Ahoy there. I picked up the Arosalinie in the sale today and I’m quite fond of it. I’m usually only interested in UK routes but this route seemed sweet and so far I’ve been enjoying it. I’m after some advice on northbound running downhill. Is it better to sit on the vacuum brakes or is there a better way to descend? Thanks in advance!
I like this route as well. It looked really rough at launch and still has some ugly scenery when looking in certain directions, but I was happy when Rivet kept going back to it multiple times to improve it. When going downhill I forget what the control is called, but you can turn that big wheel into the negative direction. At a -6% grade I think I have it set around -58 or so and it will usually keep it's speed quite nicely. I do use the vacuum brakes when coming into stations though.
Usually I have the tap changer/steering wheel thing (I forget the correct term for this) around 67-70% braking on those really steep grades, and it holds speed really well. I tend to only use the vacuums for slowing down a lot and/or for stopping. Not sure if that’s the correct way or not, so I’m happy to be enlightened as well.
Don't touch the friction brakes except to stop. Those Ge 4/4s were built with insanely powerful dynamic brakes, expressly for the purpose of descending a 6% grade. As Steve says, 60-odd percent dynamics will do you.
What I do is use 35% vacuum brakes permanently and then adjust the speed with the dynamic brake in the control wheel. IIRC in one of the release streams they explained that using both vacuum and dynamic brakes is the way to go in real life. If you only use vacuum brakes they will heat up and wear down very fast, and can stop working if the temperature raises too much. If you use only the dynamic brake it will overheat the resistances making them wear down very fast and might even cause a malfunction. None of the above is simulated in the game, so you can drive the way you want without problems. It is just info in case you want to simulate what is done IRL.
The problem with having the vacuum brake set is that there are sections of the line that level out, and the vacuums don't release fast enough to avoid coming practically to a stop.
As the fore posters stated already: Use the dynamic brakes by negative setting of the tap wheel. They´re almighty. I have a suspicion that friction brakes would catch fire in no time if they were used permanently downhill IRL (which isn´t animated in the sim, but still ...).
Agreed. It is more difficult to try to drive realistically and use both brakes, but the game does not force you to do it since equipment damage or malfunction is not simulated in the game.
Sorry no, that is pure bs. The Ge 4/4 II were built in 1973/1984. Arosaline was only changed to AC-OHLE in 1997. When the Ge 4/4 II were built, no one was thinking, they would ever run on the Arosaline. When the Ge 4/4 II were still running regularly on the Arosaline, the RhB always had to do some adaptions (like removing temporarily some dampers), to reduce the wear on this line. The Ge 4/4 II were built for all kinds of services (freight and express trains) on the Stammnetz of the RhB, but none of those routes has nearly the same profile than the Arosaline. Irl the drivers need to use the vacuum brakes to lengthen the train, because else there is a risk, that the last coaches push to much on the front ones, and then those would derail in the curves. So, a combination of both brakes is prototyical. But physics on this route are still really bad, so it is nearly impossible to play realistically. A pity, that so much has been done wrong on this route.
Ugh, THAT unreal, hum? I didn´t know and thanks for clarification. Despite the atrocious carriage sounds and the long distance scenery, I pretty much enjoyed this route for being totally out of the box. What a pity, indeed.
I think the route can still be fun to drive for what it is. It’s still pretty challenging to keep control down the grades + it’s a lot different than anything else we have. I’ve been mixing this into my sessions at least once a week as of late.
I've just been using only dynamic thinking this was the right way to do it, so I've learnt something here so thanks everyone. Whilst the physics may indeed be wrong on this line and then long distance mountaind and tree can look terrible depending on conditions I have a fun and enjoyable time on this line and ultimately that's all that really matters. Weve nothing else even close to being similar in TSW and variety is the spice of life.
