Narrow gauge (30") 0-4-0 Porter

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:02 pm

So far so good although I can't change out the driver anymore. That option isn't working. It does say Willie is in the cab but it defaults back to your new guy in the game. (Missing a if/then/else statement somewhere maybe?)
No more Willie?!?! I like the new guy, too, btw.

EDIT: I don't usually drive in Cab Mode but I will say this, WOW! that was fun...

A new experience at my end.

The water sure gets used up quickly. Sheesh...

I gotta stick water tanks up all over my route, now. LOL

nwhitney · Post by **nwhitney** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:03 pm

That was one of the good things about MSTS. You not only had to watch your water, but also the Johnson bar to make sure you were still making steam. It's implied in TRS, but you don't get that direct readout. So do you like cab mode? To paraphrase philskene, (I think) "Only real men drive in cab mode"
Norm

Oops, almost forgot. Great job on makin' 'er cab mode, Curtis. Thank you.

Post by **bdaneal** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:21 pm

I see one problem with the Porter. You put direct-drive 1 on the the main bogey. You should put it on an invisible bogey set to either the same size or half the size of the actual drivers.

And a thought: it'd be nice if you put working controls in the cab. Did I send you a zip with the parts from the V&T cab? If not, let me know and I'll email that to you.

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:33 pm

Is it my PC, my lack of knowledge, or do the 'adjustments' need to be more calibrated? I can't seem to get it to pull off smoothly. It jump starts on me and sometimes it just takes off like a rocket LOLOLOL
I've read the instructions on 'how to' but it refuses to pull away nicely.

Is anyone else having trouble???
(Personally, I need more refined calibration.)

Norm, I never really did get into cab mode driving even in MSTS. Runnin' this Porter on my route is rather fun, I might say, though.

COOOOOOL job, Curtis....... Very cool.

Post by **Pencil** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:15 pm

Yes Ben, I do have the parts - thank you! I'll get them added to the porter one day. I'm taking baby steps - I wanted to troubleshoot the cab mode problems without compounding them with animated parts.
I'll play with dropping the water consumption; how's the fuel consumption?
As for the driver; I wonder if it would be possible to turn on/off the Auran driver through scripting?

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:58 pm

My 30 ng track is about 2 1/2 miles long. With all the things to do in between, switching, loading, unloading, run-arounding, etc. the wood is about half or so used up. (Might be too long. I think it should consume a bit faster, IMO.)

Personally, I have no problems with the 'new' guy as a permanent driver. What I would like to see is Peter's driver. This Porter run backwards as much as it does forward. I liked the option of turning him around.

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:41 pm

OK, guys, I can't beta under cab control. It's not touchy enough. It jerks and takes off. I have no creeping ability for loading and unloading of each car. I can't make it roll smoothly.

It might be my fault but I have to give up. Slow creeping speeds aren't working for me.

Post by **bdaneal** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:07 pm

Try this:

Code: Select all

	firebox-volume					325
	firebox-to-boiler-heat-flow			0.01
	firebox-efficiency				0.2
	boiler-volume					3000
	minimum-volume					2800
	maximum-volume					2960
	initial-boiler-temperature			389
	water-injector-rate				1.9
	westinghouse-volume				20
	main-reservoir-volume				92
	piston-volume-min				0.613
	piston-volume-max				9.28
	piston-area					0.0119
	piston-angular-offsets				0.0174,1.5254,3.0333,4.5413
	piston-to-atmosphere-flow			0.0004
	boiler-to-piston-flow				0.0013
	firebox-to-boiler-heat-flow-idle		0.003
	burn-rate-idle					0.003
	safety-valve-low-pressure			1205
	safety-valve-low-flow				0.0035
	safety-valve-high-pressure			1235
	safety-valve-high-flow				0.2
	max-fire-coal-mass				48
	max-fire-temperature				1325
	shovel-coal-mass				2.25
	burn-rate					0.065
	fuel-energy					25.5

Makes it a bit more economical, a bit slower, and a bit less powerful.

In theory, this is a Light Class B-S, code word Kirmes. The Porter catalog says that on the level, this should be good for 245 tons. That goes down to 75 tons on 1%, 40 tons on 2%, and 25 tons on 3%. Someone can check those weights if they want. (my standard freight car enginespec is modified with higher drag to make runs more challenging)

Also, if you don't have data on the amount of fuel and water, the catalog lists 150 gallons of water and 18 ft^3 of wood for the Kirmes. If you have accurate info on the specific engine, use that. The catalog data is from the 1920s version of the engine which had a bigger water tank.

Post by **Pencil** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:25 pm

Thanks, Ben! I'll get that incorporated, and a new build up tonight. I don't have very much info on that locomotive - built May 1887; builders no 848, 23" drivers, 6x10 cylinder diameter / stroke, 6 tons weight.
Thanks again!
Curtis

Post by **Pencil** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:42 pm

OK, so it took a little longer than I was expecting.....

Anyway, try this: http://www.carsoncarshops.com/files/porter_cab_test.cdp

Thanks, Ben!

For the water amount, I just measured the model's water tank, and calculated from that. I figured that would get me ballpark, anyway...

One thing that helps me move a little slower is the custom hud that includes the sliders for the main controls. That seems to give the best performance to me. It sure would be nice if there was a hud with that, and also the fuel / water remaining....

Ben, what's the issue with the direct drive tag?

Curtis

Post by **bdaneal** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:10 am

The direct-drive tag makes the drivers spin at the wrong speed in cab mode. It uses a 2 meter driver size (I don't know why. USRA Heavy 4-6-2s use something around that size, but there isn't one in the game (yet

) The issue is present from 2.0 to 2.5, possibly TC also. It's supposed to be fixed in TC3.

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:23 pm

This is much much better. It's kinda fun, now running Cab Mode.
I'm the new guy at doing this and needed these 'touchy' controls to control it. LOL
I'd like it a bit more calibrated, personally. It may not be quite as prototypical but may be better for the game, IMO.

Post by **bdaneal** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:06 pm

Calibrated, how? (be more specific and I might be able to help)

thegrindre · Post by **thegrindre** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:34 pm

Oh, gosh, now you're asking me a question I don't know how to answer. I never got into specs, so to speak, so I can only say to make it pull off even smoother at lower control settings/speeds. Make it 'creep' more smoothly. Sorry, not sure just how to reply.

There's a water bug, now. LOL The water keeps rejuvenating itself. I doesn't run out as it did before.

Hope this helped...

EDIT: Let me say this, this set up is 100% better then it was. I can honestly say that it runs much better and seems to work quite well. I can get used to using this engine as is with a little more experience at Cab Mode.

This is a great improvement over the previous set up.
Fantastic job, Ben and Curtis...

Thank you both,

P.S. I'm too damn picky sometimes...

Post by **bdaneal** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:18 am

Which water rejuvinates? The water listed with a % on the HUD, or the water queue?

Two problems with creeping. First, without a cab the lowest throttle setting is 5%, higher than I'd like. Even with a cab, 5% is still the lowest you can use with the keyboard. However, you can manipulate the throttle in cab to get .2% throttle. If you haven't, you might want to try the Vulcan and its cab, just for some more practice. I think the acceleration might be a bit fast, but I'm not done with that enginespec (so if you have any suggestions on that one, I'm all ears). It would at least let you try opening the throttle slowly.