Is there a way to make the AI drivers less "agressive" to allow CTC operation?

[rajy]

Is there a way to make the AI drivers less "agressive" to allow CTC operation?

A great deal of North American railroad mileage is controlled by CTC (Centralized Train/Traffic Control).
CTC reference 1
CTC reference 2

Although Trainz 2006 lacks the facilities to create a true CTC system, I think that if I could have a less "aggressive" AI driver who did not keep jumping out of the cab and changing turnout directions on his own authority, I could create a system that would mimic CTC operation quite closely.

I think I need an AI driver who acts as follows:

• Drives forward at the allowed track speed until he reaches the trackmark I specify.
• If he comes to a stop signal, stop and wait till that signal allows him to proceed. (I, myself will be acting as the CTC operator / dispatcher and will be controlling the switches with the minimap as my dispatcher's CTC panel).
• He must NEVER change the state of ANY switches along the way. As dispatcher I will be controlling all switches.

Does anyone know if such a driver command already exists or could be created?

Thanks.
...Bob

 

[NIARTcar]

• He must NEVER change the state of ANY switches along the way. As dispatcher I will be controlling all switches.

Does anyone know if such a driver command already exists or could be created?

Thanks.
...Bob

I believe there is a "yard kit" that locks all juctions that u specify unless you change the junction yourself

 

[sw1500]

Autopilot Command

Download an Autopilot Command from the DLS then in survayor click on edit sessions and check it in the "Driver Commands Rule". When this command is given to an AI Driver they will not touch any switches. It also has an option of end at Track Mark.

 

[nicky9499]

• He must NEVER change the state of ANY switches along the way. As dispatcher I will be controlling all switches.

Does anyone know if such a driver command already exists or could be created?

Thanks.
...Bob

The 'STW Drive' rule does exactly that (follows instructions but does not change switches). TRS06 and TS09 built-in as far as I know.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

 

[sw1500]

True, but

'STW Drive' does prevent AI from switching junctions, but does not include this "Drives forward at the allowed track speed until he reaches the trackmark I specify." 'Autopilot' gives rajy the option to have a local be CTC controlled while on the mainline, then work the junctions while switching or on a branch line.:Y: Just like real railroads with CTC Systems.

 

[Approach_Medium]

Not sure about this, but I seem to recall that when I used that rule so that no AI driver would throw the switch himself, the AI train reverted to manual control, and in order to have the train move under AI control again, you had to click "drive" again.

In any case, I also find it annoying that AI drivers will automatically throw switches. My route is also a CTC.

FW

 

[nicky9499]

FW,

Apologies if I gave the wrong suggestion. A small question after reading the two articles you referenced; are CTCs suited for use only on single-track mainlines? Complex, multiple track mainlines with various diverging routes would, I believe, give the dispatcher a very hard time remembering the location of each train and movement. Either that or the 200 foot spool of paper's going to be used up rather quickly.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

 

[sw1500]

Nicky

CTC systems are usually broken up into sections were a dispatcher would control one section. A section could be as small as one complex junction or as big as several hundred miles of mainline. A local railroad in my area has 4 dispatchers controlling 500+ miles.

 

[backyard]

Simple problems...

For one, both train operation & dispatching must be monitored at all times by a human(like there must be one adult in every family).

Track marks go a long way toward controlling the destination of an AI Driver...but that does not preclude an absolute destination using the shortest route available to the AI Driver.

Direction markers are out in many cases because that prevents the AI Driver from using that route against the marker.

Studying the path of an AI Driver over the entire route & the choices taken help in dispatching using track marks.

Sometimes I have rolling run-bys, sometimes they wind up head to head...one driver runs out of the siding unless I give a wait for command.

It can be a matter of which AI Driver secures a Junction Permit as to who stops, but there is a reason for trains overrunning their permit...

There is not yet any software made on earth that will totally control any train without human intervention.

I enjoy placing 5 to 7 trains on a route 50 miles or so long, then switching back & forth between trains for checking progress, watching run-bys, catching errors before problems occur.

Sometimes I even get to run the train myself!

 

[randknu]

Pretty much the same as i do then. I would like a compressed view of all the tracks and turnouts so it's easyer to see where a train is and to switch junctions. and to display a line in front of the train so you can easily see how long the signals permit the train to go. ex. one color for each train. on this compressed dispatcher-like view.

 

[Dap]

If we only had an interface to Train Dispatcher software. It could run on one computer and Trainz on another.

 

[rajy]

First, thanks to all who read my post and especially to those who have replied.

I have downloaded the commands suggested and will be investigating them over the next few days.

CTC is especially useful in complex situations with heavy traffic. Those situations were among the first where CTC was installed.

Train dispatching can indeed be quite a mental challenge. Dispatcher's offices were usually in quiet locations and almost always closed to visitors. I had a friend who was a dispatcher (now deceased) and even he said that it would be impossible for me to come and observe.

Real life dispatching, though, is not quite as hectic as Trainz operation might lead us to believe because real life routes have a lot more distance between stations than most Trainz routes.

In addition to the CTC board, dispatchers also have a support system of train sheets where they log the progress and positions of all trains under their control. Today, of course, computers also help them keep "track" of what is going on as well.

...Bob

 

[backyard]

My approach...

...is to use DEM maps that are the same distances between Operating Stations as real life railroads are...let alone gradient...

Yes, we need to interface with TrainDispatcher 3.5...!

This could control the dispatch board albeit with a second monitor which TRS does not support at this time.

Auran Trains control is a combo of CTC, ABS & Track Warrant Control at this point...and is soooo much fun!