Driving steam in OR - Elvas Tower

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#1 Coolhand101

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 05:50 AM

In MSTS, my use of steam was very limited. I had a rough idea on how to drive steam, with watching the boiler pressure from getting to low. Also the reverser was lowered to get more speed etc.

After a new steam route got release for MSTS, i used this route in OR. The steam engine i first used behaved like it had a turbo in OR. I was given a link to the 'coal for newcastle' webpage for a better understanding of some of the ENG parameters. I notice the main engine parameters was using real life figures. Because of my limited knowledge with steam, im not sure what else to look for.

My main concern, was that the reverser could be left at 75%, with the engine running at 60mph with little loss of boiler pressure. This could not happen in MSTS, so i have no idea why this is occurring in OR.

I would be grateful to any OR steam boys, who can see anything obvious within the ENG file for the super performance of this loco.

Spoiler

Thanks

#2 Hobo

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 06:08 AM

For a start - change your cyl and your boiler efficiency to 1 or some wheres below 1.3 . Then try it .

#3 Coolhand101

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 07:27 AM

Hobo, on 29 December 2015 - 06:08 AM, said:

For a start - change your cyl and your boiler efficiency to 1 or some wheres below 1.3 . Then try it .

Thanks for them tips. Will try this out!

EDIT
Boiler seems to lose more pressure, but can still do 60mph+ with reverser at 75%.

#4 copperpen

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 10:59 AM

In actual fact, there is not a lot of the MSTS eng file used where boiler and cylinder performance is concerned.

This extract from the eng file will show what is used and what is not
Wagon ( DEE_H_31305 )
IsTenderRequired( 0.1 )
Type ( Steam )
MaxPower ( 850hp ) No
MaxForce ( 17360lbf ) No
MaxVelocity ( 60mph ) Yes
WheelRadius ( 33in ) Yes
Sanding ( 1e9mph ) Yes
NumWheels ( 4 ) No
BoilerLength ( 4.7m ) No
BoilerRadius ( 0.62m ) No
BoilerVolume ( "55163*(in^3)" ) Yes
BoilerEffectivity ( 1.26 ) No
DraftingEffect ( 1.2 ) No
BoilerResponsiveness ( 1 ) No
CoalBurnage ( 7.0lb/hp/h ) No
MaxBoilerOutput ( 15000lb/h ) No
NumCylinders ( 2 ) Yes
CylinderStroke ( 26in ) Yes
CylinderDiameter ( 19in ) Yes
CylinderVolume ( "7.0*(ft^3)" ) No
CylinderEffectivity ( 4 ) No
InjectorSizes ( 9mm 9mm ) No
ExhaustLimit ( 15000lb/h ) No
PrimingFactor ( 1 ) No
BlastExponent ( 0.45 ) No
MaxBoilerPressure ( 160psi ) Yes
MaxFireMass ( 950lb ) No
IdealFireMass ( 900lb ) Yes
MaxWaterMass ( 1989lb ) Yes
SafetyValvesSteamUsage ( 7000lb/h ) No
ShovelCoalMass ( 10lb ) No
SmokeCombustion ( 20 ) No
MaxTenderCoalMass ( 5600lb ) Yes
MaxTenderWaterMass ( 12000lb ) Yes

There are a number of ORTS parameters that can be added which will bring performance more in line with the prototype.These parameters are listed in the manual. On that Coals To Newcastle page there is a link to a set of test engines, based on the UK Hall class. The two OR specific eng files show what is needed for either the basic or advanced model. There is also a slightly modded MSTS file and a vanilla MSTS eng file for comparison.

#5 Sandy River Tom

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 01:40 PM

I am in the process of "converting" an existing MSTS Loco to run exclusively in ORTS V1.0.

Since there are a number of MSTS .eng file parameters that you say are NOT USED by ORTS,
could I:

1. Safely DELETE all those parameters/lines from the .eng file,
and
2. ADD the ORTS-specific parameters from the ORTS Manual and Steam Loco Model.

and the loco should run in ORTS?

#6 midneguy

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 03:02 PM

Sandy River Tom, on 29 December 2015 - 01:40 PM, said:

Tom,

I'd say the answer to both of your questions is yes. I did the same thing on the last models I released, the OR only CB&Q ten wheelers. It definitely makes for a much simpler and straight forward setup for steamers in the engine portion of the file as far as the boiler and cylinder parameters are concerned :)

#7 Coonskin

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 07:08 PM

How do you denote which engine is which version for the end user as it shows up in the MSTS Consist Editor? Will an MSTS engine with deleted parameters load in the MSTS Consist Editor without crashing the Consist Editor?

#8 ED_4

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 11:20 PM

Coonskin, on 29 December 2015 - 07:08 PM, said:

I think the consist editor looks for only a few handful of items within the engine file itself.

1. The name of the engine (for identification purposes),
2. The mass (for displaying how heavy a car/loco is),
3. Type of couplers used (also to display if it's linked correctly to the same type for the next car or the car it's being linked to),
4. The type of engine it is (steam, diesel, electric - used to show what kind of locomotive it is).
5. Oh and never ever delete that first line seen always at the very top of those eng/wag files, that is also used by that to show that it's a proper MSTS file.
6. Also be weary of how many brackets are on the end, that can mess things up when it's not proper. This is where that ConText Editor (comes with a MSTS file filter) that comes in handy, so as to show if you got the proper number of brackets or if you are missing one.

I think that about covers all that really is needed for that MSTS consist editor. Everything else is really just for MSTS to use when running the engine in the sim.

#9 atsf37l

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Posted 29 December 2015 - 11:47 PM

Andre, all of the engines I have configured for OR have had _OR appended to the name of the .eng file and the Name section of the .eng file, as well as the folder in which the files reside. AFAIK Derek hasn't used this same convention on all of his engines, except for the SP GS2's which are clearly marked as MSTS or OR. I would think that it is probably time to establish a "standard" nomenclature for any loco, steam, diesel or electric, that is specifically designed for use with ORTS.

I vote _OR appended to the folder and file names. :bigboss:

#10 Sandy River Tom

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Posted 30 December 2015 - 03:56 AM

That's a logical, clear, and concise way to identify OR-specific equipment, Herb.

Works for me! :thumbup3:

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