Gazz292

SimRail is amazing in 7.1 surround sound, it really adds another dimension (my set up is dolby atmos, with 2 of the speakers hanging from the ceiling) using an AV amp, i also use TrackIr (Tobii web cam in my laptop - FaceTrackNoIR - TrackIr) and it's amazing to turn my head and hear the sounds moving around depending on where i look. I drive mostly the EU07 / EP08, and love hearing the clicks from the power wheel Infront of me, then the thunks behind me from the high voltage compartment of the tap changer notching up. And other trains passing me is awesome to hear, especially a freight going over some points so i hear the flange squeal] along the train, and the thunka-thuds of the wheels on each wagon going over the frog of the points. I sometimes wear headphones, some of those that do a fake surround sound using just 2 'speakers' and it's ok, much better than stereo, but not quite as immersive as a proper surround sound speaker setup (i guess the distances to the actual speakers plays a part) After a nearly 4 hour drive in the EP08 my ears are ringing from the converter drone (i have tinnitus, so i expect that) but i can imagine every real life driver of these loco's has tinnitus too... there's no volume knob in a real loco. Re what a real driver does at a station: i'm not sure, i believe that opening the main breaker will kill power to the coaches, so the A/C / heating will go off, and the lights will run on the batteries (each coach has an axle driven generator i notice) But... you can't accidentally drive off leaving the main breaker off like you can with turning the converter off.

That's the life of a train driver, it is a noisy environment in the cab of a locomotive (a lot less than it used to be, hearing loss for older train drivers used to be common) When i use my 7.1 surround sound system and drive the EU07 / EP08, the drone of the converter when you are stopped can be very annoying, so i turn the converter off if i'm stopped at a station for more than 1 minute.... have to remember to turn it back on when i start off again as the air compressor runs off the converter, and not the batteries, so when the air pressure drops enough the brakes begin to drag (after being applied and released... they cant fully release due to low air pressure) The more modern locomotives you will be hearing the high pitched inverter whine, all part of the realism that SimRail captures so well.

Ahh, didn't know that, In the 2013 onwards Ie-1 (Polish signalling instructions) it says: So i presumed the blank D6 shields in SimRail were intentional (the above is machine translated from Polish, so does not read perfectly)

For other software... could try Touch Portal, i believe that allows you to do mouse clicks at coordinates, and you can combine different actions to make up complex actions from a single button push. Touch Portal turns an android or apple tablet into a sort of stream deck, with virtual buttons that you touch on the screen to perform the actions, i use it for shortcut actions on things like excel, inkscape, fusion 360 etc (i use a macro keypad with 3 rotary encoders to drive the EU07/EP08 trains in SimRail, as i only drive, i don't dispatch) I originally got touch portal to try before getting a stream deck, but found touch portal does all i need. This is my 'excel' touch portal screen... 12 x 7 'buttons' on a 7 inch tablet. could easily be made to be a screen for the dispatch panels like DazT has done on his stream deck.

Do any of these wagons actually run on the lines in SimRail?

i've just uploaded V2 of the guide, which now includes train headlight / tail light codes.

Just made V2 of the guide, this now includes headlight / tail light codes.

just remember, if you drive the train after Shaun's been driving it, do not eat the chocolate raisins you may find in the cab 🤢

I really have to get on with updating the Polish signs and signals sheet (i got distracted messing about with drivers timetables to display on 6 inch e-ink devices for the past month or so) But i want to add the train headlight codes, add that a speed reduction triangle sign with no numbers in it means 20km/h and so on. For a version for the upcoming German route, i'm not sure what time period it will be set in, so which signals will be used on the line... as they changed a lot over the recent years with reunification and all that. But it's something to look into.

I think what i was trying to get across has got mixed up. Mostly i was saying how hard it is to simulate the 'seat of the pants' feel that you get as a train driver without a motion simulator rig, by this i mean the in cab movements that result from the loco going along the track, and that the amount of 'head bob' we get is very much toned down in all train simulators. It's been many years since i had cab rides... and they were on heritage railways (the old 'driver for a fiver' and 'cab ride the length of the line for a donation on top of your ticket price' on the diesel gala days) so the max speed was 25 mph, but i do remember how rough the ride was, that was due to the weight of the loco plus steel wheels on steel tracks feeding all rail imperfections back to the cab.

You are a star RWag64, thank you, I now have Polish station announcements back again, wooooot 📣🚋😁

it's deffo true that you drive a train more by sound and feel, the sound bit can be copied in a simulator, but the feeling of different vibrations, jumps and jolts is harder to copy without a motion set up, so the best that can be done is to move the drivers view. You get this a tiny bit as you are going along the line, the gentle rocking back and forth motion you see, and the larger rocking on the track joints in the bad places of the line, But in reality driving a loco is a lot more 'violent' you get shaken all over the place, gotta remember it's an 80+ ton steel box, on steel springs, with steel wheels on steel track, it can be like a bucking bronco ride at times. This is one point i think SimRail could improve, maybe with an optional 'realistic cab view movements' switch (i say optional as some people already complain about the gentle rocking motion making them feel sea sick! or claiming it's not realistic because they travel in air ride coaches and could build a card tower on the table during the ride)

could be wheel slipping, i'd use just a little bit of power whilst applying sand, and gently increase the power when the train starts to move, again applying sand as needed, there's also an anti slip button that applies the loco brakes a little when pressed which might help a little, but getting a heavy freight train going from standstill is always going to be challenging in real life and in SimRail. The Polish railways have a T sign on some signals that means a freight train is allowed to pass the signal on red at a max of 20km/h, this is because the train would likely not get going again if it stopped there!

today i swapped the pre update english text in the station announcements file, and i got announcements working again! Unfortunately i don't have the Polish announcements saved from the before the latest update, but it seems that the <break time="0.3s"/> bits are possibly needed to make the announcements work? Below is the english announcements text that got my announcements working again... albeit in english (i prefer them in Polish) Region=en-US Windows_TTS_Language=409 Windows_TTS_Name=Microsoft David First_station_enter_part_1={0} train to {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> First_station_enter_part_2= via {0} <break time="0.5s"/> First_station_enter_part_3= is arriving on track {0} platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> First_station_enter_part_4= Please stand away from the platform edge. <break time="0.3s"/> First_station_enter_part_5= Scheduled departure time {0} . Station_enter_part_1={0} train from {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> to {2}, <break time="0.1s"/> Station_enter_part_2= via {0} <break time="0.5s"/> Station_enter_part_3= is arriving on track {0} platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> Station_enter_part_4= Please stand away from the platform edge. Last_station_enter_part_1={0} train from {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> Last_station_enter_part_2= is arriving on track {0} platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> Last_station_enter_part_3= Train terminates here. <break time="0.3s"/> Last_station_enter_part_4= Please stand away from the platform edge. Delay_Last_station_enter_part_1=The delayed {0} train from {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> Delay_Last_station_enter_part_2= is arriving on track {0} platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> Delay_Last_station_enter_part_3= Train terminates here. <break time="0.3s"/> Delay_Last_station_enter_part_4= We apologize for the delay. Delay_station_enter_part_1=The delayed {0} train from {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> to {2}, <break time="0.1s"/> Delay_station_enter_part_2= via {0} <break time="0.5s"/> Delay_station_enter_part_4= is arriving on track {0}, platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> Delay_station_enter_part_5= Please stand away from the platform edge. <break time="0.3s"/> Delay_station_enter_part_6= We apologize for the delay. Station_exit_part_1={0} train to {1}, <break time="0.3s"/> Station_exit_part_2= via {0} <break time="0.5s"/> Station_exit_part_3= is departing from track {0} platform {1}. <break time="0.3s"/> Station_exit_part_4= Please stand away from the platform edge. <break time="0.3s"/> Station_exit_part_5= We wish you a pleasant journey. Train_seat_reservation_part_1= For this train a seat reservation is compulsory. <break time="0.2s"/> Train_seat_reservation_part_2= Carriages number {0} are in the front section of the train, carriages number {1} are in the middle section of the train, carriages number {2} are in the rear section of the train. <break time="0.3s"/> Local_train=local Regional_train=regional Fast_train=fast International_train=international

i have not have station announcements since the latest update 😞 i think they may be turned off on the servers?

Which train does not have working windscreen washers? i thought they all did, as a feature of SimRail is bugs / flies build up on the windscreen as you are driving, and you need to use the wipers and the washers to clean them off (would be nice to have a keybind for washers, as the wipers has one, but we need to use the mouse to press the washer button)

Check your controls assignments in the controls menu, you may have W assigned to both walk forwards and wipers. and this will explain what's happening. You can also check your 'buttons.conf' file, located in the: C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\SimKol\SimRail folder, (The %USERPROFILE% bit 'should' open the folder using your computers username, if not, replace it with what ever name you called your computer) As i have my keybinds / button assignments different to most people, when the new keybinds for headlight dimmer and sander switches were added in the last update, they shared keybinds i was already using, so i had to change them to keys that were not assigned to other things, otherwise i got 2 functions working on the same key press.

well... a real train driver would stick to the limits, as they are there for safety reasons..... the part of the route in question suffers from mining subsidence, hence the low limits in places. The Polish drivers timetables all have a paragraph on their front cover... it's referring to driving on Sz signals, but the last bit is: Do not be afraid of the consequences of delaying the train. Safety comes first.

yeah, i noticed in the .lang files they've gone back to the simple text with no pauses in the sentences too, But driven 2 trains so far on EN1 server (with a server restart in the middle), and not heard a single announcement again 😞

I think it could be limitations of the game engine for how far a light source can illuminate ahead. but one thing i notice from night time cab ride videos, everything always looks brighter on a camera, the camera will go into low light mode to try and compensate for the overall darkness, but if you notice when the camera looks at the cab gauges, they are really over bright and piercing... they would be painful to look at due to how bright they seem in the video, and if they were that bright in real life, the drivers night vision would be gone every time they looked at the gauges / screens then back out the windscreen. : Digital video does weird things like that, another thing is due to the way the cameras rolling shutter works, you will see the PWM (pulse width modulation) of lights and displays, this makes them appear to flash on and off, digits to seem to flicker, and signal lights appear to slowly flash on and off (and actually flashing signals can appear to flash faster than they really do) This is because the human eye has persistence of vision, so rapidly pulsing light source and multiplexed displays are 'evened out' by our eyes, modern electronics flash lights on and off rapidly to dim them, and multiplexing of displays is a way to use less components and wires, as they can send the data to each part of the display in a sequence, and our eyes won't notice the pulsing of this happening due to persistence of vision, but a camera does... and causes weird effects when the shutter and pulse frequencies do not match. __ Another thing about most cameras, they can see infrared light that our eyes can't, you can prove this easily... put your phone in camera mode and point your TV remove at the lens, press a button and you should see a dull red pulsing... that's the infra red LED sending the coded signal to the TV to do whatever button you are holding down, but you can not see this light with you naked eyes, The camera can as it's sensitive to more light wavelengths than our eyes are (this is assuming your TV's remote is an infrared type, and not a bluetooth one)

Something for people to try if they use a language other than english or Polish on their computer (after you have added your local language TTS file to windows) RWag64 got French announcements working by copying them into the en.lang file, and modifying the text to include the missing "<break time="0.3s"/>" bits (he's shared the file he made with the modified text on the link above) Then he changed the setting for the SimRail language in the menu to 'Automatic' and he has working station announcements for the first time The de.lang file already has these breaks in the text, so simply copying the text from the de.lang file into the en.lang file should get announcements working in German, But all other languages except Polish do not have these breaks in their text, so i think you will need to modify your local language file to include these breaks in the relevant places to stand a chance of hearing station announcements.

Glad you finally got it working RWag64, it's weird how it will only work with the en.lang file, but now i look closer at the fr.lang file and en.lang file, the en.lang file has all the new <breaks> in it, which was added with the last update (a reason not to set files to read only, as you'll never get these updates) But the fr.lang file was using the old method with no <breaks> The de.lang file has the <breaks> in it, so should have worked, but i am wondering if it's that thing i mentioned in my other post, with the original windows language thing is affecting things here... which would explain why using the en.lang file with your local language in it works. Maybe something for a bug report to try and work with the dev's for people who have a computer with windows in a non english or Polish language?

it's always great to see DazT in one of the signal boxes when i drive, i know i'll get routed correctly and according to the timetable,

Last night i pulled into a station in the EP08, and there was an elf on the platform next to me, I could really see that the elfs headlights were way brighter than mine, which is what i'd expect... modern LED / HID lights Vs 50+ year old 'paint bucket' reflectors with halogen bulbs (just imagine how dim the lights would have been with plain old tungsten bulbs from the 60's) But doesn't this show the headlights on the modern train being more like what the original poster wanted? they were comparing a 1960's train headlights with a modern car's headlights. One of the great things about SimRail Vs other train games, there are actual Polish train drivers working on Simrail who drive these trains every day, so they know exactly what it should look and feel like driving these trains, which is way better than a certain other train game which said they use cab ride videos and photographs to make the trains in their game.

i've seen some people have been printing your pdf timetables out.... maybe you could make up a 'front page' for the pdf timetables (for my timetable front covers i used some random number generators for the requested on, approved by and printed on dates (dates around 2016 fit in with SimRails time period?) then pull the the schedule number from the timetable, and add the train operator name depending on train type) Then people can print them out exactly as the real ones would be printed... landscape on A4 paper with 2 timetable pages per sheet, so they look like this : And they could be displayed nicely on a 10 inch tablet sat in landscape mode too.