[rdamurphy]

Did you know the Alco 251 engine, designed in 1951, is still available from Fairbanks-Morse, and still in current use?

Robert

[steved]

 Walter Conklin, on 27 March 2014 - 08:10 AM, said:

Hi Steve,

I know that not all MSTS models are created equally. That said, I used the aforementioned figures in the BLW L&HR C420 engine file. However, after changing the figures, the locomotive no longer appears in the OR consist window.

Walter,

In the placement part,

Exhaust1
(
0.01 4.877 -3.155
0 1 0
0.3

the only thing you'll want to change is the 0.3 which is the size of the exhaust orifice. Smaller numbers makes the smoke go higher before it dissipates.
The other figures are the placement of the exhaust relative to the model ie 0.01 is the offset left or right, 4.877 is the height from the rail, -3.155 is the offset towards the rear of the locomotive.

This part,

DieselSmokeEffectInitialMagnitude( 0.0 )
DieselSmokeEffectMaxMagnitude( 10 )
DieselSmokeEffectInitialSmokeRate( 0.0 )
DieselSmokeEffectMaxSmokeRate( 4 )

is the amount of smoke exhausted.
I had the parameters maxed out for MSTS but in OR the only thing I saw was the nose of the locomotive sticking out of a huge black cloud.

Changing just these numbers shouldn't effect OR's ability to see the engine. Adding or omitting a parentheses may. Double check your formatting.
Did you save a copy of your .eng file before you altered it? Should always do that.

I'm still experimenting with these figures but it looks good in OR.

Steve

[c36dash7]

One thing to keep in mind, if you are using a non-BLW locomotive , is that I am now led to believe , that Gaetan ( or maybe Ron ), may very well have "made his own" smoke" ace texture . I cannot be sure about that , and would invite others to confirm this .

In any case, this is what I did ( "made my own" ), and what I had made , many years ago ( and for whatever it is still worth ), was different, than "default" diesel smoke textures, or some other variations, better suited for EMD's , and more modern diesels .

Looking at some recent screenshots from Paul Precht, especially, I would venture to say that the BLW Alco's he had been showing , should be some kind of a "benchmark", around which one may want to experiment with . Nevertheless, I remain convinced that a "dedicated" Alco smoke texture, is most desirable.

Not posting screenshots today , but having run some Alcos just yesterday , one thing really jumped at me, this time , and it has to do with the locomotive's very own "physics", or other "operational" parameters ( anything other than for just the smoke emission itself ).

The smoke "emission" pattern(s) , all have to do with just how the locomotive functions, as a "mechanical" unit, and the smoke "output"... ( what we can see ), all has to do with such operational characteristics . I did finally come to fully appreciate the engine files that came with some Alcos I had, as the smoke emission "behavior", was totally in line with just how Alcos did emit smoke , at various throttle settings / under varying operational conditions.

With the engine file / physics, accurately "doing their own thing", what we are doing , afterwards ... is only, say , "tailoring" ( or "fine-tuning" ), the already produced smoke emission , to better replicate what we feel is correct ( once again, for older Alcos ).

In one word, "poor" engine / "physics", file configuration ? Poor results, as far as overall smoke emission.

All the suggestions made so far, are excellent , and definitely point in the right direction, and some experimenting / trial-and-error, eventually lead to pleasant and highly credible results.

Make it "Alcos4Me" ... '-)

Jean Brisson

[rdamurphy]

I recommend the Diesel Smoke Replacement here:

http://www.3dtrains....oads/misc.shtml

I've seen none better, and it shows the exhaust color changes much better than the solid black default file.

Robert

[Metro4001]

 rdamurphy, on 28 March 2014 - 05:26 PM, said:

I recommend the Diesel Smoke Replacement here:

http://www.3dtrains....oads/misc.shtml

I've seen none better, and it shows the exhaust color changes much better than the solid black default file.

Robert

While it worked well in MSTS, in OR that file creates puffer clouds of smoke, compared to the rich flowing smoke of the default.

[dcarleton]

 c36dash7, on 28 March 2014 - 09:51 AM, said:

One thing to keep in mind, if you are using a non-BLW locomotive , is that I am now led to believe , that Gaetan ( or maybe Ron ), may very well have "made his own" smoke" ace texture . I cannot be sure about that , and would invite others to confirm this .

They use the same diesel smoke ace file found in Global Textures, like all diesels.

[markus_GE]

 rdamurphy, on 28 March 2014 - 05:26 PM, said:

I recommend the Diesel Smoke Replacement here:

http://www.3dtrains....oads/misc.shtml

I've seen none better, and it shows the exhaust color changes much better than the solid black default file.

Robert

 Metro4001, on 28 March 2014 - 07:10 PM, said:

While it worked well in MSTS, in OR that file creates puffer clouds of smoke, compared to the rich flowing smoke of the default.

It´s true the replacement dieselsmoke texture gives patchy smoke in ORTS when using it with the default smoke settings of an .eng file. Yet when you have found the right combination of values, it will, IMHO, look just like in reality. Finding those values, of course, can be a pain, a lot of trial and error invlolved. But once you got them, you can apply them to about any loco. Soon, there will also be a program to automate that last step ;)

BTW, Walter, WRT to the PM conversation we had, which diseslsmoke tex are you using?

Cheers, Markus

[DRelyea]

Hi,

On the voluminous smoke a number of early Alco diesels emitted, this was a result of a mechanical turbo charger, as compared to an electrical turbo charger the later C and M models had. All units had an electrical fuel pump, so notching the throttle hard ( 3 or more notches at once) would dump a large amount of fuel without the necessary air. (oxygen)

Somewhere, there's a video of one of the D&H PA's demonstrating the "Honorary Steam Engine" designation.

BTW, I like the second shot of the L&HR C420. It looks like the turbo lag is about over. When the smoke goes from Black to Grey, the mechanical turbo charger was starting to get up to speed for that notch setting. I do not know if the L&HR's C-420's had a mechanical or electrical turbo charger.

Doug Relyea

[markus_GE]

 Walter Conklin, on 29 March 2014 - 08:49 AM, said:

P.S.

While experimenting with the smoke parameters in engine files, I am noticing that the smoke emitted from certain diesel locomotives looks like it is oozing out of the smoke stack whereas with other diesel units the smoke looks like balls being puffed out of the smokestack. What smoke parameter causes these different effects? How can I eliminate the puff effect?

The puff effect probably is about something havoc with the data DSU applied. In the current version, this can´t be changed. yet a new version is due to come out which will allow for data customization, though it will only be published when computer problems on my side can be resolved.

I´ll post a status update, if I can find the thread on DSU / DPU again...

EDIT: Update posted here

Cheers, Markus

[Metro4001]

Sigh, could anyone be so kind to upload the original dieselsmoke.ace files. I didn't back up my originals before installing the 3DTrains version and I would like them back as they work best with OR. Any help would be much appreciated.