The patch notes of Winter Core update 2 mentioned a lot of locomotive fixes. I can't comment on the state of American or German locomotives as I don't play with them all that often, so if someone else has something to add on that front feel free. I do however want to bring up the UK content. The patch notes read as having fixed a bug where the Class 47 and Class 52 were unable to start moving, this was because of a bug where the brake systems would not release unless you used the I'm Stuck button. This, I'm happy to say, has been fixed. However this was only half of the issue, and the other half of it still exists. The vacuum brakes on both of these locomotives now work flawlessly. The air brakes however, will not initially charge or function. Just like before, you still have to switch to vacuum brakes, charge them fully, switch back to air and release the vacuum chamber in order to have functioning air brakes. For the Class 52 this is as easy as a quick switch, as its air and vacuum chambers can work in sync with each other. For the Class 47 however, you have to empty the vacuum chamber, and the way to do that isn't so easily discovered since the vacuum release lever isn't actually simulated. Instead what you have to do is switch to air brake and then repeatedly apply and release the emergency train brake until the vacuum chamber is empty. Do this ONLY with the train brake lever, the instant emergency brake valve breaks the entire system and you have to reset physics and start over. So on those locomotives, the update was an improvement. However it was not a true fix. Of course we now have brand new issues that didn't exist before. Addon Manager has now started failing to mount content in Free Roam, much the same as it has for a long time in Scenario Planner. I got around this by saving and loading back into the map with it, and then the reverser on every single UK locomotive broke. The reverser spawns, as always, in the off position. Yet the game seems to think, and the GUI reads, that it's in Engine Only. The lever cannot be moved and if you take the master key out, that then also locks and cannot be put back in again. There is no way around this that I found, so it meant that the 20, 31, 33, all 37s, 40, 45, all 47s and all 66s became completely unusable in Free Roam. The other locomotives were only spared because their reversers work differently, the 08 and 09 have no Engine Only position and the 52s have two Engine Only positions. I didn't use save files before so I don't know if this was previously an issue, someone more informed will have to confirm or deny that. But I know for a fact that Addon Manager never had these issues with Free Roam before the update. So in conclusion, at least as far as UK content goes, I can say for a solid fact and without a shred of doubt that this update broke more than it fixed.
