🎯 Overview
The Equipment category covers the devices required for signal operation. Tackle this category after Wiring is finished — track circuits, stations and platforms need to be in place first.
Sub-modes available under the Equipment category:
- Lever — switches the signal operator uses (three sub-modes)
- Route — the path from a start lever to an end lever
- Signal — Home / Starting / Block / Shunting
- Departure Button — the button placed at a platform edge
🎚 Lever
Levers are the switches the signal operator (= the player) flips. The combination of a start lever and an end lever sets a route. For the in-game side, see the levers chapter of the help guide.
Three lever sub-modes
Lever mode has three sub-modes that you switch between as you place levers.
| Sub-mode | Role | Selected color |
|---|---|---|
| Main Start | The start lever for a main-line route | Yellow |
| Shunt Start | The start lever for a shunting route | Green |
| End | The end lever of a route (shared between main and shunt) | — |
Placing a lever
- Enter Lever mode and pick one of the three sub-modes (Main Start / Shunt Start / End)
- Click on a track circuit where you want the lever to sit
- In the sidebar, confirm or tweak the lever name (e.g.
1L,A), then click Register - The lever can then be referenced as the start or end of a route
🛤 Route
A route is one path from a chosen start lever to a chosen end lever, expressed as a sequence of track circuits. When the player operates two levers in turn, the editor matches them against registered routes — and if there is a match, the route opens.
Steps to register a route
- Enter Route mode
- Pick the starting start lever (main or shunt is fine)
- Pick the destination end lever
- Click the track circuits the route should pass through, in order
- Press Register in the sidebar to commit the route — then Ctrl+S to save
1L and end lever A, the route becomes 1LA.
You do not type a route name yourself.
Which track circuits go into a route (important)
The track circuits you chain together form the area that the route's signal (home / starting / shunting) protects. While any of those track circuits is occupied, the signal stays red, blocking further trains from entering.
Therefore, do not include the track circuit where the start lever or the signal itself is placed. If you do, the moment the train reaches that lever/signal position, the signal protects its own location, turns red, and the train stops right there.
When wiring, decide which track circuit "handles" the signal, place the lever and signal on the near side of that boundary, and let the route's chained circuits begin on the far side.
Example: if the layout is TC_A → TC_B → TC_C with the start lever on TC_A, the home signal at the TC_A/TC_B boundary, and the end lever on TC_C, the route should chain TC_B and TC_C. TC_A is excluded. The end lever's track circuit TC_C is included (the end lever marks where the route terminates, and its track circuit sits inside the route's protected range).
TC_A (excluded), the home signal at the TC_A/TC_B boundary, and the end lever on TC_C. The route chains TC_B through TC_C.Conflicting routes
Two routes that share a crossing track circuit cannot be opened at the same time. The editor computes conflict relationships automatically, and at runtime the game logs "a conflicting route is already open" as needed. You do not have to maintain a conflict list by hand.
🚥 Signal
A signal changes its aspect automatically based on the state of the routes it governs. The player never operates a signal directly — opening a route flips the signal to a proceed aspect.
Signal kinds
| Kind | Role |
|---|---|
| Home Signal | Controls entry into a station area |
| Starting Signal | Controls departure from a station |
| Block Signal | Controls entry into a block section between stations |
| Shunting Signal | Controls shunting movements in the yard |
Placing a signal (Home / Starting / Shunting)
Home, Starting, and Shunting signals need a governing route — the route whose aspect this signal mirrors. The governing route is identified by picking a start lever and an end lever, just like when registering a route.
- Enter Signal mode and pick the kind (Home / Starting / Shunting)
- Click on the map to decide where the signal sits
- In the sidebar, pick a start lever and an end lever
- The editor finds the matching route automatically and ties it to the signal as the governing route
- Press Register to apply, then Ctrl+S to save
Placing a signal (Block)
A block signal has no governing route. Instead, you directly specify the protected track circuits (multiple allowed).
Aspect limits (UGC maps)
UGC maps support the basic three-aspect signaling — Proceed (green/blue), Caution (yellow), Stop (red) — automatically. Detailed aspect distinctions such as caution-restrictive (YY) or restricted-speed-deceleration (YG) cannot be configured from the editor.