Seriously, having to use the train brake every time when the dynamic braking isn't enough to keep speed downhill makes the ES44 a pain in the ass to drive on Cajon Pass. What kind of design difference do they've that causes this? Also, the AC44 seems altogether like a better locomotive to me despite being older. Better and more intuitive placement of control handles, more spacious cabin, dynamic brakes being immediately available(seriously, what's up with the delay in ES44? You have to anticipate in advance where braking could be necessary), a display for the conductor side too, etc. Of course I don't know if this is a TSW thing or are they like this in real life as well, but if they are, why did GE decide to take a step backwards with their design? If I didn't know, I'd definitely think AC was newer
I mean dtg improved the American freight braking physics in Sherman Hill and now it's been applied here in a similar fashion. But it doesn't seem to be as effective probably due to how steep it is or weight of the train. Dynamic brakes don't come on immediately. It takes time for it to be set up and to actually work. You also need to consider the speed you are going and the weight of the train. You need to go even slower the heavier your train is for dynamics and auto brakes to really be effective
You need to be thinking several steps ahead of a US freight train - if you're reacting to it in real time it's already too late. Dynamic brakes all have a 10 second setup time, that's standard on all US locos - in some cases it's not hard immplemented in to the train it's just a "best practice" that engineers follow to prevent risk of blowing their motors to kingdom come, and in some trains it's an actual lockout. You should never use independant brakes alongside the dynamics, you are at a high risk of losing grip and locking the wheels up if you do that - sherman and cajon both simulate that quite effectively, AC4400 does not, obviously much more at risk in bad weather than dry where you might get away with it. Most US trains actively cut the dynamic brake out if air starts coming onto the locomotives brakes (even if applied via the train brake) - hence the need to monitor it and bail off the loco brakes to ensure the dynamics continue to function, again, this is a safety precaution. Standard braking procedure for descending a grade is: Start applying dynamics as the train crests and turns down hill, monitor your use of dynamics and learn when to kick in the air brakes to a minimum set before your train weight exceeds the force the dynamics can manage. Remember that air brakes take a moment to cut in, too early and you'll stall out on the hill and need to release, wait and then start again - too late and you'll need to bring it to a stop, release, wait, and start again. As you bring the air brakes in and feel them start to bite, ease up on the dynamics to maintain speed. at some point you'll need to bring the dynamics more to power again as the remainder of the train hits the downhill. You now need to find a balance point - ideally you want to be able to control the train entirely on the dynamics, supported by the air brakes but without moving the air brakes any further. Reducing the dynamics sufficiently should allow you to speed up, adding more on should allow you to slow down. If you find you're barely keepiing the train in control (or not at all) with the minimum set on the air, and max dynamics, then you need more air - put a LITTLE more in and re-evaluate, remembering it's gonna take a couple of minutes to take full effect. If you apply TOO MUCH air brake, your only option is to let the train stop, hold it on the loco brakes, release the train brakes, let the brake pipe fully recharge to 90 front and page, and then get moving again. Key is realising that when you release the brakes you lose the effect of them on the train pretty quickly - but it takes some time (minutes) for the whole brake pipe to fully recharge to 90psi - and if you need to re-apply brakes before that happens you'll find your standard minimum set doesnt work as well and repeatedly doing this (not many times, 2 or 3 even) can mean you start to run out of brakes entirely and will need to throw in emergencies, stop, wait 10-15 minutes for a full system repressurise and then go again. THIS is the fun of US railroading, it's a real skill to learn to do this. It is NOT easy. But tell you what, you nurse that train down the hill for a couple of hours I guarantee there'll be sweat rolling off and you'll be real glad of the break at the end. Do NOT expect it to drive like a UK or European train where we have distributor brake valves and significantly shorter trains, our trains are like ferrari's in how controllable they are compared to these US monsters. Matt.
Fantastic, educational reply. The reason I love American freight. The big girls are a challenge. But, mastering them is part of the wonderful experience. Sand Patch Grade to this day is still a fantastic route.
I know some people say US freight is boring but your post here just summed up exactly why I always thought it was one of the most interesting/satisfying parts of the game.
I love US freight for this reason, it's technically the most challenging driving. Plus I bought a new subwoofer and the bass from those diesels is awesome! You cannot beat the sound of US freight locomotives
Good tip is, before you get to the top of the hill, put dynamics on set up and of course bail off the power first and cost. Yes, you lose a lot of speed but that's the idea. Once you start slowly gaining speed, put dynamics on notch 3 and adjust it to as needed. That's what I'm doing and I haven't stalled once yet!
Real life tragedy: EB UP on Sherman Hill lost air brake effectiveness due to repeated applications, and dynamics were insufficient. The train ended up plowing into the back of another train at Granite Canyon, killing the engineer, iirc. Contributing factor was "loss of connection" between lead power and DPUs. FWIW, the US freights we run in TSW are *short*, compared to real life. In some cases, very short. Think about running an 18,000 foot freight train....
In general on a down grade, only apply air 2-3 pounds at a time and wait for it to kick in. don't grab a big fistful of brakes, and don't think off the bat "Well, 2 pounds isn't slowing me down so I'll add more." In either case you can wind up with too much, meaning you'll have to release completely and re-apply, with the associated issues of reduced grip. Paradoxically, the heavier the train is the more gently you have to drive it. A BR 422 you can throw around like a bumper car to no ill effect./
there was a thread on how to set up multiloco US freight trains, but cannot find it... anyone remember that one? I would love to learn the US freight, but need some reference and info, besides awesome Matt advice higher up this thread
You never use them at the same time. It would make no sense as you are taking away kinetic energy used for dynamic brakes as brake shoes are applied. If a loco allows you to do so, ignore it and operate it realistically.
because sometimes I am looking for information, so I enter sth into search and check threads it finds for me if they contain that info... and if not, I post a comment in thread(s) associated with that piece of info I am looking for... and yeah, sometimes it is older threads I am constantly trying this and that piece of content as my collection has grown over the years, and sometimes it happens I want to try a route/loco I havent tried much or at all, and it just so happens that manuals dont mention sth I want to know in order to understand... so I turn to community for help... and in most cases, ppl help so I NEVER bump a thread without reason
Oh really? I might have to try it out one day! First, I'll have to remember to enable it in settings, though.
This is good advice. Actually I use " save " every 10 minutes even if I'm doing an entire run, in case I screw up.
All you really need to do is to switch on " banking com " on the lead loco ( in the coms console left of the main desktop ). It doesn't need a complicated set-up.
