Because all of the Saluda route threads are locked... My thoughts on the route so far. These are objective things that I have found wrong with the route that are absolutely not being nit-picky and are not hard fixes: The signal flares on some signals are larger than the actual signal lens, and clip through the signal hood At Melrose, the timing section only has a single sign that marks the end of the section where the beginning should be, and no proper sign where the actual end of the timing section is The plow on the SD40 is significantly misshapen, the front sticks out too far and the top cutout for the coupler box is too wide The speed limit on the grade between Saluda and Melrose should be 8MPH The horn being modelled on the SD40s is a 3-chime, when both the southern and the N&W used 5 chime horns (the sound in-game is also of a 5-chime) Things that require a little more effort to fix, but should still be fixed for a proper realistic gameplay experience: The dynamic brake goes straight from off to notch 1, and is notched There is a significant texturing error in the external view cab interior of the high hood SD40 The NW SD40 only has a single control stand in the low hood forward position, when the NW SD40s had dual control stands for both directions The GP35 radiator fan shutters have a broken animation that make them loop endlessly The NW SD40 has no radiator shutters at all Things that are being nit picky that would be nice to have represented, but not essential: Having a proper NS robot car for the helper units An operational timing circuit with the runaway track The Eng Run/Gen Field/Fuel Pump switches on the control stand are in the down position and aren’t moveable (they should be on for the locomotive to run irl) I'm not sure of DTGs selection process of what constitutes a "TS Pro" addon, but it is definitely in need of a re-evaluation if this route is considered "Pro". The dynamic brakes don't even work remotely how they do IRL, on a route that's primarily focused on managing steep grades... I feel like TS Pro fits stuff like the SLS AC44, the Smokebox steam locomotives, but definitely not something that has serious non-realistic flaws in the operation of it. As for the good, I appreciate an "official" Saluda route. The workshop ones are good, but they lack the custom assets and dedicated rolling stock and scenarios. The operations of the route are really unique too, and I feel like there was a fair attempt at recreating them on the route, albeit they fell a little flat in execution. It's nice to have some newly made high hood and N&W SD40s as well, and I appreciate the fact that they're just not recycled assets, as they very well could have been.
Pro add-ons? Their features? Obviously accurate dimensions and proper proportions, high quality modeling, texturing, high fidelity physics, operations and sounds, true to the prototype but not overwhelmingly complex or difficult. Personally, I don't care for start up sequences, but these can be scripted to a shortcut key. Depending on what you want, whether you live completely in the cab or take an occasional outside view you'll have different demands. I.e. moving brake cylinders and brake shoes gripping the wheel treads are nice, but invisible if you stay in the cab. Then you want realistic controls, switches that 'click', handles and levers that 'clunck' and just the right amount of delay between your action and the locomotive's response, no amp meters jumping on moving up a notch for instance. Wiper levers that move, and you can move yourself to get that wiper blade out of the way, smaller rain drop textures wouldn't go amiss either .... Windows and doors that open and have the sound change with them, cab occlusion and muffled horns ... Rear view mirrors/transparent wind breakers you can fold back ... Sun shades you can move ... Radio's and DPU control boxes, display screens with meaningful information For the outside reversing and brake gear that moves brake hoses and m.u. cables that connect drop steps that drop and safety chains that open and close radiator shutters that move according to engine load simulating temperature radiator fans that spin when the engine is on and stand still when it is shut down, dynamic brake fans that spin when the grids need cooling dynamic exhaust and sanding particles All of this can be modeled, animated and scripted. So to stay within a reasonable price range, uncouple rolling stock from the route itself and make these available separately.
I was thinking, I feel like at the very least a Pro addon should be able to be run without saying the words "this is how its supposed to be run, but it doesn't work like that in-game". Currently, you can't even properly hill start a train on Saluda because the independent brake stops you from generating any amps.
The HUD still works fine. That's just a standard comment that DTG put for all Pro Range DLC and originated from the fact that some (not all) Pro Range locos don't support the use of the HUD. My own (Smokebox) locos DO support the HUD. Hopefully the explanation of what is and isn't included in Pro Range DLC will be revised and updated so as to avoid misunderstandings in future.
Exactly, nobody would have made such a fuss if the promo blurb wasn't so hyperbolic exaggerating everything pre-release and the defensive stance of those staunch fanbois. So not is all lost then? Hoping for a Southern retro pack and some proper Southern freight cars and caboose. Otherwise that crew is probably already off to the next all singing and dancing DLC, with the Rathole an obvious candidate when the Southern theme is further perused. Bring on those SD24's and H24-66 TrainMasters. Fire and forget, rinse and repeat, this needs to come to an end.
Bought this and enjoying the detailed graphics. Currently graphing map of route. I am no expert train driver or expert simulator operator. I am not unsatisfied. guess I am just gullable. Map can be found here on my site: https://sites.google.com/view/trainsimulatorcontent/na-routes/saluda-grade
This plus a handful of various issues with the rolling stock included have made me hesitant on purchasing the route. What I've seen in various reviews indicates to me that this isn't close to TS Pro range quality that I've came to expect over the years from addons in the TS Pro range, especially with the locomotives lacking scripting in the traction/power region. Even if the locomotives aren't the most accurate I'm sure having scripted traction power would alleviate some issues that community members bring up. If anyone would like a stopgap fix for the brakes cutting out the power; Open up the engine sim blueprint and make sure the value for "CylinderPressureForBrakeToCutPower" is set to 0. Many creators seem to forget this and leave it at the default value of 30. US locomotives don't have this feature. It seems to be a uniquely European thing.
Do that and find the engine simulation blueprint is copied from the SD45-2, and indeed has the 30Psi as cutout value .... ... and a MaxPower of 3600 HP ... and possibly other inaccuracies in the TE/dynbrake/throttle vs speed curves etc. Removing the 30Psi allows you to 'hill start' a train against the independent while the train line charges and the car brakes release. So best wait for a knowledgeable person providing a patch. Best keep an eye out for patches on the current most active site providing these: https://www.trainsimcommunity.com/search?query=saluda There used to be FanRailer and a few others patching DLC, but it seems they have all been driven away from RWA which used to be the community for all things Railworks USA
Thanks for your efforts. Very informative and useful. Since the tracks are gone, there is no OpenRailMap and likewise data on speed limits. Since Saluda is curvy and hilly, the average train speed should be low since it is poor train handling to chase the speed limit with freight trains. The only NS employee timetable I found on the net which still has this subdivision is not so clear about Hp/Ton and other parameters.
"There used to be FanRailer and a few others patching DLC, but it seems they have all been driven away from RWA which used to be the community for all things Railworks USA" Totally untrue.
IIRC FanRailer has moved away from TSC content in recent years, back then he was one of the few notable people who regularly made physics EPs for US content. Since about 2017 or so more people have been making their own websites to host their own content so that could explain why less people send their own content there. Either way it's best to keep our eyes peeled for potential enhancements or even an official patch to correct the engine blueprints. I should also mention for those who might be interested in making physics EPs for the locomotives. I have a library of documents that cover various aspects of the locomotives such as the traction motors, generators/alternators, motor transitions and field shunts. Feel free to ask me for any of these and I'll see what I have available.
When it comes to those Southern EMD SD40-2's, what was their gearing, total weight, were they ballasted/modified since purchase? Traction curves, extended dynamic braking power curves? There is lots of information and locomotive manuals on the internet, but given the Southern's requirements, they perhaps ordered custom models from EMD, high hoods, Locotrol and all? http://southern/railfan.net has lots of info, but those manuals, track charts and other more detailed information usually has to be bought from a historical society (http://srha.net) or acquired off eBay (which the dev's should have done in their research into the prototype) And then this data and probably more needs to be correctly re-calculated from Imperial to Metric or whatever unit the blueprint requires, translated/interpreted into the diverse blueprints ... ... and there is still the freight cars and couplers parameters since it seems this is copy-pasted as usual ... and then a player finds the stock scenarios cannot be completed anymore and any career scenarios won't play at all due to the different characteristics and timings of scripted events. PS: FanRailer has a FB frontpage: https://www.facebook.com/FanRailerMODS/ and a website here:https://www.nyctarailfan.com/frtscmodifications , but there doesn't seem to be any compatible SD40-2 modifications
the correct link above should be http://southern.railfan.net, but the site's editor doesn't allow me to change the message. LOL, browsing that website's photo collection gave me this: a Hogshead tobacco car: http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/freight/tob/sou9799.jpg those distinctive high capacity woodchip hoppers: http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/freight/wood/134697.jpg equally large woodchip gondola (not equipped for rotary dumping I suppose) http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/freight/wood/139767.jpg and finally those distinctive and innovative 'SilverSide' aluminum (sp?) coal gondolas: https://appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/arm2/wp-content/uploads/sousilversideharpe.jpg http://web4.hobbylinc.com/gr/fvm/fvm30409.jpg (no prototype photos yet) but a drawing and scale model Southern really was an innovative railroad. PS: that appalachianrailroadmodeling website has excellent photos of H0 scale models, super detailed to a standard that surpasses our models composed of bits and bytes. All in all, Southern seems to me a 'fallen flag' well worth exploring and to model in virtual scale.
Most of the items Southern specified their SD40-2's with were options all purchasers could choose. 3288-3312 Had Locotrol® controller equipment. While 3313 – 3328 also had Locotrol®, they were units meant to be controlled from the controller units. I don't know if the locomotives were ballasted though, might be likely. Items like tractive effort and dynamic braking curves can be found within various service manuals. Even with that it always helps to have engineers and mechanics to consult with.
I thought Southern only had Locotrol 'masters' and had all the 'slave' equipment in those receiver boxcars coupled to the DPU lash-up by normal m.u. cables in order to be more flexible, and before the advance of EOTD also a caboose to give end-of-train readouts of movement and brake pipe pressure by radio. Given the specialty of this operation perhaps even until the 'end of the line' when the whole of Saluda was closed or those super heavy coal trains got re-routed or cancelled all together? Bringing those 13000 tons unit coal trains safely down the grade was a complicated operation as testified by that official training video. Found this about SR implementation of Locotrol https://ncrails.com/sr-locotrol-exclusive/ and https://ncrails.com/sr-sd40-2-data/
I'm surprised no aluminum coal hoppers were included, I believe those were a common sight on the route due to them being lighter than the standard Pullman Standard 4000 100 ton coal hopper included with the route. Check out this video I found:
From what I know about the earliest renditions of Locotrol, the electrical equipment required for converting radio messages sent by the controller units into commands sent to the controlled units required an enormous computer to do so, which couldn't be mounted in the locomotive. Thus the 'robot cars' were created. Side note: Canadian Pacific actually invented Locotrol itself! I didn't know this until fairly recently. https://yourrailwaypictures.com/Robotcar/ https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,2091242
From a nice Flickr photostream: https://flic.kr/p/2iywdDC; https://flic.kr/p/2ixNzxL and there are other photos with locomotives available in the game. Those SD24's however will be quite the modeling challenge: https://flic.kr/p/2iyaEyF difficult to insert photos from this service without down- and uploading them over your PC?
I use the copy and paste image function in my browser. Though for cases like Flickr I find it nicer to link the original post too.
Sadly, I feel like if and when HIS does do a Southern Retro Pack for this route, none of the unique Southern Stock will be included
Going off of the past track record of the retro packs that's a possibility. We'll still have to wait and see though.
doubtful, since the return on investment is ???? People tend to buy locomotives, not some tobacco hogsheads or silversides. Given the size and affluency of the USA player base it is somewhat disappointing virtual scale railroading (as opposed to 'playing with trains') hasn't flourished and the market is served with content of such difference qualities. Though Run8 is a quite serious simulation, it perhaps lacks a gameplay element apart from the Vern-o-meter? I was and am always amazed over the professionalism of model railroading in the USA, even though that hobby has gotten very expensive and probably fallen out of favour with today's 'konsole kiddies', unless grandpa has a nice model layout in the basement or the kid is introduced into a model railroading club or something like that and gets interested and involved. https://steamdb.info/developer/High+Iron+Simulations/ how to make sense of this? the only thing I find indicative is the frequency of discounted sales, in which HIS' content very often features. The ratings though, what to make of those .... I hardly ever buy scenario packs unless seriously discounted, Quick Drive and the Workshop/ATS and other sources for UK content fulfill my needs and you often get actual workings to play back. Are those columns of 'followers - online - peak ' live and actually updated or do these statistics not work for DLC?
A nice headlight patch has already arrived: https://www.trainsimcommunity.com/m...828-headlight-enhancement-for-sd40-2-and-gp35 A signals patch: https://switchpointsimulations.weebly.com/route-enhancements.html ... and according to Schnauz, more updates coming that might make the route part of this DLC more worthwhile: apparently Searchlight is involved in this and perhaps a new updated SD40-2 might appear?
Looks like the B&O received fantastic reviews. The scenario packs always suffered from players not reading the description. Players expect to buy it and to work. Like when you buy some headphones and take it back, angry, that there is no music. (Without a phone, or computer, or...) Since the inception of these packs I keep recommending to hard bundle these packs with their requirements (complete my collection style), but nah. Must farm downvotes. Also, some Elphaba scenarios tend to have minimalistic AI, arguably for performance reasons. Not sure about these. Last, but not least, the purpose of these packs is a bit questionable for some, these are merely payware workshop scenarios offering career points to those who care. Completely optional. I guess this is how some people fall in the trap and think that it gives locos. While I agree, I very much enjoy when a loco DLC supplies interesting wagons. It's all relative of course, but the UP GP30 / DD35 packs bring some nice alternatives. Using pure wagon packs is a hit and miss with the dysfunctional consist builder. I plopped a few down in free roams and enjoyed to tow them for 20 minutes, but that's all that happened. Supposedly they are used in some scenario pack.
I don't think the LH SD40-2s modeled for this route even have the right trucks. The ones in game are flexicoils, but from what I seem to be finding on both railroad picture archives and trainiax, they should be HTCs... NS #6197 in game 6197 in real life, with the HTC trucks In trainiax as NW spec. (You can see the HTC trucks, battery box design, and Nathan P5 or RS5T horn, not sure exactly). Honestly, I don't mind DTM/HIS's issues with whether the textures are off, nuclear headlight flares or autotuned 16-567D3As, those can be patched by the community (whether the community should have to come in and have to patch these issues to make them more accurate is another discussion). What bothers me most is the blatant lack of research that went to creating these locomotives. If these locomotives are to be "pro-range," they don't need to be searchlight level detailed, or even diesel workshop level, but at least have most of the important details in line, and represent the specific series and phase of the locomotive model in question. To me it's almost like they didn't even look at a picture of these locomotives in real life when modeling, or did a generic search of "NS SD40-2" and referenced the ex-CR units, which do have RS3Ls and Flexicoil trucks. I don't know what the roster assignments were at Saluda Grade, but it seems HIS, intending to make ex-N&W SD40-2s (based on numbering) they researched the wrong spec. TLDR: They have lots of resources at their disposal (railroad picture archives, trainiax, other Norfolk Southern fan sites) to model how these locomotives looked in real-life, but they didn't bother to check before release. Also, that "pre-release moaning" people complain about is actually an attempt to point out details that might've been overlooked and should be addressed before release. These are payware locomotives, representing a specific number series and phase of the SD40-2 model, not freeware repaints of the Kuju SD40-2. To care about model accuracy and details is rivet counting, I suppose... As for a truck swap for these units, I don't think it's even worth the trouble...
Also for “all new models” they seemed to have reused a lot of parts and physics from older models, notably the SD45-2…
If it were farther back, you wouldn't be able to see the brake gauges properly. The game doesn't have a "lean forwards and look to the left" function.
At the top of this page: https://switchpointsimulations.weebly.com/locomotives.html you will find the repaints/mods Schnauz' referred to in his video. Now, these repaints/mods are based on Searchlight's ex-Conrail low nose model. The kitbashed high hood units therefore aren't correct representations of Southern's or Norfolk & Western/Norfolk Southern locomotives either, most notably the trucks are incorrect and the cab is patched and short hood leading obviously. But they do look reasonable well with correct horns and bells and sound the part, those horns are just awesome! About the prototypes: https://ncrails.com/sr-nw-sd40-2-phases/ https://ncrails.com/sr-sd40-2-data/ and just admire those super detailed plastic H0 scale models (which, to be honest, can cost up to $400-500 perhaps even more and require hours of filigrane work). Not to mention brass models in the 4 figure price range. Still, virtual scale modeling should allow for the same prototype fidelity at a fraction of the cost and effort, shouldn't it? About the DTM effort, yes, it is copy-pasted-kitbashed from his previous efforts, and still has many faults. Proper research into the prototype is time consuming, buying prints, photos, drawings can be expensive. And then which series and phase to model, since are many prototype locomotives came in their many different 'phases' over their sales period, were rebuilt, modernised etc over their service life. When the physics are also plain copied from the more powerful SD45-2? That's is a big boo-boo of course. About the colour 'black', it is not very photogenic in its RGB pure black form. I think the faded black and slightly weathered appearance of the DTM models more pleasing than the almost pitch black of SSI's., but this it spoiled a bit by the edge enhancement, and lack of depth in the trucks. I also like how the decals covering the engine hood sides are cut between the doors instead of 'glued over' them, as in most repaints where letters just stretch over door jambs etc etc. The unrealistic safety tread on the walkways can be toned down by subtle repainting, the headlights, class lights and numberboard lights (does it come with steplights, walkway lights and truck lights even) can all be changed by repainting the flare textures and 'tinting' the light emitters. Prime mover, horn and bell sounds can be modded, and for the very intrepid, 'super detals' can be added as child objects, just like in the SSI models. About the DTM cab, from the comments in Schnauz's stream I've learned Southern had the single control stand at a slightly different location and angle ('bi-directional' perhaps?) compared to a stock short hood forwards configuration. Perhaps also because otherwise the control stand would foul the electrical cabinet doors and hatches on the long hood's inner bulkhead? A dual control stand cab would be even more cramped, but AFAIK, this is not modeled in the DTM high hood ex-N&W unit? Also, when you look at the training video, the engineer is seated with his back to the window, looking almost straight at the controls and had to turn his head far to the right to be able to look out along the leading long hood. On descending Saluda at 8 MpH he would probably be more occupied with train handling and operating the Locotrol than looking for any person, car, deer, bear or whatever in the tracks. My guess is DTM just copied the standard swivel stool/seat in the standard position and put the engineer figure on it, making it not matching up with the player's 'head', as the cabcamera.bin has this point of view forwards by about 40 cm to be able to see the brake dials as Mr Rennie explained. The GP35 might perhaps also suffer from this small discrepancy. Whether the control stands as a whole are in the correct position relative to the point of view is unclear until we find a clear and measure drawing of the cab's layout. This is a 2007 photo of NS 3304, an ex-Southern SD40-2, which shows the radios, Locotrol, slow speed controls and what else more stacked atop the control stand and a more comfortable cushioned swiveling seat with armrests. Working full shifts in a noisy, hot and vibrating high hood forwards locomotive is not for the claustrofobic and from the forum's crews started to hate them with a vengeance. Perhaps SSI can be persuaded to create proper high short hood LHF Southern and N&W locomotives? The Saluda route by itself is 4 out of 5, save for the missing timer circuit and perhaps can use some vegetation swapped for more 'southern' kinds. The rolling stock 2 or 3, depending on how much leeway you want to give this developer and the manager under whose name this DLC is in your Assets folder. Since all the RWA fanbois in this thread must have bought and played the DLC by now, it will be very interesting to hear their detailed and unbiased reviews to compare with Schnauz's? Here is another video review: , because Schnauz' lingo and humour aren't to everybody's taste Notably, there also is a Saluda in TRS19 and many JR locomotives to run over it. Must fire up my TRS19 and freshen up on that game for a change
I don't have much of a problem with reusing bits of other locomotives, my main problem is that they were advertising as "all new locomotives" when they're not. However, a bunch of incorrect parts were used, such as the trucks and horn. At that point, it's not "using the same parts the manufacturer did," it's "use these parts because we've already made them and can get this out in less time with less work." Personally I think the physics being copied from a different loco with different specs straight up removes eligibility from the "Pro Line" for this DLC. For crying out loud, they supplied the SD40-2 with 3,600 HP!
The primary reason I never entertained porting the Southern SD40-2 or doing proper N&W orders is for the last 5 years we haven't had an enjoyable NS route to even run them on. A big secondary is the dual control stands in the N&Ws. The other thing to consider for our level of simulation would be how in the heck do we simulate locotrol properly where you can tell the DP consist what to do seperately.. Easy to do visually/aurally with notch control, but physics would be something to chew on.
Not even with consist messaging and proper scripting to have the DPU independent from the lead unit? When the game's core doesn't allow it, it is probably not worth the effort. Do the Rennie UP steam locomotives allow independent operation when double heading or pushing? Do you have a photo of a dual control stand cab to share by any chance? Would like to have a look at that? https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,284233 https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4280065 https://railroad.net/dual-control-stand-lcomotives-t12310.html with modified cabs to get a little more room https://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/144565.aspx https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/listdocs/select.php?index=search&Searchword=dual+control https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/long-...ood-forward-southern-diesels-in-1955-12206305 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/681099143647846135/ with the much smaller dual control stands of a GP9 Regarding dual control stands, the Southern Pacific "Peninsula" commuter operations would make an excellent fast passenger action DLC of its own: GP9 torpedo boats, TrainMasters, SDP45's (many dual control stand locomotives), Harriman and those peculiar 'gallery' double deck coaches, plus a reasonable amount of freight action to keep those dual purpose locomotives busy when the commuters were at work or sleeping.
An item of note here is that substituting Searchlight Simulations SD40-2s with the route supplied ones can't pull the same consist up the hill. Has HIS used incorrect physics, or changed the traction motor gearing to do this? I do know that from previous conversations that SS products are usually dead on in the physics department. "When the physics are also plain copied from the more powerful SD45-2? That's is a big boo-boo of course." - 21c164fightercommand This seems to answer the question.
It appears that to meet the overpowered engines they made the consists extra heavy, which means that with the correct horsepower the trains are all too heavy. Some kind of “Pro Range” that is. Edit: that as well as the brakes on the cars being really really poor.
This isn't modeled because the N&W SD40-2 represented in the route is their last order of SD40-2's. Order number 796353. These were delivered with low short hoods and a single short hood forward facing control stand. Nonetheless they are still inaccurate to the prototype. Here is a builder's photo of the class leader of the order represented in the addon. Of note is the clasp brake setup used on the HT-C trucks. For whatever reason, as modeled in the route they are a strange hodge-podge between clasp brake and single shoe Flexicoil trucks. They have the brake cylinders set up for clasp brakes (however the middle brake cylinder is in the wrong place, and seems to either be stuck on or has the actual piston floating out of it) but do not have the proper brake rigging for clasp brake setup either.
I have to admit your car weight theory is credible. I used some rolling stock from Greatnortherner, Searchlight Simulations and Smokebox that have corrected weights and found to get more realistic results using the Searchlight SD40-2s resknned by Switch Point Simulations. Yes "ProRange or is that Poor Range?
As probably a RWA regular, you should remember the troubles HIS' earlier efforts on managing a complete DLC gave the unexpecting player when there were no couplers on another prime price DLC, one of the Appalachian routes or some expansion pack IIRC and the DLC had to be emergency patched, the community had to be pacified? These efforts tend to be a hodgepodge of assets pulled from many other DLC's, mashed up with different people doing different things under HIS' management, and with DTG's QA, you know what to expect. Given that no assets seems to be missing from Saluda, this is already an upgrade. I repeat myself, had HIS, DTM done their research, proper job and QA, and toned down on the hyperbole of 'ultimate realism' and other blurbs, the more exacting part of the customer base would have gladly bought this DLC for what is should have been advertised for.
Got frustrated enough with the brakes to take a peek into the files to see why it seemed like the air brakes did nothing, and found some things to fix. I also fixed the issue of the locomotives not generating amps when brakes are applied, and some misc quality-of-life fixes. https://www.trainsimcommunity.com/mods/c1-train-sim-classic/c13-patches/i3831-his-saluda-patches The air brake values were wildly inconsistent between cars, some of the cars had brakes that were half as powerful as others, which explains why the Belmont coal scenario is almost impossible to complete realistically, and why you had to go into full service braking to stop a handful of cars. I used some values based off of the JointedRail/Searchlight Sim 100Ton hoppers to fix them up, and now you can properly run the Belmont scenario with the correct 20lbs reduction applied and notch 7/8 dynamics . It's extremely confusing to me, because Smokebox is usually absolutely on point with their brake settings, but by default on Saluda the brakes are incorrect both in operation and in the values themselves. Considering past HIS addons that advertise "advanced braking by Smokebox" also not living up to Smokebox quality, has me wondering if Smokebox provides the files, and DTM (or whoever) goes in and messes them all up...
I do agree. Yes I am a regular, but at times reside out of the main stream protective narrative. I give no quarter to developers that can not or will not improve their product but instead remain mediocre giving us repackaged products. They do not realize what used to be the industry standard is now second rate. There are many new developers with better looking, sounding, and more prototypical physics.
a guest appearance of a familiar face to Saluda, though perhaps leased out: timestamp won't copy, around the 8:15 mark of course in model railroading, even to such high standards as practiced by this club, anything in possible
Thanks for your efforts. The DTM SD40-2 simulation is copied from the SD45-2, the power curves defined in the .csv files are exactly the same. These .csv files actually govern the performance and can be easily swapped for SSI's or an equivalent SD40-2. The 3600 Hp in the Simulation.bin is only for cosmetics I believe and should be defined in KiloWatt according to the specs: http://tscdevdocs.co.uk/reference-manual/blueprint-editor/diesel-simulation-blueprints/diesel-electric-subsystem.html Best have all of DTM's sim files checked against a more reliable interpretation and a definitive patch can be made.
Initially I wrote something longer, which I can replicate, but I hope something really simple is enough: DTG needs some benchmarks that they can replicate and verify with testing. Such as acceleration under certain amount of power, or deceleration of a given consist with given PSI.
for those who have installed the Switchpoint Simulations NS/Southern/NW/N&W mod pack to Searchlight's NS/ex-Cr SD40-2 and also have the JR 100 Ton NS hoppers and the EOTD from their free freight car packs, here is a approximately prototypical 13000 tons train. Unpack the archive and put the QD consist in a Preload folder. You need to set up all the locomotives to allow the consist messaging to work and the locos to pull. The train feels extremely heavy, and brings the Fps down to the bottom on my Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50GHz, which means the internal clock gets slowed down and that's bad. Otherwise, when your system and settings allow a better Fps, try to bring this train over the mountain
Just finished 5 of the scenarios and really enjoying them. Got to grips with the Dynamic brakes and made it down the Saluda Grade. Good graphics. I am no expert player. Details of my 5 runs are on my site
I definitely agree about this one, it's important to try and word things positively. There was a recent post in the forums about the typical journey of a simmer, from happiness towards agony. I'm nearing 9 years and I could go down the same path - it helps that I'm mainly here for exploration and relaxation. Some things have definitely improved compared to the early years, but it's crystal clear that DTG cannot care about old DLC - they did a few times, some succeeded, some had fatal side effects. I understand that much of the game is extremely basic. Weight, drag and horsepower translate to effort / force curves. It can be randomized (old bearings, cold / hot weather, load density) but there is a baseline that should be trivial to do. But they don't, despite the game celebrating its 16th birthday soon. For example, Soldier Summit teaches that an American freight train decelerates under initial brakes (15 psi) with 0.1 mph/sec. 60 to 0 therefore takes 10 minutes, average speed 30 so 5 miles. NS/CP routes teach that it takes 2-3 minutes to apply initial brakes on a standard 1 mile train (4 engines, 80 wagons) - it takes a minimum of 30 seconds for the EOTD (end of train device) to even pick up the reduction (at which point the lead engine still shows 87 psi, down from 90, target 84). With a less lucky combination of wagons and engines, you need to apply emergency as soon as you see an advance warning on Donner Pass to avoid SPAD. Because it is realistic, American railroading is hard. Also, German trains are clearly space technology Pzb forces to stop in 0.7 miles, speed limit varies but reaches 78 mph. Casual people like me just shrug and stick to official scenarios (a verified experience, most of the time) and pick uphill climbs or flat routes for such problematic consists. But those hoping for a simulation keep pushing to fix these things.
one would think ad hominem arguments with no actual substance also spread a negative vibe, but who am I to say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In regards to the route itself I've been rather impressed by the level of detail put into the on line industries, which definitely adds to the scenario potential if we ever get passable stock for it.
