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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time?

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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time? 26/03/2019 at 17:56 #116803
stighetl
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99 posts
Hello!

Most timetables don't have this issue. You can choose a custom start time, and it works fine.
Unfortunately, some timetables have a "fixed" starting time. No matter what start time you choose, already seeded trains will start at 00:00, meaning that if you choose to start 5:00, all trains already seeded will be 5 hours late.

I just bought West Hampstead, and all available timetables start at 00:00 (except one).
I want to play the 1991 timetable, and when you start the game there's 14 train seeded. All of them will be 5 hours late if I want to start at 5 AM.

Is there any fix to this issue? Do I just have to live with it? It's just 14 trains thought.

- Stig
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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time? 26/03/2019 at 18:14 #116805
jc92
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3689 posts
the fix with West Hampstead 1991 is to play it through the morning.

Unlike the more modern stuff there's trains throughout the night including parcels, mail, freight and an hourly Bed-Pan service so there's always something to do.

for any timetable with this issue the only fix is to play to a suitable time and make a save although most packaged TT's come with an 0445/0400 start option.

Joe

"We don't stop camborne wednesdays"
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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time? 26/03/2019 at 18:59 #116807
Steamer
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3985 posts
Starting timetables at any other time than that set by the TT writer is not recommended. While seeding trains can be disabled, those trains, and others that enter between the start of the timetable and your chosen start time, may remain 'captive' in the simulation for many hours, and will be missing when you start at your chosen time. These trains may also have rules applied to them which will prevent trains entering after your chosen start time as well. It's been a while since I played the WH 1991 timetable, but knowing Pascal, there's a good chance that trains are inter-linked from the start of the timetable, so starting at anything other than midnight will cause missing trains or other problems.
"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: 26/03/2019 at 18:59 by Steamer
Reason: None given

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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time? 26/03/2019 at 19:16 #116809
Jan
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906 posts
stighetl in post 116803 said:
Most timetables don't have this issue. You can choose a custom start time, and it works fine.
Unfortunately, some timetables have a "fixed" starting time. No matter what start time you choose, already seeded trains will start at 00:00, meaning that if you choose to start 5:00, all trains already seeded will be 5 hours late.

Even without seeded trains you can run into problems - on some simulations you have "captive" trains that never leave the simulation once they enter (or they exit the sim, but are linked to their inbound workings via rules). Examples are the inner suburban workings in King's Cross, the local workings around Exeter and Edinburgh, the inner South London Line workings on the Victoria and London Bridge sims, local trip freight workings in various 80s mode timetables, and probably a few examples more.
More minor examples are trains that enter normally and then e.g. stable in a station platform for a few hours between the peaks.
So if you start the timetable late enough that the sim starts after those trains would have initially entered, they'll be missing for the whole rest of the day.

Not all timetables will be equally affected by this problem and some might indeed work fine except that it takes a little while until the traffic is up to normal levels, but the upshot is that while the option to adjust the start time is there, using it is unfortunately not really supported and can lead to problems down the line.

Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick.
Last edited: 26/03/2019 at 19:16 by Jan
Reason: None given

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Starting (some) timetables at a custom time? 26/03/2019 at 19:18 #116810
58050
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2659 posts
stighetl in post 116803 said:
Hello!

Most timetables don't have this issue. You can choose a custom start time, and it works fine.
Unfortunately, some timetables have a "fixed" starting time. No matter what start time you choose, already seeded trains will start at 00:00, meaning that if you choose to start 5:00, all trains already seeded will be 5 hours late.

I just bought West Hampstead, and all available timetables start at 00:00 (except one).
I want to play the 1991 timetable, and when you start the game there's 14 train seeded. All of them will be 5 hours late if I want to start at 5 AM.

Is there any fix to this issue? Do I just have to live with it? It's just 14 trains thought.

I'm in the process of updating the West Hampstead 91-92 timetable. You say you looking for a way to start the timetable ;ater in the morning. I'd certainly say that isn't a good idea. I only write BR ERA(1970s to 1994) & you'd miss so much traffic, plus other trains that are governed to enter after x number of minutes after the outward service has left the sim. If you start the tt later some other trains may not appear at all. As Joe says there are a myriad of services that run on the railways during the night. Don't be fooled because you are used to 0445 starts on modern era timnetables which is done due very few trains run throughout the night on todays railways compared to when it was BR. I'd say run the West Hampstead 91-92 tt from minight & you'll soon rea;ise how much you'd miss starting at 04.45.

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