Obviously this will depend on which trains we’ve got/tried, and period, but let’s see your suggestions for which are the hardest/most challenging trains to drive, and why. For those who like a challenge, you might provide some useful suggestions. CATEGORIES: VINTAGE 1) Steam 2) Diesel 3) Electric 4) DMU 5) EMU MODERN 1) ‘HST’ 2) Diesel 3) Electric 4) DMU 5) EMU Of course, feel free to change/augment my categories if you don’t feel they’re right, and you don’t need to nominate for every single one, just those you’re familiar with.
Here are my suggestions: CATEGORIES: VINTAGE 3) Electric - Woodhead Class 76: notching through series and parallel, plus regenerative braking, requires a bit of attention 4) DMU - Woodhead Class 506 - no speedometer
In my limited experience with my limited collection, this is what I find: Steam - BMG Merchant Navy Diesel - Class 68 Electric - Class 73 DMU - Class 205
Try a proper long train on Canadian Mountain Passes, downhill from Glacier to Revelstoke. Say, 120 loaded coal cars. Fine, make it 80. I don't want to discount the difficulties of climbing a hill, but ultimately it's using max effort that still grips with or without sand, without overheating the engine if that's a thing. It either climbs or it doesn't, your input is minimal. Okay, climbing just about not underpowered steam can get genuinely challenging, too. Running out of steam and somesuch. In a similar fashion, arguably you can run out of sand or fuel. Still, no British or German driver can really understand the pain of not being able to release the brakes on a varying grade with varying speeds with practically dysfunctional dynamic brakes, and if so, having to stop, tie down your train. You really have to do the math miles ahead, running the exact PSI at exact speeds. (Kinda.)
I find driving of all vehicles quite easy. It seems to be the setting up of AP products which can be quite detailed and specific... they're not just "Press W.... press A and go". Then again, neither are real trains. The only train I've found challenging is the 76 from Woodhead in Blue. I suppose steam would be complex, but I've never even tried. The difficulty comes from trying to drive them as real trains... No HUD... route learning etc.
Yes, I think you’ll get the most pleasure of of TS by forgetting about the F4 HUD, which basically drives all trains the same way, and look for the individual layouts of the individual trains, as well as their acceleration and braking. I’m looking to try driving without a HUD too, but need to do a bit more route learning. When you’ve been away from an AP product and return, it’s very easy to forget about the AWS change end switch!
...or even the F3 HUD. Real trains have no HUD The most pleasure comes from learning a route and driving it the same way a real driver would as much as possible.
I prefer to drive a variety of trains and routes so could never do with the F3 HUD as there's no way I could remember that much detail
I don't drive Steam locos as I don't like the view ahead from the Cab. About the only other train I don't like is the 360 from GEML as it has a Vigilance which you can not Isolate Somebody said the Class 68 was hard - Get the AP 68 Pack and it becomes a great loco to drive. Lots of thrash and clag and the brakes have been changed to stop you going in to Emergency each time you brake Again with the Class 73 - Get the Class 460 GatEx unit in the next sale and it comes with a proper 73 - not the IHH reject DTG made Vulcan Productions have a batch of repaints for the loco. One of my UK favourites is the Class 86 - liked it before the AP pack and it is now even better In Europe I like the HRQ EU64U4 and the EU64U2 - a loco that works passenger trains at 142mph
The BMG Merchant Navy is forcing me to not use the HUD. I'm starting to route learn as I do need to use it for advanced notice of speed limits etc. I've started the process of creating a Google sheet with locations of speed limits and use it on my second monitor and creating route assessment scenarios to test myself. So far I've only virtually signed Waterloo to Guildford. Would be more if I hadn't got distracted with the Fife Circle I got in the Humble Bundle Sale. Regarding steam locomotives, they are a great challenge if you do them properly. They will make the majority of DMUs and EMUs seem dull. As I've said elsewhere, BMG are my current favourite developers. The Black Five is incredible.
VINTAGE - Steam By far the Union Pacific FEF-3 by Smokebox, the other contender would be the AT&N Connie. - Diesel Not too sure, most have just been release, reverser and go. - Electric New Haven EF-4/E33 locomotive, overall a top-notch product. (Even has a working toilet!) - EMU Metro North M2/M4, has quite the startup procedure. But after having driven it so much, it's pretty quick. MODERN - Diesel Not much here, as I have yet to drive the AC44. - Electric Probably the ALP-45DP or the ALP-46, not advanced by any means, but have some tough braking mechanics (NJT's EPIC brake system), making station stops difficult. - EMU The only modern EMUs I have are standard DTG "stop and go" sets.
Judging the brakung distance on an early BR DMU is quite hard, given youre using vacuum brakes instead of air. Also, trying to get a freight train with say 12 wagons hauled by a class 57 from a standing start on the smallest of inclines is even worse. Tried on the Edinburgh Glasgow line and kept rolling backwards.
The BR Dmus are quite easy to drive as they have a quick release brake. Not sure why yours was slow to stop - did you give a Full application? Try driving a Steam or Diesel loco with a Vacuum Brake - like the Class 24 or 35 and see if that is easy. Real 101s were fun to drive
I tried to get a 37 to pull about a dozen coaches out of Queen St through Cowlairs - if I stopped inthe tunnel, that was it! (I know too long a train for the platform - this was in my early days with TS, when I was, um experimenting!)
No, I didnt give a full application. Misjudged the stopping distance. Was on the Liverpool to Manchester line and by the time i was near the platform I was still doing around 50mph. Lol
I think I read that you want to have slowed to about 20 by the time you get to the platform. my trouble is I’m so afraid of overshooting that I brake too much and stop too soon, have to restart!
Some platforms are shorter than others on that route - I know form experience Cut my driving teeth on 101s
I think I must be the oddity here, as I tend to spend ages doing scenarios on the same route with the same stock until I know it off by heart along with all the platform lengths/car stop signs (I'm rather OCD about mastering routes HUDless). I've been learning/driving the Wherry Lines with the AP 37s on my last 15+ hours or so in TS haha (complete with stops at Berney Arms where the procedure, whilst not simulated, is for the guard to let passengers on and off as there's only room for one carriage at the platform). I find it rewarding to just go and find a relevant timetable from online, set up a scenario and be able to drive it without the HUD, but it does mean most of my time spent in TS is basically route/stock learning, and writing stuff in a pukka pad Toying with the idea of setting up some prompted route learning scenarios with scripted pop-ups to release to the community at some point.
Haha, I think it must be. Anyone who has seen the small number of pics Peter has put up of himself on the sim forums knows he has stayed the same age since he was about 31.
No, you’re showing the way. I’m relatively new, so have been dabbling about, here and there. I need to settle down and do some proper route learning and be able to dispense with the HUD.
In fairness, when you've just recently got TS you feel more like exploring and trying out stock rather than getting into the nitty gritty. It's weird though as last year I bought TSW2 (and TSW 2020 in a sale last spring) and never felt the same way about them. But my budget is tight and I have most of the well known routes and stock now, so it's time to maximise its potential from a simming point of view. Just me and the track atlas, playing "name that crossing" A well modelled route should line up quite well against a good track atlas, which tells you the extent to which my geekery extends.
