Arosa Ge 44 Braking

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by kilroy126, Mar 27, 2021.

  1. kilroy126

    kilroy126 Member

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    Hi folks,

    Does anyone know of a good tutorial on how to drive this train? I can’t figure out the braking at all and the introduction scenario offers pretty much no help. I’d love to learn how to drive this train. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
     
  2. richard cooper

    richard cooper Active Member

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    I'm same, playing northbound, just out of Arosa there's a steep drop and using the vacuum brake the train won't slow down. When should you use the control wheel brake.? I am quite confused.
     
  3. L89

    L89 Well-Known Member

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    3:30 for braking on a downhill gradient.

     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2021
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  4. richard cooper

    richard cooper Active Member

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    Thank you for link, that will be a great help.
     
  5. mariner86

    mariner86 Active Member

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    I derailed a few times trying to get the right mix of dynamic and vacuum brakes. You can feel it starting to go south when you see the train forces start to jump around a lot. It’s definitely a challenge going down grade!
     
  6. IfICanDream

    IfICanDream Active Member

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    Same here. If I was the real engineer my passengers would also be experiencing multiple stops. :)
     
  7. roggek

    roggek Active Member

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    The trick is to set the vaccum brake to around 20% and then use the dynamic brake to control the downhill speed. Fingertip movemnts are crucial to get downhill, and no sudden increases in accelerating/braking.

    But as mentioned in several threads the train physics (bouncing and derailments) is all wrong, and hopefully we get a patch soon...
     
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  8. kilroy126

    kilroy126 Member

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    Thanks. I’ll try that.
     
  9. kilroy126

    kilroy126 Member

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    Hey folks,
    Gotta tell you. I was really looking forward to Arosa but I CANNOT figure out how to do anything on it. The tutorial is awful. Does anyone know how to signal the controller on the first training scenario?
     
  10. mariner86

    mariner86 Active Member

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    Anyone else play the log scenario, and it wants to give you emergency break applications every time you pass a red regardless of weather you’ve talked to the dispatcher? It’s especially annoying as there must be some strange procedure for recovering from emergency.
     
  11. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    The Rivet video is wrong. Now, it may work in the game, but setting the vacuum brakes and leaving them on while manipulating the dynamics is dead backwards from RW practice and Swiss railway regulations (yes, somebody looked them up). In real life, the result would be brake failure from overheating, and a runaway.

    The correct method: dynamic brakes on, all the way down. Increase as needed. If dynamics alone won't hold speed, then apply vacuum brakes, firmly, sufficient to take off ~10km/h, then release. Lather, rinse, repeat. This is called the "sawtooth" method, and it's used on downgrades by every railroad in the world (except in the UK).
     
  12. IfICanDream

    IfICanDream Active Member

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    The manual (so far on just the Steam board) was a help. There’s a link elsewhere on this board.
     
  13. IfICanDream

    IfICanDream Active Member

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    On PS, use the circle O button.
     
  14. richard cooper

    richard cooper Active Member

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  15. richard cooper

    richard cooper Active Member

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    That's interesting. Has anyone tried this method. Last night I played Arosa, using vaacum brake at about 30 and trying to make adjustments with the control wheel and still found myself speeding.
     
  16. kilroy126

    kilroy126 Member

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    THANK YOU for the O button info!
     
  17. Rudolf

    Rudolf Well-Known Member

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    In order to drive safe on a descending grade, you may use this procedure:

    1. In most stations you start on a flat area. Increase power to say 15-20 km/h but not to the max.
    2. Observe carefully where the slope starts.
    3. Now turn off power.
    4. As speed increases, increase the vacuum brake, it should be set somewhere between 28 and 38% on a 6% grade
    5. Also increase the dynamic brake, till 50%
    6. You depending on your speed requirements, adjust the vacuum brake an bit.

    There is an excellent video demonstrating this way of working.



    At the forums there is a lot of debate on driving on downward slopes. Possibly the engine is a bit bugged, but this works fine and allows you to keep control over the engine and it should not get overheated.

    If you need to stop, use the vacuum brakes mainly to reduce speed and do it gradually.
     
  18. xblackwolf90

    xblackwolf90 Well-Known Member

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    I gave this a go.

    Running with the vacuum brakes off and using the dynamic brake only, it's possible to maintain a speed of 33 or 35 KMH running at around 97% application. The sawtooth method is required to hold it at 30, as even at 100%, the dynamic brake can't hold it alone.

    However, going over any points is very nerve jangling! The carriages pushing on the back of the loco cause violent jolts backward and forwards, sometimes as much as 7 KMH in a split second.

    Until the physics are looked into, this method works for the most part, but you need to use the vacuum brakes only when going over points.
     
  19. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Does the Ge 4/4 have a bale-off capability in the independent brake? (I don't have Arosa). With US locos descending a grade, as in sand patch, releasing the loco brake while applying the train brake ameliorates the coupler-slack jostle.
     
  20. xblackwolf90

    xblackwolf90 Well-Known Member

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    No bail off on the loco brakes.

    Matt has suggested players only use the vacuum brake and don't touch the dynamic when going downhill until the physics issue has been looked into.
     
  21. IfICanDream

    IfICanDream Active Member

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    Just using the numbers on the driving wheel creates a really useful cruise control for the most part. I was surprised to read that in the manual on the Steam section. And it works. For the most part anyway.
     
  22. mariner86

    mariner86 Active Member

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    It seems to be working a bit better for me now, I’ve been using 20-25% on the vacuum brake and then just tweaking the dynamic to adjust speed usually between 60-70%. Coming in to the flat sections I take the dynamic off first and don’t release the vacuum until most of the train is on the flat. Now the biggest issue I’m having is the really annoying signaling system. The switch move at the top with the log scenario has been giving me a lot of issues. I’m no where near a signal and I have received permission to pass them, but the locomotive continues to give me emergency applications. Even if I acknowledge the alarm. Then sometimes its impossible to recover and release the brakes. I finally got to the point i was hooked back up for the final switch move, but the signal would never change and the dispatcher would not allow me to proceed. It is also annoying you need to run halfway up and down the mountain for the switch move. Why can’t the stop point be just short of the junction. It wastes a lot of time.
     
  23. xblackwolf90

    xblackwolf90 Well-Known Member

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    For the final signal, you need to wait for the AI train that's just departed to pass the next signal. That's nearly 4 km away so it takes close to ten minutes for that to happen.
     
  24. kilroy126

    kilroy126 Member

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    Thanks all!
     
  25. rjw#7545

    rjw#7545 New Member

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    What is the procedure for braking light engine and how much braking force should I be using?
     
  26. Railmaster

    Railmaster Well-Known Member

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    I only use the dynamic brake downhill. I set them to about 67%, that's like cruise control. It's not bad if you brake a little too late, the brake absorbs the speed. I only use the vacuum brake to stop at stations.
     
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  27. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Rivet have greatly improved the train physics since the bulk of this thread were posted. Now, 60-odd percent dynamics should work all the way down.
     
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