Questions on firing coal

[Bluevoss]

Started running the N&W coal steamer in the Radford scenarios. Couple of questions.

Firebox door - not sure how this is supposed to open and close. They say to mouse over it but I can't seem to get it to open. And suddenly, about 5 minutes later, it opens and I can close it. Any suggestions?

Does the coal control (on the lower right, in the hud indicators) dictate level of coal shovelling? I set it and didn't see it do much of anything. Eventually I just hit space bar and could see my coal going in - I could keep the coal box up to about 70%, which is what I read I was supposed to do.

The blowers - how can I confirm if they are opened and closed? I can't tell if I'm toggling anything. Didn't see any knobs moved when I hit N and shift-N

Finally, the east coal run on the N&W: How do I get beyond 1mph to get out of the yard. I can't seem to find any combinations of regulator/reverser that get me moving. I ran the engines over in Mojave and they worked just fine (no load). Should I assume that its the load that's holding me back?

Also, does anyone have any problems with exterior shots on this route? On Mojave, I can click outside and look at the steamer from all angles. In the N&W route, the computer hangs for about 20 seconds before giving me any keyboard access. I just don't know if this is a route thing or what?

Thanks, as always, for you guys coddling newbies.

 

[cascaderailroad]

In Cab mode the Space bar on your KB opens the firebox door, and you have to manually shut it by grabbing the handle with your mouse.

I have been wondering how to get more water flowing to the loco, as it runs out inside of a few miles ... I dint' think a loco used so much water so quickly, and depleted the tender of water.

I suppose that all handles screw clockwise to restrict steam and water flow.

 

[Bluevoss]

I think for the water, its the injectors (I/O). I've found (now, I've only got about 10 miles on a central California plain without cars) that you can set that water slider (lower right) just a little up and monitor it - this simulates setting the injections are a certain level/pressure.

I'll try working the firebox door again. Wasn't obvious, was it?

 

[Bluevoss]

Okay, I was very observant on the way out of the yard (might as well be, I couldn't get above 2mph).

The brakes took a while to clear off - they were showing 4lbs for no reason. I finally coaxed them fully off by lapping and toggling the independants.

Coal bin was at 70%, water at 66%, right on the mark. Made sure the blowers were closed. Got the firebox closed (thanks, Cas). Had the reverser all the way up to 75% cut off and tried throttle at various settings. Couldn't get above 2mph out of the yard. And steam was full - I was blowing the pop values at 300 lbs. I should have been able to get that train moving but couldn't.

Any suggestions?

 

[Bill69]

Hi Bluevoss,

Which N&W steam loco is this? Is it a built in loco or one that is on the DLS? Also, 2mph seems a bit slow, what weight are you hauling?

Cheers,
Bill69

 

[Bluevoss]

This is the first of the standard sessions the N&W scenery came with, the Eastbound Coal, Bluefield to Radford. The engine is one of those big articulated monsters the N&W used, no tinkering by me, running as shipped. I'm also at the latest version of the game (2012). The load is about 20-30 loaded 33ft coal hoppers.

 

[philskene]

"Also, does anyone have any problems with exterior shots on this route? On Mojave, I can click outside and look at the steamer from all angles. In the N&W route, the computer hangs for about 20 seconds before giving me any keyboard access. I just don't know if this is a route thing or what?"

It kills my PC too. It's a very demanding route that gives, at least for me, very poor frame rates and stutters.

 

[Puffingbilly]

To open/close the firebox use the numberpad key 1. The I key adds more water depending on how many times you press the key (i.e. the more presses the further you open the injectors). Similarly, pressing the O key shuts off the injectors again dependent on the number of key presses.

Hope this helps

 

[Bluevoss]

It does. Still, now that I'm getting this engine figured out, I still can't make it go with the load it's got.

Anyone run this scenario recently? "Eastbound Coal"? Man, I can't get this thing to move, even on the downhill.

 

[Bluevoss]

Okay, now I've got it. The reverser starts in the full forward position and my understanding of the Johnston bar was backwards. You need to run at a cutoff of about 10% to get this beast to move. Once I had it worked out, I could pull out with no real problems (other than an unexpected grade shot me 10mph over the speed limit and I was off to the races). Okay, more to learn.

Thanks, all, for your help on this.

 

[Bill69]

Hi Bluevoss,

Well that one is built in so I can't change anything. Steam engines with a heavy load should be started off with 75% cutoff but very little regulator until they get moving, then notch the regulator up gradually until you get to about 15mph. When you get to 20mph gradually reduce the cutoff. If it is losing steam pressure open the blower "N" key although this makes the loco use more coal, to close the blower use shift+N. If the wheels are slipping use sanding "V" toggles sanding off and on. With the brakes, 3 on the key pad puts the brakes on, 6 laps the brakes and 9 releases them. If you train is not stopping as quick as you would like 4 on the keypad toggles the loco indpendant brakes which helps a bit.

Note about the regulator, I have found some locos will choke up if the regulator is opened to much to soon.

Cheers,
Bill69

 

[Bluevoss]

Many thanks. I cut&pasted this to my note file I keep for trains. I used to be really good with MSTS steam but have forgotten a lot of it. Loved running those Consolidations all over Donner Pass.

Going to give that coal run another try in a few minutes. Thanks for the info. Should prove invaluable.

BV-

 

[Vern]

Any attempt to go to external view on the Radford route instantly crashes TS12 - even on the best PC. I don't know what assets the route builder stuffed the tiles with but it is not well optimised and kills creaky old Jet stone dead. (Contrast that with Avery to Drexel in TS2010 which is a longer route and runs much better).

As regards Auran/N3V steamers, I would regard any physics or driving technique at best an approximation. Last time I tried driving one of the N&W scenarios the boiler pressure kept on rising infinitely. Firing consists of tapping the spacebar occasionally and now and again letting a bit of water in. It's not that sophisticated and never has been compared to steam traction implementation in the other sims.

 

[Bluevoss]

Funny thing was - I had this problem too. For a while. Blew the pop values across half the line. Then, suddenly pressure dropped, way down to nearly 100lbs. I was pretty concerned and was limping along about 30mph (at best). Managed to play with the cutoff and open the blowers and got the pressure up to 180lbs again (eventually). I don't know what I did, other then maybe overuse the throttle (I'll have to monitor this).

Anyone got some good rules-of-thumb for that cutoff value? It says that running up the value is good for acceleration and hills, but that dosn't seem consistent with what I'm seeing. If it's treated like a "gear" (I know it isn't) then power comes from lower settings, which seems to be what I find.

Also, blew getting into Radford - got caught by that 20mph right under the tower and rattled past them at 27mph. Oh well. I'm sure I'd hear about that (but then again, I'm sure if I was firing big coal, I'd know the route a little more than my two trips across).

External view pretty much locks me up for 20-30 seconds and then eventually comes back. I just don't use it - ever. If I really need to look ahead, I pop up to smokestack view. Mostly, I just hang my head out the window (and pull it in for those bridges - yow!).

 

[nicky9499]

I just hang my head out the window (and pull it in for those bridges - yow!).

I've a small question and don't want to start a thread about it; how do you stick your head out in cabview? In MSTS and RW this is done with SHIFT+2, then the <>^v keys for conductor side, engineer side, look front and look back respectively.

 

[Bill69]

Hi Bluevoss,

These are roughly the settings I use on any large loco. They may not be quite right for the J6b but should not be too far off.


Cut-offs for full throttle operation:
0 - 13mph, 75%;
13 - 20mph, 70%;
20 - 26mph, 65%,
26 - 33mph, 60%;
33 - 39mph, 55%;
39 - 45mph, 50%;
45 - 53mph, 45%,
53 - 63mph, 40%.

Cheers,
Bill69

 

[Bill69]

deleted, double post by mistake

 

[Bill69]

I've a small question and don't want to start a thread about it; how do you stick your head out in cabview? In MSTS and RW this is done with SHIFT+2, then the <>^v keys for conductor side, engineer side, look front and look back respectively.

The best way to get a good view in the cab or out the window is put the line -freeintcam in your trainzoptions,txt file.
You can then move around with the arrow keys and move up or down with the pageUp and pageDown keys.

Cheers,
Bill69

 

[nicky9499]

Yes, I have freeintcam activated, but this is not the same as "head out". While I can move around in the cab, going beyond the cab window shows the "invisible" part of the cab and other parts of the loco, which are almost always very ugly and i end up driving steamers in #2 view all the time.

 

[Bluevoss]

Actually, the easiest way to get your head out of the cab (at least on the N&W articulated) - and this is out of the box, no additions - is to just use the "[" and "]" keys. If you go one way far enough, you'll be head-out on one side (engineer or fireman). There is also a nice "behind the stack" view forward that lets you see what's going on ahead, making up for that exterior view that bogs down so much.