Overall, there is no denying that Reppo’s AEM-7 is a definite step up in quality from its RSC counterpart from a decade ago. However, there are some things from a realism perspective that are head-scratchers for me. This is confusing for me because the info for making this accurate is all available publicly on the internet (see my references listed below). For example, why are brakes only charged to 90 psi for a loco in a passenger setting (when they should be 110 psi)? Why does the traction cut out at 120 mph when the top speed is 125 mph? Why are buttons and switches not allocated to the correct functions that are clearly explained in the real world operating manual? Thus, my goal in this post is to identify areas of the AEM-7 that are not realistic so that Reppo or someone in the modding community can hopefully fix them in the future. I use Reppo’s manual (https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/...ls/Reppo_-_AEM-7_Manual_-_EN.pdf?t=1705586441) as my reference for the numbered items below. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but these are the items that were noticeable for me. My apologies if a lot of these seem like nitpicks, but realism of cab controls is always a big plus for me. Page 7 from Reppo Manual 1. AMMETER & LINE VOLTMETER – The line voltmeter seems to go to 25 kV only. From a programming perspective, I do not see a way to implement this automatically, but it would be nice to be able to toggle between the actual voltages used on the NEC. The AEM-7 could work at these electrification standards: 12 kV / 25 Hz, 12.5 kV / 60 Hz, and 25 kV / 60 Hz. My suggestion would be to have a key bind to toggle between ~12 kV and ~25 kV to match with the voltages actually used on the corridor rather than being stuck only at 25 kV which is only used north of New Haven. For context, the scenarios provided are from Washington to Baltimore and from NYP to New Haven where voltages stay in that ~12 kV range. 2. AIR GAUGES – The left gauge has the needle assignments swapped incorrectly. Red should be main reservoir and white should be is equalizing reservoir (see ref 1). Also, in passenger service, the brakes are supposed to be charged to 110 psi, not 90. 4. CRUISE SPEED SELECTOR – The selector is supposed to have the following settings marked on the dial with smaller marks between each setting representing 5 mph increments: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, OFF (see ref 1 and 2). In other words, speeds from 20 to 125 mph should be selectable. This corresponds with the AEM-7’s top service speed of 125 mph NOT 120 mph (see ref 4 and 6). Note that traction seems to cut out incorrectly at 120 mph as well. 5. CRUISE SPEED CONTROL – This NOT for cruise control, this switch labeled “TRAIN SPEED CONTROL” is for cutting in or cutting out the functions of limiting speed for cab signals (ATC) (see ref 4). Cruise control is not activated (or deactivated) by this switch. 8. PANTO RAISE – This is NOT the Pan Up switch. See number 8 below. This is the MCB switch used for opening the MCB when passing through phase breaks (see ref 1). The pan up switch is supposed to be on the overhead panel. 10. BELL – This is NOT the bell toggle button. The bell toggle button is below and to the right of the operator's desk (see ref 3 and 4). This button is for resetting the vigilance alerter. Unfortunately, this does not seem like a trivial fix since the real bell button below the desk does not exist in the Reppo cab model. 13. WIPERS CONTROL – This is NOT used to turn on the wipers. The wiper is activated by the knob directly to the right of the switch (see ref 2 and 4). This switch is for activating the cab heater. (18.)* EMERGENCY BRAKE – This is NOT used to activate the emergency brakes. EB is activated by the automatic brake handle or the valve on the fireman’s side of the cab (see ref 1 and 4). This button is used to manually flash the crossing lights (ditch lights) (see ref 1). *The Reppo manual does not reference this control but it is there in the cab. Page 8 from Reppo Manual 1. DITCH LIGHTS – This is NOT the switch to set the crossing lights (or ditch lights) to steady. I am not certain on this, but my guess is that the crossing lights being on depends on whether the headlight switch is set to bright or not (or if flashing because of horn activation). This switch is for activating the class lights or I guess the red marker lights in this case (see ref 2 and manual). 2. BOARDING LIGHTS – My guess is that this is the switch for the lights that illuminate the underside near the step ladders (see ref 5). 3. INST. LIGHT – This is the switch for activating the gauge lights (see manual). 8. CAB LIGHT – This is NOT the switch to turn on the cab light as that would be a knob on the right side of the desk that is referred to as the desk light in the manual (see ref 4). This is the PAN UP switch (see ref 2 and 4). 9. SIGNALING BOX – The behavior of cab signaling and track speed is a bit rudimentary (ex: what is flashing yellow over green supposed to be, or why does Cab Speed 80 show up with a speed limit of 45 on the box?). For a demonstration of how ATC and ACSES are supposed to work refer to Trinancrat’s work on Open NEC at https://opennec.trinancrat.me/ (including the enhancement of safety systems for the original RSC AEM-7). References 1. https://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2021/11/var-sa-god-och-visa-oss-det-aem-7.html 2. https://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=91680 3. https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=438085 4. https://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/RREquip/EMD/EMD AEM-7 Operating Manual c.1979.pdf 5. https://railfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Wash4.jpg 6. https://www2.hcmuaf.edu.vn/data/phamducdung/thamkhao/Mark's Standard-Handbook/Transportation.pdf
There's already talks of enhancements packs coming, witch include overhauls, textures and sounds for the bell and horn. For textures someone already made a AMTRAK AEM-7 phase 5, SEPTA, MARC, and NJT (For the Reppo AEM-7) yesterday. And they are still being worked on. Today i heard someone talking redoing the seats on the AEM-7 for Amtrak. I'm getting all this intel from the Northeast corridor group on facebook with people who mainly play train simulator classic.
So with combined efforts, this good piece of DLC can be made excellent and even more true-to-prototype. Looking forward to that and to try that OpenNEC.
Something else to note (that is sort of hinted at in original post) is that the brakes seem to be setup only for freight service even though this is primarily a passenger locomotive with all scenarios being passenger-oriented. I say this because the brakes charge to 90 instead of 110 psi, the brakes only release at the complete release position for the automatic brake handle (instead of having gradual release), and there is no blended braking from the automatic brake handle (dynamic braking is not automatically mixed with air braking and DB can only be accessed from the throttle separately).
