Interlocking

Overview

The signal box of Create Managed Railways - track diagram, signal locks, routes, control areas and the blocks that go with them.

The signal box is where you watch and steer the railway as a whole. It shows the whole rail network of a dimension as a live track diagram: occupied and reserved sections, the aspect of every signal, every train in its line colour. From there you lock signals at stop, hold trains, set routes and give a substitute signal.

Railway Control Desk, Dispatcher Radio Desk, two Route Levers (normal and thrown) and the Stall Alarm

From left: Railway Control Desk with its warning lamp lit, Dispatcher Radio Desk, Route Lever in normal position and thrown, Stall Alarm reporting a stalled train.

What belongs to the signal box

Block	What it does
Railway Control Desk	Opens the line manager window. Its lamp burns and it emits redstone while a disruption is in effect.
Track Map Display	Blocks on a wall form one large track diagram.
Track Diagram Desk	The same diagram lying flat, as a control table.
Track Diagram Console	A flat panel only a few pixels high that goes on any table.
Route Lever	A mechanical lever that switches one route on and off.
Stall Alarm	Lights up and emits redstone while a train stands on the open line for too long.
Dispatcher Radio Desk	The dispatcher's train radio, see Train radio.

Every one of these opens the same window: the Line Management window, which you also get with the command /cmr. How the window looks depends on where you opened it: a desk with a control area only shows its part of the network and only offers the signal box tabs.

Pages in this chapter

Control desk and window

The Railway Control Desk, the tabs of the window and who may do what.

Track map

What the diagram shows: signals, trains, delays, crossings, kilometre stones and signal telephones.

Track map displays and desks

Wall displays, desks and consoles, with push buttons right on the panel.

Signal locks and holding trains

Lock signals at stop, hold trains, give a substitute signal (Zs 1, Zs 7, Zs 8).

Routes and route levers

Group signal locks and shunting signals into routes, entry-exit routes and the lever frame.

Signals tab

Speed indicators, speed boards and switching signals from a distance.

Control areas

Split the network between several signal boxes.

Stall alarm

Find trains that are stuck on the open line.

Announcements

Calls and notices for the platform loudspeakers.

Radio desk

The dispatcher's place in the train radio, in brief.

Quick start: a small signal box

Place a Railway Control Desk

Put it anywhere, it does not need to stand near the track. Right-click it: the Line Management window opens.

Look at the map

Open the Map tab. Scroll to zoom, drag with the right mouse button to move.

Put the diagram on the wall

Build a rectangle of Track Map Displays on a wall, all facing the same way. They join into one large diagram.

Lock a signal

Click a signal on the map. It turns to stop for Create, as if forced red by redstone. Click it again to release it.

Locking signals, holding trains and routes need the map, so they only exist in the window and on the panels, not as commands. Everything else the window can do also works with /cmr.

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Railway lamps

Seven lamps for platforms, yards and loading roads that give real light and switch on by themselves at dusk or at set hours.

Announcements

Calls to the platform loudspeakers of one station or of all stations, and your own notices, from the signal box.