TrainController Gold and Silver - Freiwald Software

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The diagram displayed above shows the smart mode. On entry into block “Main Line
East” the Dispatcher does not only reserve block “Southtown 2” at the bottom. The
Dispatcher also checks, whether there is a route directly behind “Southtown 2”. Since
this is the case, this route and the block behind of this route are reserved, too. This is
done to avoid unintentional train stops in “Southtown 2” due to the fact, that the train
must not leave “Southtown 2” before the route to “Main Line West” is activated.
Smart reservation avoids unintentional train stops caused by long lasting route activation.
What happens, if “Main Line West” is currently not available in this situation? This is
no problem. The Dispatcher only tries to reserve the additional route and the block behind
of “Southtown 2”. If this is currently not possible, then the train is allowed to proceed
to “Southtown 2”.
It is also possible to instruct the Dispatcher not to apply the smart mode to a schedule.
In this case it is possible to specify a fixed number of blocks, that the Dispatcher will
try to reserve during execution of the related schedule. If, for example, the number of
blocks to be reserved ahead is set to 2, then the Dispatcher will always try to maintain
the next 2 blocks in front of the train reserved for this train. If it is not possible to reserve
the specified number, then the Dispatcher will allow the train to proceed, if at
least one block in front of the train is available.
Using a fixed number of 2 as look ahead for the block reservation ensures that the distant
signal assigned to the block ahead always shows a correct state. If it is desired to
install a signaling system based on the internally calculated signal aspects of the Dispatcher,
then this option might be useful, especially if distant signals are used.
By increasing the look ahead any further for certain schedules you can also give some
trains a higher priority. When a train is able to reserve the complete path to the destination
when its schedule starts, then it cannot be blocked by other trains during its journey.
It has received a high priority to reach its destination.
182
Path Selection
The Dispatcher follows a smart strategy, when it has to select one of several possible
paths. In Diagram 118, for example, the Dispatcher has to select one of three possible
paths, when a train approaches the “Hidden Yard” from the west or from the east.
In the following the criteria which influence the selection of a path are listed. The following
aspects lower the chance of a path being used or prevent a path from being selected
at all: