This happened once, when Allen and Jim ended their Saturday session:

• At 1:40pm, they turned the "Saturday mode" switch off, turned the Mainline Automation toggle on. Consequently, the Freight train correctly moved back to its normal position.

So far that seems normal. However...

• At 1:42pm and 1:43pm, the computer registered multiple on/off instances of block detection on Block B330 -- there were about a dozen on/off activations for 2 seconds -- but also B360 registers as on -- see below.
• Cameras show they were not running anything at that time, and that block B330 is clearly empty. I cannot see B360 however nothing on the video indicates there should be anything on it (no trains going in or out in the following minutes).
• Camera shows Allen moving trains to Richmond via B160/B150 a minute later. I don’t think it’s related.

Here’s an excerpt from conductor-log-2024-10-12-08-40-03.txt:

⇒ This starts just after the Freight train has reached its default parking location at the Station:
13:42:34.779 R Idle Mainline #0 ML Ready : ACTIVE

13:42:35.972 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:36.937 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:37.833 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:38.962 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:39.659 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:40.639 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:41.520 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:42.416 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:43.348 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:45.174 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:46.112 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:47.043 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:51.554 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:52.448 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:53.413 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:54.341 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:55.269 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:42:58.056 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:42:59.848 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:43:11.730 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:43:12.687 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:43:14.478 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:43:16.350 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:43:21.117 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:43:21.799 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:43:42.018 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:43:43.842 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:43:47.517 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:43:48.430 S S/NS773 B330 : ON
⇒ At this point motion is detected in room and the Mainline Route tries to start the Passenger train:
13:43:59.671 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : ON

13:43:59.672 R Idle Mainline #0 ML Ready : IDLE

13:43:59.672 R Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) : ACTIVATED

13:43:59.673 B S/NS787 B503b : EMPTY after 15994.17 seconds

13:43:59.704 D 8330 : Light ON

13:43:59.805 D 8330 : Bell OFF

13:43:59.805 D 8330 : F1 OFF

13:43:59.806 D 8330 : Sound ON

13:43:59.806 D 8330 : F8 ON

13:43:59.806 D 1067 : Sound OFF

13:43:59.806 D 1067 : F8 ON

13:43:59.807 B S/NS787 B503b : OCCUPIED after 0.13 seconds

13:43:59.807 B S/NS773 B330 : OCCUPIED after 16025.81 seconds

13:43:59.807 B S/NS775 B360 : OCCUPIED after 16121.01 seconds

13:43:59.808 R Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) : ACTIVE

13:44:00.069 R Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) : ERROR Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) has unexpected occupied blocks out of {B503b}: [<B330 [NS773]>, <B360 [NS775]>]

13:44:00.070 R Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) : ERROR

13:44:00.073 R Sequence Mainline #3 Passenger (8330) : {"name":"Passenger","th":"PA","act":2,"err":true,"nodes":[{"n":"B503b","ms":263}]}
⇒ Here the automation places the Mainline Route in “Error” mode since it detected both blocks B330 and B360 to be occupied! (That’s where the camera watching the track reveals absolutely nothing visible on these tracks.)
13:44:02.664 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:04.519 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:07.204 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:07.470 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : OFF

13:44:08.567 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:09.097 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:10.024 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:10.591 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : ON

13:44:10.956 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:11.883 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:16.670 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:17.331 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:18.692 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:18.692 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : OFF

13:44:19.257 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:21.280 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : ON

13:44:21.974 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:22.872 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:29.448 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : OFF

13:44:32.234 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : ON

13:44:38.442 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:40.467 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : OFF

13:44:41.135 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:42.063 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:43.889 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:45.020 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:47.638 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:49.069 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : ON

13:44:49.466 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:50.361 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:51.258 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:52.185 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:53.115 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:54.008 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:55.901 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:44:57.164 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:44:57.959 S S/NS797 AIU-Motion : OFF

13:45:00.515 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:02.342 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:03.339 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:04.266 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:05.263 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:06.095 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:07.954 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:09.317 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:09.882 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:11.745 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:12.636 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:13.536 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:16.293 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:18.087 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:19.979 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:20.877 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:23.597 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:29.574 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:32.856 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:34.683 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:35.648 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:39.683 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:41.178 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:42.973 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:44.800 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:45.764 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:46.593 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:47.790 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:48.420 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:50.249 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:52.040 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:52.966 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:53.963 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:54.856 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:55.888 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:45:57.916 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:45:58.512 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:00.340 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:01.270 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:02.169 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:03.098 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:05.998 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:08.688 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:10.049 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:10.480 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:16.122 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:17.018 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:25.282 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:28.970 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:30.300 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:30.829 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:31.723 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:32.655 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:35.377 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:36.375 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:37.204 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:41.782 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:45.566 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:55.683 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:46:58.636 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:46:59.299 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:01.223 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:02.153 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:03.052 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:04.856 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:06.718 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:07.646 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:08.743 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:09.508 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:10.772 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:11.335 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:13.160 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:16.941 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:17.837 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:18.868 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:19.695 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:20.892 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:22.918 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:27.994 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:29.851 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:36.192 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:38.119 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:39.117 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:41.141 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:44.490 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:46.310 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:47.306 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:48.234 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:50.025 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:51.254 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:51.852 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:47:54.606 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:47:59.357 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:48:00.188 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:48:01.386 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:48:01.386 S S/NS775 B360 : OFF

13:49:04.175 S S/NS775 B360 : ON

13:49:04.706 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:49:07.427 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:49:08.325 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:49:09.250 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:49:10.246 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:49:11.041 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:49:12.902 S S/NS773 B330 : ON

13:49:20.375 S S/NS773 B330 : OFF

13:49:21.171 S S/NS775 B360 : OFF

Then the sensors suddenly stop acting up. They are acting up from 1:42pp up to 1:49pm.

However, on the cameras, I noticed at about that time (1:44pm or so), Allen was moving trains into the Richmond yard in the back. Could that be related? I very much doubt so: although technically the Mountain 1 (which has B330 and B360) and Richmond are on the same booster, they each have their own NCE EB1 Circuit Breaker -- which means even a short in the yard will not affect the mainline, and we know from experience that works very well. We never had Richmond affect other parts of the layout as far as I know of so I think it's merely coincidence and not related.

I don’t think it’s an issue with the DCC Booster either, as that would affect all the blocks whereas here only two blocks started registering on/off.

I don’t think I will be able to get a clear idea of why this happens. Instead I can focus on what I can do to remediate it in the automation software.

One thought is to allow the automation error mode to be temporary. Since the automation was unable to start and both trains were safely at the station, it would be fine to retry after 5-10 minutes instead of entering a permanent error mode.

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