Merging and splitting trains

[magav]

I need a regional train of two vehicles (EMU) merged into one that runs in the evening outside the city and is splitted into two seperated that are going back in the morning in two seperated services. Is there any possible way to do that? I want to avoid to make technical maneuvers for a long journey (wasting money and occupying tracks)

[david_neibig]

Not at the moment. Hopefully in the future

[juliejayne]

No. This is something that is done IRL but is fiendishly hard to do in a game environment. I simply stick with the larger train.

[MirkoC407]

It is possible in a game environment for about 20 years now. And I read between the lines that Carlos thinks about implementing it here as well some day should no technical obstacles stand in the way then.

[adlet]

It is possible but both from the programmer and the user perspective not easy to manage. You need to set where the train splits (how many cars in each part), you need a separate train object with its own timetable for the splitting piece, you need to allow two trains in a block (shunting operation where a train can pass a red signal to merge with the train already in a block) and two trains at a platform at the same time (just before they merge or right after they split). There is timetable Auto-copy functionality which currently works for different train types, but imagine if Auto-copy is a shorter or a longer train - the split would likely not work well. Also, in theory a train could split into more than two pieces (and more than once), further complicating the above. So quite some functionality that is not present today.

[magav]

Originally posted by adlet:

It is possible but both from the programmer and the user perspective not easy to manage. You need to set where the train splits (how many cars in each part), you need a separate train object with its own timetable for the splitting piece, you need to allow two trains in a block (shunting operation where a train can pass a red signal to merge with the train already in a block) and two trains at a platform at the same time (just before they merge or right after they split). There is timetable Auto-copy functionality which currently works for different train types, but imagine if Auto-copy is a shorter or a longer train - the split would likely not work well. Also, in theory a train could split into more than two pieces (and more than once), further complicating the above. So quite some functionality that is not present today.

For my issue it's more about I need 2 EMU trains in the morning seperated for two services and they are coming back as one in the evening. The new black hole functionality would be the easiest one for this moment to implement. Just to allow spawning trains in another black hole than they arrived at. In this case I would need 3 trains (2 single and one double) to make services realistic but losing realism in between services maneuvers. The least realistic but the easiest.

[adlet]

Yes unfortunately a work around like what you describe is all I can think of right now.

You can make it closer to reality with a couple of tricks:

- Build extra tracks on top or right below the main track where the full train arrives

- Build the black hole platform from where the splitting train emerges and where the main train disappears very close to the main platform (like a couple meters away, and a couple meters long) - I think it would work but worthwhile testing that a very short platform (shorter than the train) can work as a blackhole.

- Set the place where the splitting trains will stop (above each other) to be so that the two trains don't overlap and it looks from above as if they are on the same track, even though they are not. This is presuming you use two extra tracks for each short train. If you use just one track, you want to make sure the signals can accommodate two trains.

- Use invisible track for the top track so you can still see the train and the track below it.

- When building track above each other, use a small offset (e.g. 0.1m) to make it easier to move nodes around later if desired. It would be close enough to not be visible unless you look at a very short distance.