YAPP/PBS Basics

[el koeno]

If you put directions facing both directions on the two inner tracks, you can increase throughput. The outsides are free, so no deadlocking. It also has the advantage of penalising the centre tracks, so trains will try to keep to the outer tracks unless overtaking/manouvering.

I tried that one I think, because it really makes sense. But then sometimes trains stop in the inner lane, when they're free to continue on the inner track. They seem reluctant to take the "wrong-way" signal, so they wait until a path without one is available. You could of course put "wrong-way" signals on the outer lanes as well, but that would ruin the penalty effect.

[ostlandr]

I have been having a blast playing with PBS. All of a sudden my old horrible junctions flow pretty nicely. Deadlocks are rarer, also.

I generally set the signal block length at four tiles (eight car trains). I will occasionally add a signal to speed up throughput on a section of track, but I run the cargo multiplier on x10, so acceleration is a consideration. The less the trains have to stop and start, the better the overall performance.
When playing with the UKRS starting in 1920, I sometimes use three tile blocks, as those primitive locomotives and tiny cars don't make for long trains. I try to leave room to lengthen platforms later.

Alternately, in the US set I sometimes have to extend platforms for high-volume stations to ten tiles, to get the best use out of modern locomotives. Probably not wise, as the way the game is set up it generally pays to run two short trains instead of one long one with two locomotives. I just like to see those long rakes of coal hoppers or double-stacks sometimes.