Rail waytype idea

[AP]

Hi all.

I had an idea, and I'm not sure where to write it, so I'm posting it here. I think it's pak-specific, am sure someone else will know more. It concerns overtaking loops and waytypes.

On my rail network, what's bugging me is that trains always take the "best" route. That is, the fastest they're allowed to take. But when I add freight trains to my passenger network, I want to 'pull' them off the main line onto overtaking loops, which I build at intervals.

If the loop exists when I set the freight route up, I could do this with a waypoint on every loop, in every direction, and it works - passenger trains overtake freight trains (as I did in the demo.exe map).

However, if the loops are being added later, as 'improvements' to an increasingly congested network, then nothing will use them, unless I retrospectively edit every route using that piece of track (which could be many - the demo map was rather simple).

Whereas if my freight trains were electric, there would be an restrictive waytype (3rd rail) applied only to the freight routes, with a graphic on the map, so by applying it to only certain loops, they are designated electric (freight) routes, and trains are pulled off the mainline.

Could we, therefore, create a restrictive waytype "freight"? And further, could we therefore attach that waytype to either certain locomotives (e.g. Goods locomotives), or even better, to brake vans? And have a button for "approved for freight" which we can paint onto the network at zero cost, so all the freight trains know where the can and cannot go. It would, presumably need a subtle graphic on every tile - unless it can be made to show up only under a certain hotkey, I don't know how that works (I know night illuminations use special colours...). But crucially, it would be map-driven, not route/waypoint driven.

I can just see how this would make managing complex networks much easier on-the-fly. That's it.

[Isaac Eiland-Hall]

Maybe freight/pax railsigns?

[AP]

Maybe freight/pax railsigns?

Can that be done? Sounds a lot easier if so! Essentially selective no-entry signs, no-freight / no-pax. And care would be needed with mixed trains (but I can count on one hand the number of those I've seen in-game).

Do the vehicles at present contain sufficient info that a suitably coded sign could distinguish pax from freight?

[ӔO]

could not speed limit signs be used in this way already?
From my understanding, it's simply not included in the paksets, but is possible to bar slower trains from faster tracks.

[jamespetts]

AEO's suggestion makes the most sense, I think - there is such a thing, if I recall correctly, as a minimum speed sign, which restricts convoys based on their maximum speed (in other words: maximum speed of the convoy must be >x to pass this sign). This ought suffice, ought it not?

[ӔO]

The only problem, I see, with such a sign, is that you would need several of them. Probably 60km/h to 140km/h in 10km/h increments throughout the years.

So, I would suggest a user editable speed sign that will display the speed of that sign and the speed of the way underneath it.
Not that such a sign should be limited to experimental.

edit: I think it should look like the attachment

[Milko]

Hello

I, too, sometimes I ran into this problem. There are already signs (in my memory) with the pre-set minimum speed (I remember them applied to roads), for signals with selectable speed I believe we need a extension request.

Giuseppe

[greenling]

That´s it a very Cool your Idea.

[AP]

Each idea works slightly differently, but they would all achieve the desired result.

I am wondering whether there would ever arise a situation where you want slow pax to go one way (loop with platform) and slow freight to go another (loop without platform), such that having the sign distinguish between pax & freight (as well??) is helpful or necessary. But I'm not sure how often that would crop up.

Whereas the desire to solve this overtaking issue crops up rather often!