Problems at Zentralstellwerk Köln Hbf

[Stigah]

Good afternoon! I recently bought Zentralstallwerk Köln Hbf, and I must say that I really love this product!

I was dispatching for some hours, but then I started encouter some problems. Train 1-1036 from Düsseldorf Hbf, was supposed to stop at Köln Betriebsbahnhof 75. I called the supervisor for the service yard, and he told me that I could send the train at track 356, and so I did.

I was going to set a route from signal 355 to signal 356. I got the green lights (not quite sure what they are called). But for some reason, signal 355 didn't want to became green, so 1036 stopped there, blocking a lot of traffic. Nothing happened, and I just had to call the driver to tell him that he was allowed to drive at red light. So he did, and then he stopped at Bbf 40 (Halle) for some reason.

Right after he drove into track w624, I buzzer got activated. I found out that the switch had been trailed. I tried to press the WAT button + switch 608, but it didn't work, so the buzzer is still activated.

Becuase of this, I can't set a route from signal 355 to signal 450, or from signal 365 to 450. (I can set the route, but the signal won't become green). I therefore have to call the driver, and give him a order to pass a signal showing stop.

Because of this, a lot of trains are late, and they are calling me to complain.

I just checked 1036, and it is 49 minutes to late!!

And back to the story again!

After 1036 stopped at Bbf, the supervisor called me and asked if he could send 1036. I told him that he could send the train at 331. I wanted to send this train into track 370, change the directon there, and then send it into Betriebsbahnhof 75. (I had to send it to 370, because all tracks at Köln Hbf were blocked by other trains).

I sat the route, but the train did never come. I called 1036, asking him why he didn't move, and then he told me that there were nothing wrong, and that he were minding his own business or something.

I checked the dark territory, and there is another train standing at 005, waiting for a green signal. I was allowed to send that train into HHB at track 005, but I have no idea why it have stopped there. Right now, there is absolutely nothing I can do. The buzzer is buzzing me crazy, all the drivers are complaining, and there is just a big mess over here!

So ... I really someone out there understand what I mean. I am terrible at explaining things.

I really want to fix this mess, therefore I don't want to start at the beginning again. I want to fix this mess, and continue with my savefile.

Why can't I deactivate the buzzer, and why won't the supervisor do anything at all?

And for some hours ago, the supervisor called me, asking if he could send train 1-11489. I said yes, sat the route, but nothing happened. 11489 was supposed to be at Köln Hbf, station 95, at 14:54. Now the time is 16:07. I sat the route, but the supervisor didn't want to do anything. Might this be a bug you think?

I really hope someone here understood what I tried to explain, and I really hope you want to help me out with this HUGE problem.

Thank you very much!

EDIT:

I sent an technician to fix the switch. It actually worked, and the buzzer is off! But there must be another way to do this?

-Stig

[Stigah]

I tought it might be easier to understand with some pictures:

[TjoeTjoe]

Train 1-1036 from Düsseldorf Hbf, was supposed to stop at Köln Betriebsbahnhof 75. I called the supervisor for the service yard, and he told me that I could send the train at track 356, and so I did.

If the Bf yard master accepts a train on 356, this more or less indicates that he must have accepted an earlier/other train on track 005, and that he is still in the process of bringing that particular train into the yard.

But for some reason, signal 355 didn't want to became green, so 1036 stopped there, blocking a lot of traffic.

A train being accepted on 356 or 357, does not automatically mean that you can send it in right away. If I remember well (have to replay this part) is that the round light near the red target button (n.Bbf) on track 356 must be on. This should indicate that Bbf is expecting and ready to receive the train on that track. Only when the round light is on, you should set the route from i.e. 355 towards 356. My recommendation would be to always set this bit of the route first, so that you can see that it is being properly set, not only from your end but also from the Bbf's end. When the entry signal towards Bbf (in this example 355) shows the Proceed aspect (green), you should set the exit route from the station upto 355. This is the most secure way to have a train not blocking the whole infrastructure there.

(again have to reproduce this, as even sometimes my memory can be wrong ;-) )

Because of this, I can't set a route from signal 355 to signal 450, or from signal 365 to 450. (I can set the route, but the signal won't become green). I therefore have to call the driver, and give him a order to pass a signal showing stop.

This is simply the result of your trailed switch 608. Switch 608 is the flank protection for routes from 355/365 towards 450. As switch 608 is trailed, it can not offer the flank protection and thus a route from i.e. 355 to 450 can not be fully secured, and so the 355 will not go to Proceed.

I set the route, but the train did never come. I called 1036, asking him why he didn't move, and then he told me that there were nothing wrong, and that he were minding his own business or something.

If you have excepted the train on 331, then there is really no need to set the "exit" route from 345 into the station before the offered train actually has arrived on 331.

Anyway, I think (but I can not actually check as I do not have the tools for that) that the problems with switch 608 are or has been the cause for many of the issues that you have.

When I call up the Yard master window, I do see some trains in the Bbf with a locked status. This indicates that the Yard master has problems with properly setting the routes he needs.

I was hoping that, and normally it should be possible, that I could help him a bit with manually setting routes for him. But for some reason either the route option for a specific train was limited or not present.

Do not want to call this a bug at the moment, as I just did a quick trial with the sim file you send me yesterday.

Why can't I deactivate the buzzer, and why won't the supervisor do anything at all?

The fact that you can not silence the buzzer is more or less logical as this switch is not within your are of responsibility.

It is discussable though, why such alarms are presented to you. From my point of view, this should not happen.

In other words, the simulation should not bother you with things that you can not operate or control.

On the other hand, please note that the logic of the neighbouring dispatchers (incl Bf) is very complex. I can imagine that is almost impossible to protect the sim against all user mistakes.

You must realise that you have commited a huge operational error by giving a train permission to drive into an area (Bf) which is not under you control.

As said I will have a more detailed look on the situation that you have, and see if it is fixable. Though it will difficult to do so.

Sometimes starting over again is just the only option

Erwin

[signalsoftRC]

a couple of important notes:

do not send a train to Bbf by a written order through a red signal. You don't know if a switch there is going to be trailed/run through! This is what happened in your situation. Trailing a switch outside of your area is a major issue. You CAN solve it with the technician, but you can't silence the buzzer. (as you can't press the buttons). We're looking into a solution for that, but that's a major change to the User Interface. (Hence the buzzer stays for now! Otherwise you have no clue why things don't work there!)

once this has happened, it MAY happen that you're really stuck, as that trailed switch might be a flank protection for one of YOUR routes.... that's only solveable with Subsidiary signals.

We intend to make the neighbour dispatchers more and more smarter. This is going to happen, though our work on the professional version needs a lot of testing at the moment. Eventually all sims will profit from that work though as most of those features will trickle through to the retail version!

[TjoeTjoe]

My final conclusion on what I have seen is that the situation can not be restored.

Too many bad things have happend. Track 005 was occupied by more then one train, so more then just giving one train to pass a signal at danger must have happened.

I almost got the whole Bf clear of trains, except for the 1036, which got stuck in switch 609.

Anyway, given the mess, I do not see any chances that this mess can be cleared.

Honestly, the general cause must have been bad operation of the panel ;-)

Erwin