I’ve had some derails on Horseshoe Curve and I’m trying to figure out if it’s my technique or just bugs. They’ve happened in different areas but usually under similar circumstances with the following sequence: 1. Heavy trains… for example coal train 7700t on branch line or 10000t on main line. 2. Going down a steep grade. 3. Trying to keep my speed in the 20-25mph range with automatic brake in minimum reduction, train brake bailed off, and using the dynamics to fine tune speed. 5. Notice my speed getting toward the high end (not excessive but higher than I want), so I increase the dynamics to about 4 or higher. Then, all of the sudden there is a bang that seems to come from behind and the trail derails/service fails. It doesn’t happen EVERY time I’m in that situation but it’s happened a few times, on the main line and on the South Fork branch. I use pretty much the exact same technique on the other US freight and haven’t had similar derails. Anyone else?
The dynamic brake is totally wrong on the loco and there is a wider issue with coupler performance on many routes that means even a small amount of back and forth movement can end in derailment. It’s a bad bug situation. As a workaround, I’ve had some luck using the independent brake as a substitute for the dynamic brake and although it’s not quite the same, I believe the result I’m getting with the independent brake is more like how the dynamic brake would act if it wasn’t so badly broken. It’s adding a braking force to the locos but without the resultant bouncing back and forth from the broken dynamics. You do have to tell yourself that you are doing it because the game is broken and not because you would ever use the independent brake like that but it works. I bail off the loco first and then add the independent back in. If it isn’t enough braking force I add a little more train brake too.
Hmm… well that seems like a problem since stretching out and compressing is normal for freight trains so if that causes derails then a lot of freight work will be messed up. Is this a problem on other routers? I’ve only experienced it on HSC but come to think about it I haven’t played any of the others since any of the more recent updates.
People have had the same problem repeatedly on Sand Patch and I have had one derail there on the one drive I’ve tried since the update that broke the coupler behaviour. I’ve not had issues on Sherman Hill, Clinchfield or Cane Creek on the few runs I’ve done in those routes. There has been a patch to try and fix it but it didn’t seem to work well enough and it was only a change to the coupler behaviour, the dynamic brakes won’t have been touched and I think they are the major culprit here.
