Trains should never stop on a sixpence, and other related suggestions
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2026 9:04 am
Apologies for the stream of consciousness here, just got all these related thoughts floating round in my head...
As per the subject, trains stopping on a sixpence is immersion breaking and shouldn't normally happen. The only circumstances where it does should cause damage - end of track should be treated as slamming into buffers with total damage percentage scaling with percentage of total speed travelling at (100% damage for full speed too harsh?) (also, should damaged trains travel at a max speed that is consistent with their damage? - would be more realistic, and would also help repair bots catch up!)
For (re)pathing/routing/reservation scenarios, the braking point should always be considered to be sacrosanct and not interfered with by anything else, and this should resolve most sixpence stops (nb: it is possible that this point has already been fixed, it has been a long time since I really explored this bit)
When deconstruction orders are placed onto rails, it should prevent any *new* route reservations over that section of track, but not existing ones. Existing trains with routes over it will be sent a re-pathing trigger, but if it cannot choose a new path then the reservation will remain until that and any other trains have passed over it, at which point the deconstruction event will be allowed to proceed. Same goes for stations - if a station is marked for deconstruction and there are no alternate stations available, then the deconstruction doesn't take place until the train has arrived.
For manual deconstruction, damage related destruction, etc, the train(s) pathed there should be sent a re-pathing trigger. If no alternate path is available, then the train should start braking at it's normal rate, along the path it has reserved. If that causes a buffer collision, then damage...
Manual driving:
When driving manually, switching to automatic should cause the train to brake normally along whichever is it's default path (ie no left or right pressed). If this causes a buffer or other train collision, then damage...
When driving manually, the braking point along all possible routes should attempt to be reserved. If a signal reservation is not possible, then the set of points for that route should be locked against that direction. If no signalled routes are reservable at the braking point, the train should auto-brake until one becomes available.
Finally, less related to the topic - when in manual driving mode and with a player in the engine, the doors should be locked. When I hijack a train and accidentally drive through a station and then stop to prevent a collision, I don't want to gain or lose cargo randomly!
TLDR: Thanks for bearing with my stream of consciousness about possible ideas for eliminating sixpence stops!
As per the subject, trains stopping on a sixpence is immersion breaking and shouldn't normally happen. The only circumstances where it does should cause damage - end of track should be treated as slamming into buffers with total damage percentage scaling with percentage of total speed travelling at (100% damage for full speed too harsh?) (also, should damaged trains travel at a max speed that is consistent with their damage? - would be more realistic, and would also help repair bots catch up!)
For (re)pathing/routing/reservation scenarios, the braking point should always be considered to be sacrosanct and not interfered with by anything else, and this should resolve most sixpence stops (nb: it is possible that this point has already been fixed, it has been a long time since I really explored this bit)
When deconstruction orders are placed onto rails, it should prevent any *new* route reservations over that section of track, but not existing ones. Existing trains with routes over it will be sent a re-pathing trigger, but if it cannot choose a new path then the reservation will remain until that and any other trains have passed over it, at which point the deconstruction event will be allowed to proceed. Same goes for stations - if a station is marked for deconstruction and there are no alternate stations available, then the deconstruction doesn't take place until the train has arrived.
For manual deconstruction, damage related destruction, etc, the train(s) pathed there should be sent a re-pathing trigger. If no alternate path is available, then the train should start braking at it's normal rate, along the path it has reserved. If that causes a buffer collision, then damage...
Manual driving:
When driving manually, switching to automatic should cause the train to brake normally along whichever is it's default path (ie no left or right pressed). If this causes a buffer or other train collision, then damage...
When driving manually, the braking point along all possible routes should attempt to be reserved. If a signal reservation is not possible, then the set of points for that route should be locked against that direction. If no signalled routes are reservable at the braking point, the train should auto-brake until one becomes available.
Finally, less related to the topic - when in manual driving mode and with a player in the engine, the doors should be locked. When I hijack a train and accidentally drive through a station and then stop to prevent a collision, I don't want to gain or lose cargo randomly!
TLDR: Thanks for bearing with my stream of consciousness about possible ideas for eliminating sixpence stops!
