Hi all! I've been thinking a lot lately about helpers in Train Sim Classic. In the game it's a simple enough affair for diesel and electric locomotives. Just slap down as many as you need, makes no difference of variety of locomotives, and they simply shadow what the player does. With steam locomotives it gets complicated. One time I wanted to try making a scenario with the Jinty assisting a 9F from Bath on the Somerset & Dorset with the Pines Express only to find that the little Jinty's safety valves instantly erupted because the game thought the Jinty had the same working boiler pressure as the 9F behind it which in the Jinty's sim file is above the point setting for the safety valve lifting so it lifted, and the pressure simply wouldn't go down. The F4 HUD provided no help as it simply read that my boiler pressure was in the red because the safety valves were lifted and trying to vent steam. What made it worse is that some of the information on the F4 HUD and the F5 HUD conflicted - one wanted to show what was going on in the 9F boiler while one was trying to show what was going on in the Jinty boiler. So, I scrapped the run because there was no way I could confidently interpret what was going on in my own loco. I decided to try it again, but this time having the player train marker on the trailing 9F, and while my information was more reliable the Jinty in front was still continuously blowing off because for whatever reason the game still thought it had the 9F's working boiler pressure which needless to say became annoying after a while and because the Jinty had pretty much infinite steam thanks to the 9F's steam raising capacity I wound up doing some very unrealistic things going up the bank climbing out of Bath. My experience is one of many experiences that I'm sure many of you have experienced when trying to set up scenarios using multiple steam locomotives from double headers to having a pusher at the end of the train. A lot of the time if there are different types of locomotives in the consist the run ends in failure because the game thinks one of the engines ran out of water and it's never the player's loco. So as a general rule in the community we tend to stay away from having multiple steam locomotives in the consist for our scenarios, maybe if the locos are the same type but that's the only exception. Sometimes we put up with the informational inaccuracy and do the run anyway but that removes some of the immersion. What I propose today is that we rethink how steam locomotive helpers work in Train Sim Classic, and it has nothing to do with changing the core code because then the whole game will probably break. You want to know what helper pairing actually works and still provide accurate information about the player's locomotive across both the F4 and F5 HUDs? A steam locomotive and a diesel. Any time I've made a run for myself with a steam locomotive in front and a trailing diesel I have always gotten consistent performance information about what's going on in my boiler. The only downsides are that on standard steam locomotives the reverser is "locked" with the regulator open because there's a diesel in the consist and that part of the control scheme seems to override the player's controls, and the diesel's amp values are determined by the steam chest pressure which affects the diesel's performance and how quickly the train accelerates. For Advanced locos like Smokebox's FEF-3 and Big Boy, and I anticipate the same will be true for the upcoming Heavy Challenger pack, the reverser can still move freely regardless of throttle position when a diesel is in the consist due to the locomotives' scripting. The specialized SD70ACe that comes with the FEF-3 is scripted to overcome the issue with the locomotive's amps vs the steam in the steam pressure gauge. The information on the F4 HUD and the F5 HUD remains consistent and reliable, however, regardless of whether the player's steam locomotive is in front of the diesel or if the diesel is in front of the player's steam locomotive. Knowing this, what if we made a specialized helper version of a steam locomotive and while externally it looked and sounded like a steam locomotive internally it was built like a diesel? True this might be deceptive and would require some sleight of hand on the part of the developer with extra scripting in the background to ensure the player's steam locomotive's reverser still properly functions, but if we can get such a locomotive to look and act the part while preserving the player's operating information and experience does it really matter? We could even throw in a couple of exclusive features only meant for the helper. For example, we could have a "Lead" variant which would be in front of the player locomotive and is scripted to check the track ahead for upcoming signals and speed limit changes. If from a distance of like a mile or so the "Lead" variant registers a lower speed limit or a restrictive signal it can sound 3 short blasts of the whistle indicating the train needs to slow down or if it detects a red signal it can sound a single short whistle to indicate that the train needs to stop, or when the train is stopped, the reverser is in the forward position and the brakes release it can sound 2 short blasts of the whistle indicating it's ready to move forward and when the train is stopped with the reverser in reverse position and the brakes released it can sound 3 short blasts indicating it's ready to go backwards. We can also make a "Trail" variant that sits anywhere in the consist behind the player loco. Because it will sit behind the player loco it won't need to scan the track ahead for speed limit changes or signals. The main gimmick for this loco is sensing whether or not the brakes are released in its part of the consist. If the "Trail" is in the very back of the train and the script registers that the brakes are released and it's in forward gear the "Trail" will give 2 short blasts indicating it's ready to move forward whenever the player is ready, and if the brakes release while in reverse the "Trail" will give 3 blasts of the whistle to indicate that it's ready to go backwards when the player is ready. You can keep the feature for when the "Trail" is directly behind the player loco. What's important is that the "Trail" senses when the brakes are released and give the correct whistle signal for going forward or backwards. Thoughts? Opinions? Concerns? Let's start a conversation.
I would imagine in rl you wouldn't find a combination of those 2 engines. As it's a simulator a doubt it would give the option to pair the 2 engines. Possibly you might see a 8f leading and the jinty at the back of the train to assist but the jinty would have it's own driver.
I was just trying to do something goofy one day. I know that kind of combo wouldn't have happened irl.
