Krashnburne Session 2

Heinrich505

Active member
I'm having some trouble with this one. I run my engine to where the container cars and the flats are dropped off. I back into the siding to couple. Then I let off the brakes and hit D for the brake bail, I even run the sander, and go through the throttle slowly, but I can't make my engine pull the consist off the siding. I'm missing something, I am sure. The ATSF GP has seemingly no problems pulling the consist and dropping it off on the siding, but my engine seems unable to move it.

Yes, brakes are off, and brake flow shows 0 after hitting D, but I'm at a loss on how to get enough momentum to pull off the siding. At position 7 I should be moving well, but no dice. Full throttle gets wheel spin.:eek:

What am I missing?

Heinrich505
 
Well, the dispatcher isn't really happy with me as I requested some helper engines. I slapped two SD9s on the front and finally pulled the consist off the siding. Something is still not right. I am pulling 6 empty container cars and 3 loaded flats with 3 engines and I can only manage 10 mph. Very strange.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. The route is amazing, Phil. Thanks so much. I'm having fun but I'm sure I am missing out on some detail that makes pulling this consist so difficult.

Heinrich505
 
Hi Heinrich --

That does indeed sound very unusual but I don't have that layout and session installed at the moment to see what might be happening.

So a couple of quick questions:
Are you using Cab (Advanced) Mode? I know that some locomotives in DCC (Easy) Mode have far less pulling power.
Are you on a particularly tight curve? This creates far more drag than on easier curves.
Mouse right click + Ctrl on the locomotive. What is the trailing load? Excessive?

Finally, perhaps try making up your own session with a similar configuration to see whether you get the same result.

I check all my sessions before uploading them so I must confess I'm very curious about this.

Phil
 
Hi Phil,
Enjoying this even with the "problem" I'm having.

I'm in cab mode.

The siding is curved, but not excessively. Maybe 60 degrees in the curve. However, the curve is clearly putting a strain on the pulling of the engine. Gradient is 0.00.

Trailing weight - 440. Locomotive weight - 184. Length is 824 feet. Nothing listed as excessive, but I confess that I've no idea what that would look like. The engine is the SD 40-1.

I'm sure it is something I am not doing right, as you always put out quality stuff - It has to be "operator error," but I'm just not aware of what I might be missing.

The two SD9's are even having trouble, and now that I've loaded up the containers, the train is even heavier, but I'm able to get it started from a dead stop with the sander going, moving slowly up to around 5-6 notches on the throttle.

Heinrich505
 
I finally finished Session 2 using the SD45 and two SD7 engines, and it was a brutal excursion. I finished the session at 7:30 ish game time, and put the engines to bed. Crazy stuff. I was exhausted.

Okay, so Phil, I did some playing around with the initial problem. Everything I did took place on the spur where the problem was. This is what I found out.

1. I changed engines to see if that was the problem. I put the ATSF SD45 on the load and it couldn't budge the consist either. I put both engines on the consist and they were crawling at throttle 7, but throttle 8 gave wheel spin. Something is not right.

2. I left the ATSF engine on the consist, but uncoupled the loaded flats with the heavy equipment. The SD45 was barely able to pull the 6 unloaded container cars off the siding, screaming at throttle 8 and the sander going. I deleted two of the empty container cars and now the SD45 was able to pull the consist - mind you they are unloaded empty container cars. This is very odd. I put the SP SD45 on the 4 loaded flats with the equipment and it was able to pull them, albeit with difficulty, but they were slowly moving at throttle 5 or 6. Okay, this still seems odd.

3. Now I deleted all 6 of the container cars that come with the session, and then I re-added them to the game. A single SD45 was able to pull all 6 of the newly added - but same type - empty container cars with ease, quickly moving out with no problems at throttle 2-3 and no sander. Hmmm.

4. Still with a single SD45, I backed the new container cars up and connected to the 4 loaded flats. I managed to get the consist moving but just barely as there was still a problem somewhere, but at least this was progress.

5. I then deleted all 4 flat cars, and re-added the same ones, loading them once more with the same heavy equipment. I then connected the new empty container cars to the new loaded flats. I was able to pull the entire consist with a single SD45, starting out slowly through notch 1 and 2, and then easily pulling the load off the spur by notch 3. I'm mystified.

Do you suppose the container cars and flats were just not playing well with TANE from your original session? Once I deleted and re-added them, things worked just fine. I'm open to suggestions. :confused:

Heinrich505
 
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