Now I understand with the release of Boston Sprinter there are some bugs expected, I mean it wouldn't be a DTG product without bugs right? But some of the issues that I have found are very obvious and almost frightening as to why they where not found! So that's the point of this article, to point out some of the obvious and the not so obvious issues with Boston Sprinter! 1. The Brakes on the ACS-64 Now this iteration of the ACS-64 is probably the best iteration of the ACS-64 we have gotten from DTG, but that doesn't mean its perfect. First off the problem with the brakes is that the psi reductions for each brake setting is off. The minimal reduction brake setting should have a reduction of 8 pounds from the 110 psi revivor, in the simulator it has a 6 pound reduction instead. Now the reason this is a big deal is that a 6 pound reduction takes longer to stop the train than an 8 pound reduction, which if applied as soon as the engine reaches the platform, will put you at the E sign almost every time! Next is the service zone to suppression, now suppression works as intended (thank god), but the service zones psi reading is messed up as well. When you apply the brake (after a minimal reduction) its supposed to allow you to go up to a reduction of 15 pounds until suppression. Now when you are in suppression in the simulator your brake pipe reads "93.5 psi". Now if we do some basic math of 110 - 15, you would get 95 psi. Now usually when I start braking I apply minimal reduction, and then move into the service zone at about 10 - 12 pounds of reduction. Funny enough if you get the brake pipe psi to 95.5 psi, it almost perfectly lines up with the suppression text next to the automatic brake handle. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. That's really all for the brakes, and yes im using visual mods. To be honest the brakes actually got pretty close, and they still function, its just not like the real life, but it works! Good job DTG! 2. The dreaded vz light of terror Now if someone was to take a random guess as to what the vz light was you could probably get very close. The correct answer is velocity zero, which means this light should only turn on when the train is not moving. In the game at 2-3 mph accelerating it turns on, when braking for a station at the 2-3 mph mark, it turns on. Now the vz light is a part of the Acses system, and usually if that light is still on when the train is moving it signifies a big problem! Dun Dun Dun! An Acses system failure! So that's about it for the major issues I've noticed, as I discover new problems I will update this post accordingly.
Strikes me rush hour full stop needs fixing like the ridiculous bugs that say out of memory on doing those services to London Victoria from that small branch in London commuter
Agreed! I normally don't play any other routes than Boston sprinter but I ventured out a bit to look at some of the other routes and they share most of the same bugs Boston sprinter had at its release. Also the increased passenger intensity causes for some people to fling off the platform and get run over by the train. I don't know if anyone had any problems with their controls resetting randomly ( all the brakes / throttles in the cab go back to default setting In the middle of the run) but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.
(The atc was off because it kept showing a slow clear signal (20 mph) and I usually enter a station at 30 unless its providence station)
I know I still stopped, the point is that it's doing something it doesn't do in real life in a simulation game. In real life if you don't graduate off the brakes you come to a very abrupt stop. In this game if you don't release the brakes it's "nah its not that big of the deal, the game does it automatically for you". I like doing things the way they would actually be done in real life operation, that's all. I should probably put that under a smaller issues tab, or a realism thing.
I feel like there are way more severe issues that DTG should address before this. The tracks are totally inaccurate, the trench walls between Ruggles and Forest Hills are completely wrong, Route 128's walkway does not connect with the station building, Mansfield looks half-finished, and Pawtucket station is completely missing. There is also a ton of floating scenery on this route which is never good. The entire timetable is also computer generated, meaning none of the times are accurate to the real life timetable. Signaling and ACSES are both still completely messed up as well.
Where exactly do your brakes release? The brake pipe stays at 100 psi the entire time and the loco brakes release due to blended braking as you’d expect. I can’t spot any brakes releasing.
I know cactus made the tim table, he made it for the acela speeds, not regional speeds. The acela tilts so it goes faster, hence the route with the current trainset is inaccurate! His sources are correct about the acela speed limits, not the regionals. Heres an example: mp 218.5 or transfer interlocking on track one for a type b train would be If you look at the yellow bar to the left, that's how much force there is with the brakes. In real life operations, the engineer is supposed to release the brakes to come to a smooth stop, this is called graduating off. In the game (made clear by the lurching with the camera + the amount of brake force decreasing) it does this automatically at 3 mph which is not how it works in real world operations. Also could you elaborate on what you mean by blended braking? The ACS-64 automatic brake shouldn't be blended with any other brake, at least as far as I know. On the acela's the dynamic brake is blended into the automatic brake(this is what I assumed you where trying to say, which in that case the acs-64's dynamic brake isn't blended with the automatic), but you can also cause it to be actuated by setting cruise control down to 3 mph and using the throttle to increase/ decrease dynamic effort!. But could you please elaborate on what you mean by blended braking?
Not quite accurate. It shows the brake effort of the dynamic brakes. When you get close to stopping, the dynamic brakes rapidly lose effectiveness, which is why the yellow bar decreases. At this point, you can see the loco brake cylinders are filling again to compensate. The desired brake force is set with the auto brake lever. While this applies the pneumatic brakes on the cars, the loco will provide the same brake effort via the dynamics instead, which saves on wear and tear. When the dynamics lose effectiveness, the loco pneumatic brakes are applied so that the brake effort remains constant. It’s the same sort of system used by other German electric locos (remember that the ACS-64 is in essence a Vectron) and even modernised US diesels like the Caltrain and MBTA F40s.
Ok thank you for explaining it to me! I always thought that blended braking meant that two brakes where used as one (like on the acela). What I don't understand is why the dynamic brake is activating. I thought that the ACS-64's dynamic and automatic where controlled separately. Eh at least I learned something new! Should I delete the braking part off of the original post? Edit: I cut out the dynamic brake and this was the result
submit a ticket. they actually see those. i sent a ticket in and now they are aware of the broken cruise control and reverser causing restricted speed.
They are controlled separately, but the auto brake “blends” (hence the term blended braking) the dynamics in to reduce wear and tear. The cut-out doesn’t seem to be accurately implemented then. The dynamics shouldn’t be used by the auto brake if they’re cut out. I’m not familiar with how the brakes on the Acela are set up. Could you elaborate on this? Obviously, it’s up to you if you want to edit something out. I can’t comment on most of the stuff in your post, all I can say is that the brakes are not automatically releasing as you claimed in your post.
Makes sense to me! I removed that part of the post so (hopefully) there is no false info. So on the acela, the air brakes and dynamic brakes are programmed so that they are used in conjunction. You also cannot adjust the braking by adding additional dynamic when the automatic is active. But, the Acela's dynamic can be actuated by setting the cruise control to 3 mph and manipulating the throttle handle to increase or decrease dynamic effort! It might sound confusing but that's how it's supposed to work! Also if you have any more information on braking (generally with the ACS-64), I'd love to read about it! I want to become and engineer for Amtrak in the near future so anything that's accurate can really help! Thank you for the info, it makes things a lot more clear!
Ah, I think I get it. Sounds similar to what the German ICE3 does with its brake lever. Interestingly enough, that isn’t confusing to me at all. That‘s the same procedure used to access the dynamic brake on the German Br 143. No need to thank me We all learn something new every day. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information I could provide you with. I’m generally more of a freight person, which means I’m not overly familiar with US passenger operations. As I implied earlier, the ACS-64 is incredibly similar to most German 3 phase AC locos and since I’m pretty familiar with them, I know how the blended braking on the ACS-64 works. I wish you the best of luck though if you go through with your plan to become an engineer
