Alerters in USA?

[Somesz]

Hi all, I haven't played the game for a couple of years and I don't remember. Are there alerter functionality on US routes? If yes how can I enable it? If no are there any mods for US alerter?

[IC125]

By alerter do you mean a train safety system? If so it really depends on which route and loco you drive as some will have them and some won't. All routes/locos have manuals which explain the features of each DLC so you could always look at those for a start.

[Somesz]

Thank you! I know th german PZB and SIFA, LZB and the british alerter but I was thinking about US locos from Donner Pass, Maria Pass, Norfolk Southern etc.

[IC125]

I am no US expert and rarely drive those trains so don't take my word on this ;) However, from what I recall or have seen more rural routes don't seem to have many safety systems and I don't think that there is a US-wide safety system like the AWS in the UK or SIFA/LZB in Germany. I think commuter and high speed services are more likely to have such systems, for example the Acela Express. It may be best for our US experts to confirm on this though :)

[Rudolf Jan]

The East Coast lines use such systems, New-York to New Haven is a good route and North East Corridor as well.

[electronx]

Generally the answer is no.
In-game, definitely no, except for the 3 Northeast Corridor routes (New York - New Haven, NY - Philadelphia and the North Jersey Coastline) and engines / trains designed for there, usually CSX, but also some Amtrak. Possibly Miami. Some trains, I think the F59s and so possibly the Caltrain as well have alerter, but no signaling (implemented).

The NEC and some of its branches warranted such systems, plus electrification already required extensive cabling, which has spread into many PRR areas as well at some point, e.g. the Altoonaworks page always mentions track signaling being in place around the Horseshoe Curve (but not modeled on the route).

In the Mid and West, as far as I can tell, no. Usually a crew of two rides these trains and signaling is much more foretelling (similar to the British).

Engines tend to run the whole system, and while some railroads - NS, CSX - specifically forbid non-compliant locomotives to lead (the recent UP excursion train was temporarily equipped with necessary in-cab signaling), in the West (from Chicago) there is a fair mix of UP and BNSF, with a bit of KC and the odd CP / CN mixed in, plus the other way around in Canada (and Mexico with Ferromex). Historically there was no agreement about a single system spanning the continent, maybe PTC will rectify that.

The same story is true in Europe except that due to national borders and randomly chosen system parameters, loco & crew change at borders is standard, so it's not exposed.

[Somesz]

Wow, thank you for your answer. I didn't know much about US systems. It seems rural freights has no such thing as alerter especially in Train Sim. Good to know. I know Amtrak system I already drove the Acela and older electric loco on the corridor. Again, thank you for the clarification!

[Somesz]

Electronx, amúgy most nézem, hogy magyar vagy és még druszák is vagyunk! :-) Mindegy, már válszoltam angolul. (To other folks, it happened to be both of us electronx and me are the same nationality... :-))

[Texas Midland]

On the LA Commuter Rail Add-on for the Pacific Surfliner Route the Alerter DOES work and that may also be the case for the San Diego Commuter Rail Add-on ( I dont have t yet ). What I notice about it is that the "Grace Interval" is somewhat longer than on the UK Routes I've driven.