[Bernie]

I needed a break from route-building, so I went decided to hop in my time machine and enjoy a hike in the great outdoors, circa 1880. ^_^

Imagine my delight to find a little narrow-gauge logging operation climbing the hills! It wasn't long before I heard an excited huffing resounding off the canyon walls, and the piercing cry of a steam whistle.



Soon the train revealed itself to be a home-built critter with a vertical cylinder drive and boiler, puttering along with a short construction train with a sound reminiscent of the African Queen. :pleasantry:



The entire thing was almost comically tiny, the trees towered over the train.



From the trackside the unhurried pace seemed quite slow...



But when I hooked an arm around a bracket on the logging caboose, wedged a foot on a stirrup, and hitched a ride I found the on-board experience was quite different!



That thing rattled and shook over the rough track, and the cars bounced about so hard I thought the pins on the link couplers were sure to pop out! The excited, terrier-like panting of the engine soon turned into a veritable roar as it barreled up the canyon floor, the meager 20 mph pace seeming like 60!



The crew did not take kindly to an oddly-dressed hitchhiker brandishing a strange little box that clicked and flashed hopping aboard, so I reluctantly jumped off and watched the little train trundle off up the mountainside.



Sometimes the smallest trains are the most interesting! Anyone else had an encounter with a small steam-belching animal? Post your pics! All manner of diversions are welcome, sometimes nothing beats the staccato beat of a tiny loco dragging a heavy load around like a dog with a large tree branch when MSTS gets ya down with programming errors and route-building bugs! ;)

[thegrindre]

BERNIE! I love it! What route is that???
You need to tweak that loco back. 20 mph is far too fast for any geared loco. 10-12 is normal. BTW.

:pleasantry:

[Bernie]

It's the standard Silverton, up in the hills (I recently re-installed it, I want to fix the water tanks that don't work and so-forth before I am "satisfied"). You don't happen to know who made those freight cars, do you? ^_^

I have topped out around 25 with that kettle before, on slight downgrades. I know I should have been going slower, but I had the track monitors hidden for the picture and only discovered my true speed later. :pleasantry: Still, she is a gem, isn't she! She has great auditory character. I wasn't kidding, it really sounds like the Queen, especially at slow speeds!

[captain_bazza]

Nothing like a nice brew up....and that's a nice brew up!

Cheers Bazza

[thegrindre]

Bernie, what I mean is that you should go into the .eng file with Word Pad and change the MaxVelocity parameter to something like 1 or 2 to tweak it back to a much more realistic operating speed.
I have my version set to 1, BTW. The parameter is about half way down, after the lights and stuff in the .eng file.

Oh, yeah, great consist, too. :pleasantry: ^_^

Thanks.



;)

[Bernie]

I see now, thanks!

I should have thought of that, actually, since I am familiar with limiting engine speeds. :buffalobill: In Lowell, our trolleys have the capability to hit 45 mph, but are restricted via resistor banks to a moderate 15 mph for safety and stopping distances, not to mention our crummy track.

[captain_bazza]

When you make up a consist in the MSTS AE, there is a setting there too for velocity, I forget the exact name, but you should also enter a low figure here.

Cheers Bazza