SAR Scenarios Tutorial

Revision as of 21:33, 7 March 2021

SAR Enhanced Interlocking Towers and AI Driving Tutorial

A part of the SAR Peterborough Base Session

Enhanced Interlocking Towers (EITs) are included in the SAR Peterborough Base Session (they are not part of the route or layout) to provide easier navigation in some of the more complex yards in the layout. The EITs provide paths into and out of the yards. In some cases they also provide direct paths through the yards. EITs are optional, they do not have to be used EITs are setup at the following locations:- Gladstone - to provide paths in and out of Gladstone from the directions of Jamestown and the Wilmington Line. Caltowie - to provide paths into, out of and through Caltowie from the directions of Gladstone and Peterborough. Jamestown - to provide paths into, out of and through Jamestown from the directions of Gladstone and Peterborough. Peterborough West - to provide paths into and out of Peterborough from the directions of Gladstone and Quorn. Peterborough East - to provide paths into and out of Peterborough from the directions of Terowie and Paratoo. Paratoo - to provide paths into and out of Paratoo from the direction of Peterborough. Terowie - to provide paths into and out of Terowie from the direction of Peterborough. Orroroo - to provide paths into, out of and through Orroroo from the directions of Peterborough and Quorn. Carrieton - to provide paths into, out of and through Carrieton from the directions of Peterborough and Quorn. Quorn - to provide paths into and out of Quorn from the direction of Peterborough.

Driver Commands are available for use in the session.

Driver Commands are optional, they do not have to be used

Apart from the standard commands (Drive To, Load, Unload, Couple, Wait For, etc), additional commands have been added. Specifically:-

• IT SetPath (TANE SP4 and later) - to allow EIT paths to be set in the Driver Command Bar
• IT CancelEnhancedPath (TANE SP4 and later) - to cancel any set EIT path
• Instant Load Command - to instantly load all wagons (except locos) with the first item in their product queues
• InstantLoadLocos - to instantly load all locos (or their tenders) with water and either coal or bunker c oil
• InstantUnload - to instantly unload all wagons (except locos)

 The Tutorial Scenario 

The scenario used in this tutorial is  Gladstone-Peterborough Depot Fuel which has the consist already fully assembled with its locomotive (T 258) at the starting signal of the Gladstone EIT  Goods Loop to Broken Hill  path. This tutorial will follow the scenario until after the consist arrives at Jamestown.

From the Gladstone-Peterborough Depot Fuel instructions page:-

The Driver Command Bar
Make sure that the Driver Command Bar is visible on the screen. In Driver Mode the interactive driver controls are at the bottom right of the screen.
Steps		Cycle Through the Command States Click the 3 dots on the extreme bottom right of the screen to cycle the control display through to the Driver Command Bar - stop when the last of the 3 dots is highlighted.			Open the Driver Command Menu Click on the chevron icon to open the command menu.

Setting an EIT Path from a Starting Signal

The path to be set in this tutorial is from the Gladstone  Goods Loop  to  Broken Hill . On the Gladstone  page (link via - link will open in this window) this is identified on that page as:-

From the open Driver Command Menu, select the  IT SetPath (TANE SP4 and later)  option. This will open a list of all the EITs that have been placed in the Session. Because the loco is directly in front of an EIT Starting Signal, in this case an invisible signal, all its assigned paths will be shown and are available for selection.

Select the starting signal  GSX G27D  (every invisible signal in the route is named according to a logical system). This will reveal that two different paths out of Gladstone have been assigned to this signal.

•  Goods Loop to Broken Hill , and
•  Goods Loop to Wilmington 

Every path is named according to its starting point (a location or a track in a yard) and its destination (a location or a track in a yard). The location names are always one of Port Pirie, Broken Hill, Terowie, Quorn or Wilmington even if that location is not the final destination of the loco and its consist. This is intended to remove any doubt as to the direction of travel.

Select the path  Goods Loop to Broken Hill .

The path has now been set. All junction switches and signals along that path from the Start Signal (GSX G27D) to the End Signal (Gladstone Home Up on the Broken Hill side of the yard) are set to give loco T 258 the road out of Gladstone towards Broken Hill. Note: not all signals will automatically show Proceed once the path has been set. Some signals, semaphore signals for example, will only show Proceed when a train starts moving towards the signal.

 Cancelling a Set EIT Path 

Paths that have been set can be cancelled so that their signals and junction switches will be returned to their previous states. They will be returned automatically after the consist has cleared the Exit Signal for a path but if you change your mind and decide to take a different path or not use the EITs then a set path can be cancelled.

From the Driver Command Menu select the IT CancelEnhancedPath command.

You will have the option of cancelling ALL PATHS or selecting a particular EIT and path to cancel.

Driving to the Next EIT Location

You can set an EIT path without having to be directly in front of a Starting Signal. For example, you can set all the EIT paths for the train through Caltowie and into Jamestown (the first stop in the scenario) before you leave Gladstone.