[copperpen]

steamer_ctn, on 26 November 2018 - 09:34 PM, said:

I am happy to have a look at this, but whilst anecdotal information is useful to give us a gut feel as to how the physics might react, I would need some more scholarly information that could be "easily" adapted to provide OR with an appropriate physics algorithm.

Far as I am aware, OR uses a single big axle per locomotive or car to tag the physics thus making it impossible to work at individual axle or bogie level so the best one could hope for is to differentiate between leading and trailing units.

[PerryPlatypus]

copperpen, on 27 November 2018 - 02:18 AM, said:

Far as I am aware, OR uses a single big axle per locomotive or car to tag the physics thus making it impossible to work at individual axle or bogie level so the best one could hope for is to differentiate between leading and trailing units.

While that may be true, I think if we can determine the physics of how individual axles in the lead locomotive are affected, then it should be possible to have an internal equation that generates an "average" adhesion across the axles of the loco or car, and that average adhesion could be used for the entire loco. Not a perfect solution, but more accurate I would think than applying a single Coefficient of Friction to the entire consist.

I have been busy searching through dozens of online journal articles, and while I have seen many articles mention that the lead axle of a train will experience the worst adhesion and that subsequent axles will condition the rail for following wheels, I have yet to find any quantification of the rate at which this conditioning of the rail occurs with each passing set of wheels.