Another Email communication

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We have again received some suggestions/questions which I'm going to discuss here

Hi. the name is Tim. I just downloaded CTC and like it better than Train Dispatcher 3. (...)

I was wondering (...) if i can make my own route, if helper engines can be needed for some trains, & if you can put dead end tracks.

I created a .lay & .trk file from Train Dispatcher 3 / Track Builder 3. Its NS Leetsdale, PA to Tyrone, PA. I need to work on it more but here is what it really needs to work;

1. Trains that are cars only & under no power (cant move until Engines come to get the train. .
2. The need for helper engines t get over the hill/mountain.
3. Ability to add helper engines when in a yard (off Territory)
4. Switches that dont need to be in an Interlocking. Also the switch is manually thrown with permission by dispatcher with delay time added of course and does not have a signal near it.
5. Recrew Locations on and off the territory.
6. Uphill & downhill slower acceleration & deceleration.
7. The ability for a foreign train to pick up a train on the territory.
8. Detectors - Hot Box, Dragging Equipment, Sliding Wheel, & High Clearance. Note that the High Clearance is for trains with Double Stacks or Autoracks due to low bridges in Pittsburgh and must go Mon Line (included in territory) to go around Downtown.

Here is my - updated - response:

Helper engines
Helper engines will be supported at some point. We have started to put something in, but the current territories don't require one, so it has been put on a backburner. The scheduled split/merge feature addresses some of the functionality, e.g. how to put trains together, however, for the helper function we still have two trains, though they will be locked together and controlled from the front train. We still haven't worked out the details how and when to engage and disengage (schedule or order). As for adding helpers to trains currently off the territory - this would have to be scheduled, as it is not possible to communicate to trains off the grid (however you can talk to the yard master). Talking helpers off there is already possible (has to be tested) - locked trains leaving the territory would be separated, whether in a yard or in the neighboring district.

Manually thrown switches
Manually thrown switches is something that came up in recent time. For instance the requested capability to "set out" a train from a track using a new blocked type similar to "maintenance blocked" which allows a train to do switching even though you don't see switches there. Another idea is to not control the switches from the dispatcher panel - and maybe even not to see the status of the switch, just that there is one, or change it as you think it should be.

A recent addition to CTC was the ability to send an order to a train to stop in any regular block (even if there is no signal at all at the end of the block), and later give them another order. This would be an opportunity to add some functionality to give orders to the train like throw the switch, go there etc. As you can see, there are some ideas floating around.

Crew time
Crew time considerations are more closer to finalization.

Uphill/Downhill Acceleration
Uphill/Downhill acceleration/deceleration change seems like an interesting idea. While we can assign max speed limits based on direction per block, the acceleration/deceleration rate is set by train type and individual train length which cannot change without a stop. When a trains is running, a speed profile is maintained based on the last perceived signal indications and relevant speed limits. The acceleration/deceleration rate, which determines how trains are acceleration or braking, is not part of the profile - but those rates (per block) have to go somewhere to make an impact.

We think, however, that the speed limit assignment has a much bigger impact than the accel/decel rate, so we're not sure if it is worth the effort to make the rate depending on the block.

Foreign train
Foreign train - this could be difficult. Foreign trains in CTC (as well in TD3) are not based on schedules but are randomly generated. Furthermore, foreign train tracks don't have switches and the only interaction with the rest of your territory are the diamonds with other tracks and signals protecting them.  In other words, trains cannot switch from foreign tracks to your "own" tracks and back.

The idea is that foreign trains/tracks are controlled by another dispatcher. For this reason the communication to foreign train operators is limited to tell them to be patient at a red signal or to order them to pass a red one. Under these conditions I can't see how these trains can interact more intimately with the rest of the territory.

Detectors
Detectors - not anything there in CTC at this time. A possible idea is to add triggers for those detectors so that they are localized, and hava them somehow get a faulty indication back to the train passing over it. High clearance routes can be enforced by train types for high clearance trains and have the max speed limit very low for these types on those routes that don't have high clearance. This is not a detector thing of course, but anyway ..

Cars only
Cars only trains - this can be accomplished with the split/merge train feature in CTC and using schedules with no running section, i.e. schedules acting as a place holder between splits and merges. If a train sets out cars, it would split the cars from the remaining train. The cars have their own "schedule", with no active running section, the sole purpose just to wait for another train to merge with for pickup. While it is waiting, it sits there like a stubborn ox - and you wish you can move it out temporarily because it is sitting on an important track, but that is currently not possible

Dead end tracks
Is is possible to have dead end tracks in CTC.

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