Exclamation point but no exclamation

parsifal300

New member
When running AI trains I am constantly getting trains that stop in the middle of the command line instructions and the driver is indicating an exclamation point. When I right-click on the loco or any other car there is no explanation on why the consist stopped, just the exclamation point on the driver icon.

Is there a way to find out why the consist stopped executing their commands?

Thanks
 
Usually this is caused when there is no direct 'open' route to the destination. It could be because there maybe a break in the line at a connection point, maybe a signal is placed too close to a junction, or maybe there is nothing wrong and that the driver is just waiting for the line to clear (another train).

You can always test your route by placing temporary signals along the way to see whether there is a clear line. A junction in Surveyor will prevent this happening but if you place a temporary trackmark after the junction and run it in Driver, it will verify that the line is okay or not. It's all trial and error - just like life, nothing happens identically every single day. Good luck.
Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
In the top right-hand corner of the screen is a spanner with a + sign next to it. Click that and select the fifth item - Show message overlay.

When the train first encounters an obstruction a message in white text appears at the bottom left of the screen. If it says: <Driver Name> awaiting track clearance, this means that the path to the required destination is not clear. Another train is blocking the path or a junction needs to be switched to clear the line.

If it says No path to destination it means just that: There is no physical way to drive the train to the required destination.

You need to watch out for the message which fades away within a few seconds, but repeats after a while.
 
I've been learning a lot of debug tips, show message overlay is a nice one. Found out my last issue was a turn radius to small for the loco that was attempting it.

So now I'm on to my next issue: Interpreting the message "Turnout is not aligned for this route or line terminates" while hanging at a searchlight 06 or 08. So now I'm trying to figure out what L, R and F are supposed to mean for the signal configuration.

As they say in my household, if it is not one thing it's your mother.
 
Turnout is not aligned for this route or line terminates means that the track comes to a dead end. This might might be a temporary situation if a junction is switched against this path.

Let's say you have a single track passing a local village. There is a "straight-through" track for mainline traffic and a "passing loop" on which the station platform is situated. Near the approach to each end of the loop you place 06 signals, one being RD (right diverge) and the other LD (left diverge), to direct a mainline train to the station if necessary.

The junction at the LD location must be switched left to allow the trains to enter the station loop which is to the left of the main line. The RD location will be the other way around.

Code:
                             Station
                /--------------------------\
-----------LD--/-----------\----------------\--RD------------
                            \----------

The signal properties window of searchlight signals says: Define straight path through junctions from nearest to furthest. It wants to know which way the junction must be switched to set the main path. Junction directions are specified when looking at the lever from the single-track section.

For the LD signal this will be right (R) and for the RD signal it will be Left (L). If the junction is a 3-way and the main is the central path then set the signal to forward (F).

If there are other junctions on the main line then each junction direction must be recorded in sequence so that the signal can select the correct speed indication.
 
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trev999, this is exactly the info I'm looking for! I was making assumptions about LRF which were incorrect.

In your example then you'd define the through path left to right as RLR, and from right to left as the same.

When you configure the 06 signal does it look at the status of other signals in the path before allowing the loco to pass?

Also, what does a 3-way junction look like (Forward definition)?

Thanks for your help!
 
RLR is correct.

Any signal looks at the next signal further up the track and sets the indicator lights accordingly. This is known as the aspect of the signal.
If you place four 04 searchlight signals on a single line that ends without a buffer stop then each signal will display a different aspect. There must be a loco approaching the first signal to see the effect. The signal nearest the loco will be green, the next flashing yellow, the third yellow and the fourth one red.

Hover your mouse cursor on the signal head to see what each one is telling you.

A 3-way junction has two diverging tracks coming from the same spline point. The lever will have three arrows, two red and one green. When the junction is in forward direction the green arrow points upward.
 
RLR is correct.

Any signal looks at the next signal further up the track and sets the indicator lights accordingly. This is known as the aspect of the signal.
If you place four 04 searchlight signals on a single line that ends without a buffer stop then each signal will display a different aspect. There must be a loco approaching the first signal to see the effect. The signal nearest the loco will be green, the next flashing yellow, the third yellow and the fourth one red.

Hover your mouse cursor on the signal head to see what each one is telling you.

A 3-way junction has two diverging tracks coming from the same spline point. The lever will have three arrows, two red and one green. When the junction is in forward direction the green arrow points upward.

I've been messing around with Left & Right divergence so long I forgot about a 3-way. Need to see if I can drag-and-drop the track to make the 3-way junction or if it is a pre-configured track layout. Something more to play with.:)

Back to 06 signals: if I've configured a 06 signal path that includes 5 04 signals, do all signals need to indicate clear before the 06 will signal clear. Specifically, if there is a train coming towards the 06 signal and is in the configured path but is 3 signals away would the 06 show clear which could lead to a Mexican standoff or would the 06 hold the train until the oncoming train clears the configured path?
 
The best way to answer that is to set up the situation and see what happens. Like I said, each successive 04 signal will offer a more restricted aspect until the train cannot proceed due to a red. When the oncoming train clears the junction the signals will adopt a new aspect and allow the stopped train through.

I answered some questions on your other signalling thread so it would be better to stay on that one with the larger track diagram.
 
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