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-====== August 2022 Newsletter  ======
-===== Development Progress =====
-  * In the ''doc'' branch, there was an experiment on documenting code-related information using manual pages (which were appended to the output PDF). This turned out to be more complicated than expected, and [[http://git.bananach.space/advtrains.git/commit/?h=doc&id=49beb106f00d35296c54a6f15cc663526651d376|a commit in early September]] switched to LDoc [[https://stevedonovan.github.io/ldoc/|LDoc]] instead, dropping support for manpages. The switch to LDoc allows people to document code on their own branches without having to depend on the ''doc'' branch.
-  * In the ''new-ks'' branch, an improvement to the signal formspec allows players to assign distant signals from the formspec of main signals (previously, it was only possible to assign the main signal from the formspec of distant signals). A hotfix was also pushed to address the issue where LZB does not accurately use the signal aspect information.
-In addition to Advtrains, Marnack released version [[https://github.com/Marnack/dlxtrains_modpack/releases/tag/1.9.1|1.9.1]] of the DlxTrains modpack which fixes an issue related to using ''dlxtrains_industrial_wagons'' with some versions of the Technic mod.
-===== Special Features =====
-==== Increasing Maximum Speed; a Thrilling Hack ====
-//Note: this is currently not supported upstream. Do not report bugs related to such modifications. Increasing the hard-coded maximum speed has [[https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14726&p=379865&hilit=speed#p379186|also been attempted before]], with unexpected consequences.//
-Recently, 56i-mtserver increased the maximumm speed of Advtrains trains to 40 m/s. This is roughly equal to 89 mph or 144 km/h. This is comparable to the speed of diesel trains on the North Wales Mainline.
-This has vastly improved transportation. Instead of capping transport speeds to less then 20 m/s so trains can be the fastest mode of transport, the cap is now high and almost irrelevant. Walking speed can be increased and so can bike speed, allowing the bike motorways (which are designed like car motorways, but smaller and with less traffic) to be used more like car motorways.
-However, there are serious problems with this speed. For whatever reason, speed limit signs do not work at providing speed limits above 20 m/s. This means that the Pr-n2 and Pr-w3 (which limit speeds at station throats) cannot exceed 20 m/s. However, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugT9dlSzNvU|Pr-n]] (the video linked shows a chronic skipper (one of the stoppage classes; this means only stops at very important stations) train at 40 m/s for most of the journey) has no lower speed limits, so can use the full 40 m/s.
-To increase speed, go to the advtrains root directory. Find ''advtrains/trainlogic.lua''. In your editor, find ''train.max_speed=20''. This is the single constant which selects which speed advtrains is limited to. Change it to whatever number you want, but be careful at speeds higher then 50 m/s, which is roughly 110 MPH or 180 km/h. The UK has a speed limit of 125 MPH (55 m/s, 200 km/h) on all mainline rail as drivers are unable to read signs at higher speeds. On manually-operated railways, it would become very difficult to be safe at high speeds, especially with server mapblock load times.
-Another thing you will have to do is change each wagon and locomotive to a higher speed. This i done by going into the wagon definitions and changing the `max_speed`
- value up to desired speed. For example, diesel locomotives were put at 25 to 35, electric at 30 to 40, and wagons anywhere from 20 to 40.
-One of the biggest disadvantages of the new speed was the damage done to the driver's HUD. The speed indicator is only designed for 20 m/s, and at extremely high speeds, the little rectangles fall off and it becomes impossible to read speed correctly.
-==== Station Access; Finding Ways to Connect More People ====
-Stations do not stand alone; they are designed to connect people. But how can you connect people not within walking distance to stations?
-Previous solutions in London relied on [[https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/london-underground-lost-london-slum-22681403|building dense slums next to King's Cross]], which ensured it was easy to walk to the station. This was not sustainable nor sanitary, so they built public transport systems.
-One can replicate this in Minetest. Mainline stations are designed to go between towns and provide economic links, however they will not provide links to many outskirts of a town, which are too far from the station to walk and could do with a different form of connection. A massive outlier is Glasgow, which has a mainline rail system comparable to a subway system in terms of frequency, however this is the exception and not the normal.
-By building a subway or light rail system, it becomes easy to walk to a subway station, board a train, and then take a mainline train elsewhere.
-Another good solution for towns too small to justify a subway system but being uncomfortable to walk to the station (example: Derby) is bikes (which, like most UK cities, are not provided for in Derby). By building bike paths, one can mix the space efficency and flexibility of walking with the speed and relaxation of cars.
-Bike paths around a station should be built as a network, which allows door-to-door journeys as well as door-to-station journeys. In the Netherlands, bikes are a tool of transport, and stations such as //Amsterdam Centraal// have massive underground bike parking areas.
-The final solution for those living in rural and non-dense areas is park and rides, which can be used for bikes and cars alike depending on specific implementation. By taking a bike or car from the hamlet or village, through the prettiest country roads, and into the parking area, one can board a subway train and zip down to the main station.
-==== Coupling for More Connectivity ====
-Trains are not static. They are dynamic and elegant ways to connect people. Trains are extremely flexible. They can couple and uncouple with little cost to efficency, and massive capacity flexibility.
-Take, for example, the HS2. Below is a vector map showing planned train services, including some which couple and uncouple. This allows a 400 metre train unit to turn into two 200 m units which can then be used on different branches. At Crewe, one train splits to allow it to go to Liverpool Lime Street whilst the other part goes to Lancaster.
-{{https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/HS2_vector_map.jpg|}}
-This has numerous benefits. At London Euston, to go to Liverpool Lime Street, one can board either of two services, much like for Lancaster and its 4 services. This allows more throughput and better use of the train network. A slot of the timetable can be dedicated to two different termini at once and gives more choice of time to board the train. This also improves capacity to Crewe, doubling the length of the standard 200 m trains.
-Implementation can be as simple or as complex as one wants. We will go over quite a simple implementation of this service. Let's assume we have built a simple railway line from London Euston to Crewe, which needs to go to Liverpool Lime Street and Lancaster, which are on opposite sides of the land. We only have the capacity for one train between Euston and Crewe.
-This problem can be solved by splitting the train using LuaATC at the station.
-The first thing we will need is a spare platform long enough to hold the full train. This will be used to help ensure that the train can be split efficently.
-Then we need [[usage:atlatc:examples:splitting|LuaATC]] tracks and a predictable train length. Let's use 4 wagon units, which couple together to form a full 8 wagon train. Once the train splits, it assigns text saying what the service does and where it connects to.
-On the return tracks, we will do something similar. The signal sets a shunting route into the platform and this forces the train to go slowly.
-As soon as a train enters the platform-specific tracks, it turns on autocouple and proceeds even slower.
-When the train reaches the platform, it will either automatically couple to the train already there or reach the end and stop, waiting for a train to arrive.
-Once the other train arrives, it waits for 20 seconds to allow passengers to change before zipping back down to London Euston, all 8 carriages together.
-Things will get more complicated as more is added. One thing which could complicate things is different stoppage amounts. One train may skip stations to provide a direct service between London Euston and Crewe, whilst the other may lesuirely go, paying a visit to each station along the way. These trains are likely to be different lengths with different comfort levels. The express train may be more comfortable and spacious with a pushcart providing food for the journey, whilst the local train, with shorter trip distances in general, may have plastic seats with no pushcart service.
-This can be solved with different platforms. Express and local services can have different sides of an island platform, still offering choice and flexibility. A person from London Euston may want to go to a station on the Crewe-Liverpool Lime Street line not serviced by express trains, so they take an express train to Crewe before changing for a local service bound to Liverpool Lime Street.

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