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Slots given to include headcodes

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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 12:57 #56894
maxand
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I'd like to suggest that when slots are granted into sidings after telephone calls (e.g., permission to enter Merehead Quarry Arrivals in Westbury sim) the message board include the headcode, e.g., "Merehead given to XXXX". I don't use sticky notes to document permissions and if only one train is heading in that direction, it's usually no trouble. But if I am distracted and forget whether permission was granted for a particular train, all I would need to do is pull down the message list and see if permission was granted to that train, rather than ring the yard again and be told the train has (or has not) already been accepted.

It's easy to miss a "slot granted" message if it is quickly hidden by an avalanche of new messages. I have allocated a sound to slot granting, but if I have to play silently for any reason, the sound is not much help.

If I accidentally send a train to a slot without obtaining permission, I get a message " [train xxxx] did not get permission" (or something similar), so it ought to be easy enough to add a headcode to a "permission granted" message.

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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 13:21 #56895
Hugh Jampton
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I haven't got a sim to hand as I'm at work, but isn't there already a "List Permissions Given" in one of the dropdown menus? It may not involve headcodes but does at least tell you whether a slot has been granted or not. I think I've used this feature on the Westbury sim but I can't be sure without checking it at home later.
Last edited: 13/03/2014 at 13:23 by Hugh Jampton
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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 13:22 #56896
jc92
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" said:
I don't use sticky notes to document permissions
forgive my conservative post, but I think you've hit the nail on the head, although I would have thought this would be a fairly simple one to implement.

I spose an alternative is to provide scratchpads more often near entry/exit points for TD's to be noted.

"We don't stop camborne wednesdays"
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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 14:04 #56897
maxand
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Hugh Jampton, you're right! "List permissions given" (in the Messages window) is an option on the Show menu. I hadn't noticed that. Thanks.

Nevertheless, it would be nice to see permission messages on the main Messages window include headcodes as well, as soon as they are granted.

Last edited: 13/03/2014 at 14:07 by maxand
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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 15:23 #56900
Danny252
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1461 posts
If you forgot whether you've got permission, you'd just have to phone up and ask whether you had got permission - and from memory, you'll set a suitably sarky response from the virtual man at the other end in Simsig.
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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 15:55 #56903
robert
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As this is a simulation, then the only information we should have is the same as a real signalman gets, the slot light when the slot is given, and our memory
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Slots given to include headcodes 13/03/2014 at 16:02 #56905
kbarber
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1743 posts
" said:
If you forgot whether you've got permission, you'd just have to phone up and ask whether you had got permission - and from memory, you'll set a suitably sarky response from the virtual man at the other end in Simsig.

That sounds about right... together with a grumble about dragging him away from all the work he's trying to do if you'll only let him... you know, that really intense session with a cup of tea and the paper

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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 05:18 #56924
Airvan00
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Probably the easiest way to remember is to only set the route after you obtain permission.
Route dark= something needs to be done
Route white=I already have permission

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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 07:09 #56927
Hugh Jampton
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" said:
Probably the easiest way to remember is to only set the route after you obtain permission.
Route dark= something needs to be done
Route white=I already have permission

This works in many cases but, sometimes, it can be necessary to ring for permission well in advance of the train. Toton on the Trent simulation might be a good example, where it often seems to take ages for the shunter to grant a slot into New Bank. On the rare occasion that permission is granted quickly, the relevant train might still be near the other end of the panel and setting the route immediately would block other trains. Instead, I just put the headcode on a sticky note at the exit point :whistle:

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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 07:32 #56928
maxand
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robert wrote:
Quote:
As this is a simulation, then the only information we should have is the same as a real signalman gets, the slot light when the slot is given, and our memory

You can press F3 > Options > Messages > Slot request/release and check the Disable box.

Quote:
If you forgot whether you've got permission, you'd just have to phone up and ask whether you had got permission

I did actually mention that in my first post.

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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 09:07 #56931
Noisynoel
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Of course, as this is a simulation and trying to be realistic as possible, all the signaller has to remember what permission he has been given is either his memory or a pen and paper.
Noisynoel
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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 12:23 #56941
Hooverman
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Where would we be at our ASC without a pen and scap paper, the most important tool we have apart from the old grey matter :-)
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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 13:05 #56945
AndyG
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" said:
Of course, as this is a simulation and trying to be realistic as possible, all the signaller has to remember what permission he has been given is either his memory or a pen and paper.
Nothing wrong with slate and chalk either. (Victorian sticky note? :S )

I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.
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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 14:03 #56947
Danny252
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" said:
Where would we be at our ASC without a pen and scap paper, the most important tool we have apart from the old grey matter :-)
I become quite concerned whenever I come across a box of any size without the mandatory pile of ripped up old notices!

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Slots given to include headcodes 14/03/2014 at 17:03 #56956
kbarber
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" said:
" said:
Of course, as this is a simulation and trying to be realistic as possible, all the signaller has to remember what permission he has been given is either his memory or a pen and paper.
Nothing wrong with slate and chalk either. (Victorian sticky note? :S )

I believe that, until the 1952 powerbox was built, signalmen at Euston used this method to indicate platform occupation

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