Never really got into driving steam trains on TSC, but really enjoyed having a go over the last few days. I have been driving out of Settle towards Carlisle but cannot get much above 20 mph until reach the flatish Ribblehead via duct. (Driving a LMS Jubilee Leander and a rake of MK1 coaches.) Not sure if it is my driving or if the loco is a bit under powered for the gradient and weight of train? Is there a technique I’m missing , not sure what blowers and steam injectors do and would they help?
Without knowing how many coaches you've got on it's impossible to say if you've got the right sized engine. One thing to note, is that as your speed increases you should reduce the reverser setting.
20 mph does seem a little on the low side for a Jubilee on that gradient, although it is one of the oldest loco models around and the simulation modelling was a bit erratic in those days. I am by no means an expert at driving steam either, but find these points useful rules of thumb: From a standing start, place the reverser in full forward gear and open the regulator to 40-50% Keep the boiler pressure indicator on the HUD in green - this means you are producing more steam than you are using. If it drops into the red, gradually reduce the reverser to a minimum of 15-25%. Keep the fire well built up. In older locos like this you won't be penalised for over-filling the firebox so you can fill up to 100%. This helps y with maintaining boiler pressure. IMPORTANT: make sure you close the firebox doors before entering a tunnel or you may suffer a game ending failure. Try to avoid refilling the boiler with water when you're climbing a gradient, as this will cause a hit on your boiler pressure. As long as you are above about 30% in the boiler you should be fine. Hope this helps.
You don't say whether you're using the Auto Fireman or not. Until you get used to steam I'd recommend it, after all a driver on the main line wouldn't do both jobs! In addition to the points Steve mentioned above I suggest: 1. Using the F5 display to see what's going on with the steam generation and usage rates, turn off the F3 / F4 HUD and press F5 twice. 2. Once the train brakes are released move the control from Release to Running to minimise steam consumption. 3.Check the dampers are open Key 'M', that's one of the few 'boiler' controls that you can use with Auto Fireman, they normally default to open but worth checking. If you need to reduce steam generation to avoid the safety valves lifting close them, 'Shift + M'. The above is general advice for the default kettles, more sophisticated ones need a good read of their manual!
That speed sounds about right going up that incline. What scenario are you driving, or are you using Quickdrive? Here is an old guide on how to drive Steam Engines. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=117906786
The Settle to Carlise railway was built to be a high speed line with a maximum gradient of 1:100. The Jubilee Class was a 6P category. 8P was the highest category, but only a couple of classes were in it. Most top rank express locos were 7P. I'd expect a Jubilee to go noticeably faster than 20 mph up the S&C. Check your fire mass is 80% and that cut-off is being decreased as you speed up. If it's at 75% you'll never go faster than about 20mph.
I have driven that route many times, and 20 MPH is all you can get going up that incline with a steam loco, and yes, I do know how to drive steam locos.
I would disagree - both in the real world and in the simulator a Jubilee, for instance, with a realistic load (say 8 Mk1s) would do much better than that! You only need to look at working timetables of the era to see they would have to do much better than that to keep time. At a guess I would say you would need to not drop far below 50 mph to achive that. John
Have you driven that route starting at Settle with a Steam Loco? I'm making my comment based on driving this route.
Having driven steam locos over the S&C many times in TSC, and also travelled behind them extensively in real life. You’d expect a Jubilee or similar-sized loco to maintain a good 25-30mph on 10 coaches on a 1:100 gradient from a standing start, without overtaxing it. If you want to drive a loco with Walschaerts valve gear prototypically, at that speed the reverser (cut-off) shouldn’t be much below 35-40% so you will not want full regulator as the boiler will not keep up with the steam demand. As a rule I tend to set about 66% regulator max and moderate the steam usage via varying the cutoff - the speed is then a function of how effectively the loco steams, like real life. (Once you’re underway there are two ways to drive a steam loco - full regulator and a very short cutoff, which works at high speed with anything and GWR locos / Stephenson valve gear at lower speeds, or partial regulator and longer cutoff which Walschaerts valve gear requires at low speed to avoid damaging the loco.) As others have stated you want to try and balance the steam usage vs steam production. Personally I’d keep the water level no lower than 50% - remember that on a long climb such as S&C you will need to refill the boiler periodically which knocks the steam pressure back, so having some power/steam in hand is a good strategy.
Funny you should say that! Whilst you typed I was running a test doing just that! In 1965 the Thames-Clyde was booked 10 Mk1s which is one heck of a load for a sole Jubilee - I have seen photographs of the train running with a Black 5 pilot and that's probably the reason for that. Anyway I tested with just a Jubilee and prior to making an unscheduled stop at Setlle, the game thought I would make Carlisle on time (1962 timings). These are is the results of my tests: I use the F4 controls which are useful for testing. I never exceeded 90% regulator (my normal driving style). I used the RSC Jubilee which I believe has fairly accurate dynamics - the BMG model does not (in Simple Driving mode). I used auto-fireman mode. After pulling away gently from Settle, I settled (pun intended) for 90% regulator and 50% cut-off, and speed steadily but slowly increased. I was blowing off excessive steam at 30 mph (should have put that to good use!). Each time the boiler was filling with water, I eased the cut-off back so as to not lose too much boiler pressure, and that meant speed would drop slightly. I never allowed the boiler pressure go below 200 psi. As soon as it stopped filling, advancing the cut-off would allow the train to slowly build up speed again. Above 35 mph, the cut-off needed easing back to around 41 to 45% cut-off anyway, this is normal as you gain speed. I passed Horton at 39 mph and Blea Moor box at 41 (the summit is actually in the tunnel ahead). So that's how it can be done with what I suspect is an excessively heavy load. In 1962, the Thames-Forth actually called at Settle but I believe it was usually 7MT Britannia worked, and was booked 9-on in 1965. It would be unfair to test with a Britannia anyway as the SteamDevs Brit is terribly overpowered so it wouldn't make a fair test. Best regards, John
The thing about loadings in BR days was that not only did the loco need to be capable of haulIng the load, it had to manage to achieve pre-determined sectional timings. The timings charters are given today are in no way related to the load/SRT tables from back in the day. So for all we know, a Jubilee might have been limited to a load capable of (say) maintaining 50mph whereas a much heavier load could be taken at (say) 30mph in practice. Knowing the BR(M) region its probably quite complex as they had separate XL, Special Limited, Limited and Full Load timings on main line routes. So each class of loco had varying load limits depending on the timings the train in question was expected to achieve. I would expect the crack Thames-Clyde and Waverley expresses over the S&C to be given the fastest timings available and the load / booked locos suitably arranged. I travelled behind Bahamas unassisted a couple of years ago from Bristol to Plymouth and return, the load was 8 coaches. Climbing the 1:47 from Totnes to Tigley Church a balancing speed of 20mph was maintained and then 28-33mph on the slightly easier gradients from there to Rattery viaduct. It’s an exceptionally powerful locomotive so load 10 up a 1:100 should not be an issue if the loco is managed properly. (Whether the simulator can properly represent this is another question. I generally find the BMG/PLD locos extremely realistic, with the exception of the behaviour of the steaming rate when the regulator is fully closed.
