Demon locomotive blocking the track!

[Rebrecs]

Help Please! I am cursed with a demon locomotive following me around and appearing on my track, facing me, and disallowing me to proceed. I don't know how to get rid of this wicked nuisance.

This game is not in any sort of multi-player mode so the belligerent rogue is definitely being generated by the program. And done so in very bad taste I will add. Hey TSW, are you trying to teach me something? If so, tell me what it is. Sending a "hit man" locomotive after me is just annoying. How is it in your interest to drive me to another product with such antics?

For anyone who has also experienced this, could you share what you may have learned regarding how to get rid of this time wasting Undesirable Software Feature (USF)?
FWIW, the preceding instruction was "Stop At," which was preceded by a "Go Via." I suspect the program did not like the way I Went Via, or how I Stopped At. I have tried it over several times going slower, blowing horns, more accurate stop, etc.
So far the irritating phantom demon locomotive routine persists.

As always, any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

[NorthernWarrior]

Best thing is to report it do DTG as a bug.

[Rebrecs]

Help Please! I am cursed with a demon locomotive following me around and appearing on my track, disallowing me to proceed.
For anyone who has also experienced this, could you share what you may have learned regarding how to get rid of this

As it turns out, it is not a bug. It is a feature.
If you come under attack from the marauding rogue engine, it can mean your engine is not setup correctly!
I can't vouch for what else might invoke the feature.

The engine setting that I corrected, and that cleared the nuisance, was not a setting I was aware of.
(GP38-2, Mu-24 = Lead or Dead)

Note: All of the training modules and the first few switching scenarios are happy to let you run around with this engine function set incorrectly. Only after a certain point in one's progress through the game does the incorrect setting become an issue.

How to avoid this pitfall
As I stated before, I did not know this function existed. It is not introduced anywhere in the sequence of training modules or scenarios the game selects for you. However, it is introduced in the manual under "Starting the Engine." The scenarios begin with the engine running. One only needs to do a couple of things to get the train running. During the training modules the game tells you what those thing are. Thus, if you depend only on the game, and have not read the Starting the Engine page, you will not know about this function.
I am not suggesting the need to stop the engine and go through the Start Up procedure every time. But, you need to at least read it.
Perhaps later I will find a reason that I should run through the Start Up procedure, but have not yet found that to be the case.

[niknak]

Maybe a feature for the OR developers to consider.....? (awaits discussion lol)

[dedwa15237]

OR developers?? Uhh this is DTG's TSW...

its a whole different thing.. Not Open Rails...

Maybe a feature for the OR developers to consider.....? (awaits discussion lol)

[niknak]

Just testing Dave.....

[Rebrecs]

Maybe a feature for the OR developers to consider.....? (awaits discussion lol)

Hi niknak,
Nice to meet you and thank you for the opening!

Regarding consideration of this feature, and features of this sort generally, I would like to offer my gratuitous unsolicited opinion. I don't know whether my opinion is typical of others within the customer base. I'm speaking only for myself. It's up to the product teams to determine the pervasiveness of my viewpoint.

It would be my hope that developers of technical simulation software unanimously reject this concept.

The software is sold through gaming channels but is marketed as a simulator. That makes a difference as product teams decide how much reality, and how much fantasy should be rendered.
The Demon Engine is a pure gaming style feature. It is not a technical simulation feature as it has no basis or precedence for existence from within the physical world that is being rendered here. More simply stated, there is no police engine appearing in Cumberland Yard, Maryland- writing tickets or derailing your simulation due to incorrect engine operation.

There is however a real (physical world) consequence to starting a train down the track with the brakes configured incorrectly. For people such as myself, the actual consequence is preferred. Facing the actual consequence, it may be difficult for me to figure out why the train is operating badly. However, if I am to be left scratching my head over something, I would infinitely prefer to dwell upon the physics and operational parameters of the train itself as I work toward a solution.

My $0.02 -
Have great day.

[seagoon]

The software is sold through gaming channels but is marketed as a simulator. ....

It's a game, nothing more. A means of entertainment, not intended as a training system.

Anyone and everyone is making what they call "simulations".....just search Steam's store and you'll find stuff from A to Z that has the word "simulator" or "simulation" in the title.
The term no longer means anything when you can "simulate" an anime character chasing zombies.