Power vs. Manual Switches Question?

[Toripony]

I've discovered that certain scenario manuevers will only work with manual switches installed on the mainline sidings. Before I start swapping out power switches for manual ones throughout the COA route, I wondered what other consequences I should consider, if any? I would leave power switches at x-overs and perhaps certain "pull-in" sidings, but all "back-in" sidings along the mainline would have manual switches (prototypical here prior to 197x).

Your experiences?

Thanks,
Tori

[thecanadianrail]

actually the manual switches can become locked too! when another service will use that track you will get a message "junction locked by train E-58636" you can just put a temporary marker in the siding you wish to go into and then you should be good.

[SMMDigital]

I am by no means an expert, and I had questions about this at first too, and lot's of see-sawing back and forth. But in the end, I decided to go with what the prototype does on their routes. Power switches on mainline sidings, crossovers, and junctions. Manual switches on industrial branchlines, in the yards, and on the and spurs - anywhere you may be shunting cars.

I started out my route with all switches in manual. But, when I ran a standard scenario, I found it quite unrealistic to have to throw a switch to go into a siding, when in real life that is controlled by Dispatch. From what i've heard on the scanner, explicit permission has to be given from Dispatch in advance in order to hand operate a powered switch. However, doing it this way does have it's drawbacks. As was said above, services will lock a manual switch in front of you unless you have your priorities straight. And, if your player train needs to go through a crossover to get to the other track to get to an industry, you will not be able to throw the automatic switch in standard scenario.

In the end, you basically have to decided what is best for your route and the scenarios you will be writing. However, I will say that since installing the auto-switches, I haven't ran into any "checkmate" situations that could not be solved with a few well placed markers and some ingenuity.

[micaelcorleone]

ingenuity.

I love that word. I truly love it. (UP has also used it in a spot in their Building America Campaign some years ago)

I agree with Jerry. The switches should be set after the prototype. I even bought the official UP Feather River Canyon track chart so that every switch, signal, crossing, bridge and siding is right.

[SCLJim]

I've always been curious about having power switches that you could take off power and throw manually, just as in real life. I remember on several occasions, a dispatcher would let us take both ends of a siding off power to do our work instead of him having to keep an eye on us or have us constantly hounding him on the radio.