Steam pressure slow to build?

[Xenithar]

I am trying the TRS19 two-week trial. I vowed not to buy another game in the series until I could get a working steam loco that I liked without it building so much steam in seconds that the boiler would be found two counties over. With that said, the steam tutorial had the loco constantly hissing. Clearly I completed said tutorial because N3V doesn't model explosions in the game, but it was painful on my ears. Disappointing that this issue has existed for eight or more years.

Now I am trying The Cornish Mainline. This route appears to work at first glance. I can build pressure while in the yard and then use it without crossing 200psi and blowing the emergencies. The issue is that this route has some very long, steep grades. I keep running out of steam pulling the grades. This requires me to stop, wait for it to build, then continue. I can believe this scenario and apparently I need to learn about the loco used in the route. I know that above 200psi blows the emergencies and below 100psi the train grinds to a halt. I keep the coal at 100% and water between 60% and 75%. When running down the line the blower is full. I shovel coal and then close the doors since that appears to help build pressure. The issue is that I cannot build pressure fast enough.

I pull the grades at full forward reverser and 100% throttle. I am assuming that this is the issue, but the other issue is building speed prior to the grade. Coming out of the yard is only 10mph and then you go a short distance before pulling the grade. Not much track to build speed so it is slow-going the entire time.

So, is this normal or am I just not attuned to foreign locos? I prefer the 611 (my great-grandfather worked on the N&W) and of course 4014!

 

[RHKluckhohn]

I have recently been playing with tuning boilers in British locos on my own little Titfield route and have done some driving on the Cornish Mainline.

You may have to go into the loco config file(s) and play around to get the results you need; many e-specs are out of date. I found the following wiki document a great help: http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/HowTo/Tune_a_Steam_Locomotive_Enginespec . Study it carefully. It's a complex subject.

That said, driving a teakettle is an art, not a science. One has to listen to the engine - not easy when the safety is blowing continuously. One needs the blower mainly when operating at low speeds. And beware the difference between the blower ("N" key) and the blow-down which a number of steamers have as an operating cab device. The blow-down is just that - it empties the boiler.

For a successful current e-spec see the built-in <kuid2:116296:262490:5> GWR 2251 class Collett Goods, which operates well out of the bag. It might give you some ideas.

Coal quality is a factor: Most British locos use a higher heat factor than, say, the QR PB-15, reflecting the difference between Welsh and Ozzie steaming coal.

Throttle opening when starting is touchy. I find 15% too high for the 1400-class, for example. 5% will get you rolling on the flat, 15% will drop boiler pressure by a third very often. If starting against the brakes, use 5% until the slack is drawn out.

There's so much to play with!

:B~)

 

[Xenithar]

Thanks, but I can't get the thing to run properly now. I thought TRS2019 was released, not in beta. I have two weeks to decide whether or not I want to purchase the game, and thus far I have only been able to run that one route. If I try to download ANY other route it gives me an error about something being at an unexpected version. Now a lot of routes are showing me duplicate sessions, things keep trying to update and all will fail with an error about something being an unexpected version, there is no quick-drive so I cannot play with the dozens of locos since they're not used apparently, and so much more. It isn't my PC (i7-6950X, 128GB DDR4, RTX 2080 Ti, Ae5, NVME M.s 2280, etc) because while I was in the game it was smooth and responsive. Heck, I play Ark at 60fps on this in 1440p with above max settings via tweaks! The issue is so much missing or broken.

Currently I have spent three days now trying to update, but the content manager no longer does that so I cannot update the old way and the new one just errors out every time about the version mismatch. Heck I can select a loco for quick-drive but there are no quick-drive sessions now. What the heck?

Well, I do run nine dedicated Ark servers and the Christmas event is on. Guess I'll go play with my friends for a bit. Maybe the update will work tomorrow.

 

[clam1952]

Need to look also at what the loco is pulling, there are a few wagons and carriages around that have an excessively high mass, as in way too heavy and any loco will have difficulty, pretty sure there was a couple on that Cornwall route in one of the consists and I thing there was an engine spec on one of the locos that was as much use as a chocolate tea pot, I changed it, sorry can't remember what to! pretty sure there was a thread on here about it though.

One or two locos with naff especs work better if you leave the firebox door open and forget the blower! illogical I know. Like real locos Trainz ones all have their differences and how well they work depends on the espec and how well it was made. Safeties blowing in real life can be somewhat painful to the ears if you happen to be standing next to a loco.

 

[Xenithar]

Better to have some ringing in your ears (or hissing) than to be blow halfway across the county! But yes, I cannot get most steam locos to work without building up into the thousands of PSI of pressure and I cannot stand the hiss. Due to the many bugs and difficulty I am having with 2019 I will be passing it up. Hey, it's been eight years of this non-working steam loco mess. Maybe in another eight I can drive one if I'm not dead! Actually, I have a better chance of joining a historic railroad group and operating a real one.

 

[RHKluckhohn]

Well, sorry, I can't speak to 19 -- don't have it, don't really want it.

As mentioned in my last, the wiki article and a little playing on my T:ANE SP4 test route was very helpful both to tuning the boilers and honing my driving skills.

The engines popping their safeties under way probably all have their boiler-efficiencies set too high. Trim them back 25% and see what happens. There are three different tags to adjust -- see the wiki.

:B~)

 

[clam1952]

Currently I have spent three days now trying to update, but the content manager no longer does that so I cannot update the old way and the new one just errors out every time about the version mismatch. Heck I can select a loco for quick-drive but there are no quick-drive sessions now. What the heck?

Missed this bit, when you get the version mismatch error click cancel, the update option will clear as it's actually been installed, known bug that's been around ever since the content store appeared and is on the list for fixing.

Quick drive? you use the new method as it's now the unified surveyor driver thing, click the icon with the spanner and you can change from surveyor to driver instantly, no loading, click P to unpause, and you do the same to revert to surveyor but click surveyor, again it's instant.

 

[Xenithar]

Well, sorry, I can't speak to 19 -- don't have it, don't really want it.

As mentioned in my last, the wiki article and a little playing on my T:ANE SP4 test route was very helpful both to tuning the boilers and honing my driving skills.

The engines popping their safeties under way probably all have their boiler-efficiencies set too high. Trim them back 25% and see what happens. There are three different tags to adjust -- see the wiki.

:B~)

I gave up on T:ANE a while ago. Steam was only one reason. I am of the mindset that if I buy a game it should work with the out of the box content. My indie games (Ark, Frostpunk, Raft, etc) all work great even if they are not optimized or even out of beta.

Missed this bit, when you get the version mismatch error click cancel, the update option will clear as it's actually been installed, known bug that's been around ever since the content store appeared and is on the list for fixing.

Quick drive? you use the new method as it's now the unified surveyor driver thing, click the icon with the spanner and you can change from surveyor to driver instantly, no loading, click P to unpause, and you do the same to revert to surveyor but click surveyor, again it's instant.

Yes I know this. However, when I save a session and go in to play it I get a white screen with the message "No train selected" in the lower-right. I can see my engineer assigned to the train in the list, but it says "No location specified" for him, despite saying he is assigned to the train in surveyor. This is a mess. I created sessions in the past. I updated in the past. Never had issues.

Also, I cannot download stuff I do not even have yet. That stuff says unexpected version also. Like, I can choose ANY route I do not have yet, hit download, it downloads, then errors. It isn't just built-in stuff. This reminds me of beta software, not a product which should be released unless it is released as early access.