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| Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 05:13 #23185 | |
maxand
1637 posts |
Just trying out The Drain for the first time. (Actually the second. The first was a couple of years ago when it seemed a nice automated demo of SimSig, but other than that I was completely nonplussed.) Even with the manual I found it difficult to understand what the whole thing was about. By default, it seems to run automatically with nothing for the signaller to do or learn. Then it dawned on me that every train was automatically directed by ARS. So to learn anything about manual signalling from it one needs to uncheck all the train class ARS options from 0 to 9, after which the headcode colour changes from cyan (aqua, blue) (indicating ARS) to magenta (pink) (indicating manual, non-ARS operation). I include this info for other newbies as the manual, though helpful, is a bit scant.  I find the dark magenta-on-grey timetable difficult to read particularly if the screen is at a slight angle and additionally the last two digits of the second headcode lie outside the screen. Is there any way to change the timetable colour to something more legible such as white, and to fix the digit cutoff problem without editing the sim code? I can change the colour of any message except the timetable display! Also, what is the significance of "SERVICE" at the top of the page with a little roundel next to it? Clicking it doesn't seem to do anything.  Ahh...suddenly discovered that scrolling up or down, or pressing 0 or PgUp or PgDn, toggles the overview page, where messages are displayed in full detail against a black, not grey, background, making them easier to read... Anyone else offer any suggestions for playing it to make it more of a learning experience, such as varying the degree of ARS control ? Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 05:32 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 06:10 #23187 | |
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alvinhochun
249 posts |
The "SERVICE" text is the ARS status, right-clicking it disables ARS. You don't need to do so many things. I don't think there is "nothing" to do with on this sim, but the best is that you go with the "difficult" scenario for one time and you'll see how much you can do on this sim. And for the text color, I think the real IECC also uses this color, so it isn't good to change it (if you want to be as close as reality). Also there is no options for you to change the color. (You can do this by changing the settings of your monitor or your display manager, e.g. AMD CCC, though...) Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 06:24 #23190 | |
Peter Bennet
5419 posts 
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I seem to remember that Drain was issued on April 1st of whatever year and that Clive indicated he'd written it during a boring meeting- so don't take it too seriously. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 06:29 #23191 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Thanks for the quick replies. I see - right-clicking the dot (roundel) next to SERVICE disables it, left-clicking enables it. Clicking SERVICE does nothing. Strange why SERVICE is in magenta yet ARS-enabled trains are cyan. One would have expected the SERVICE sign to be in cyan. Also the headcodes don't change from cyan to magenta when ARS is disabled in this way, though they do when ARS is individually disabled for each train class as described above. Must play this a bit more. Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 06:53 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 06:53 #23192 | |
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alvinhochun
249 posts |
Actually it is quite a messy sim when it comes into that when the points failed. You can do nothing in it other than forcing trains to run wrong line! Just played a little bit quickly (well, just often pressing "f" and "n"...) Having a TC fail in Bank platform 7 made me quite a mess in editing timetables and manually routing trains... But quite fun to deal with the incidents. it can be much simpler than managing big sims. Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 06:53 by alvinhochun Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 06:54 #23193 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Thanks for the tip. If nothing else, Drain seems like a good intro to ARS.
Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 06:55 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 07:08 #23194 | |
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alvinhochun
249 posts |
Excuse me, I've made a mistake in my previous post, you can actually change the color by changing the "ARS message" one. But for me I would rather leave it like that in order to be realistic. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 07:27 #23195 | |
GeoffM
6380 posts |
The pink subarea is - you guessed it - true to life. The apparent contradiction between a pink subarea and a blue train is also true. That a subarea doesn't turn headcodes non-ARS is simply because a train isn't affected by one subarea alone - it could be several at a time.
SimSig Boss Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 07:29 #23196 | |
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mfcooper
707 posts |
" said:Strange why SERVICE is in magenta yet ARS-enabled trains are cyan. One would have expected the SERVICE sign to be in cyan That's the real world for you. All computer controlled signalling systems I have seen with ARS use the pink text for these labels. They are known as ARS sub-areas, and on larger setups you will have a different one for controlling the ARS in each different location/group of locations. See Liverpool Street and Waterloo SimSig's (if they are still available - I can't remember) which show off the number of different sub-areas. [EDIT: Posted at almost the same time as Geoff - I didn't mean to repeat anything ;-) ] Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 07:30 by mfcooper Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 11:04 #23213 | |
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kbarber
1764 posts |
I think the digit cut-off arises from a work-around that SimSig needs to be able to operate. The automatic signal-berth based train describers in UK signalboxes have four digits. (I think I'm right in saying that the older systems, that used a range of odd codes, have now all gone? Unless there's still one or two lurking in Scotland. I suspect the out-of-use setup at Perth may be the last.) The 4-character description is in 3 parts. The first number is the class of train. By definition, anything that runs on a normal Drain timetable will be class 2 (ordinary passenger) or class 5 (empty coaching stock). The letter relates to route. It's impossible to give a comprehensive listing of these because there's so many variations. Sometimes it's a Region code (linked to the former British Rail regions), so a train going to the former Southern Region would have an O in this position. Sometimes it's a within-region code, linked to the former Divisions (which all disappeared in around 1985); most regions used A (and usually also B ) for trains terminating in their former London divisions. But sometimes - especially when trains were added to an existing fixed-pattern timetable, I suspect - the planners would assign the code relating to their originating division, so you get the odd 1Nxx amid all the 1As and 1Es arriving at Kings X. Then, especially within suburban areas, letters would be assigned to particular routes or groups of destinations. So on the lines from Liverpool Street towards Hertfordshire (assuming my memory hasn't failed me entirely), V (which was the inter-regional code for Western Region) designated trains to & from Enfield Town, U was for Cheshunt, O (I think, this is the one I'm least certain of) was Hertford East and S (otherwise Scottish Region) was Bishops Stortford. I don't remember what was used for the Chingfords; it wasn't the obvious C, because that was used for trains to Cambridge & beyond. That only leaves 2 digits for each individual train number; in other words 50 trains, because odd & even numbers represent the 2 directions. In a busy suburban area that means the numbers will have to be duplicated or even triplicated. Not a problem for a signalman - he knows whether it's the mid-morning or the late peak instance of 2O02, and he's not really interested in the 02 bit anyway, just needs to know it's O for routing and 2 for regulating. Duplication is a problem for SimSig though; if the instances can't be separated, all the 2O02s will try & enter the sim at the same time. Hence the extra characters, which the sim uses (and which are definitely there if you click on the description) but which aren't shown on the describer display, which replicates real life. What the real thing does in IECCs I don't know; I imagine the same issue of duplication arises there so I wonder if SimSig in fact follows the solution that British Rail developed. Last edited: 18/11/2011 at 11:07 by kbarber Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 11:55 #23216 | |
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Peter Bennet
5419 posts
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Somewhere many years ago "real" TDs were discussed on the Forum in detail and I recall that in reality the number of digits involved was 7 or 8 (or maybe it was more) as the rest of the code related to days run and other stuff like that. That additional information is not needed to run a NX panel, some maybe needed to run the IECC type but in the background like on SimSig. I guess that's why they seem to be no longer referred to as Reporting Numbers or Headcodes as they contain far more information for computer systems that they used to. Peter I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs! Log in to reply The following user said thank you: kbarber |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 12:14 #23217 | |
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ralphjwchadkirk
275 posts |
To be pedantic, headcodes were the arrangement of white discs on the front of engines. The string that we see on SimSig is the train reporting number, consisting of class of train, destination and service. The actual numbers in NRs time tabling system are 10 digits with a whole lot more information in (I can't remember what though). In the TOCs timetable g system however you only see the shortened TRN.
Log in to reply The following user said thank you: kbarber |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 12:57 #23225 | |
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clive
2799 posts |
" said:I seem to remember that Drain was issued on April 1st of whatever year and that Clive indicated he'd written it during a boring meeting- so don't take it too seriously.Indeed. It was a very boring meeting. The signal numbers and locations are correct, as are the distances and speed limits. I didn't have track circuit information, so what's there was a complete guess. I now have that information, so I might do a rewrite one day. Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 13:35 #23230 | |
onlydjw
456 posts |
We'll have to find another boring meeting for you to attend then Clive! Isn't there something going on in Derby next weekend? God bless, Daniel Wilson Log in to reply |
| Re: Drainage problems 18/11/2011 at 14:07 #23233 | |
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clive
2799 posts |
" said:Not just that; some timetablers seem to prefer using the country-end code for both directions. Anglia was certainly doing that in the late 1980s; e.g. P was to and from Manningtree, Ipswich, and Norwich. Quote: A 1988 list published on Usenet says: Trains starting or terminating between: A Manningtree and Harwich Town B Norwich and Sheringham C Stratford and Gidea Park, Ely and Norwich D Cheshunt and Hertford East (via Southbury) F Chelmsford, Witham, Braintree and Colchester H Cambridge, Ely and King's Lynn, Stratford Old Yard and Thornton Fields CMD J Wickford and Southminster, Norwich and Lowestoft K Billericay and Southend Victoria, St Botolphs and Sudbury N St Botolphs and Clacton and Walton on Naze O Cheshunt and Hertford East (via Lea Valley) P Manningtree, Ipswich and Norwich, Norwich and Yarmouth R Barking district S Roydon and Bishops Stortford (via Lea Valley) T Clapton Junction and Chingford U Hackney Downs and Enfield V Romford and Upminster W Harold Wood and Shenfield, Cambridge, Ely and Ipswich Y Roydon and Bishops Stortford (via Southbury), Ipswich and Lowestoft, Ipswich and Felixstowe Trains to Liverpool Street show the letter appropriate to their point of origin. I also have a 1976 list of service-specific headcodes; that is, all the trains in a day on these routes would use the same code. This is only a subset: 0B01 light engine to KX depot, 0B02 light engine to Clarence Yard 0B05 light engine to Hitchin 0B07 light engine to Cambridge 0D05 light engine to Lincoln 0N12 light engine to Hartlepool 2H08 Stratford to North Woolwich 2H07 North Woolwich to Stratford 2A02 Romford to Upminster 2A03 Upminster to Romford 2B02 Shenfield to Chelmsford 2B03 Chelmsford to Shenfield 2F02 Witham to Braintree, Thorpe to Walton, or Parkeston to Harwich 2F03 Braintree to Witham, Walton to Thorpe, or Harwich to Parkeston 2K04 Norwich to Yarmouth via Acle 2K06 Norwich to Yarmouth via Reedham 2N05 Yarmouth to Norwich via Acle 2N07 Yarmouth to Norwich via Reedham 2L06 Ipswich to Bury, Ipswich to Cambridge, Bury to Cambridge 2L07 Cambridge to Bury 2K07 Cambridge to Ipswich, Bury to Ipswich Log in to reply The following users said thank you: kbarber, truckgirl 66 |