Hello everyone, In the scenario called "Leapfrogging" in Schnellfarstrecke Kassel Würzburg, during the first stop where you have to wait for the ICE train to pass, with a automobile carrying freight train with 28 wagons pulled by a BR 185, I found it impossible to get moving again. In this video: you can see him move off after 21:40, albeit with some struggle. I tried everything, sanding, every combination of throttle and rate of applying it(starting very slow then upping it, starting from half-way, going to half-way in a moderate pace, going to half-way very slowly) but no matter what I do I get either a locomotive doing a crazy wheel burnout or a locomotive that doesn't move at all, not even at 0.1 km/h. I didn't have any issues with moving off in the beginning of the scenario. Since I started learning TSW3 with the 8F steam locomotive, I thought I was used to how to make a train move without spinny wheels, but this BR 185 is just another level of madness so I thought it's just a bug. Also why is the sander button always returning to middle in this locomotive? In most trains it's not spring loaded and is either open or close. In BR 185 there's not even a way to understand if it's sanding or not. Anyways I cut the train in half(surprisingly game didn't fail me for it) and finally could move again, but then... Somehow I started losing traction in the middle of a tunnel(I was already going at 100 km/h, not a matter of moving off) and the train gradually came to a stop(no emergency brakes, no PZB, no crazy upwards gradient, it literally couldn't pull the load in perfect level surface) again. So for some reason, it got less powerful compared to a mere few minutes ago. Maybe they reduced the voltage to the rail lines because of the energy crisis, huh? Anyways, I completely decoupled everything from the locomotive and started moving off as a single unit, as that was the only way of getting any motion and to get out of the tunnel. But I didn't complete the scenario because I want to do it properly, not as a single locomotive. What's happening here? If I reinstall the game, will all of my achievements etc be reset? And, is this a bug that can be remedied by reinstalling? Or is there a secret "become more powerful/go faster" switch in BR 185 that I've missed? Note that I was not using PZB or AFB, I was going completely manually according to signals.
I’ve had this struggle. taking the brakes off it seems to take an age to get the train moving again but it will eventually get going. I can only assume that although the brake gauges read as fully released, the back of the train is just taking time to release. Interestingly even with the slow starts, the scenario plays out within the intended time scale.
It’s unfortunately a bug which has to do with the AFB under LZB. If you stop so close to a red signal with LZB engaged, AFB will command a high brake setting, no matter what your brake leavers are set to. Due to the way the brakes of the wagons and on the 185 are modelled, they tend to overcharge and get stuck. The only way to get yourself out of this situation is to go out and vent each brake of each wagon (at least the first few, as it is worse in the front of the train). The only realisable way not to get into this situation is unfortunately to switch AFB off when you approach an LZB stop.
This one is touchy because of the weather conditions; but I suspect that the answer to your problem lies in the brake release switch (beside the sander). This didn't do anything in earlier loco models, but in the SKW 185, it's necessary to vent the last couple of pounds of pressure in the brake cylinder before you can move in suboptimal conditions- check the gauge and make sure it's zero! Also, this is a fairly long train by German standards, so you should give it a bit of time for the brakes to release all the way to the back (the gauge only tells you the locomotive's cylinder pressure). Also, don't forget that moderate wheelslip is designed into the locomotive- if you get the squiggly red lines but you are still steadily accelerating, you're good. I found in this scenario that you should bring the throttle up to 50%, then bump it up in minimum increments until the train starts to move, then stop- never above 55, then you'll lose it. ---------------------------- I ran under LZB/AFB all the way and never had a brake lockup problem (G/P setup); the AFB parking-brakes came off as they should, save the last little bit covered by the release.
Interesting, happened to me a couple of times, even with the overcharge. But it’s true, you can try to unlock by overcharging, which would be done automatically in the real loco…
I'm just convinced that the BR 185 in this game is just a bugged mess, it surely can't be working this way in real life.Another error I got with the brakes in another scenario(Next Day Delivery), is that they lock up and only way to make them release is the brake release button on the panel, but the only way to keep them that way is to keep that button pressed... As soon as you let it go, brake cylinders get filled with pressure again and they get locked up. LZB/PZB turned off, so is the AFB. Some people suggested that it might have been related to the settings of the shunting mode or the braking mode selector, but I've already gone through all of them. Everything in this loco is just damn hard and counterintuitive, with no documentation and guidance. I still couldn't figure out how to switch driving sides, which is, needless to say, extremely easy in both G6 shunt and Class 66. And don't get me started how after (non-PZB related) emergency braking it sometimes just doesn't move at all. Or maybe they're really this way in real life too and I'm just too stupid to understand the superior German design language and should stick to my sooty loud Class 66s. But seriously though, we could benefit A LOT if trainsim had accurate and long operating manuals like flightsim, why doesn't it? The manuals provided with the game are just "startup checklists" as far as the trains go, rest is about signaling.
How do you vent them? As in cool them off? I didn't know you could do that in game. Other than decoupling, no prompt to do anything next to the wagons or the locomotive come up for me.
On each car you will find three levers. One to change the brake mode, one to disable the brake and one to vent the command reservoir. Sorry, don’t have the possibility to make a screenshot right now, but you will find them, they are always in close proximity to each other. Once you have vented the command reservoir, it will fill again to the BP pressure and gets unstuck…
I tried "Leapfrogging" just now, then found this thread, and while I had no issue with the scenario, it wasn't exactly easy. I had AFB and all three safety systems on. The snow and the 28-long consist meant every time LZB bought me to a stop, I would be waiting about 70 seconds for the brakes to release enough for me to go. I learned that if I used less than 47% throttle, I wouldn't move, and if I used more than 55% throttle, I would slip. I kept it at 50% all the time, and while the train struggled on the steep uphill sections (I would get down to like 85km/h at one point!), it would make up the speed on the downhill sections. On these steep uphill sections, using more than 60% throttle would cause wheelslip. When going downhill, AFB was braking my train (although I was scared of wheelslip everytime - didn't want to SPAD! Luckily that never happened, but I still braked manually using only step 1A of train brake and up to maximum electric brake where required when LZB said "G").
