I would like to know how to use the QR Water Tank properly for AI.

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
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This is a facility for fill steam locomotives by dreddman.

Under the Properties the tank it says: produces every 60 seconds What does this mean?

It also allows for numerical value settings for Rate and Start Amount What does this mean?

I have been playing with this tank and here are some problems I have encountered.

Telling AI to "Drive To" the tank (Water Stop) is useless. They simply do not obey this command.

I then tried placing a track mark for the loco to stop at the tank.

I then tested AI by telling them to drive To or Navigate To the track mark I laid for the tank stopping point.
This is the final command on the schedule with no other command following.

This works, only to some degree, they stop there and the locomotive watering process commences. The spout lowers and water comes out for about 15 seconds.

The water then stops and the spout comes back up again like it should.

This is fine and dandy if stopping for water is the final command on the drive schedule.

However, if I have a command like Drive To (a station up the line or something) immediately following
the Drive To (the tank stop track mark), the AI loco will slow down as it passes the tank but then speed up again,
without ever stopping for water, and head for the second track mark on the schedule.

This AI command strategy is no good.

I then tried using the Wait For (10 seconds or some other amount of time) command immediately following the Drive To (water tank track mark) command
followed by another Drive To command up ahead of the tank.

Ok, now the steam engine stops for water, the spout does its thing and then loco resumes travel after the Wait For command expires but with yet another catch:
the stupid water spout stays in the down position with water continuing to gush out onto the track below even after the loco takes off again.

Ideally, the steam engine should stop for water in the proper position on the track so the water spout comes down in the correct spot on the tender, during an AI schedule in the middle of a trip, the spout should then come down, in some cases, the tender water-fill hatch should open (a feature on some locos), water should pour for some amount of time, the water flow should stop, the tank spout should go back up, the hatch should close (if applicable) AND THE ENGINE SHOULD BE ON ITS MERRY WAY AGAIN, but I have yet to figure out how to make this whole sequence of events happen properly.

The author of this water tank did NOT provide detailed instructions for its proper use.

I am trying to make this water tank work RIGHT in TS12.

Has anybody here been able to incorporate the water tank scenario in an AI schedule successfully?

The steam trains should stop for water along their drive but the water should be shut off when the train leaves the tank.

The UP 0-6-0 Baldwin/USRA #4609 steam locomotive has the self-opening water hatch feature while the UP Big Boy does not.
 
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The lines in the properties box are the same as most other industries in Trainz.

Start amount is the amount of the commodity, in this case water, that the industry starts with.

Rate is the amount of the commodity that the industry produces if it is not full.

Produces every 60 seconds means just that, it produces the amount in the rate field evry 60seconds. This number can be modified in some industries.

To operate the water tank either drive manually to the water tank and stop so that the locomotive or tender is under the water tank.

Alternatively use navigate to or drive to followed by load in the same way you give commands for a consist to go to any industry or station. However, do not expect the locomotive or tender to always stop in the correct place.

None of this is rocket science you should have been doing this already.
 
I don't have to use the "load" command to make the tank deliver water. It automatically starts dispensing water when the tender stops underneath it. Fiddling with the track mark location can eventually get the train in (or very near) the right spot. How do I make the tank STOP delivering water so it doesn't keep pouring water when the train leaves?

I don't want to load the entire freight train anyway just to put water in the steam engine if the freight cars are empty or part empty. The Load command normally loads freight cars in the train, sometimes to full capacity depending on how many times the command is used repeatedly.

And what does "start amount" refer to?

When I give the Drive To (Water tank name followed by "Loco water" in the expanding menu) nothing happens EXCEPT a big red dot with a white X in the middle of it apears down on the command display (F6) at the bottom of the screen where the command icon should normally appear in a driver schedule.

Using Drive To (Industry) does NOT list the water tank as an option.

I will probably end up forgoing all consideration water stops in AI schedules if I don't figure this out soon.
Proper loco water animation sequence might be just yet another Trainz wish for me that will come to a dead end.
Probably not many Trainzers deal with steam power on their layouts anyway.

I just can't allow the water tank to spill out water with no train there. The damn steam engines might
just have to run on "magic water" (unlimited, like unlimited fuel for diesels) then.

Trainz is the game of 'Can't', 'No', 'Sorry, Charlie', 'Good Luck, You're, Gonna Need It!', and 'Won't'.
 
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I am trying different water tanks by various authors. I will let you all here know if I find something that actually works the way it should.
 
POLL: which water tanks for steam locos have you used with success?

How did you install and configure the track side water tank in Surveyor?

Did the engine stop at the water tank and get filled following a proper logical sequence
while driving an AI schedule?

Did the water spout shut off by the time train left or did the tank continue to pour water onto the track after the train left?
Did the tender stop at the right spot or close enough?

Did the tank even work at all? Did it dispense water when the train stopped at it with the tender fill hatch in position with the pour spout?

I have tried various water tanks by various authors and none of them seem to work well
in TS12.

Is there a good tutorial on successful operation of animated water tanks for locomotive tenders on line somewhere?

The key is to know which water tanks work with which engines on which Trainz versions and what the
proper AI command sequence should be so that water stop animation looks normal.
 
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