VNHRR B&O Kingwood GP9 minor glitches

[Chacal]

Thanks Buzz, that fixed it.
For anyone wanting to fix the RF16's front coupler, the value of FrontPivotX in the loco's blueprint should be changed from 8.43 to 8.63.
Do this for all of your repaints, both for the driverless version and the one with a driver.

I managed to do two scenarios with RF16s swapped in, but with grades at 4% and more, it was... challenging. Especially around the switchback. RF16s have plenty of pulling power (even at only 1600 HP) but have no dynamic brakes! I really picked up the worst locos for this route.
Nobody wants to hear "runaway sharks!" but it got close. Air brakes couldn't control the speed, even with a 40 pounds reduction, so I had to go into emergency a few times, and apply handbrakes to more and more cars. It took me 30 minutes to cover a few miles.

[GreatNortherner]

Nobody wants to hear "runaway sharks!" ...

In the real world, the West Virginia Northern operated the coal trains on this route with a trio of NW2s until the line closed. One of the engines got refitted with a dynamic brake, but originally they would have had to do without it like you did in your Sharks.

Thirty minutes for a few miles sounds about right for this route. You really have to stop on every hilltop, apply hand brakes (can we call them "fake retainers"? ), and then let the train slowly creep forward. Kinetic energy squares with speed and so I try not to exceed 10 mph when going down the steepest bits, just so that there is enough safety margin to apply more brakes in case I see the speed picking up unexpectedly.

Cheers
Michael