[Traindude]

 Lamplighter, on 04 October 2020 - 10:18 AM, said:

I can do the following:
I'm attaching two videos and two listings of settings (.eng)
The first is a diesel-electric locomotive with a heating steam boiler for diesel.
The first video shows the effects of steam at the steam couplings and the exhaust from the boiler. The exhaust volume depends on the instantaneous boiler output (ALT + U / ALT + D).
The second video shows a heating car. It is set as .eng, but with zero traction power.
It contains a steam heating boiler on coal (from a narrow-gauge steam locomotive). It was used in hospital trains in Germany during World War II. After the war, it was used to heat trains with locomotives without a boiler. In order for the operator to work, he must go to his cab (CTRL + E), release steam to the train (ALT + U) and return to the locomotive cab.

https://youtu.be/54Vk9ZIAPDI
https://youtu.be/p5WdDyx40bE

What version did you use for the first video?

Also, I tried moving the diesel exhaust to the wagon section like in your .eng file but I still don't get any boiler smoke emissions and it completely disables the diesel exhaust.

[Lamplighter]

I am currently using version U2020.09.26-2121
The first video is what you are looking for. The first exhaust is from the engine and the second from the diesel steam generator. The intensity of its exhaust changes with ALT + U and ALT + D.
The settings of the locomotive and the heating car do not include all OR parameters of the steam heating. Only the oldest. Nevertheless, it is functional (visually).

Here is a summary and instructions using all OR parameters of steam heating.
By the way - on European railways, some freight cars were also heated by steam. Typically tank or isothermic.

Parameters of steam generator and car heating

Setting parameters for effects:
- position.x position.y position.z - Defines the location by distances from the zero point
- direction.x direction.y direction.z - Direction of steam / smoke at a specified location (0 or 1)
- volume of the exhaust effect in m - size of dispersion


for locomotives and heating cars:
-------------------------------
Wagon
ORTSWagonSpecialType ( HeatingBoiler )

Effects (
SpecialEffects (
Comment ( "Steam from steam couplings or boiler exhaust" )
HeatingHoseFX (
X Y Z
0 -1 0
0.15
)
HeatingHoseFX (
-X Y -Z
0 -1 0
0.15
)
Comment ( "Smoke from the boiler" )
WagonSmokeFX (
0 4.32 1.74
0 1 0
0.3
)
)
)

Engine
Comment ( "Behaviour of the drive" )
Effects (
SpecialEffects (
Comment ( "Steam generator exhaust" )
HeatingSteamBoilerFX ( 
X Y Z
0 1 0
0.12
)
)
)

Comment ( "Example: Steam generator PG-500" )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterUsage ( 0 0 2200 167 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerFuelUsage ( 0 0 2200 16.5 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 2500l )  
MaxSteamHeatingPressure ( 5bar )
IntakePoint ( 2 0 FuelWater )

ORTSSteamHeat ( 0 1 0 0
NumNotches ( 9
Notch ( 0.00 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.45 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.60 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.80 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 1.00 0 Dummy )
)
)





for passenger and freight wagons:
-----------------------------
Wagon
ORTSWagonSpecialType ( Heated )
Comment ( "Steam heated car" )
ORTSHeatingWindowDeratingFactor ( 0.25 )
ORTSHeatingCompartmentTemperatureSet ( 20 )
ORTSHeatingCompartmentPipeAreaFactor ( 1.5 )
Comment ( "wagons of class A - 1.5, wagons of class B - 1.75, service and freight wagons - 2.5" )
ORTSHeatingTrainPipeOuterDiameter ( 60mm )
ORTSHeatingTrainPipeInnerDiameter ( 50mm )
ORTSHeatingConnectingHoseOuterDiameter ( 70mm )  
ORTSHeatingConnectingHoseInnerDiameter ( 50mm )

Effects (
SpecialEffects (
Comment ( "Steam from steam couplings" )
HeatingHoseFX (
X Y Z
0 -1 0
0.15
)
HeatingHoseFX (
-X Y -Z
0 -1 0
0.15
)
)
)

[Traindude]

Okay. After doing some tests I have been able to get the HeatingBoilerFX emitters working. It turns out the effect was less dense than I expected. But after doing a run with the weather set to "clear" instead of "snow", I was able to see the effect better. So this whole time, it was working fine, it was just not dense enough to be seen against the overcast sky when the weather was set to "snow."

Now that we have that cleared up, there are some improvements that I feel need to be implemented:

1. As I mentioned earlier, OR seems to want to cap the maximum water tank capacity around 961 gallons. For example, on the EMD E8 that I have been using for these experiments, the maximum water capacity is 1350 US gallons. However, if I specify "ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 1350gal )" in the .eng file, what happens is that instead of OR reflecting this value and starting me off with 1350 gallons, it ignores this value and gives me 961 gallons at the start. Even if I refill the water tank, OR will not let the water level go above 961.

2. In the case of multi-unit lash ups, OR currently seems to allow operation of only one boiler at a time. For example, if I have two units MU'ed together at the head of a train, and I'm in the cab of the front unit, only the boiler in the front unit turns on when I press ALT+U. On the other hand, if I was to switch to the cab of the rear unit by pressing CTRL+E, the boiler in the front unit is deactivated, and the boiler in the rear unit takes over. And when I return to the front unit, the opposite happens--the rear unit's boiler is deactivated, and the front unit's boiler takes over.

Although I can't recall if this is true or not, but I remember hearing that sometimes multi-unit lash ups were arranged so that the boilers of all units worked in tandem. So IOW, instead of one boiler on one unit supplying steam for the entire train, both boilers in a 2-unit lash up work together to supply steam for the entire train. There may be other examples too, allowing for more operational flexibility. (Example: a steam loco and a boiler car working in tandem, or a boilker car being used with a steam loco's heat valve shut off...)

I have made a Trello card to pitch these ideas to the OR development team.

[darwins]

Seems like a matter of getting some appropriate information.

In Europe steam would only be provided by one loco or heating van. (That being sufficient for a train.) In UK the boiler was generally looked after by the "fireman" or second-man on a diesel. So we may need to have different options, so that for us Brits only the leading boiler is in use when we double head with diesel, whereas US can permit multiple boilers.

[Lamplighter]

 Traindude, on 05 October 2020 - 09:27 PM, said:

1. As I mentioned earlier, OR seems to want to cap the maximum water tank capacity around 961 gallons. For example, on the EMD E8 that I have been using for these experiments, the maximum water capacity is 1350 US gallons. However, if I specify "ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 1350gal )" in the .eng file, what happens is that instead of OR reflecting this value and starting me off with 1350 gallons, it ignores this value and gives me 961 gallons at the start. Even if I refill the water tank, OR will not let the water level go above 961.

The OR appears to know only the value of 961 gallons of water in the storage tank. Other values, ie more or less does not accept.

[steamer_ctn]

 Traindude, on 05 October 2020 - 09:27 PM, said:

1. As I mentioned earlier, OR seems to want to cap the maximum water tank capacity around 961 gallons. For example, on the EMD E8 that I have been using for these experiments, the maximum water capacity is 1350 US gallons. However, if I specify "ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 1350gal )" in the .eng file, what happens is that instead of OR reflecting this value and starting me off with 1350 gallons, it ignores this value and gives me 961 gallons at the start. Even if I refill the water tank, OR will not let the water level go above 961.

Where has this parameter been placed in the ENG file? It needs to be placed in the wagon section of the file.

[Lamplighter]

 steamer_ctn, on 07 October 2020 - 07:19 PM, said:

Where has this parameter been placed in the ENG file? It needs to be placed in the wagon section of the file.

Now here is the catch.
If the steam boiler parameters are moved to the Wagon section, they will no longer be displayed in the HUD.

[steamer_ctn]

 Lamplighter, on 08 October 2020 - 07:11 AM, said:

If the steam boiler parameters are moved to the Wagon section, they will no longer be displayed in the HUD.

When I tried it for the above parameter with one of my test consists it seemed to display in the HuD ok.

If you would like me to investigate this further, then I suggest that you select the appropriate test consist from the Steam Heating activity, and describe the changes that you are attempting to make. This will allow me to see the problem (if any) and attempt to fix it.

Thanks

[Lamplighter]

Hi!
There will probably be something really wrong. I uploaded two test videos again. The first video contains a test consist with a kit from CtN.
The steam boiler is listed in the Wagon section of the locomotive.
https://youtu.be/8d2xtRm3YV0

Comment ( Heating boiler water capacity 840g-uk sufficient for approx 4 hours )
Comment ( * Spanner Swirlyflo heating boiler produces steam at max 2000lb/h * )

ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 840g-uk )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterUsage ( 0 0 2000 200 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerFuelUsage ( 0 0 2000 20.5 )
IntakePoint ( 6.7 0.4 FuelWater )

The steam boiler is listed in the Wagon section of the locomotive. It has a water supply of 840 g-uk (~ 3819 liters). It displays correctly after loading, but the heating stops after a short time and does not work. If I change the water supply (eg to 500 g-uk), it will be displayed correctly, but the heating will fall off again after a while.

The second video is my train set. The steam boiler is listed in the Engine section of the locomotive.
https://youtu.be/DoH4wiXr8s0

Comment ( "Parni generator PG-500" )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterUsage ( 0 0 2200 167 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerFuelUsage ( 0 0 2200 16.5 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 550g-uk )
MaxSteamHeatingPressure ( 5bar )
IntakePoint ( 2 0 FuelWater )

The heating does not fall off, but the HUD shows the wrong volume of water in the tank. When I write the parameters of the boiler in the Wagon section, nothing changes. The HUD still shows the wrong volume of water in the tank and the steam heater runs without problems.

[Lamplighter]

In the end, everything works as it should. The parameters just have to be in the right places.
The parameters of the steam boiler must be in the Wagon section:

Comment ( "Steam generator PG-500" )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterTankCapacity ( 2500l )
ORTSHeatingBoilerWaterUsage ( 0 0 2200 167 )
ORTSHeatingBoilerFuelUsage ( 0 0 2200 16.5 )
IntakePoint ( 1 0.5 FuelWater )
IntakePoint ( 1 0.5 FuelDiesel )
and also special effects of steam:
Effects (
SpecialEffects (
HeatingHoseFX ( 1.07 0.55 6.46 0 -1 0 0.15 )
HeatingHoseFX ( -1.07 0.55 -6.46 0 -1 0 0.15 )
)
)

In the Engine section, then the MaxSteamHeatingPressure parameter, possibly control of the steam heating valve:


MaxSteamHeatingPressure ( 5bar )

ORTSSteamHeat ( 0 1 0 0
NumNotches ( 9
Notch ( 0.00 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.45 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.60 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 0.80 0 Dummy )
Notch ( 1.00 0 Dummy )
)
)

Then the HUD will also display the correct water level values (in gallons or liters).
The stated values ​​refer to the steam generator mentioned in the comment.
The inspiration was the setting of the .eng file of Peter's locomotive DEE 10203 from CTN. Thank you.

https://i.imgur.com/7oyP568.png