Railworks America

I believe this has been discussed before, but I just want to add my two cents.

It seems every scenario starting at Martin Yard has the player train increasing in speed as it goes uphill. I don't profess to be a physics expert, but this seems counterintuitive. I presume this is the usual DTG lack of realism.

The more I play TS2015 Soldier Summit, the more I realize what an excellent job Maple Leaf Tracks did with their version of Soldier Summit. When a train goes uphill with a long drag of coal cars, it starts slowing down. Pretty simple to me.

Rob

The question is, is the train actually going uphill or does it just visually appear to do so?

Nothing wrong in that if the grade isn't to steep. What gradient are you talking about. Shows in the F4 hud.

Here's the details:

Scenario: Utah Coal West - Workshop Scenario

Martin Yard Westbound Main - .9% grade uphill.

Utah Junction - 1.5% grade uphill. In notch 2, the train is going 23 mph, and gaining speed.

This is at the beginning of the scenario, so it's easy to try.

Rob

Ah, well that comes down to the consist and locomotives used, not the route itself. In any case I don't see why notch 2 wouldn't be sufficient with a good enough power to weight in the consist. I'm not train expert though.

plethaus wrote:Ah, well that comes down to the consist and locomotives used, not the route itself. In any case I don't see why notch 2 wouldn't be sufficient with a good enough power to weight in the consist. I'm not train expert though.

I think there's an issue with the coal cars only appearing loaded, but the actual physics involved being "messed-up" for want of a better term.

Rob

Well that answers a question I've had about Soldier Summit. They didn't fix the Coal Car physics. On some grades between 1 and 1.5% grades the coal cars and some other open cars like the low side gondolas actually do accelerate uphill. In just the right circumstances, they will stay on the grade in place with no brakes applied, or even start to very slowly accelerate uphill.
Other car types are fine.
The cars with the uphill load problem also tip too easy.

That's why a person can fly uphill with a loaded coal train in Train Simulator with only two engines.
I'm perplexed why the tankers, closed top hoppers, boxcars etc are fine when loaded.

The modern coal cars have never been fixed. They still act goofy some times. I try to use other cars as they are the only ones that behave like that. Some of the guys messing with physics would do us all a big favor if they would direct their energy towards fixing these bad actors.

buzz456 wrote:The modern coal cars have never been fixed. They still act goofy some times. I try to use other cars as they are the only ones that behave like that. Some of the guys messing with physics would do us all a big favor if they would direct their energy towards fixing these bad actors.

I just tried the same scenario, substituting the Soldier Summit tank cars. The train went even faster uphill!

Which cars should I substitute here so I can have at least a tiny bit of reality?

Rob

I have no clue as I have never had this problem.

Me neither.

Could somebody who has Soldier Summit, the BN F45, and the SP SD45, try the Utah Coal West scenario?

Rob

FHRob wrote:

buzz456 wrote:The modern coal cars have never been fixed. They still act goofy some times. I try to use other cars as they are the only ones that behave like that. Some of the guys messing with physics would do us all a big favor if they would direct their energy towards fixing these bad actors.

I just tried the same scenario, substituting the Soldier Summit tank cars. The train went even faster uphill!

Which cars should I substitute here so I can have at least a tiny bit of reality?

Rob

I know my Donner and Cajon pass Tankers, Boxcars and Cement hoppers are fine, as are the third party cars like Mainlines FMC Boxcars.
All the RSC/DTG open top cars that I have, suffer from the same issues.
Auto Racks are also a good option for heavy, as are the Marias Pass container cars. The MP well cars when loaded may be a bit too heavy.

I like the freeware 100T coal hoppers from Golden Age of Rails. They feel fairly 'heavy' to pull.

buzz456 wrote:The modern coal cars have never been fixed. They still act goofy some times. I try to use other cars as they are the only ones that behave like that. Some of the guys messing with physics would do us all a big favor if they would direct their energy towards fixing these bad actors.

I can tell you this Buzz, it's not a .bin problem with them. The .bin files for those open top cars look just like any other car. It must be something in the core program.
I can get them to operate correctly by setting the mass to 80 - 110 but then they act loaded even when empty. That change of mass to a higher number also stops the excessive swaying.
I've never built a car, do they all have a different blueprint that they start with? Maybe Blueprint isn't the term I'm looking for.
Could someone make a open top hopper think it's a "boxcar" for instance so it would draw on better physics.