[Hobo]

In a steam Engine file the " Mass " should be the loaded weight . In a tender it should also be the loaded weight . This is shown in the Niagara test files by " Coals to Newcastle " . The fuel that is available and the water that is available is also shown in the Engine file so that OR can calculate remaining fuel and water . I've noticed many locomotives and tender files that are " Dry Weight " .
The most recent of these is the Mason's .I realize that the 3D cab poses a problem with a multi piece model . The power should be in the front portion and the rear portion has to be a low powered tender just so the cab works . Regardless of that the total weight of the combined units should be the loaded not dry . If my deductions are wrong - - please correct me .
I have repaired my files and the only annoyance is that the cylinder cocks shut off too soon - automatically .

[steamer_ctn]

Hobo, on 21 August 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

In a steam Engine file the " Mass " should be the loaded weight . In a tender it should also be the loaded weight .

If a standard ENG file is used, this should be the case.

However it is better to set the locomotive and tender up with "load animation", and thus the weight of the locomotive and tender will vary between loaded and empty weight. This will also adjust the relevant physics of the locomotive and tender.

Hobo, on 21 August 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

I've noticed many locomotives and tender files that are " Dry Weight "

This is one of the challenges of the MSTS legacy files as they do not have a standard setup, and often the values included can vary.

From a physics perspective, this wouldn't be the correct mass for operation of the two units.

[Hobo]

Peter ! With the load animation what should you use for ( 1 ) Loco Mass , ( 2 ) Tender Mass and is the coal and water mass in the engine file added to the overall total weight ?

[steamer_ctn]

Hobo, on 21 August 2018 - 03:46 PM, said:

With the load animation what should you use for ( 1 ) Loco Mass , ( 2 ) Tender Mass and is the coal and water mass in the engine file added to the overall total weight ?

Have a look at this page, and see if it answers your questions satisfactorily.

[Genma Saotome]

IMO .wags should be set up as empty cars and then as needed use an Include() statement to load those parameters whose values are changed because of the (static) weight of the lading.

In this way the ladind.inc file can be shared by all the .wags of the same class.

As Peter has noted fuel varies across the run so different issues come into play. You can standardize those in a fuel.inc file so locomotives of the same class share a common, identical set of parameters as a default.