How to place signals in the map editor, what their settings do, and how to tell each signal where trains go next. Signals and their next signals are what trains actually follow: the track only shows the way.
How signals keep trains apart
Each signal protects the stretch of line up to the next signal, called a block. Only one train may be in a block at once.
- A signal shows red while its block has a train in it, or while a conflict holds it.
- Otherwise it shows yellow if the next signal is red, double yellow if the next signal is yellow, and green if not. (That is a 4-aspect signal; a 3-aspect one has no double yellow.)
More signals make shorter blocks, so trains can follow each other more closely.
Placing a signal
Press S and click on a track. The signal faces along the track. Shift-click to face it the other way, or press F to flip one you've placed.
A signal works for trains passing it in one direction only. A track used both ways needs a signal for each direction.
A new signal takes its id and zone from the nearest signal, so check them in the Inspector.
Where signals go
- At the far end of each platform, in the direction trains leave it. This is the platform's starter, and it is where trains stop. Put it on the track 1 to 2 units past the end of the platform.
- Before every junction and crossover, on each track a train can reach it from. These protect the points, and players usually control them.
- At the way out of every siding and depot: a shunt signal.
- Before the platforms of a terminus: the signal that lets trains in.
- Along plain line between stations: automatic signals, about 0.2 miles apart.
Types
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| 4aspect | Main lines. This is the default. |
| 3aspect | Slow branch lines. |
| shunt | Depots and sidings. |
| tram | Lines where tram-trains run in the street. |
Ids
Every signal needs its own id. The official map uses two letters for the area and a three-digit number, counting along the line, such as SW 041.
If you rename a signal in the Inspector, the editor updates everything that refers to it: other signals' next signals, conflicts and routes.
Settings
Select a signal to see its settings in the Inspector.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Type | See Types above. |
| Initial aspect | What it shows when a game starts. |
| Zone | Which player's area it belongs to. Every signal needs one. |
| Platform | The platform this signal stops trains at. See below. |
| Controllable | Tick it if the player decides when it clears: at junctions, platforms, sidings, depots and terminus approaches. Leave it off for automatic signals on plain line. About half the official map's signals are controllable. |
| Rollback | Starts the game with rollback on: the signal goes back to the player's setting once a train has passed. Most signals have it off. |
| Speed (mph) | The line speed after the signal. With none, trains run at 45. The official map uses 30 in depots, sidings and into termini, 45 to 60 over junctions, and 75 to 125 on main lines. |
| Max aspect | The best aspect it may show. Set Yellow for a signal into a buffer stop, so trains run into the terminus with caution. |
| Allocation | How it picks a platform when the planned one is blocked. See Choosing a platform. |
| Route indicator | Puts a route indicator on top of the signal. The Ind. column under Next signals sets what it shows for each way. |
A starter that leads nowhere
Sometimes a platform starter faces a way trains can never go on. Give it no next signals, set Max aspect to Red, and untick Controllable. It then stays red.
Next signals
A signal's next signals are where a train passing it can run to: the next signal ahead in the same direction, on each way it can take. They are listed in the Inspector under Next signals.
To add one, either:
- type its id in Add next signal… and press the + button, or
- press the pick button beside it and click the signals on the map. Press Esc when you're done.
Rules to follow:
- Name the very next signal. If you skip one, trains ignore the signal you skipped.
- The two must be joined by track (not Unused track). The game sends trains along the shortest track between them, and won't load a map where there is none. Check that the shortest way is the way trains should go.
- One per way through a junction. Most signals have one next signal. A signal before a junction has one for each way through it.
- At a buffer stop, the last signal's next signal is the buffer stop, which shows as TERM followed by its id, such as TERM3.
Distances
Each next signal has a distance in Miles. It sets how long trains take to get there, and where conflicts clear.
- Use the real distance if you know it.
- If you don't, divide the length of track on the drawing by 300. For example, 60 units is 0.2 miles.
- On the official map, they range from 0.13 to 0.4 miles.
Choosing a platform
When a signal's next signals lead to different platforms of a station, a train goes to the one its route plans. If that one is blocked, the signal picks a free one using its Allocation:
- Overflow: the first free one, in the order of its next signals. The official map uses this almost everywhere, so put the platform you'd rather use first.
- Random: any free one.
- Increment: each in turn.
Stopping trains at platforms
Trains stop at a platform by stopping at a signal or buffer stop whose Platform setting is that platform.
- At a through station, set it on the platform's starter.
- At a terminus, set it on the buffer stop.
A platform with neither is never used.
At a terminus, the signal before the platforms has the buffer stops as its next signals. Give it Max aspect Yellow and a speed of about 30, and make it controllable.
Seeing how signals connect
When you select a signal, buffer stop or platform, the editor rings the things related to it, with a key in the corner of the map:
| Colour | Means |
|---|---|
| Green | A next signal: trains can run from the selection to it. |
| Pink | A previous signal: trains can run from it to the selection. |
| Red | A conflict target: the selection is held at red while a train is just past it. |
| Purple | This signal has a conflict on the selection. |
| Orange, yellow, teal | Signals named in a conflict's rules. |
| White | The platform the selection stops trains at, or what stops trains at the selected platform. |
If a signal's next signals ring the wrong things, or nothing, that's usually the first thing to fix.