Timetables

[phimat]

This is something I've thought about for a good while, but have never seen it discussed on the forum. Schedules can be created for consists which determine both the route and waits in stations. But with the growing complexity of layouts now possible, which can support over twenty routes (how many exactly? I've managed twenty five or six), traffic jams are an increasing problem. So, why is it not possible to create timetables along with schedules? As well as giving more control over the movement of consists, it would introduce an interesting intellectual challenge to produce timetables able to maintain numerous schedules over many hours.

It can be done in rl - stand at the end of a platform at Clapham Junction during any rush hour, though I'm sure any major conurbation will have a similar example.

 

[Vern]

This is an ongoing wish of mine. It's relatively easy to set up timetables for AI trains but not for player trains and there's certainly no way of setting up a "base" timetable that covers a period of several hours, such as you can in Zusi or World of Subways where on arrival you can allocate your train to the next outbound departure. Unfortunately Trainz has never really worked that way with the emphasis for the player being more on free roam and setting the route as you go, rather than disciplined adherence to a schedule.

Whether that changes in future versions (if there is one) only N3V can say, but it does cause some frustration when you come across a good looking route and all you can do is drive in a rather abstract manner.

 

[AntonyVW]

I was wondering if the waybill can somehow be adapted for this purpose? As far as Im aware its purpose is to inform us of which industry need what picking up. So could it tell us what passengers need picking up and where?

 

[boleyd]

I would bet that within the rules structure there are sufficient hooks to allow a customer to setup a timetable of AI trains. That timetable might schedule arrivals and departures for a marshaling yard. Another set of commands might be organized for shunters/switchers to organize trains on-time so the timetable driven trains can arrive and depart as per schedule. Of course reality says there will be delays and lost cars. So provision must be made to sideline a train while a consist is assembled.

The waybill might serve a slightly different function. Rather than a totally artificial time table have waybills input into a program that creates a schedule. It is not as complex as you might think. If there are "reason-ability" limits between the three major elements, - Long haul trains, Shunting/switching/Waybills. By that I mean when a waybill is prepared and a delivery time entered that time is based on what are "normal parameters" plus slop-time to allow for some minor delays. Refining this outline should lead to a fully operating railsystem.

My gut feel is that Trainz may be able to actually work in this setting.

 

[AntonyVW]

seems like my idea isnt as daft as I first thought then

 

[JackDownUnder]

This is also one of my objectives as I am going to finish up with passenger and goods traffic in ever increasing quantities on my route.
I have started collecting infomation so anything others could contribute would be welcome.

 

[phimat]

I conceive of something like the standard railway timetable, which list - for our purposes - departure times on a given route throughout the day. This would allow us to vary the frequency and start times depending - in the first instance anyway - on other traffic on that line. At the moment I manipulate wait times at stations as a way of avoiding jams, but to be able to vary some of the timing outside of the available schedule structure would be a great advance.

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi

It is entirely feasible to run trains to a timetable. I have written a number of scenarios for the Carlisle section of the SnC route which were based on the 1957 working timetable and ran for about 3 hours each. They were written using the SCS2006 rule but this rule is broken in the multiplayer versions of the game. I am now working on the ECML route and have brought the section from Kings Cross to Peterborough up to date with the current track layout and the OHL equipment added.

I have started programming this section of the route in TS2012 using the 2006 working timetable and have been quite successful so far using the normal driver commands.

If anyone would like to do the same thing you can get the Sectional Appendix for the whole of the UK as a pdf file from the Network Rail website which gives such information as distances between stations, junctions etc. and also shows you where speed limits start and finish for the whole of the UK. They also have the current working timetables for the whole country available on their website which would enable you to program trains into the slots that they have in real life. The WTTs are full of useful information showing such things as the platform used, the type of train on the service, freight schedules etc.

I have found that the main thing when programming to a timetable is to use one of the path setting rules as this takes the decision making out of the AIs hands. If you're programming the rush hour services out of Kings Cross and Moorgate for example then any hesitation by the AI in setting its route will throw the whole thing into chaos. It is also desirable to have some way of regulating the speed of the trains as, if you leave them to their own devices, they will run at the maximum line speed available which again can play havoc with your timetable. I use the "Set Max Speed To" command by nikia for this and there are two versions available in either MPH or KPH.

Current UK Sectional Appendix and WTTs available here

Sectional Appendix http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/10563.aspx - PDFs at bottom of page

WTT http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse...WTT)&root=\Timetables\Working Timetable (WTT) - Double click the folder. ECML sections begin with the letter Y.

Regards

Brian

 

[itareus]

Brian,

...It is entirely feasible to run trains to a timetable...

Agreed but, and correct me if I'm wrong, the SCS2006 rule controls only AI trains ?

I think the OP is after something more on the lines of a timetable that can be used as the template to which to allocate resources 'on the day'. I did want to do something along these lines a while back (a timetable creation application, and was thinking of an external program communicating with Trainz). Enquiries on the, now defunct, TrainzDev forum suggested that an interface to Trainz would be feasible as Auran were developing the "Trainz Native Interface", there is now a trainznativeinterface.dll in the bin folder for TS2010 and TS12 but it's undocumented (at least not documented publicly) and my guess is that the kind of interface functionality that would be required - i.e. to be able to write data created in a 3rd party (not Trainz code) application into Trainz and to feed data back out - has not been included. If Windwalkr (AKA Chris Bergman, lead programmer for Trainz) is reads this maybe he would comment?

...Current UK Sectional Appendix and WTTs available here...

Thanks for the links, very useful, the SA used to be available on the NR website but they 'locked it off' a while ago, good to know it's back.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi Chris

I have only used the SCS2006 rule to control AI trains as I have no interest in driving myself but it can be used to set paths etc for user driven trains. I believe that it's possible give points for successfully completing sections of the route as there are variables which allow comparisons of time. It should be possible to award a variable number of points depending on whether the train was early, on time or late e.g 12 points for an early arrival, 10 points for an on time arrival, 8 points if within 2 minutes of a correct time and so on. I think that it can also detect speeding so you would be able to deduct points for exceeding the speed limit.

In the 4 years that I have been using it I have barely scratched the surface of what can be done but as I mentioned above it is broken in the multiplayer version of TS2010 and in TS2012. The manual for it is available on the DLS (a search for SCS2006 will find it) so if you download it you will be able to get an idea of what can be done.

Regards

Brian

 

[itareus]

Brian,

Thanks for the reply.

...it is broken in the multiplayer version of TS2010 and in TS2012...

That is a pity, do you know if has been reported or is being worked on ?

...The manual for it is available on the DLS (a search for SCS2006 will find it) so if you download it you will be able to get an idea of what can be done...

I would give it a go, but if it's not working in TS12 then I fear I would be wasting my (limited) time.

Chris

 

[Kennilworth]

Chris

As far as I know it will not be repaired for use in the later versions. It is quite remarkable that it worked for so long with all the changes that have been made to the core code since TRS2006. It definately doesn't work in TS12 and I have kept TS2010 build 44088 (the last build that it will work in) installed for the occasions that I now want to use it. I use it mainly for creating totally automated routes when I need a change from the ECML.

Regards

Brian

 

[boleyd]

Darn!!! SCS2006 looked like something worth learning. I to do not really drive trains and prefer setting up some scenarios of real work.The SCS2006 would have been ideal Not working with TS2012 may force me to drink.

From the description of the things it can do for you it seemed ideal for people who want to create a total rail operation. You could envision a program taking "customer orders" and then constructing or modifying the existing SCS2006 schedules to fit in the new order. Of course that can be done by a human but it would be fun to watch it adapt under a "super AI" control system.
Double darn!!!

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi Dick

Yes SCS2006 is very versatile and gives you finer control over your trains. I tend to get an idea and build a route to test it out (just track and industries, stations etc) and then once I've got it doing what I want I lose interest and move on to something else. When I built a new computer a couple of months ago I didn't bother saving these test routes but I have made some notes about how I approached the problem for future use.

The rule does have a steep learning curve and can be difficult to get to grips with. The conditional commands are very powerful and allow automatic decision making based on information stored in variables. There is a limit to the number of trains that can be run in one scenario which I found to be either 54 or 55 depending on whether I used one or two scenario setup threads but I only ever got near this figure once in one of the Carlisle scenarios mentioned earlier. The trains weren't on screen all at once but were added or deleted when required at the various feed points at the ends of the tracks.

Regards

Brian