SimRail for Dummies
A guide made by 3N & KagurazakaYukari, SimRail CN Community
English Translation: 3N
The Preface for English Version
Since this book is for people who knows nothing about railways, this book only talks about some general concepts and definitions. And it assumes all readers never take a train or go on a journey by train. Therefore, you may find some unprofessional description on certain ideas or terms.
I don’t like to throw out all terms you will use at first. So, I’ll try to use some personal view and explanation to help you understand these words better.
This book has seven parts:
The first part is the basic concept you should know, like signals, interlock, turnout, etc.
The second part is the terms used in driving, for example, you will learn about locomotives, EMU/DMU, and batteries.
The third part is for dispatchers. We’ll talk about what to say, timetables, priorities, left-track operation, and other things related.
The fourth part is some terms for operation, like delay and early, and all kinds of failures.
The fifth part is a basic introduction to Polish Railways, like the meaning of train number, train codes, and current situation.
The last two parts will contain very detailed tutorial of driving and dispatching. Also, there is a simple page for you to learn how to pronounce Polish alphabet.
The Preface of Original Chinese Version
Now there are more and more Chinese players in the game. According to the questionnaire I posted one month ago, some players have no idea what railway means.
However, tutorials in the game, and some community tutorials always are always set for people that have some basic understanding on railways. So, I think maybe it’s time to write a tutorial for these people.
Hope you can learn something after you read this very long article. And I want to thank KagurazakaYukari for adding some brief and easy-understanding descriptions.
Your Sincerely,
3N
Link to Original Article (Simplified Chinese)
If you think you can understand Chinese, you can check the link below. The content of this book was first posted on SimRail Wikipedia:
专题：从零开始理解SimRail - SimRail_Wiki
Chapter 1: Some Basic Concepts
1.1 Signals
We can see many different traffic lights in life. Usually they are red-yellow-green, some will add numbers. Railway transportation also needs such thing, which is called “signals”.
“When it’s red, you should stop. When it’s green, you should go.” This is the most common rule for signaling system. But, it’s not enough to just tell a train whether you should go or not. You need to know there are many trains running on the railways at the same time. That’s why, we would use different displays and colors to tell drivers:
- How far is the previous train?
- What is the route for your train after this signal?
- How fast can you drive after this signal?
But there is another problem. Just imagining, we told a driver your train is 1600m away from the previous train. What would the driver think?
“How can I measure that? What do you mean by 1600m?”
To avoid this, we divide a whole route into different sections, and we put signal lights at the division point of two sections. These sections are called blocks.
And for each block, it can only contain one train. Why? Let’s think it in another way. You’re driving on the road, and there is car in front of you. When you saw the red light from the previous car (which means it is breaking), you will also brake, unless you are filming some crash scenes. That red light from previous car is the signal light we set. Therefore, one block can only have one train theoretically.
“Then why is it called block? That word has many different meanings. It’s confusing!”
Well, before you shout out your opinion, let’s turn our eyes to roads. You’re driving, and the traffic light turns green. But the driver ahead of you refuse to go and block your way. You decide to sound your horn, because that car has blocked your way.
OK, now we turn back to the three things a signal would tell. We told drivers how fast you can drive, and how will you drive. But the driver today is a little bit anxious, he drives so fast that may fail to brake in time. That’s why we tell drivers how fast you will drive at this signal.
“Then how many signals we need? Two? Isn’t it expensive?”
That’s why we decide to combine these two things into one signal. To make you easy to understand, let’s check Hl system from Germany.
What you can see on the left is a typical Germany Hl system signal.
“There are so many lights, which one shall I look at?”
The lights in red square would tell you the situation of the next signal, while the lights in blue square would tell you what you are going to do now. Hl system can be concluded into a chart, circle with four straight line means it’s blinking, if you want a more detailed one, please check:
http://www.tf-ausbildung.de/SignalbuchOnline/hlsignale.htm
and you can summarize in this chart easier:
| (All number=km/h) | Next Signal Speed Limit | ||||
| Vmax | 100 | 40/60 | Stop | ||
| This
Signal Speed Limit |
Vmax | Hl1 | Hl4 | Hl7 | Hl10 |
| 100 | Hl2 | Hl5 | Hl8 | Hl11 | |
| 60 | Hl3b | Hl6b | Hl9b | Hl12b | |
| 40 | Hl3a | Hl6a | Hl9a | Hl12a | |
| Stop | Hp0 | ||||
The Polish one is similar to this one, since they share the same logic.
I also use a chart to tell you the logic, so you can compare these two. If you saw lights with four short lines around, this means it will blink.
You can consider S1 as a boundary, the light upper than the third light shows the speed limit of next signal, the lower ones show the speed limit of this signal.
| (All number=km/h) | Next Signal Speed Limit | ||||
| Vmax | 100 | 40/60 | Stop | ||
| This
Signal Speed Limit |
Vmax | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 |
| 100 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | |
| 60 | S10a | S11a | S12a | S13a | |
| 40 | S10 | S11 | S12 | S13 | |
| Stop | S1 | ||||
If you have difficulty remembering this, don’t worry, HUD will tell you the speed limit.
All the signals and signs you will encounter can be seen here: Signs and Signals - SimRail_Wiki (Created by ArcadioSF & Gazz292)
1.2 Blocks
We mentioned this in the previous section. But we'd better learn some history about it.
As rail traffic increased, however, multiple trains began to use the same track. As a result, there became a sudden need for more stringent traffic control, and the concept of a “block” was developed.
The blocking system broke a line of track into smaller segments able to be controlled with signals. This meant, that at a certain interval along a given track, these early chain and ball signals would be placed to secure a section of track along with an operator to maintain the signal. While one train cleared a section of track, another train waited at the signal for it to clear. Then when everything was cleared, the ball signal was raised and the train proceeded.
Source: https://www.vre.org/about/blog/history-of-railroad-signaling/
Though invented, human forces are still needed to make sure the system functions well. Except automatic blocks, all blocks need humans' control. There are terms called "automatic blocks", or "semi-automatic blocks". What are they?
Well, let's first talk about railway operation in Poland. When a train depart from A station, and its next station is B. At this time, A station needs to call B station, saying: "Train XXXX depart (from A station) at XX: XX." Meanwhile, B station will answer that by either repeating the information or saying something like "roger".
This is similar to the telephone method of blocks. We use telephones calling each other, and make sure everything goes well.
So, let's talk about the terms. What is automatic and what is semi-automatic?
Automatic blocks work like this: when a train left one block to the next block, the signals will change its display by itself, (in other words, automatically).
Then what is "semi-automatic blocks"? Why you call it "semi" (which means half usually)? That's because the signals won't change its display on its own, especially those set in the stations. In the game, there are several single tracks (which mean they only have one track for both direction). In this situation, you will do something like this: communicating with other stations using telephones.
Now, let's come to detail:
Train 1234 will depart from A and arrive at B. Now it has already picked up all the passengers at A station. Then, the dispatcher of A station would contact the dispatcher of B, saying, "Can I send Train 1234 to you?" Only when the dispatcher of B agrees, Train 1234 can depart from A station.
The same is true if you're dispatching at some stations in the game, like Sosnowiec Południowy (English translation: Sosnowiec South Station).