Introduction

Lines layout

CCT-controlled areas

Simulation

Norac signaling

   

Simulation

Services

As mentioned in the introduction, there are several Amtrak interstate services and Septa.

The timetable for Amtrak and Septa services are for Winter 2013-2014 as published in October 2013.Amtrak passenger Services

le : New York-Philadelphia-Washington and Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York.
There are no direct services between Washington and Harrisburg.

On the layout, the only other stop in addition to Philadeplhia is Wilmington Amtrak.

New York-Philadelphia-Washington

Service

Name

Train type

Maximum speed

Acceleration

Northeast Regional

ner

4

170 km/h

2 km/h/s

Acela

ace

5

150 km/h

2 km/h/s

altri

varie

6

140 km/h

2 km/h/s

The entry/exit points for these services are ny1 and ny2 to the north, was1 and was2 to the south.

At Philadelphia station these trains typically use platforms 4 and 5: occasionally they also use tracks 2, 3 and 6.

At Wilmington station they stop at platforms 2 and 3; only one train uses track 1.

Direttrice Harrisburg

Service

Name

Train type

Maximum speed

Acceleration

Keystone Service

har

7

150 km/h

2 km/h/s

In this direction, the entry/exit points are har1 and har2. There are some shunting trains that use the pyn point (Penn Yard north's exit for passenger trains).

At Philadelphia station these trains use platforms 7 and 8, and occasionally 9.

Services Septa

There are 2 lines in this layout

  • Airport line, from downtown to the airport (entry/exit point air)
  • Elwyn line (Westcester line), from downtown to Elwyn (entry/exit point: elw1 and elw2)
  • Newark line, from downtown to Wilmington and Newark.

Line

Name

Train type

Maximum speed

Acceleration

Airport

air

3

100 km/h

3 km/h/s

Elwyn

elw

2

100 km/h

3 km/h/s

Newark

wil

1

100 km/h

3 km/h/s

The services type is a typical regional transit, using high grip rolling stock and high acceleration.

Linea Wilmington - Newark

Among the three, this is the most interesting for the simulation.
There are 3 terminus stations to the south: Hook, Wilmington and Newark.

There are 2 entry/exit points for this line (30th1 and 30th2) coprresponding to the 30th Street station. Moreover, there are 2 side tracks at Hook (hookside1 and hookside2). Finally one train enters from amtr-mf (Amtrak maintenance facilities) close to Wilmington.

Between Arsenal and Bell there are 4 tracks: the 2 outer tracks, numered 1 and 4, are for Septa trains, and are serviced by passenger platforms, while the 2 central tracks are used by Amtrak trains for express trains.
At the Hook station, the Septa trains use tracks 1 and 4 both for trains that stop as well as for express trains.

Between Bell and Landlith there are 3 tracks, of which typically ony 2 and 3 are used, while track 1 is only used occasionally by some Septa train; thereafter, up to Wilmington, the Amtrak trains use only track 2.
At Wilmington station, Amtrak trains use platforms 2 and 3, and occasionally 1. Septa trains use all 3 platforms for non-stopping trains and only track 1 for stopping trains.

Farther south, there are 3 tracks up to Newark, beyond which there are ony l2 tracks up to the limit of the scenario towards Washington.

The notes to each train describe when the train uses a different itinerary than usual: they are also helpful, especially for Wilmington, to know the track numbers.

Freight Amtrak services

I added just some of freight train services in the early morning hours: their timetable is totally made up, since there is no information on the Internet about their actual schedule.

3 trin types are used:

Train type
Maximum speed
Acceleration
8
70
1 km/h/s
9
70
0.5 km/h/s
10
40
0.5 km/h/s

Other characteristics

Late trains

For some Amtrak trains I introduced random delayed entry. For Septa trains only for rush hour and only for some stops.

Speed limits

I added general speed limits, without using the train types; for each individual train I specified its speed limits, in order to match as much as possible the actual timetable.

Itineraries and switchboards

As usual, itineraries are defined via the name of the signals at the start and end of the block.
For example, itinerary bal3S-hoo3s is southbound and starts at signal 3S for the Baldwin area and ends at signal 3S for the Hook area.

Only in the Amtrak terminal area the signal names have no N or S indication.

After having examined images of a few switchboards for other lines, I determined that there are no linked itineraries. Therefore, I decided to not use this itinerary type.
Obviously any user can make such changes independently.

There are 9 switchboards, of which 4 are for the Philadelphia station and 2 for Wilmington:

Piladelphia North arrivals

Hook

Piladelphia South arrivals

Wilmington southbound

Piladelphia North departures

Wilmington Northbound

Piladelphia North departures

Newark

 

Perry

Pedali

I used pedals (triggers) only when trains enter the scenario. In other places there seemed no need to use pedals or scripts associated to the tracks, to avoid watering down the simulation.

Signal scripts

The signal scripts are 5:

norac_prot_2.tds

joined block and advance signal

norac_avv_2.tds

advance signal only

norac_12.tds

automatic block signal

norac_dwarf.tds

ground-level block signal (dwarf signals)

cross.tds

incoming train

All railway administrations have other signals, of which there is no mention in the blueprints that were used to create the scenario.