Underpowered Services Cajon Pass.

Just tried one of the services for the route and the train can't go up the grade. Two SD 40-2 with 4000 tons and the train will eventually stall or crawl at 10 miles per hour. I'm guessing the team didn't test all these services to make sure they had enough power for the activity. Anyway to edit a service and put different engines on the train or add additional engines?

 

Is it a doubleheader or top-and-tail? And what are the weather conditions?

 

Both engines at the head end and both set up correctly. Weather is no rain or snow. The train just doesn't have enough power for the grade. I don't know the name of the service but anyone who plays it will have the same problem as me.

 

Did you turn the comms on?

 

Like said above, make sure Banking Com is turned on. The feature is turned on and off using the PTT button on the radio. There are services that you will be unable to complete if you aren’t using them for throttle and dynamic braking. And don’t be surprised if you still can’t run at the speed limit, remember that’s a limit, not the target.

 

If it has both locomotives on the head end, then they are connected via MU cables and banking has nothing to do with how the second loco reacts, it is controlled via the cables. As far as the train beng "down on its knees", this would be very normal with the train you describe, and the crew would expect to crawl up the hill. A comment was made about this in the stream Thursday.

 

6000 hp with 4000 tons is adequate. But not ample; depending on the grade, you may well not be able to get up the hill very fast.

Left-field question: by some chance are the brakes on the trailing loco cut in?

 

I had the same problem, If I remember right it was the first service for the SD40-2, you get up to 25 and it eventually slows down to 0 and starts rolling backwards.

 

I had a similar experience with the ES44C4. I thought it was down to me not being able to figure out how to set the brakes to lead and cut-in on the ES44C4 since none of the buttons on the display work.

 

Same issue, once it gets to 2% grade I struggle to get beyond 10mph even with throttle control

 

I'm crawling up from Barstow to Summit at 18-20mph in the 2 services I've done (grain and oil) and that's in the dry. I imagine in the wet it would be half that if at all