Sims good for learning ARS?

In most cases, as has been said, it's probably common sense, if it's something like MWELUF (made up name) on Motherwell and placed in the location of Motherwell station then it's a pretty good guess that it's the routes on the Up fast in that area.

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In most cases, as has been said, it's probably common sense, if it's something like MWELUF (made up name) on Motherwell and placed in the location of Motherwell station then it's a pretty good guess that it's the routes on the Up fast in that area.

That makes sense. Can you shed further light on what the L prefix stands for in the Swindon/Didcot sim?

Why are all the ARS area labels in Swindon A&B prefaced by "L",

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Why are all the ARS area labels in Swindon A&B prefaced by "L",

I'll have a look into it, but I believe it's because it's a latch and all latches are prefixed L in an SSI interlocking.

" said:

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Why are all the ARS area labels in Swindon A&B prefaced by "L",

I'll have a look into it, but I believe it's because it's a latch and all latches are prefixed L in an SSI interlocking.

No, in SimSig ARS isn't a latch. Latches begin L, but ARS areas begin A. The displayed label has the removed (i.e. a label of LXYZ will be ALXYZ internally).

I'm struggling to find a reason why, however it is an absolute requirement that they should be prefixed with L. The best I have found is a document that States the subarea identity must be prefixed with L for "technical reasons."

Looking at the ARS latches they are called LARS...... yet ARS SBA's only have an L so it probably has nothing to do with latches.

FF

Doesn't ARS (the original, not Geoff's ) date back to the 60s? It would not at all surprise me if code written then when every bit counted uses the first letter as an identifier for what the entity is.

See also: TOPS.

Doesn't ARS (the original, not Geoff's ) date back to the 60s? It would not at all surprise me if code written then when every bit counted uses the first letter as an identifier for what the entity is.

Another question on ARS: someone in this thread suggested making some train classes ARS and others non-ARS, to make the sim more enjoyable. May I ask which classes do ARS users here (or in real life, for that matter) prefer to enable and which disable? My own inclination would be to enable the faster classes (1-5) and leave remaining freight for manual routing to get them out of the way when necessary. What do others do?

One thing I discovered which may help someone else is to go the the ARS tab in F3 Options (for those sims which are ARS-enabled) and change "Clicking on a train description shows:" from "ARS timetable summary" to "ARS popup information". Unless you do this, (1) the Messages box gets flooded with purple ARS messages of the next timing points of that particular train, and worse, (2) clicking the train's headcode does not Show (its) Timetable, something I value highly. Maybe not for everyone.

My understanding of a latch is that it's a digital electronics device which, once triggered, stays on (latched) until it is released. Fair enough.

Which leads me to another question I should have included in my previous post. In real life, although ARS may be enabled in a particular area, is this applicable to all train classes (as in SimSig), or do the implementers of r/l ARS restrict it to certain classes only? It would not surprise me if implementing ARS has a high cost overhead, therefore, unlike SimSig, it would make sense to restrict it to trains where this will pay off the most.

1) Sometimes the magenta area labels flash. In most cases this seems to be linked to an ARS-enabled train passing through the area described by the label, but in some cases they flash for no obvious reason, even after the train has passed, and in others, the train seems to be ARS-routed, yet the nearest label to it doesn't flash. What is the reason for flashing? The Wiki ARS page does not mention this feature.

2) To override ARS control, when for example an ARS-enabled train stops at a signal marking entry to an ARS label area and refuses to budge further (e.g., S901 Swindon), the solution seems to be to set the route ahead of it into the next ARS label area and hope ARS will pick it up. The route is set exactly as scheduled, no deviations. Is this the proper way to "help ARS along"? The alternative would be to make the train non-ARS, then route it manually, then make it ARS again, but this seems unnecessary at present. Am I doing it correctly?

It means that a route was cancelled manually (ie: you did it). The flashing is an alert to show you need to do something as routes using those subareas won't be set unless you enable the subarea(s) again.

I think I'm correct in saying that the only time the ARS sub area will flash is if you manually pull a route (can't think of any other reason).

I think I'm correct in saying that the only time the ARS sub area will flash is if you manually pull a route (can't think of any other reason).

Which leads me to another question I should have included in my previous post. In real life, although ARS may be enabled in a particular area, is this applicable to all train classes (as in SimSig), or do the implementers of r/l ARS restrict it to certain classes only? It would not surprise me if implementing ARS has a high cost overhead, therefore, unlike SimSig, it would make sense to restrict it to trains where this will pay off the most.

Automatic route setting

You must switch off ARS operation for the relevant sub-area(s) under the following conditions:

· When the emergency alarm / bell signal is received from a fringe centre / box
· When there is an intermittent track circuit failure
· When the instructions in Module S5 have to be carried out
· When it is necessary for a movement to be made for which a fixed signal is not provided or available
· During an engineer's possession
· When Module TS2 / 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Module TS1 / 19, 20, 21, Module T1B / 2, 6 and 13 are in operation
· When the conditions detailed in Module TS9 / 13.1, 13.2 and 13.3 apply
· During the passage of a Royal Train
· On the line adjoining that on which an out-of-gauge load is proceeding
· When any vehicle which is not guaranteed to operate track circuits requires to run

GeoffM wrote:
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It means that a route was cancelled manually (ie: you did it). The flashing is an alert to show you need to do something as routes using those subareas won't be set unless you enable the subarea(s) again.

Peter Bennet also wrote:
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I think I'm correct in saying that the only time the ARS sub area will flash is if you manually pull a route (can't think of any other reason).

That's what happened. So what I did was:
1) R-click the (solid magenta) roundel button on the ARS area label to disable the label, which turned off the flashing - label became grey;
2) L-click the same roundel to re-enable ARS for that label - label turned magenta again and did not flash.

After experimenting, it's insufficient to simply reset the same route - ARS label will continue to blink. The label must be disabled then re-enabled

1) Sometimes the magenta area labels flash. In most cases this seems to be linked to an ARS-enabled train passing through the area described by the label, but in some cases they flash for no obvious reason, even after the train has passed, and in others, the train seems to be ARS-routed, yet the nearest label to it doesn't flash. What is the reason for flashing? The Wiki ARS page does not mention this feature.

" said:

GeoffM wrote:
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It means that a route was cancelled manually (ie: you did it). The flashing is an alert to show you need to do something as routes using those subareas won't be set unless you enable the subarea(s) again.

Peter Bennet also wrote:
Quote:

I think I'm correct in saying that the only time the ARS sub area will flash is if you manually pull a route (can't think of any other reason).

That's what happened. So what I did was:
1) R-click the (solid magenta) roundel button on the ARS area label to disable the label, which turned off the flashing - label became grey;
2) L-click the same roundel to re-enable ARS for that label - label turned magenta again and did not flash.

After experimenting, it's insufficient to simply reset the same route - ARS label will continue to blink. The label must be disabled then re-enabled

You CAN just left-click the roundel once, ie you don't need to disable it first.