How to use helper (pusher) engines?
In another thread, http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=10683 , on AI Engineering, we have discussed adding a subconsist to the rear of a train. Basically, we figured out that either you have to uncouple and send the road engine off scene, or you have to move the road engine's driver and exchange messages with the switch engine's driver, using the postmessage and waitformessageandclear commands. Furthermore, even though there is no driver in the road engine, uncouplez and uncouplez from work with respect to the road engine, not the switcher.
When experimenting with no driver in the road engine and using couple-at-trackmark to add a few cars to the rear of a train, I had the switcher move the whole train back and forth. When this happened, the switcher controlled the power of both engines - both revved up or down at the same time.
It occurred to me that, added cars or not, this was how to couple up a helper engine to help a heavy consist up a steep grade.
The posts in the other thread cover several hoops that you have to jump through to add another engine, at least in the ways that we were going about it.
Does anyone know of rules or methods for adding and releasing helper engines to trains? One thing seems certain - a single train can have only one driver and one set of driver commands and rules. The command, uncouplez from, works only with respect to the lead engine, and if there are more than 20 cars between lead engine and helper we are in trouble unless we stop and break the train when we want to release the helper.
Advice, knowledge, or work-arounds anybody?
Dick
P.S. - Some of us are using 2004, others 2006 - the techniques don't seem to differ between them.
In another thread, http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=10683 , on AI Engineering, we have discussed adding a subconsist to the rear of a train. Basically, we figured out that either you have to uncouple and send the road engine off scene, or you have to move the road engine's driver and exchange messages with the switch engine's driver, using the postmessage and waitformessageandclear commands. Furthermore, even though there is no driver in the road engine, uncouplez and uncouplez from work with respect to the road engine, not the switcher.
When experimenting with no driver in the road engine and using couple-at-trackmark to add a few cars to the rear of a train, I had the switcher move the whole train back and forth. When this happened, the switcher controlled the power of both engines - both revved up or down at the same time.
It occurred to me that, added cars or not, this was how to couple up a helper engine to help a heavy consist up a steep grade.
The posts in the other thread cover several hoops that you have to jump through to add another engine, at least in the ways that we were going about it.
Does anyone know of rules or methods for adding and releasing helper engines to trains? One thing seems certain - a single train can have only one driver and one set of driver commands and rules. The command, uncouplez from, works only with respect to the lead engine, and if there are more than 20 cars between lead engine and helper we are in trouble unless we stop and break the train when we want to release the helper.
Advice, knowledge, or work-arounds anybody?
Dick
P.S. - Some of us are using 2004, others 2006 - the techniques don't seem to differ between them.
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