Just one point!

[Neptune50006]

Well several really, and I'm thoroughly sick and tired of the dratted things derailing my train every time I'm mucking around in a free roam scenario. There always seems to be one that isn't set properly

Kuju, please fix this annoyance in the forthcoming patch

Rant over.

[drwho200]

Well, it depends which way you look at it. Firstly not having points that need changing draws away from the games reality, I know MSTS and Trainz were different. I think it would help if the blue line of your path would go on for the whole route to allow us to plan journeys from start to finish without needing to keep looking at the map.

[Tomnick]

In reality, I wouldn't expect the driver of an express passenger train to have to 'plan' the path of his journey, and stop at every set of facing and trailing points!

[LNERandBR]

When traveling from heal to toe the point should change automatically. In real life the weight of a loco is capable of pushing manual points to the correct position as I have seen it happen at Preserved Railways.

Yes we should be capable of switching manual points but only when faceing the Toe of the point not the heal like in MSTS.

[drwho200]

I agree with that! It should be more realistic and I also agree, Express Trains should not have to wait at every point thats simply a bad idea.

[jamespetts]

In reality, I wouldn't expect the driver of an express passenger train to have to 'plan' the path of his journey, and stop at every set of facing and trailing points!

To be fair, the free roam scenarios are ones in which the whole point is that the driver controls the route on the fly. The standard/timetabled scenarios (if the latter are ever "activated") will be where the points will be set automatically by the pathing engine (the details of which are presently shrouded in mystery).

[bigvern]

Surely in "Free Roam" what you need to be able to do is to set your start point, end point and have the signalling AI set the (correct) path, including getting out of yards. Otherwise I see little point in Free Roam just as I never really fathomed the idea of "Explore Route" in MSTS - which usually led you up a dead end or into a buffer. A railway is a transport network not a series of woodland paths to ramble around at will!

[drwho200]

Thats exactly how I would have made the game and imagined it would be. I hope it can become like this or at least have some kind of AI Path Finder Implemented.

[Neptune50006]

I find the worst thing is the trailing point of crossovers. Why the two points aren't interlocked in some way so that they both change I don't know.

[stuartrayner]

Maybe the top down map, and also the track monitor (assuming it is made more useable) could be provided with a set of exit points, whereby clicking on then will set all the points between your train and that point automatically, and take care of the signalling depending upon other traffic in the area.

If you think about it, its similar to an N/X signal panel in concept.

[stuartrayner]

I find the worst thing is the trailing point of crossovers. Why the two points aren't interlocked in some way so that they both change I don't know.

Absolutely, in a real signal frame or panel, this would be operated off a single lever or switch (okay, two levers for mechanical operation, but one is for the FPL bolts) and the points would be designated A & B.