Timetables and spreading of vehicles help.

[Davie_UCF]

Could someone explain how do set up a timetable where the vehicles will spread out and not catch up with each other? I've clicked on start date with CTRL and I can't seem to get any noticable difference.

I've got a single line that runs in a circle and would like the 6 trains to be evenly spaced out so it runs smoothly

Thanks

[Panando]

As a rule you need to add a few days buffer to each travel/stop time, if the buffer is enough then the vehicles will be able to 'catch up' to their timetable as needed. If there is no buffer time, any delays result in them permanently being unable to keep to their timetable.

[Transportman]

Could someone explain how do set up a timetable where the vehicles will spread out and not catch up with each other? I've clicked on start date with CTRL and I can't seem to get any noticable difference.

I've got a single line that runs in a circle and would like the 6 trains to be evenly spaced out so it runs smoothly

Thanks

That only works when the vehicles share orders (so not cloned) and they need enough buffer time to catch up to any delays as Panando already pointed out.

[Taschi]

When you clone trains, press CTRL while clicking on the train you want to clone - then it will have shared orders.

[bear1]

I've not really got into timetables, but the autofill function is very useful. Get the vehicles to share orders, and send them out of the depot at intervals.

[Davie_UCF]

I always use CTRL when cloning so everything shares orders. I can't seem to tell if the separation thing works...

Could someone explain how it actually works? How does it separate them?

[Transportman]

I always use CTRL when cloning so everything shares orders. I can't seem to tell if the separation thing works...

Could someone explain how it actually works? How does it separate them?

If you use CTRL when opening the Set start time window, it will set the starting times for all vehicles with those shared orders, evenly spread out. So if your timetable is 90 days and has 3 vehicles, vehicle 1 will start at 0, vehicle 2 at 30 and vehicle 3 at 60 (and at 90 it is vehicle 1 again).

[PikkaBird]

IMO the easiest way to maintain train spacing is to have a few long signal blocks to establish a minimum following distance. Train spacing doesn't really matter that much, though, so long as you have enough trains that the ratings stay high.

[Davie_UCF]

Yeah I suppose the spreading works if you have a circle or using road vehicles but in a rail network where you have freight joining and leaving the mainline which isn't part of the timetable it can't really work?

One way i've had freight passed is having a loop with a waypoint the freight goes into which has maybe two signal blocks and a path signal right at the end but the mainline has a path signal earlier so the faster passenger train will set the path first when it catches up and is able to take over the slow train. Is this a common method and is there any other better more efficient ways?

[Taschi]

Yeah I suppose the spreading works if you have a circle or using road vehicles but in a rail network where you have freight joining and leaving the mainline which isn't part of the timetable it can't really work?

Yes, it can if your time reserve is big enough so the trains can catch up with the delays caused by the freight trains, but I doubt it will be of much use. The freight trains might even cause your pax trains to spread without a timetable, because they wedge themselves in between them...

[Transportman]

but the mainline has a path signal earlier so the faster passenger train will set the path first when it catches up and is able to take over the slow train. Is this a common method and is there any other better more efficient ways?

You might want to read this page about priorities, it allows a bit more flexibility and doesn't make your passenger train stop when a freight train already has passed the path signal back on the main track.

Yeah I suppose the spreading works if you have a circle or using road vehicles but in a rail network where you have freight joining and leaving the mainline which isn't part of the timetable it can't really work?

Yes, it can if your time reserve is big enough so the trains can catch up with the delays caused by the freight trains, but I doubt it will be of much use. The freight trains might even cause your pax trains to spread without a timetable, because they wedge themselves in between them...

If it is just an irregular freight train that might block the passenger trains, the effect of this disturbance is too small to cause decent separation. And if you have that number of trains that are disturbing, you are looking at separate networks or more timetabling instead of getting separation this way.

[Panando]

Instead of a priority I have contemplated using a hill to expedite merges. A train going down a slope will attain maximum speed very quickly. I have tested this idea in the case where I have a passenger line with fast light trains which accelerate quickly, but sometimes a heavier food/goods train has to join the line (I use a freight weight multiplier). If the heavy goods train is forced to stop, then it will take a significant amount of time to accelerate up to speed and while it is still accelerating up to speed it will force following passenger trains to brake.
But if the heavy goods train is first forced to go up a hill before the merge, then it will store it's existing kinetic energy as gravitational potential energy instead of bleeding it off braking at a red light, then when it can enter the traffic it rolls down the hill and almost immediately comes up to full speed.
This scheme appears to work quite well, especially considering the fact that often a merge involves an overpass (or underpass) anyway, so the overpass can form part of the hill.

[Supercheese]

Instead of a priority I have contemplated using a hill to expediate merges. A train going down a slope will attain maximum speed very quickly. I have tested this idea in the case where I have a passenger line with fast light trains which accelerate quickly, but sometimes a heavier food/goods train has to join the line (I use a freight weight multiplier). If the heavy goods train is forced to stop, then it will take a significant amount of time to accelerate up to speed and while it is still accelerating up to speed it will force following passenger trains to brake.
But if the heavy goods train is first forced to go up a hill before the merge, then it will store it's existing kinetic energy as gravitational potential energy instead of bleeding it off braking at a red light, then when it can enter the traffic it rolls down the hill and almost immediately comes up to full speed.
This scheme appears to work quite well, especially considering the fact that often a merge involves an overpass (or underpass) anyway, so the overpass can form part of the hill.

Yeah, that does indeed sound like a good scheme.