Stuck in Tutorial: Signal Pointing to Switch

[chaleur]

So the tutorial is having me branch track which I did (though a verbal comment said I need to specify direction for each branch which it didn't tell me how to do).

Now it is telling me to place a signal "pointed in the direction of the switch". I have no idea what it means by this. I don't see a switch anywhere. Is that the point where the track branches?

Regardless, there doesn't seem to be anywhere/way I can place the darn thing such that the "signal pointing to switch" condition is met. It also says: "Note: click on a signal to change its direction" but when I click it nothing happens.

Help please?

[gardlt]

The switch is the point where the track branches.

A signal is a place for a train to wait. It will hold a train travelling in the direction of the tip of the yellow cone. This is the cone that's visible when building/editing signals.

When building signals take a look at the on-screen hints at the bottom of the screen. One of them says that Shift + mouse wheel will toggle signal direction.


The bit about "click on signal to change its direction" applies to signals you have already built. There is little need for that if you build them in the right direction to start with.


In practice, where money isn't super tight, consider double tracking the entire line, merging into one on either just outside the station platforms. Then for signals hold Ctrl+Shift while clicking which will auto-populate an entire line at once with evenly spaced signals. This will divide the track up into enough small blocks for the line to have high traffic flow.

[chaleur]

Thank you. That is really helpful, and your advice will definitely be super helpful. Is there something I need to do to make the branch into a switch, by any chance? I still can't seem to get past this point in the tutorial.

[gardlt]

Shouldn't be anything special. Maybe try a video. This is a shorter one. Look about 5 mins in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ42v4dxNBo

[Bumberbog]

Yes. I'm also stuck at this point. ". . . pointing in the direction of the switch." What's a switch?

[gardlt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_switch

Switches are found in real life sidings. Depending on their position a train will either enter the siding or stay on the main line and bypass it altogether.

At the scale of the game they aren't visible, but their function is assumed.


The confusion might be more that the "sidings" in the game aren't analogous with real-life sidings.

There is a game mechanic of static shortest-path routing. The main exception being that directional signals are obeyed. With such signals there are two paths: an inbound and an outbound.


What we have in the game would be better called "passing lanes." Directional signals are used to split routes into inbound and outbound components. This allows opposing trains to pass one another after some waiting.

Both tracks of a passing lane will be equally used. Which doesn't fit with real life where trains will normally only be directed into a siding when necessary, otherwise would stay on the main line.

PS.
This is not a complaint about the signalling system. Just info about how things work.

[miranda9]

It seems you might be trying to make a switch as in an other railroad games by clicking on the join point and dragging the mouse away from that point along the track side. This game wants you to click on the join point and then a separate click on the next point along the side of the track and continue in that way to complete the track. The path will be in green and until you press the $ button and buy it. It can be adjusted at any time before it is bought.
Next comes the switches you must get from the buildings menu and place it a distance back from the turnout point. If switch Red then it is too close to that point. Most likely the switch will be facing for left hand running on the track it is placed.. Click on it to reverse direction. To make it a one way track click on the signal circle again but this time with the shift key pressed, the track will give a visual indication of the flow of traffic . Click switch circle again if you need to reverse direction.

[chaney]

I suspect in the second paragraph above "switch" should be "signal." It's a common mistake that I make in my mind all the time!

[coenvijge]

Another tip: look at tips & tricks in the game. There are some short video's that explain the basics. Reading the whole book explains a lot of the game.

[buzz19]

im also stuck i think its a game glitch

[genemead]

Not a glitch.
If all else fails, follow directions.
(You do know this thread is over a year old, right?)

[Bohnhead]

I to was stuck in this, I hate to say but the last tip was the best, "If all else fail.s, follow directions", the game stats place the signal in the "highlighted" location... i had already placed several parallel tracks and ironically it was the second to last spot that i hadn't put signals that was clearly marked on the map, lol. anyway the game tells you where to place the signal on the map

[Lox]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-VNpRP3yjM&t=2s