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Down train stuck at Honiton

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 12:35 #59028
maxand
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The Train List entry for 1L95 reads "Dn Stopped at signal HN3" which I assume is the grey signal next to it. The Train In Section light is lit, yet the Train Accepted light is unlit and I cannot change this by clicking any of the buttons in the Tokenless Block box. I've tried lowering and raising the Pinhoe barriers and setting Down routes through it, to no effect. IL26 is "Up Waiting for right-away at Pinhoe".

Nothing I do seems to make 1L95 move. Thanks in advance for any help.

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 12:55 #59029
peterb
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Does this thread not help?

The previous train on the line, in which direction was it running? Did you forget to replace the 'accept' switch?

In any case, SPADing either train should reset the block.

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 12:58 #59030
Firefly
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Try

Moving Switch to Normal and then pressing Arr button

K

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 14:44 #59032
maxand
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As far as I can recall the previous train from Honiton exited gracefully.

Tried your suggestion but everything seems jammed. Here's the saved game.

(Even signalled the driver to pass signal at danger, reverse, go forward, etc.)

Maybe I should go back to an earlier .ssg. Had no problems with trains arriving from Honiton until now. :(


[attachment=2407]SnapshotAt0846.ssg[/attachment]

Thanks again for any advice.

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Last edited: 17/04/2014 at 14:51 by maxand
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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 15:02 #59033
DriverCurran
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Max

I have just run your saved game.

As soon as I right clicked on the normal / accept switch thereby restoring it to the normal position and then clicking on the train arrived complete button the standard GWR tokenless block instrument went to 'Normal'

PeterB's suggestion was indeed the correct one. Honiton has no issues from the saved game you sent out :)

Paul

You have to get a red before you can get any other colour
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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 15:04 #59034
Firefly
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Your save worked ok for me.

The Accept/Normal switch was in Accept on your save game and the picture you posted.

I right clicked on the Accept/Normal switch to make it point to Normal

I pressed ARR (That cleared the block from the previous movement and put it back to normal)



I then turned the switch to Accept (Left Click)



1L95 was then offered by Honiton, the block went to Train Accepted and shortly afterwards it entered the section.




FF

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 15:07 #59035
Steamer
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Noticed something else that's going to cause you problems- the route for 1S57 at Totnes is set from a shunt signal. You'll need to cancel that and set the route from signal 1 direct to signal 203- signal 689 will clear automatically when you do this. Trains should always be signalled from main signals to main signals, with the exception of non-passenger trains where no main signal to main signal route is available (shunting, entering sidings etc.).
"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: 17/04/2014 at 16:29 by Steamer
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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 16:37 #59036
peterb
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It transpires then you forgot to replace the accept switch, and subsequently send the 'train out of section' indication to Honiton for the previous down train.

On doing so, you have a choice to either use the accept switch to accept 1L95 onto the line, or 'offer' 1L26 to Honiton which your imaginary colleague will accept even though he has 1L95 waiting. Worth noting too that 1L03 is also waiting behind 1L95.

To reiterate Steamer's point. Passenger trains in service shouldn't ever be signalled from shunt signals, only mains.

Also, in this case, you've signalled from 689, which as you'll see from the panel is an LOS/limit of shunt signal. This means that you can't set a route from signal 1 to 689, if this is what you were trying to achieve. Setting the route from 1 to 203 also has the benefit of causing signal 1R to indicate to the driver of 1S57 or whoever that signal 1 is not only off but the route is also set in the correct position for a stopping train.

Finally, I still cannot make any sense of your use of stickies. Most of the trains on them are either already in the area or should have passed hours ago. Not only that, they can clutter the panel up very quickly - especially in the Exeter area. Justification please!

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Down train stuck at Honiton 17/04/2014 at 16:43 #59037
Steamer
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" said:

Also, in this case, you've signalled from 689, which as you'll see from the panel is an LOS/limit of shunt signal.
689 is not the LOS. The LOS is 692, and is facing in the Down direction. In any case, by definition you can't set a route from an LOS!

"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: 17/04/2014 at 16:44 by Steamer
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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 00:44 #59051
maxand
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Thanks Firefly.
Quote:
I right clicked on the Accept/Normal switch to make it point to Normal
In my haste I overlooked the fact that one needs to right-click on the Accept/Normal switch to turn it to Normal (and left-click to turn to Accept). Glad you picked that up. It turns out to follow the SimSig convention that one generally has to right-click to cancel or reverse anything. I instinctively took this to be a toggle switch (i.e., L-click each way). Note that the manual is worded:


Quote:
The arrival of train at Honiton will be announced as normal train entering Sim.
If the Normal/Accept lever is in the Accept position Honiton will automatically release the train unless a train has been accepted in the UP direction.
If the lever is Normal, left click to turn it to accept.
Honiton will phone if you forget to Accept the train for no apparent reason.
When the train enters the section the TIS light will illuminate.
When the train clears Pinhoe Level crossing you must turn the Normal/Accept lever to Normal by right clicking it and press the ARR button. This will reset the instruments.
The Normal/Accept lever can otherwise be left at Accept.

It doesn't specifically describe how to deal with this problem although it does point out that one must right click the arrow to turn it the other way. I didn't think this applied to me since the Honiton train hadn't got anywhere near the Pinhoe crossing. However, I should have inferred that the next step would be to reverse the arrow as Firefly suggested, and do this by right clicking it. I'm not nitpicking or blaming the manual writer for this, only myself, but will edit it slightly to make it abundantly clear to anyone else who encounters this. (Done)

Steamer wrote:
Quote:
Noticed something else that's going to cause you problems- the route for 1S57 at Totnes is set from a shunt signal.

True. By that time I must have gotten a bit frazzled and took a stab, hitting the shunt signal instead of the running signal preceding it. It's bad karma to signal a Class 1 through a ground signal into a siding, though it didn't bother the driver of 1S57 - he was already stopped by the main!

Makes me wonder though what purpose the shunt signals at Totnes serve, particularly the up facing ones on the main, since entry to the loco siding is Down.



peterb wrote:
Quote:
I still cannot make any sense of your use of stickies. Most of the trains on them are either already in the area or should have passed hours ago. Not only that, they can clutter the panel up very quickly - especially in the Exeter area. Justification please!

Your honour, as the sim progresses I tend to place stickies where trains are likely to form new services, also near siding entries so I can enter the headcode after okaying the shunter to remind myself where to set the route while waiting for the train to appear. If I get time I might clear the stickies (I now have a natty little macro for doing this), but often it's just as easy to leave the outdated info there and simply overwrite it with the headcode of the next train that uses that area. Not guilty as charged.

Last edited: 18/04/2014 at 01:08 by maxand
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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 05:10 #59053
Late Turn
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" said:
Makes me wonder though what purpose the shunt signals at Totnes serve, particularly the up facing ones on the main, since entry to the loco siding is Down.



They're presumably provided to allow trains to run round in either platform - the example on the Up Main allowing a loco, running round its train in the Up platform, to reverse there (after being signalled to the LOS) without fouling the overlap of signal 1 and thus avoiding the need for a further controlled signal in rear.

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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 06:28 #59054
Hawk777
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" said:
I didn't think this applied to me since the Honiton train hadn't got anywhere near the Pinhoe crossing.
That’s because that text isn’t talking about 1L95, which as you accurately point out is nowhere near Pinhoe. That text is actually talking about the previous train that passed through the section in that direction, which obviously must have passed Pinhoe at some point (otherwise it would still be in there). The button is labelled “ARR” for “Arrived” because it indicates to the remote signaller that the train in the section has arrived at your end—I feel it most realistic to return the lever to normal and push the arrived button as each train arrives, moving the lever back to accept when another train is offered.

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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 07:07 #59056
Forest Pines
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" said:
I feel it most realistic to return the lever to normal and push the arrived button as each train arrives, moving the lever back to accept when another train is offered.
You can operate it like that if you prefer. The system was designed, though, so that the signalman in advance could move the switch to Accept at any time before the train was offered, and then did not need to take any action - or even need to be present - when the train was offered.

I did once read an explanation that the system was designed this way because of a plan to reduce staffingcosts by giving the signalman ticket sales responsibility at a station; that plan was never carried out due to staff objections, and the ticket offices in question were simply closed.

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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 07:37 #59058
AndyG
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" said:
I did once read an explanation that the system was designed this way because of a plan to reduce staffing herecosts by giving the signalman ticket sales responsibility at a station; that plan was never carried out due to staff objections, and the ticket offices in question were simply closed.
Probably here.

Quite a good overview of the Tokenless Block system.

I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.
Last edited: 18/04/2014 at 07:37 by AndyG
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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 08:11 #59060
Forest Pines
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I'm fairly sure it was in a Railway Magazine article from c. 1983, but I can't remember the exact reference and no longer have the article to hand. That is a much more fleshed-out description of the system though.
Last edited: 18/04/2014 at 08:11 by Forest Pines
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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 08:59 #59063
Firefly
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Quote:
I did once read an explanation that the system was designed this way because of a plan to reduce staffingcosts by giving the signalman ticket sales responsibility at a station; that plan was never carried out due to staff objections, and the ticket offices in question were simply closed.
It happened at Templecombe, the signaller also sold tickets, but that was the only block post where the signaller had dual duties. The signallers at Gillingham, Yeovil, Chard and Honiton only did the one job! At Sherborne, Axminster and Feniton the level crossings and associated signals were operated by station staff. (Although I believe they were signaller grade)

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Down train stuck at Honiton 18/04/2014 at 09:17 #59064
Firefly
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Quote:
Note that the manual is worded:
As Hawk777 has said, you didn't clear the block after the train that preceded 1L95.

You have to look at your block indicators.

Red = Train In Section.

If you have a train in section or the system 'thinks' you have a train in section there is no way in this world a signal will clear to allow another train into the section. The whole idea of a block system is one train in section only.

So you need to tell the system that there is no longer a train in the section. You do this by setting the switch to normal and pushing the ARR (Train Arrival Complete) button when the train is in the platform at Pinhoe. (The imaginary Honiton signaller does this for Up trains when they arrive at Honiton). Once you've done this the block should reset to Normal - (White Light) and it's ready for another train.

If you expect the next train to be a Down train put your switch to Accept ready for Honiton to offer the Down train. If the next train will be an Up train, leave your switch at Normal and press Offer and the block will Show Green - Train Accepted. You can now clear your signals onto the single line.

Just Remember the only way you (or Honiton) can clear a signal into the single line section is by having a Green Light - Train Accepted (Note it has to be accepted in the correct direction for the train you wish to run)

The real signallers on this line always used to leave the acceptance switch ready for the next train even if it was an hour or two away.

Quote:
Makes me wonder though what purpose the shunt signals at Totnes serve, particularly the up facing ones on the main, since entry to the loco siding is Down.

Late Turn has answered this.

Last edited: 18/04/2014 at 09:18 by Firefly
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Down train stuck at Honiton 19/04/2014 at 09:58 #59104
maxand
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Now I'm having a problem at the Pinhoe end!



1L21 has exited and I clicked ARR; NORMAL is now lit. I click OFFER to see if Honiton will accept 1L48. The OFFER button lights up briefly then goes out. Nothing else happens, 1L48 is not accepted. The game is not Paused. Any suggestions please?


[attachment=2417]SnapshotAt1250.ssg[/attachment]

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Down train stuck at Honiton 19/04/2014 at 10:37 #59106
peterb
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Works fine for me?
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Down train stuck at Honiton 19/04/2014 at 10:57 #59108
Steamer
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I've just started that save, and the instrument is already showing 'train accepted'.
"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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Down train stuck at Honiton 19/04/2014 at 11:42 #59110
maxand
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Me too! Well maybe the remedy is to save and restart the sim at that saved game! Thanks guys for trying it out. Perhaps saving it resets whatever it was that was blocking it.
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