Have you ever noticed couplers that 'look' uncoupled on turns?

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
Rolling stock designers have not yet created swinging couplers that follow track curvature so train vehicles LOOK like they are properly coupled on turns.

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Also, why the trucks of some rolling stock are not set by creators to steer around turns in articulated fashion, I don't know. Train trucks should pivot, have some degree of side play but not beyond realistic limits. I suspect the amount of independent movement bogies have dictates track curvature handling capabilities too.

Some model train rolling stock has couplers attached tot he trucks for better turn-handling. I believe real American trains have couplers attached separately from the trucks.
 
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This is old hat and has been repeatedly posted over the years past in here. Some of us Content Creators even found solutions to make coupler ends stay locked and look (reasonably) realistic when going around corners. Don't forget, we are dealing here with created and constructed tracks/routes which do not have correct radii (radiuses) curves and bends like real world railways(roads) have. Where in reality the coupler ends only move a certain small amount from one side to the other.

You can read my post in 2010 asking if others have found or created this "coupler ends staying together on curves" thingy yet but not much interest was shown at the time, hence I dropped this good feature on my created locomotives, coaches and RDCs.

VinnyBarb
 
In the real world couplers attached to the traincar frame can swivel a bit and remain properly coupled (visually as well as mechanically) on curves.

In Trainz they are also attached to the frame (with a few exceptions) but do not swivel around curves. Bogeys follow the centerline of the track and remain aligned to it (lengthwise) on curves. Even if you make couplers as bogeys I suspect they would not work the way you want as only the "real" bogeys attached with a.bog0 and a.bog1 and coded in Trainz to follow the centerline of the track and remain aligned with it lengthwise.

In TRS2004 for example couplers could be attached with a.bog2 and a.bog 3 but if memory serves correctly they did not "swivel" to follow the centerline direction of the track (including bogeys if you made a typo and put actual bogeys where the couplers were supposed to go).

Multi-bogey traincars are made up from separate parts (each of which is an actual traincar) and the overall car assembled in surveyor. None have more then 2 bogeys each. It will look like a single traincar but its actually a consist.

Ben
 
This is old hat and has been repeatedly posted over the years past in here.

Don't you folks know that this guy is going to re-hash everything that's ever been posted in these forums until he covers everything? He doesn't believe in doing a search or Googling his questions. It's getting on my nerves....


~
 
One of the things that seriously sucks in TANE is the trucks of not only some rolling stock but also some locos not following the tracks, and worse, turning in the opposite direction round curves.
 
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Hi JonMyrlennBailey
As a few have noted, the couplers in Trainz are 'fixed' to the body and as such will not move when going through curves.

Some creators have experimented with making the coupler a bogie, but this also causes the coupler to move when not coupled to other vehicles. With some scripting it may be possible to swap between 'bogie' and 'fixed' versions depending on if it's coupled.

However, setting up extra bogies on a vehicle can have an impact on both performance, and physics, as well as sounds when going through junctions. We generally don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary (e.g. on steam locomotives, or fixed wheel freight stock, or similar).

In regards to bogies not turning, all correctly build rolling stock should have the bogies pivot when going through curves. Some vehicles may have less visible movement than others, depending on the design. You may also find some items that have rotation turned off, where the axles are actually fixed inline with the wagon (e.g. some steam locomotives have bogies that only move sideways; they don't rotate).

In regards to bogies moving the wrong way, there are some cases that are known issues in TANE, which we hope to fix in an upcoming update. However, it should be noted that this may not fix all assets, particularly if they were setup incorrectly.

Regards
 
I just don't look so closely at all the running gear details.

What really burns my biscuits is the fact that the rotating trackside camera always pans down at the railhead, following the centerpoint of the very bottom of the loco

62 threads started in July ... and 64 treads started in August ... Deserves some kind of award, or something :hehe:
 
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"Last edited by ZecMurphy; Today at 02:50 AM. Reason: removed inappropriate content"

Sjhoi, that was close, no penalties!!:Y:!!, living to comment another day:D
 
One thing the newbies, here or in any organization really, need to do is to learn to look and listen. Once they get the hang of the place, understand what the local conventions are, then they can start to participate in a meaningful way. This is not elitism, nor the old boys club keeping outsiders out. It is a rare person that can jump right in and not sound either foolish or pompous when chiming in on a topic long familiar to those that have been there a while. The advantage here is that old conversations can be read long after the fact, to pickup handy and important information, something not available in traditional group settings where the new kid on the block was expected to manage this on their own unless they found a mentor who could steer them straight.
 
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