The route is MSGSAPPER's from Portland Maine north toward the Canadian border. Looks like a medium sizes route wiyh end-to-end runs in the vicinity of 30 to 45 minutes.Very Heavily modified.
I removed all signals. I started 4 trains from the "Rigby yard" on the south end. Started all at the same time. All four arrived at Augusta, the Capital of Maine, with no scratches. Observation showed that the first train to get to a junction caused any oncoming train to wait until the junction was cleared. A faster train maintained "social distance" from any train ahead. All for trains arrived at Augusta.
Signals my be required in some circumstance but in this particular setup there were none and all objectives were met. Yes, there were delays and I believe that proper scheduling, rather than a "shotgun start" would allow reasonable predictability within the structure of a schedule.
I accidentals left two signals, one on each of the dual track, and trains stopped behind the first stuck train. Other experiments did not show any relationship due to the type of track, engine, or signal, including semaphores. Most RED delays seem to be "wait and proceed" either a few seconds or 1.5 minutes. Without a way to manage this logic I will stick to a naked route.
I removed all signals. I started 4 trains from the "Rigby yard" on the south end. Started all at the same time. All four arrived at Augusta, the Capital of Maine, with no scratches. Observation showed that the first train to get to a junction caused any oncoming train to wait until the junction was cleared. A faster train maintained "social distance" from any train ahead. All for trains arrived at Augusta.
Signals my be required in some circumstance but in this particular setup there were none and all objectives were met. Yes, there were delays and I believe that proper scheduling, rather than a "shotgun start" would allow reasonable predictability within the structure of a schedule.
I accidentals left two signals, one on each of the dual track, and trains stopped behind the first stuck train. Other experiments did not show any relationship due to the type of track, engine, or signal, including semaphores. Most RED delays seem to be "wait and proceed" either a few seconds or 1.5 minutes. Without a way to manage this logic I will stick to a naked route.