CAB Steam Tutorial - Would appreciate a review.

[Conductorphil]

Hey everyone.

As some of us are possibly aware, the Trainz Wikia doesn't have much too it. I've just updated the CAB Steam Tutorial page and I would appreciate it if anyone could have a quick read through it and tell me what you think - whether or not there's some stuff I could write better or if it's too wordy or whatever...

Many thanks.

http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Trainz/Driving_Steam_Engines&stable=0

 

[wva-usa]

Looks pretty good but I don't agree with the "Once you hit about 45mph, start reducing the cutoff from 75% down to 45%" part. 45 MPH is a greater speed than a great many U.S. steam locomotives could achieve. Many Mallets for example rarely were operated above 25 MPH. The basic rule of thumb that real steam locomotive engineers used (re: cutoff) was that if the locomotive's acceleration rate was slowing down (when it should be increasing) then it was time to reduce the cutoff. The acceleration rate could be sensed by carefully listening the rhythmic chuffs of the locomotive's exhaust. Conversely, if the loco was fighting a grade and the speed was slowing down, the cutoff should be increased. This method did require that the engineer needed to "know the road", and be aware of where the grades were, etc.

The chart below is from ca. 1909 and shows the relationship between speed, cut-off, and tractive effort for a simple steam locomotive of the Consolidation type designed for freight service.

 

[pcas1986]

Driving a steam loco in Cab Mode is described in the User Manual which can be found in "...\extras\documentation" for TS12 so I would concentrate on stuff that is not already covered.

One item not covered is braking which can be very tricky. I seem to either overshoot the platform end or stop half way down.

Writing stuff for the WiKis is one thing but getting folk to read, or even find it, is another. But I applaud your effort.

 

[Conductorphil]

Looks pretty good but I don't agree with the "Once you hit about 45mph, start reducing the cutoff from 75% down to 45%"

Admittedly you are correct in this respect. I was basing the cutoff changing from the LMS Duchess which I was using for the tutorial. I'll change that part to what you suggested.

Driving a steam loco in Cab Mode is described in the User Manual which can be found in "...\extras\documentation" for TS12 so I would concentrate on stuff that is not already covered.

One item not covered is braking which can be very tricky. I seem to either overshoot the platform end or stop half way down.

I've personally found that braking on a steam locomotive is similair to a Diesel or Electric locomotive. Since this is covered in the built-in tutorials in the game, I didn't bother going over it.

Writing stuff for the WiKis is one thing but getting folk to read, or even find it, is another. But I applaud your effort.

Many thanks. I'm not sure about older versions of Trainz, but TS12 actually includes a link to the wikia in the game - it's the question mark at the top right of the screen. Hopefully letting people know about that would help but yea...

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Thanks for all the input guys. I'll make some changes to the tutorial and hopefully it will be an improvement.

 

[wva-usa]

Driving a steam loco in Cab Mode is described in the User Manual which can be found in "...\extras\documentation" for TS12 so I would concentrate on stuff that is not already covered. ...

Well maybe, but it doesn't hurt to keep (briefly) repeating major concepts over and over again. Repetition is how most people learn.

Admittedly you are correct in this respect. I was basing the cutoff changing from the LMS Duchess which I was using for the tutorial. I'll change that part to what you suggested.

Here's what the Trainz manual for TS12 says:

That's a decently written explanation but I'm not sure if I agree with the "15%" cut-off. That seems lower than what was typical in the real world. For example, the Pennsylvania RR testing in the early 1900s showed that less than 25% actually consumed more fuel and water than 25% cut-off.

... I'm not sure about older versions of Trainz, but TS12 actually includes a link to the wikia in the game - it's the question mark at the top right of the screen. Hopefully letting people know about that would help but yea...

Just keep reminding folks that the info is available and point them in that direction. Say it enough times and they'll eventually catch on...

 

[Conductorphil]

I tested a large number of locomotives on the same track. Bringing the cutoff down to 20% actually resulted in a decrease in speed - probably because too much steam was being cutoff.

Personally I have found that 34% usually works really well with me. With a solid boiler pressure, I can push the LMS Duchess up to 90kph.

 

[TomJohnson]

This is an interesting thread, but I wonder if I am alone in that 1) as a Trainz 2010 user I don't know where Conductorphil's tutorial is (i.e., how would I read it?) and 2) my version of Trainz doesn't actually let me play the built in steam tutorial -- it doesn't show in the tutorial menu even though I can see it in the content list. Any thoughts on how I can learn to drive a steam engine in cab mode under TS2010?

 

[Conductorphil]

The link for the tutorial is right at the top of this page... But here it is anyway...

http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Trainz/Driving_Steam_Engines&stable=0

As for TS2010, I can't help you sorry. I jumped straight from Trainz Classics 3 to Trainz 12 and as such, don't know the UI of TS2010. In Trainz 12, there is a button at the top right with the icon of a question mark which links directly to the wikia with my tutorial. I don't know if this feature was included in TS2010 sorry.