can see the pull plates of the levers in the actual real life signal box being simulated here:

http://photos.signalling.org/picture?/2172/category/120-penzance

Now of course the lever frame at Penzance is simulated in SimSig as if it were controlled from an IECC workstation, but even with that being the case, I am quite confident there are examples of shunt signals that have to be cleared in reverse that are worked from panels and even workstations as well I think.

In any case, there certainly is more to life than this sim, but this sim doesn't claim to be 'pick up and play', it claims to be realistic and to correctly simulate as many details as possible. There is a learning curve and if you don't fancy wading through the manuals you're likely to have a very frustrating time trying to figure it out as you go.

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Help! 17/01/2024 at 20:52 #155114
pedroathome
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TUT in post 155111 said:


In any case, there certainly is more to life than this sim, but this sim doesn't claim to be 'pick up and play', it claims to be realistic and to correctly simulate as many details as possible. There is a learning curve and if you don't fancy wading through the manuals you're likely to have a very frustrating time trying to figure it out as you go.
Crewe Gresty Lane (Old panel) had it where you had to reverse route set all shunt routes starting with the route towards the next main aspect signal, or other location such as loop or siding. This reverse route setting went all the way back to boxes in rear of the signals in question.

Crewe PSB south has to be reverse route set, but interestingly, PSB North doesn't (Unless I can't read Control Tables)

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Help! 17/01/2024 at 21:00 #155115
TUT
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pedroathome in post 155114 said:
TUT in post 155111 said:


In any case, there certainly is more to life than this sim, but this sim doesn't claim to be 'pick up and play', it claims to be realistic and to correctly simulate as many details as possible. There is a learning curve and if you don't fancy wading through the manuals you're likely to have a very frustrating time trying to figure it out as you go.
Crewe Gresty Lane (Old panel) had it where you had to reverse route set all shunt routes starting with the route towards the next main aspect signal, or other location such as loop or siding. This reverse route setting went all the way back to boxes in rear of the signals in question.

Crewe PSB south has to be reverse route set, but interestingly, PSB North doesn't (Unless I can't read Control Tables)
Wasn't Gresty Lane's old panel custom built in house. It certainly did use to be quite something.

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Help! 18/01/2024 at 05:32 #155118
Stephen Fulcher
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It may be worth looking at some of the tutorials on YouTube as well for some basic tips on how to start with SimSig.

The 1976 timetable for Penzance is by far and away the most varied and interesting but it may he worth you starting out with one of the more modern ones as they are less complex.

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Help! 18/01/2024 at 08:36 #155119
kbarber
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pedroathome in post 155114 said:
TUT in post 155111 said:


In any case, there certainly is more to life than this sim, but this sim doesn't claim to be 'pick up and play', it claims to be realistic and to correctly simulate as many details as possible. There is a learning curve and if you don't fancy wading through the manuals you're likely to have a very frustrating time trying to figure it out as you go.
Crewe Gresty Lane (Old panel) had it where you had to reverse route set all shunt routes starting with the route towards the next main aspect signal, or other location such as loop or siding. This reverse route setting went all the way back to boxes in rear of the signals in question.

Crewe PSB south has to be reverse route set, but interestingly, PSB North doesn't (Unless I can't read Control Tables)
I believe Euston (the 1965 panel) also required shunt signals set in reverse order. I think it was suggested one motivation there was to ensure a loco being shunted from one platform to another didn't end up stood at a shunt signal in the middle of the station throat waiting for the next bit of route to be cleared. Drivers were advised, when shunting out of the station, to just keep going until they saw the nearest shunt behind the loco step up, at which they could stop and set back into the station. The signalmen, meanwhile, set as much route as they could (working back from the destination platform) until they were in a position to clear the signal the loco had just passed (and of course, with such a quick panel - see my earlier post about that - there was little delay and hence little danger of the driver going further than they needed).

Last edited: 18/01/2024 at 08:36 by kbarber
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Help! 18/01/2024 at 15:35 #155127
clive
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kbarber in post 155119 said:

I believe Euston (the 1965 panel) also required shunt signals set in reverse order. I think it was suggested one motivation there was to ensure a loco being shunted from one platform to another didn't end up stood at a shunt signal in the middle of the station throat waiting for the next bit of route to be cleared.
Sigh: I hadn't realized that was the case for the station throat. I knew it was the case for the entrance into the Down Carriage Sheds: 69 or 71 had to be set first before the rest of the route. That's in the manual.

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Help! 20/01/2024 at 18:41 #155137
cirrenna
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Dick in post 155106 said:
cirrenna in post 155102 said:
Seems sort of silly to have to set the route in reverse; tried your method, didn't work and now I'm done. More to life than this sim.

May seem silly to you, but as this is a simulation (the clue is in the name), it is how it is (was) in real life.
Sarcasm not required, thank you very much!

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Help! 20/01/2024 at 18:42 #155138
cirrenna
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I was running 1976 timetable; I can get a green light at Platform 3, but how do I get green lights at signals 66 and 64.
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Help! 20/01/2024 at 19:21 #155139
Steamer
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cirrenna in post 155138 said:
I was running 1976 timetable; I can get a green light at Platform 3, but how do I get green lights at signals 66 and 64.
Before we carry on, can you let us know if you've read any of the manual pages linked to you so far, or had a look at any other parts of the manual? As has been posted already in the thread, SimSig isn't a simple game app and you need to do a bit of reading to familiarise yourself with what everything on the display means and does. You'll find the answers to both your questions in the documentation; the general 'operation and route setting' pages for the first and the Penzance manual for the second.

More generally: I've tried to help you twice, received no thanks for either effort and on the second got the rather rude response that you had better things to do with your life. If you want assistance, that's really not a good way to go about it.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Help! 20/01/2024 at 20:39 #155140
bill_gensheet
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cirrenna in post 155138 said:
I was running 1976 timetable; I can get a green light at Platform 3, but how do I get green lights at signals 66 and 64.
Clearing 66 requires operating the level crossing
https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=usertrack:ssterms:lcs
(Click LWR, wait, click CLR, assuming no vehicles)

Clearing 64 requires operating the AB controls to St Erth
https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=absolute_block
(click OF, wait.... line shows 3 green dots for line clear, click 64 click exit-arrow)

https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=simulations:penzance

Bill

Last edited: 20/01/2024 at 20:42 by bill_gensheet
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Help! 21/01/2024 at 11:08 #155143
cirrenna
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I've read all of that information, and I could read it till the end of time and still not find answers. Now I will trouble no-one any further. The sim will be uninstalled.
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