PC Sandpatch Service Q249 Not Enough Power To Climb The Mountain

After a discussion on service Q249 from Cumberland to Rockwood, which appeared not to be working, I decided to try it for myself. See this thread for the post before:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1282590/discussions/0/3108016336250622719/

The train has a total weight of 4600 ton I used two SD40-2 engines in the service and summer cloudy as weather conditions. I noticed till Hyndman that I could increase speed with full throttle up to 41 mph max. Then, at a 0.6% grade speed dropped gradually till a bit over 30 mph
When the 1.4% climb starts, speed dropped further till 12mph. At that point I decided it is useless to continue the service, later you will face even steeper grades.

So, I consider this as a bug, unless Matt shows in a stream what to do to complete it. I did not try t find other engines in the yard to complete this run. Below you see the speed profile, most with full throttle.

 

Don't run it with SD40s, use AC4400CWs. That's 8800 horsepower vice 6000- nearly 50% more. (and it's 3-phase AC, which gives better tractive force).

 

I will gie it a try, but it is in the SD40-2 timetable, which means it is intended to work.

 

This is not only SPG issue. MSB, RRO... Weather conditions/grade % vs insufficient HPPT * ratio * Horse Power Per Ton

 

I would need another locomotive for MSB. Otherwise, the hill cannot be climbed in the rain. The third locomotive should be parked at the station. If necessary, I could connect it to my train.

 

With the release of TSW2, the physics (including locomotives parameters) was slightly changed. According to the information that can be found in the official materials from DTG (Preserved Collection FAQ?), These changes also apply to preserved routes and trains. Services and cargo weight remained unchanged, adhesive physics added, etc. Some services today are not feasible with some locomotives in severe weather conditions. From Cumberland side climb with HPPT below 2 ~ 2.5, in rain... can be hard

It is a pity, in the menu we cannot select a pair of locomotives for a specific task. In one scenario for RRO there is a pair of 185s from the head of the train if I remember correctly.

 

As Breblimator pointed out, it probably did work, when it was developed for TSW1 ("CSX Heavy Haul" was the first route released), but TSW2's more detailed physics, especially adhesion, may make it impossible with an underpowered consist. IRL, I doubt CSX would attempt the Grade with such a marginal hp/wt ratio: they would either use bigger locos, or triple-head.

If you want to go nuts, you could try this: uncouple your SD40s from the train, run around the switch yard and add a third or third and fourth loco, then pick the train up again. Mind you, you can't get out and go hijack another loco on foot, or you'll end the scenario.

 

4 years later I am still having the same problem on SPG... 2 GP38s on a 5000 ton coal train which would normally use 4 AC4400 or equivalent (2 front 2 rear) or a 7 SD40-GP38 combo but instead the route simply assigns 2 locomotives at random which are mainly GP38 or SD40 with no DPU and only 2 locomotives?? I tried driving it 3 times and each time completely stalled on the Grade going easbound with not enough power to haul the heavy train. Even if I manually select the AC4400 in the Timetable menu it still spawns with an SD40 behind and no DPUs whatsoever making this route almost completely undrivable. I'm even seeing x2 SD40s on the Intermodal trains and most of the services on the route barely use the AC4400. They want you to buy the Dash 8 (C40-8W) which is totally ridiculous as that is outdated and barely used anymore, the AC4400 which already comes with the route would typically operate most of the heavy freight (with no SD40 or GP38 outside of yard work) and there should be at least 3 locomotives on loaded duties + a DPU mid way or 2/3rds of the way down or on the rear to get up Sand Patch. I have tried getting the hang of TSW PC editor but that in itself is a nightmare and completely un-user friendly so I think it's extremely poor from the route Developers that after all these years they haven't even bothered to make sure that their services have the correct haulage power assigned. Big thumbs down from me which is a shame because it's such a beautiful route

 

While I agree about that particular service, remember that the pool of rolling stock represents the early 2010s when the route is set, not the present

 

The timetable is set in 2017 and the only flaw is that the formations just have completely the wrong loco assignments, too many GP38 and SD40 - although great we either need more like ~ 5 or 6 per heavy train, otherwise this is the situation I'm faced with