Southern Pacific Cab Forward Refuelling Position?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by DIFFLOCK, Mar 23, 2021.

  1. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    According to the manual, the stock loco is set up like a tank loco - fuel and water are in the forward locomotive (not the tender) and fuel is set up for tons of coal rather than gallons of oil. There is or was a physics mod available by Fan Railer who enabled the tender to work as it should (I followed the link in his youtube vids but cannot find the file) Anyway I digress. Back to the stock locomotive:

    Where should I position the loco in order to take on water? Similarly, should it be positioned differently to take on "coal" (Bunker C!)? I launched a free roam scenario from Sparks to give me the whole of the Donner Pass route. There are water and coal points on one of the sidings (marked on the map) even though there is no traditional water tower or coaling station showing in game graphically at those positions. I could not take on any water or "coal" no matter where I parked the loco! Are these refuelling points bogus? If so then why are they on the map?
    Is refuelling available in free roam? Does it only work when the quantities have dropped by a certain amount? Whilst I was messing about I had only had a few hundred gallons of water and about half a ton of "coal"
    Any ideas please?
     
  2. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    I've done a little more experimenting: I launched a quick drive scenario. This time I lined up the front loco with a coaling station at Roseville yard and it refuelled the "coal". I still was unsuccessful with the water. The appropriate icons were shown when I moved the mouse over the structures. Three things though which may have some bearing on the issue:
    • This was a quick drive scenario not a free roam.
    • The coaling station was one of the wedge shaped overhead structures and not the portable football goalpost-like black structure present at Sparks.
    • The water station was graphically the same as the one at Sparks - a large cylindrical tank with a conical roof - no overhead water pipe. Is this type of water station not for steam locomotives??
    Would some kind soul please fire up (pun intended!) a Southern Pacific cab forward to see if they have the same problem? Thanks in advance.
     
  3. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    Somebody on Railworks America might know the answer
    Or don't you like them?
     
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  4. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    Hehe - No, I haven't joined them... yet :D
     
  5. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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  6. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    Waiting for my account activation as I type ;) Cheers, Peter.
     
  7. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    It's been a couple of days since I posted, but I guess patience is key :)
     
  8. rwaday

    rwaday Well-Known Member

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    Mike Rennie (Smokebox) was kind enough to review the blueprints on this. He said that "According to the tender's blueprint, the trigger box for water is right in the middle of the tender and measures 2x2x2 metres. So you have to line up pretty accurately with the centre of the tender."

    To test, enter in the world editor place the locomotive and tender and set the tender water level to 70%. Save and reenter the scenario. Roll the loco and tender to the water stand or tower. The sweet spot for the fill is in between the first two forward
    hatches. If the tender is full it will not activate the fill sequence.
     
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  9. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    Thanks rwaday. No joy so far. Will be replying to the posts on RWA to make things more organised. :cool:
     
  10. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    I noticed this paragraph in the Manual
    "Since the forward, driven component has no direct link to the tender, it has been set up as a “tank” locomotive.
    For playing purposes, both fuel and water are contained in the forward locomotive and not in the tender
    .
    When writing scenarios, set the initial fuel and water quantities in the forward locomotive component, not the tender.
    Since fuel oil is not a supported option for steam locomotives in RailWorks, the locomotive parameters will be displayed as if it is burning coal."
     
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  11. DIFFLOCK

    DIFFLOCK Active Member

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    Correct, Peter. I did wonder why the blueprints Smokebox examined mention the tender trigger yet the manual refers to the tank loco setup. In my first post I mentioned that there's a mod out there to make the tender work as it should however, I'm still messing with the stock cab forward. I discovered that both the coaling stations and the water towers (no hoses!) in Donner Pass are underground!! I succeeded in cloning the free roam scenario (Cab Forward from Sparks) so that the world editor worked. I managed to raise the coaling & water stations to ground level. When I parked the loco (forward set of drivers) under the coaling station it refuelled fine. However, no matter where I parked the loco (from cab to back of tender!) next to the water tower it did not refill the water.
    Somehow I managed to swap out the DP water tower for a Bessemer & Lake Erie water tower (LOVELY free steam route thanks to rwaday (I think) for directing me to it). However, still no joy and no hosepipe animation either. Does a water stanchion or tower have to be told that it can refill locos when the scenario is created? I am a total noob when it comes to editing TS, either internally or using TS Tools.
     

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