Signal telephone
At many German main signals stands a small box with an "F" plate: the signal telephone (Signalfernsprecher). A driver held at the signal walks over and talks to the dispatcher over a fixed line. In the mod the Signal Telephone is a subscriber of the train radio that hangs on the wire to the signal box, so it needs no radio mast.
Placing it
Put the Signal Telephone next to the signal it belongs to, ideally within a few blocks of the light signal. Like signals, it can also stand diagonally.
It names itself after the nearest named light signal within 12 blocks, for example "Signal telephone at signal P7". Without a named signal nearby it uses its position.
Using it
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Sneak + right click | Lifts the handset at once: calls the signal box, picks up when it rings, hangs up during a call. |
| Right click | Opens its window: the desks in charge (or the automatic dispatcher), Call, messages, Emergency, and a name field. When it rings, this picks up as well. |
Everybody standing within 4 blocks of the telephone speaks on the line, over Simple Voice Chat or the chat.
The train stops at the red signal
Get off and walk to the telephone at the signal.
Call the signal box
Sneak and right-click the telephone. It calls the radio desk in charge of its place (the desk's control area, or a desk without an area within 512 blocks), a staffed and free one first.
No dispatcher there?
If no desk is staffed and the automatic dispatcher is on, the telephone reports "held at the signal" to it. It answers as it would over the radio and, by its rules, gives the order to the train waiting at this signal.
Receive the order
The dispatcher's order applies to the train held at the telephone's signal. Its wording also arrives at the telephone.
At the radio desk
- Telephones that called in the last five minutes stand at the top of the list Reachable, with the train waiting there ("Train ... is held at the signal").
- The dispatcher can ring back: the telephone rings audibly at the block, and players nearby read "The signal telephone is ringing: ... is calling. Click the telephone to pick up".
- Select the telephone and press Order to give the order to the train waiting at it.
On the track map
The track map shows every telephone as a small white box with a handset, also where the area is not loaded. While it rings or a call is running it flashes yellow and carries its name, for example "F P7".
Giving it a name
In the window, type a name (up to 24 characters) into Name of the telephone and press Set name. The telephone then goes by "Signal telephone Fsp 3". Empty means: named after its signal again. Only players who may name light signals (CRN's "Global Settings" right) see the name field.