You nailed it DTG, it is lovely. couple of questions if i may. is there a way to lap the brakes? I am now using steam brake to slow down and combi more or less as a parking brake, as it gives really good control, but I am pretty sure that isnt realistic. Also I see the water injector valve levers at the back. I believe these are for managing water levels? Absolutely no clue how to use them though. cheers
Yes I was wondering about lap as well. using the combination brake I’m quite surprised at how fast the vacuum is removed and restored compared to say the class 101, so would love a bit more insight into its management and inner workings.
Me too. I was quite surprised to see a manually lapped brake with no lap position. I’m really curious as to how the brakes were handled in real life.
I have the same thought with you guys. From my experience with TS1/TSC driving British steam, vacuum brake should come with running, release, hold, lap, and apply position to make the braking more precision and smooth. Driving the 8F, the vacuum goes to 0 very fast even with low brake lever input.
If it's similar to the Bossman TSC LMS loco's, you return the brake lever to "off" to lap. You then need to adjust the small ejector to balance the amount of vacuum (as it has to be slightly on to keep the brakes off), then using the large ejector on and off for main brake release. With the small ejector set so it has a slight release effect you need to feather the brake valve on and off to maintain the desired vacuum reduction. One would have thought this technique would have been covered in a tutorial bearing in mind DTG too lazy to provide a manual, though in fairness the Bossman instructions for the TSC versions weren't exactly clear either.
Hi, I think the realization is a good start. But...I would have liked to have full control of the water and fire loco a la Bossman in TSC. For me it is a half simulation, for the moment I am quite disappointed and frustrated. A nice road, a nice locomotive, nice textures, good sound are not enough to make what I call a train simulation! DTG, please give an option to fire the fireman Regards, Richard.
This is from a document: Vacuum Brakes on Steam Locomotives So far, we have concentrated on the vacuum brake equipment provided for electric and diesel operated vehicles but by far the largest number of trains fitted with vacuum brakes were steam hauled. The principle of operation was the same as for other types of train but there were some differences as described below. Ejectors For some reason, exhausters are called ejectors on steam locomotives. They are, of course, steam operated. The ejector consists of a series of cones inside a tube. Steam is allowed to pass through the cones so that a vacuum is created in the tube and thus in the brake pipe to which it is connected. There are always two ejectors, large and small, which provide the brake release and vacuum maintenance functions respectively. The large ejector provides the rapid build-up of vacuum required for brake release and the small ejector provides the constant vacuum needed to keep the brake pipe and cylinder vacuum at the correct level to maintain brake release. On some locomotives, ejectors were combined with the driver's brake valve. Most had only "Brake On", "Running" and "Brake Off" positions and many were combined with a steam brake fitted to the locomotive and tender. The more sophisticated allowed a single brake application to apply the brakes on the train before they were applied on the locomotive. This gave a smooth and even stop and prevented "bunching" of coaches behind the locomotive. Drivers were taught that it was best to slow the train down and then gently ease off the brakes as the train came to a stop. This required them to restore much of the vacuum by the time the train was brought to a stand, allowing a quick release without having to run the large ejector for very long, thereby saving steam.
Thanks, everyone. I figured that the small ejector might be used like that but wasn't sure if it's prototypical (since Matt always said to fully open the small ejector and I've got no clue about UK steam locos). Agreed on both points. The tutorials were pretty much as useless as ever. I was especially disappointed with the signalling tutorial since I expected it to actually be a tutorial and not just show the signals at the start and then be like "see you in ten." While looking into the combination brake, I looked at a Bossman manual and was very disappointed. I've often used virtualRailroads manuals to help me with Zusi but the Bossman manual was about as useful as DTG's quick start guides.
The small ejector is usually open a bit to keep the vacuum at 21hg. There is no "lap position" on the drivers brake handle like in a 101, but yes you can open the small ejector to a point where the drivers brake has a equal position. In this case you need to open it and make a running application or you close all ejectors and push the brake to off when you reach your desired brake pressure.
This is something DTG really should improve on, even if they tell you what to do in a tutorial, they very rarely tell why are you doing it and what is the logic behind your actions. Telling people logic behind "why" would allow folks to learn to use the tools, rather than blindy follow some instruction. Like, "Small Ejector Should be kept open", but why? Well, because to keep the brakes released you need to keep the vacuum in the pipes. And no system is airtight, especially one built during the late 30s/40s, in pre-war or war time. So air will seep into the pipes, and start to slowly apply brakes. Ejector is a vacuum pump, so you keep the small ejector (small vacuum pump) on, to pump out air, that is leaking into the pipes. If you want to pump larger quantities of air, becasue you previously applied the brakes (introduced air into the system), you use the large vacuum pump (large ejector). If you want to lap the brakes, then you need to balance amonunt of air the small ejector is pumping out, with the amount that leaking into the system... You will not be able to do it perfectly, and it requires practices... How do you then acheive the perfect, gradual stop? Well... you really don't....these are not surgical machines, like the new, modern, high-speed trains are. You don't drive them in the same, surgical, manner, like decreasing brake pipe pressure by 0.8bar with 1km to go will yield a perfect gradual stop exactly at the mark... You drive them much more defensively, and much more on gut feeling.
I really enjoy the challenge of doing all the firing duties as well. However, I have been pleasantly surprised with the “manual“ option available for the fireman on this route. It allows you to control the dampers, the blowers, and the coal shoveling. I find it an enjoyable challenge to keep the safety from popping yet maintain pressure when I really need it.
Please, where is this option? I haven't found anything like it. If so, I am ready to make amends for my comments on this subject! Richard.
I think the game defaults to manual so if you didn’t change it I think you’ve had manual mode already. But yes - dampers, blower and firebox door definitely do affect the boiler pressure and then balancing all that with reverser and regulator offers quite a bit of control finesse… What isn’t modelled is cold water and water consumption - the injectors aren’t functional at this stage. I also think that despite the animated fireman shovelling, coal consumption isn’t modelled. The firebox door is just controlling air flow which is affecting temperature - it’s not the fireman adding fuel. So water and coal will never run out in the current model but maybe that will come in an update.
Yeah, it really made me wonder why I was losing steam all the while and others had safety valve deafness. It was when my 8F expired for the third time I went to look in the settings and realised I should have had dampers and blower skill perfected before I started! It seems to reset each start up. I feel there needs to be an indicator of which mode is set on the HUD, and a key bind to change it without entering settings.
