Being the Guard/Conductor on future passenger services?

[alansation]

Ok Guys, I know we don't currently have any passenger services to operate but I thought it wouldn't do any harm to cast some ideas & thoughts out on the forums and see what you think.

My hope is as well as driving the train on passenger services it would be good to have the choice and be able to play as the guard/conductor and undertake some of their duties.

I'm thinking this could be good on many passenger runs as you wouldn't just be responsible for the doors/train dispatch. But you could have the tasks of assisting passengers with disabilities to board/alight by placing down ramps for a passenger's wheelchair or help with bags.

You could also have the tasks of checking tickets, dealing with fare dodgers, on train incidents/passenger evacuations, passenger illness, train breakdowns etc.

Obvously these wouldn't happen every day you play the game but if they happened at random then it would make playing the part of the guard an interesting role and could be good considering the different types of trains used for passenger services as they probably all have their own unique routines/dispatch & arrival tasks followed by their guards/conductors.

I don't know what you think of this could it be a good idea to have the chance to play as the train Guard/Conductor?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best wishes

AlanSation

[Axe]

Hi Mr Sation ;-)

Whilst you have a very fertile Imagination I'm not sure some of those ideas would work and by that I mean are let's say, unfeasable.

Your post did once again make me smile especially when I tried to image being a conductor checking for tickets and dealing with fare dodgers - then going on to say this potentially wouldn't happen every day. That being the case I'm not sure I'd like that role at best but if you couldn't deal with fare dogers every day then I think I'd get especialy bored.

If I was to play the conductor role I suspect I'd want an AK-47, some frags and terrorists boarding at every station.

[Bill Paradise]

With freight trains I want to be a conductor like Shack in the movie "Emperor of the North Pole".
I could move about the train searching for hobos and dispense swift justice.

[alansation]

Hi Axe,

I think you could be right even with the new way train sim world will work as the extra work to make the guards role work properley for the simulator could potentially be more hassle than it would be worth.

It's weird as I had often thought about the guards/conductors and after the help I've had from them in real life it kind of got me wondering about the whole thing of playing their role on a simulator.

To do it any justice the developers would have to develope a whole new type of train simulator where your job this time is the Guard/Conductor instead of the driver.

If they did ever create Train Guard/Conductor Simulator I'm pretty sure I would buy it especially if it came with a class 507/508 Merseyrail DLC or something.

You could have the fare dodgers getting on regularly enough to keep it interesting but not too much that's it's a production line. but other random events like the train breaking down in a tunnel and you have to work with the driver and guide your passengers out, But before you do this you have to isolate the traction current with whatever tools they use and a torch to see what your doing.

I think it could be made more interesting as you would have to hunt the fare dodgers i.e a passenger says the standard class loo is still in use after an hour maybe there is a fare dodger in there or has a passenger gone and colapsed? So now you've got to get in there and deal with the fare dodger or help your ill passenger. 'But don't forget your next station stop is five minutes away'

Or what about a saturday night service where you have to defeat crowds of drunks as they pour on at each station and all you have at hand is your ticket machine and guard's keys? Or going into the realms of sillyness here but maybe you can have a cattleprod to use on the drunks or even the fare dodgers?

I like your idea though Axe, that would probably make a good console game something that would look good on a Playstation, X-Box or Gaming PC.

Or being really silly here what about if you replaced the terrorists with Zombies? Kind of like an interactive zombie Simulator set on a normally dull commuter service. So you either fight the zombie's or else hid in the toilet or back cab and let the zombies eat the passengers till you reach your next station where there is hopefully someone there to help.

Sorry Axe, I've really gone and lost the plot of the thread now but at least I hope I've made a fun reply for you to read.

I'm half tempted to suggest Train Guard Simulator to the guys at Train Simulator, Or maybe someone already has or created it and I've not seen it yet.

Best wishes

AlanSation

Hi Bill Paradise,

I've not heard of the film you've just meantioned but now I'm intrigued and tempted to look it up. I've not seen many films with a train conductor as a character the only two I can think of is 'The taking of Pelham 123' or 'Unstoppable'

Both of those are pretty good films.

Best wishes

AlanSation

[Funnydude95]

I'm not sure how I did it but I was at a station and saw a train 6 car pull up on the platform. I hopped in the second part it was 2 multiple units and I was able to operate the doors without actually driving the train