So I'm struggling with pretty much every loco in the game when it comes to the train brake - it seems that if I hold the train brake for any longer than half a second or so it jumps right into emergency, and if I hold it for less than half a second it just increases it in tiny increments. Is there no way to slowly increase it?
The brakes work differently on different trains and loco's. I'm going to describe things as if you're using the HUD as it's easy to visualise. On newer trains it's usually simple enough- put the brake to 50% for example and the brakes will be half on. In some, such as the BR Class 66, the brakes are always in a hold position unless you move the slider up or down. Hold it up and the brake pressure will rise until you let the slider go or they are fully on. Down and the brakes will ease pressure until you let it go or until they are fuly released. Broadly speaking (not all DLC work the same) in steam and some older Diesels it's a bit more subtle- there will be a hold or, in Diesels, lap position. In the lap position the brakes will stay at whatever setting you have them be it off, half on or fully on. As above if the brake slider is below the lap/hold position the brakes will release- ideally the further below lap the slider is the more quickly the brakes come off so if you are slowing down more than you want you can nudge the slider just below lap and the brakes will ease slowly until you are happy at which point move the slider back to lap. Similarly with the slider above the lap position the brakes will come on and the further up the slider is the faster that will happen. If you're thinking ahead you can go just above lap and watch the brake pressure rise until it's where you want it then put it in lap. If you need to stop in a hurry put the slider almost all the way up to avoid being told off for emergency braking- the brakes will still come on 100% just not quite as quickly as having them wide open. Hope this is helpful.
I'm afraid you've misunderstood. My issue is specific to the *train brake* - which has consistent keybind behaviour across many/all vehicles that use a *train brake* as opposed to a single notched throttle/brake lever. By default, this brake is in the hold position. Releasing it is fine - holding the : key slowly releases it. It's applying it that's a problem. Tapping the ' key applies it for a fraction of a second, then it reverts back into release. It's the equivalent of flicking the level downwards in the real train (today I was using a class 68) and letting it go back to the hold position immediately. Holding the ' key , on the other hand, whacks it right into emergency - the equivalent of pulling the lever all the way towards you in the real train, so that it is in the emergency section, and not the apply section. What I am wondering is if there is a way to reliably get the lever only to apply the train brake for as long as I want to increase its effect, and then let it go back into its hold position. I was able to pull this off a few times, by holding the ' key for about half a second, but even then I ended up in emergency brake once during a career scenario, because I held the ' key slightly too long. For what it's worth, no, I do not use the UI to monitor my train brake pressure. I use the dials on the left side of the cab of the loco. That is the only way to see how much pressure that brake has.
I pulled this from the Class 68 Manual. Auto Air Braking The Air brake is controlled through the Auto Air Brake (7) and has four notches to utilise. The ‘Release’ notch, as named, releases any pressure in the Air brake. The ‘Hold’ notch holds the current amount of brake pressure. The ‘Apply’ notch adds more brake pressure gradually, for however long it is held there until a maximum brake application is achieved. The ‘Emergency’ notch sends all available air from the brake pipe into the brake cylinder and can only be accessed by holding the Auto Air Brake in its maximum application position for three seconds. For ease of use it is recommended to use the keyboard hotkeys for operating the Auto Air Brake. This allows users to sit the Auto Air Brake in the hold position and then simply tap up and then down to add slight amounts of air pressure to the brake cylinder. This also helps to avoid placing the brake its maximum position and accidently triggering an emergency brake application. Basically its spring loaded so you just tap it until you get to the desired pressure.
It's true that the key binding is the same across locos, but the brake action varies by loco type. On the Class 66 it's a toggled centre spring, on others it's proportional, on older vacuum braked types it's release and move back to hold. The DTG Class 68 is bugged in its train brake application and it's too easy to move it into emergency setting. I believe the AP expansion pack corrects this, but I haven't tried it myself. If you are struggling with almost all loco train brakes, then I can't help you as I don't have this problem with my installation. What locos are a problem please?
Brakes on the Class 68 are of the PBL Type. - Same as the Class 66 & 70. The brake handle is sprung loaded to return to the centre Hold Position. A problem with the default DTG version is you go too far and it goes in to Emergency. The AP 68 EP modifies the brake handle and removes the Emergency position. You can change the sensitivity of the brake handle by changing the loco *.bin file
