u/MirumVictus

Reading through the books for the first time (just started Storm) and one of the common devices I've noticed Cornwell regularly includes is the slings of muskets and/or rifles being tied together to act as a rope. This always seems somewhat fantastical to me, but would this actually work and is there any historical basis for it?

Was attempting to make a light loco journey from Minehead to Williton sheds after finishing the last full stopping service of the day. I knew I'd encounter the last Class 101 coming the other way and the signals stopped me at Blue Anchor accordingly (although with an odd delay at the level crossing rather than putting me straight onto the passing loop).

The Class 101 then went on its merry way but the signal for my locomotive didn't. I'd already set a path, I tried deleting and resetting the path but it made no difference. There were no other trains coming the other way (as the timetable had ended for the day). I also tried contacting the signaller.

Eventually, I just deleted my locomotive, walked past the signal and spawned a new one. I thought the issue may have been caused by me using a locomotive that had been part of the proper timetable so spawning my own might avoid the issue, but the next signal I got to was still red and again wouldn't change no matter what.

Is this just a bug? Is it a common occurrence on other routes or just this one or other single track routes? I was planning on dedicating a long play session to running a spawned-in train all the way down the WCML in timetable mode (as it'd be a bit dull without AI services) but am worried I'll keep being interrupted by stuck signals.

Currently playing timetable on the West Somerset Railway and have found that when playing the services with 7 carriages, several of the station platforms are barely or outright not long enough.

The in-game stop marker aims to line the front of the locomotive up with the end of the platform which is normally fine, but in these shorter platforms it means the locomotive takes up a chunk of the platform while the rearmost carriage is beyond the platform.

Can I pull past the stop marker (assuming there isn't a red signal in play) to stop the locomotive just past the platform, this maximising carriage space or will this 'fail' the stop?

As a bonus question, on platforms that are much longer than your train where it seems odd to stop right down the far end, do you prioritise matching the stop marker or stopping your train in a more realistic position?

Gave conductor mode a go on West Somerset Railway as normally quite enjoy slower paced gameplay but this really took the biscuit.

15 minutes on the train with nothing to do waiting to arrive at the first station

Doors open by themselves without me doing anything

5 minutes waiting until it's time for the train to depart

Doors close by themselves

I'm instructed to check all doors are closed then blow the whistle, am overwhelmed by the excitement of actually getting to do something

Blow whistle while stood on platform, train promptly leaves without me

Now I appreciate the whistle blowing whilst not aboard the train may have been my mistake, but it just seemed odd to blow a whistle from inside the train. I'm also assuming I may have got to have more involvement with door operations if I was playing on a line with modern trains and electronic doors, but then again on heritage lines the guard often walks the length of the train and shuts the slam doors so I feel that could still have been implemented for something to do.

Back to driving it is then! Although I'd be interested to hear of any advice to make conductor mode a bit more enjoyable or if there are any routes it works best on as still quite like the concept?

If after completing a timetable service, I select 'free roam' then complete the next service, will both services still be marked as completed and record a medal level as they would if done individually from the menu?

I've just started TSW6 after playing Wonders of Sodor. When playing the timetables in WoS, I enjoyed switching between the various immersive camera positions (those cycled through using R3+Left) and got into a habit of sticking my head out of the platform side while passengers were boarding and the train was pulling out of the station, then switching to the driver position/side while moving at speed.

I assumed I'd be able to play TSW in the same way, but then discovered that R3+Left cycles through various control panels as well as the seats and out the windows positions which means it requires many presses to switch between the positions I want to use. I really like being able to pop out and see the doors open/closing rather than just sitting staring at the tracks in front so was wondering if there's any easier way to switch between the driving view and the head-out view?

I've noticed just clicking R3 does this to an extent but it seems variable which side window it looks out of so hasn't really helped.

Currently reading the series for the first time (part way through Enemy at the moment) and was struck when reading Command that at one point Sharpe deploys a sword bayonet. Before then, I'd assumed he didn't carry one due to using his cavalry sword whenever in close combat. Are there any other references to Sharpe carrying a sword bayonet in the series or is this just one of Command's many oddities?