But officer, my rear end was only doing ...
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:43 pmHey, I'm peacefully and happily retired. I don't need this aggravation!
Against my better instincts, I keep trying to drive the car-rear scenarios on the new Canadian route. Today, I attempted one called CP Train 200 Part 1. The situation is that the player is driving the second part of a 2-part freight and the first message warns about staying comfortably behind the leading part of the two-part train. Frankly, that never became a problem. Rather, I found simply trying to drive at a relatively even speed absolutely impossible. Starting out, I set the power handle at 13% (notch 1) and took off the brakes. The speed limit was 20. I watched the HUD speed (which is the one that counts if you don't want to be harassed by the points-meister) start to climb slowly, but left the throttle at notch 1. Suddenly, the HUD speed started climbing precipitously toward 20. Dropping the throttle to 0, I simultaneously set the brake up to 10%. No dice -- speed and point deductions kept soaring. Quit ... Play Again. On the second attempt, I dropped the throttle to 0 when HUD speed reached 10, but still had to use the brakes to keep from exceeding 20 mph.
And so it proceeded: HUD speed alternating between rapid rises and falls; cab speedometer fluctuating as well, but less rapidly. Yes, I know that one of these indicates speed at the train's front and the other at the train's rear . . . don't ask me which is which. Struggling along while occasionally losing license points for speeding, I nevertheless steadily earned "timeliness" (which in car-rear scenarios is much more important than godliness). Then, with just a few miles to go to the scenario's end point, with the throttle on notch 3, the brakes completely off, and the HUD velocity behaving rather well, B-A-M !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Game over, thanks for subjecting yourself to this senseless humiliation.
==========================================
Okay. End of rant. Can someone please help me understand the driving techniques involved in managing such a train (3 engines and a lot of cars) on grades ranging from 0 to 2.2%? Please keep in mind that I prefer switching scenarios and do quite well on those, especially if they are not of the car-rear variety.
Against my better instincts, I keep trying to drive the car-rear scenarios on the new Canadian route. Today, I attempted one called CP Train 200 Part 1. The situation is that the player is driving the second part of a 2-part freight and the first message warns about staying comfortably behind the leading part of the two-part train. Frankly, that never became a problem. Rather, I found simply trying to drive at a relatively even speed absolutely impossible. Starting out, I set the power handle at 13% (notch 1) and took off the brakes. The speed limit was 20. I watched the HUD speed (which is the one that counts if you don't want to be harassed by the points-meister) start to climb slowly, but left the throttle at notch 1. Suddenly, the HUD speed started climbing precipitously toward 20. Dropping the throttle to 0, I simultaneously set the brake up to 10%. No dice -- speed and point deductions kept soaring. Quit ... Play Again. On the second attempt, I dropped the throttle to 0 when HUD speed reached 10, but still had to use the brakes to keep from exceeding 20 mph.
And so it proceeded: HUD speed alternating between rapid rises and falls; cab speedometer fluctuating as well, but less rapidly. Yes, I know that one of these indicates speed at the train's front and the other at the train's rear . . . don't ask me which is which. Struggling along while occasionally losing license points for speeding, I nevertheless steadily earned "timeliness" (which in car-rear scenarios is much more important than godliness). Then, with just a few miles to go to the scenario's end point, with the throttle on notch 3, the brakes completely off, and the HUD velocity behaving rather well, B-A-M !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Game over, thanks for subjecting yourself to this senseless humiliation.
==========================================
Okay. End of rant. Can someone please help me understand the driving techniques involved in managing such a train (3 engines and a lot of cars) on grades ranging from 0 to 2.2%? Please keep in mind that I prefer switching scenarios and do quite well on those, especially if they are not of the car-rear variety.
