NewYorkCentral
New York Central Railroad
Does anybody know how to change the script of diesel to make it work like a steam engine?
Diesel to Steam
- Thread starter NewYorkCentral
- Start date
The basic changes are in the config file of the loco. Some diesels also use custom scripts that may require changes but that's on a case by case basis and you'd have to review the code in the script if it's not encripted.
Fuel and water are usually carried in a separate tender. Connecting any (working) tender to the loco will suffice or if you want it to work as a tank loco then you add the 2 required queues, load-coal and load-water, to the locos config. [As to where they'd actually fit on the "real" loco you could use an oil fired boiler so the fuel goes into the existing fuel tanks. The diesels and generators get stripped out so we'd have some room inside the shell for a boiler and water tank. The old ACE 3000 concept used a diesel like shell and they used a separate tender carrying makeup water and condenser and used pulversied coal in containers that was burned in a fluidised coal bed firebox.]
You need to select a steam loco cab (interior) and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's interior tag.
You need to select a steam-engine engine spec and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's enginespec tag.
You need to select a steam loco engine sound and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's enginesound tag.
A new stream whistle should be selected and referenced by changing the reference in the loco's hornsound tag but this is not a required change.
One of the bogeys should be designated the main one and the direct-drive 1 tag added to it's config so the steam sounds are sync'd to the wheel rpm. Since the same bogey probably is used for both I'm not sure how Trainz will handle that. It's always possible to clone or alias one so only 1 gets the new tag if it is a problem.
A diesel's drive wheels and drivetrain compare more closely to a geared type steam loco. These may require some special considerations in setting up the steam-engine spec and engine sounds.
Off the top of my head that's what I think is required.
Bob Pearson
Fuel and water are usually carried in a separate tender. Connecting any (working) tender to the loco will suffice or if you want it to work as a tank loco then you add the 2 required queues, load-coal and load-water, to the locos config. [As to where they'd actually fit on the "real" loco you could use an oil fired boiler so the fuel goes into the existing fuel tanks. The diesels and generators get stripped out so we'd have some room inside the shell for a boiler and water tank. The old ACE 3000 concept used a diesel like shell and they used a separate tender carrying makeup water and condenser and used pulversied coal in containers that was burned in a fluidised coal bed firebox.]
You need to select a steam loco cab (interior) and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's interior tag.
You need to select a steam-engine engine spec and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's enginespec tag.
You need to select a steam loco engine sound and reference it by changing the reference in the loco's enginesound tag.
A new stream whistle should be selected and referenced by changing the reference in the loco's hornsound tag but this is not a required change.
One of the bogeys should be designated the main one and the direct-drive 1 tag added to it's config so the steam sounds are sync'd to the wheel rpm. Since the same bogey probably is used for both I'm not sure how Trainz will handle that. It's always possible to clone or alias one so only 1 gets the new tag if it is a problem.
A diesel's drive wheels and drivetrain compare more closely to a geared type steam loco. These may require some special considerations in setting up the steam-engine spec and engine sounds.
Off the top of my head that's what I think is required.
Bob Pearson
Last edited:
NewYorkCentral
New York Central Railroad
Euphod did it when re-skinning TheCowboy's Frisco 1522.
Yes many of us did it when TRS4 came out because before that all the steam locos - all locos in Tranz - had diesel especs. Trainz didn't have any steam physics before that. Prowler's K-27 and Cowboy's Frisco 4-8-2 were the 1st 2 I converted to the new steam system in TRS4.
I didn't mention smoke effects in the above post but most diesels use the old smoke system with the a.exhaust attachment points which are probably in the wrong place for a steam loco like the Ace 3000 I mentioned above. You may need to add a.smokex attachment points to the mesh - PEV attachment maker can do it and I think the steam effects would work with the attached mesh technique PEV uses but I'm not sure of that.
The following tags in the loco config IIRC use the a.exhaust0 att point and should get deleted if conveting to a steam loco exhaust using smoke containers:
smoke_shade
smoke_random
smoke_slowlife
smoke_fastlife
smoke_height
smoke_fastspeed
Any smoke containers using a.exhaustx att points might also need to be deleted or replaced.
Bob Pearson
I didn't mention smoke effects in the above post but most diesels use the old smoke system with the a.exhaust attachment points which are probably in the wrong place for a steam loco like the Ace 3000 I mentioned above. You may need to add a.smokex attachment points to the mesh - PEV attachment maker can do it and I think the steam effects would work with the attached mesh technique PEV uses but I'm not sure of that.
The following tags in the loco config IIRC use the a.exhaust0 att point and should get deleted if conveting to a steam loco exhaust using smoke containers:
smoke_shade
smoke_random
smoke_slowlife
smoke_fastlife
smoke_height
smoke_fastspeed
Any smoke containers using a.exhaustx att points might also need to be deleted or replaced.
Bob Pearson
NewYorkCentral
New York Central Railroad
Maybe I should ask Euphod.
I guess you can if you want to. Ed answers a lot of post and is quite helpful.
I think though, you'll find that what you have to do to convert a diesel to steam is covered in my posts above. If Ed did the conversion himself or he followed others instructions I don't remember. Phil Skene has probably posted the most on how to do it. He put out a tutorial on how to do it for TRS6 I think. The basics are still applicable for newer versions.
If you have a specific loco you're trying to convert why don't you let us know. All the old utc steamers have been upgraded for personal use and many of the conversions were already covered in the forums.
Bob Pearson
I think though, you'll find that what you have to do to convert a diesel to steam is covered in my posts above. If Ed did the conversion himself or he followed others instructions I don't remember. Phil Skene has probably posted the most on how to do it. He put out a tutorial on how to do it for TRS6 I think. The basics are still applicable for newer versions.
If you have a specific loco you're trying to convert why don't you let us know. All the old utc steamers have been upgraded for personal use and many of the conversions were already covered in the forums.
Bob Pearson
Last edited:
NewYorkCentral
New York Central Railroad
I'll try.