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Class 68 SPAD

A Class 68 that committed a SPAD at the line between Stepford East and Stepford Central.

A SPAD (abbreviated from Signal Passed At Danger) refers to the situation that a train passes through a red signal, which is highly discouraged and against the rules at Stepford County Railway. Someone committing a SPAD is called a SPADer and the word that people use to talk about it is SPADing.

SPADs committed in stations are overshoots, if a driver SPADs on a signal at a platform, they have overshot the station.

Description[]

A SPAD is caused when a driver, either by accident or intentionally, failed to stop the train properly and ran a Danger (red) signal, hence the name. SPADers tend to do this when they either are distracted, approaching with an excessive speed, or wanting to get priority at stations (as SPAD trains must be dispatched and cleared out at once).

If a train commits a SPAD at a station (usually if a signal turned to red due to desk setup when there is a Signaller), it will be considered as overshooting, irrespective of whether the train still fits in the platform. Dispatchers and Guards are allowed to dispatch the train regardless of the signal, and should do so as soon as possible, ignoring the normal dispatching priority.

Penalties[]

AL Class 185 R056 SPAD at LSR

An AirLink Class 185 SPADed at old Leighton Stepford Road

The game is designed to detect a SPAD and apply the offending train's emergency brake for twenty seconds. If too many signals are passed at danger, the train will be despawned, ejecting the driver and the service will be terminated, so they cannot complete their route and preventing the offender from gaining experiences. If a SPAD incident occurs during a Qualified Driver training, the trainee will automatically fail.

It is not advisable to SPAD repeatedly or intentionally as Signallers and Supervisors may take actions on you if being caught or reported. A player could potentially be kicked, or even receive a demotion for SPADing repeatedly.

Avoiding SPADs[]

To avoid SPADs, drivers should follow speed limits and approach red signals slowly, always prepared to stop. In high-risk areas such as the Beechley Triangle, signals are permanently set to caution so that drivers are alerted to approach slowly - use this knowledge to your advantage while driving and be extra cautious around these high-risk areas. The next signal GUI will always be there to help you just in case you ever forget the signal aspect, as well as the AWS providing a last minute warning. Poor driving drastically increases your SPAD risk and speeding or excessive approach speed can cause you to be unable to stop.

SCR has a speed limit of 45 mph or lower past caution (single yellow) signals and if you follow this speed limit you will be very unlikely to SPAD. You are also supposed to slow down after preliminary caution (double yellow) signals to help slow to this speed.

SPARs[]

A SPAR (abbreviated from Signal Passed At Red) is similar to a SPAD, but it is not the driver’s fault. A signaller SPAR is when a signaller causes a SPAR, either due to a mistake, a sudden change in signal during signalling desk setup or, although rarely happens, a signaller trolling. A technical SPAR is when a glitch causes a SPAR to occur, and a runaway SPAR is when a runaway train passes a signal at red.

Signallers intentionally causing SPARs rarely occur outside of private servers. This is because signallers are expected to control the traffic well on a server and to not cause chaos.

Bugs[]

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A train that has falsely SPADed even though it is behind the signal.

  • Sometimes SPADs occur even though a train's front wheels haven't even touched the treadle and the front of the train is multiple studs behind the signal.
  • SPADs can also occur when a laggy driver passes a green or yellow signal, and then being stopped by the emergency brake when the signal automatically turns red after the train touches the treadle, due to the train passing the sensor too slow and the system failed to recognise that it was the same train.
  • Sometimes, if two trains SPAD at the same time whilst leaving the same station in the same direction, the signaller is unable to change any of the signals so the SPADed trains can't leave, causing the SG to either respawn one of the drivers or leave the desk, and is a cause of major back ups.

Trivia[]

  • Before May 2021, SPADs committed at a signal in a station were not considered as an overshoot if the train was still fully in the platform afterwards, hence Dispatchers and Guards were not allowed to dispatch the train until the signal aspect had been changed to a non-red (danger) signal aspect. This was changed on 6 May 2021.
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