[midneguy]

Hi All :crazy:

I've spent a fair amount of quality time this weekend with my SLSF 1522 model in OR, primarily to tinker with the sounds and to get some more extensive run time in. In the process of doing this I noticed a couple things which I wanted to ask about... For reference these observations are from release X2326

First, a sound related question... Actually I need to give a thumbs up to the OR team since steam locomotive injectors produce sound in the exterior view :rolleyes: This hadn't registered with me before, so it was a nice surprise to test and see that it does indeed work - definitely an improvement over MSTS there. What I couldn't get to work though were the sounds of the compressor cycling off an on. Can someone confirm that triggers 12 (compressor on) and 13 (compressor off) are indeed functional for steamers in OR? Beyond the situation where the train line is charging which would cause the compressor to kick on, I also have a sound stream set up to produce random "pumps" occasionally. This utilizes the 12 and 13 triggers also, along with "EnableTrigger" and "DisableTrigger" triggers in the stream. I don't remember noticing previously, but are the enable and disable triggers also functional in OR at this time?

And Second - I noticed an odd behavior as I was maneuvering 1522 around with the following scenario... Say you're at a stop with the locomotive brake applied. I want to back up so I set the reverser backwards a ways, crack the throttle open, and release the engine brake. As the engine brake releases I've seen the engine start to slide backwards - without the wheels turning, and the chug sounds take off as if the engine accelerates from 0 to 20 mph in about 2 seconds. After another second or two (as the engine continues to slide backwards), the drivers spin forward for maybe 1/4 of a turn, slow and stop, then begin rotating backwards. By this time the "chug" sounds have slowed / stopped, and begin to match the driver rotation backwards. As an additional note to this I'll add that I wasn't using the 1/4 revolution sound triggers, but rather Variable1 to calculate the chug sound frequency curve. What's also interesting about this odd behavior is that I only produced it when attempting to move backwards as described. If I did the same things, though with the reverser set to move forwards, none of the odd sound / engine skidding / non-matching wheel rotation things happened...

For additional reference I'll relate that the .sms file was actually put together within MSTS and functions normally there - including the compressor sounds cycling off and on when they should, and the random compressor "pumps" sounding as well. The .eng file I'm using at the moment is essentially the same as I've used on my last several WP steamers, the only changes being various variables to more closely match SLSF 1522.

I'm definitely curious if anyone else has observed these same things and look forward to whatever thoughts anyone can share - thanks as always to the OR team http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/sign_thank_you.gif

[captain_bazza]

Study away, Derek, we definitely need/will need a sound guru for OR in practice.

Cheers Bazza.

[gpz]

I tested, there is no problem with triggers 12 and 13 in steam locomotives, they work as intended. I didn't test it now, but EnableTrigger and DisableTrigger used to work as well without problems.

[copperpen]

Regarding the second point, wheels locked, I thought we had cured this quite a while ago, although the original problem was wheels turning in the opposite direction to actual movement when they did start to move. However, I can confirm this odd behaviour is not a one off. Testing with a J1e 4-6-4 the lockup happens for the first stage of rearwards acceleration from 0 to about 2mph. There is no opposite animation present in this model like Derek is seeing with his.

[midneguy]

OK a follow up... I failed to notice this last night since I didn't have time to investigate the compressor on / off issue more then, but I just noticed something today. With the F5 brake data showing, I noticed that the main reservoir pressure isn't dropping when charging the brake line - so of course the compressor never kicks on to recharge it. With the same base .eng file this functions as intended, but it seems some information is missing causing OR to not actually "consume" air from the main reservoir to release the brakes. I haven't tinkered much yet with the OR specific parameters, but I just researched that there are some for the braking system in OR. Is this the reason that the main reservoir pressure isn't changing, or should this still be able to function with MSTS only values?

The train line pressure, and engine / wagon brake cylinder pressures all behave as expected from what I can see and apply / release - the only weird thing is the main reservoir pressure on the engine never changing. Below is the brake system information from .eng file for reference in case anyone can tell me what's missing or wrong:


AirBrakesAirCompressorPowerRating ( 2.5 )
AirBrakesMainMinResAirPressure ( 20 )
AirBrakesMainMaxAirPressure ( 130 )
AirBrakesMainResVolume ( 30 )
AirBrakesCompressorRestartPressure ( 125 )
AirBrakesAirUsedPerPoundsOfBrakePipePressure ( 4 )
AirBrakesHasLowPressureTest ( 0 )
AirBrakesIsCompressorElectricOrMechanical ( 1 )

EngineBrakesControllerMinPressureReduction ( 6 )
TrainBrakesControllerMinPressureReduction ( 6 )
EngineBrakesControllerHasProportionalBrake ( 1 )
EngineBrakesProportionalBrakeLag ( 0.9 )
EngineBrakesControllerMaxApplicationRate ( 2.667 )
TrainBrakesControllerMaxApplicationRate ( 2.667 )
EngineBrakesControllerMaxReleaseRate ( 5 )
TrainBrakesControllerMaxReleaseRate ( 2.667 )
EngineBrakesControllerEmergencyApplicationRate ( 7.7 )
TrainBrakesControllerEmergencyApplicationRate ( 7.7 )
EngineBrakesControllerMinSystemPressure ( 0 )
TrainBrakesControllerMinSystemPressure ( 0 )
EngineBrakesControllerMaxSystemPressure ( 90 )
TrainBrakesControllerMaxSystemPressure ( 90 )
EngineBrakesControllerEmergencyBrakeTimePenalty ( 60 )
TrainBrakesControllerEmergencyBrakeTimePenalty ( 60 )
EngineBrakesControllerFullServicePressureDrop ( 26 )
TrainBrakesControllerFullServicePressureDrop ( 26 )

BrakesEngineBrakeType ( "Air_single_pipe" )
BrakesTrainBrakeType ( "Air_single_pipe" )
BrakesEngineControllers ( "Train, Independent" )

EngineBrakesControllerDirectControlExponent ( 1 )


Regarding the strange wheel animation behavior, at least it's good to know it's not just me that is seeing that happen still....

As always thanks - and thanks for indulging me as I try to catch up to what many of you already know within OR :sign_oops:

[midneguy]

Just a quick addition to my last post...

I have confirmed that the enable / disable triggers are working, and that the 12 / 13 compressor on / off triggers are working. What I'm puzzle by though, is what I had to do to be able to finally observe this. It took several cycles of setting the brakes into emergency, then fully releasing, to finally reduce the main reservoir air pressure by 5 psi and get the compressor to kick on. So it seems everything is actually working, except that the air consumed from the main reservoir(s) to recharge the train line is incredibly small with the parameters set as they are now...

EDIT / UPDATE: I did do some further testing and confirmed that none of the locomotives I tried including a variety of SLI, Dieselswest, other models don't seem to consume hardly any air out of the main reservoir when charging the train line. Even charging up a 100 car coal train seemed to take more than one full application of the brakes and then releasing to reduce the main reservoir pressure enough to get the compressor to cycle on and recharge it. Is this something that requires one of the ORTS brake system parameters to be added to make work in a realistic way, or is this something that hasn't been fully developed yet within the OR code? http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/read.gif

[midneguy]

OK - a few more questions if I may :oldstry:

I've attempted to update the .eng file for 1522 to include ORTS parameters, and have gotten some additional run time in. I've had OR lock up a couple times though after about 15 minutes of running, but in both cases the OR log file didn't record any warnings or information that would suggest a reason for either crash. No pop-up windows with error messages were generated either, so I'm at a loss to try to determine the cause - though I wonder if I may have something entered in the .eng file incorrectly that is causing a problem? I wonder this because I noticed the lights not functioning after entering the Davis equation parameters in the wagon portion of the file - I first placed them ahead of the light entries, but then moved them after the light entries which fixed the lights not working. I also noticed that when running the boiler does not appear to be consuming any water - the level never changes, the injectors aren't coming on, and the tender water level isn't changing. I should probably add that I was running with the automatic fireman and haven't attempted manual firing yet. Have I missed a parameter entry to make the boiler consume water as it should? I'm also still curious about air not being used from the main reservoir, except very, very slowly over multiple brake application and release cycles too...

I seem to remember some guidelines on how / where the ORTS specific parameters are to be entered, but I must not be using the right search terms to find that discussion... So, I thought I would include the .eng file here for examination. I'd welcome any comments and advice on the way the file is set up from one of the OR steam experts, since once I have a template to follow that will help make sense for future .eng files I might create.

Thanks! http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/sign_thank_you.gif

 slsf1522.eng (23.89K)
Number of downloads: 198

[copperpen]

http://www.elvastowe...or/page__st__10 has a download for the steam PDF which contains the ORTS parameters. The Davis lines I usually place just above the MSTS Friction lines.

I have just completed a couple of short tests with your eng file, one in the current X release, and one in the last test release from Peter dated Jan 30th this year. In the current code, the boiler has a volume of close to 20K cu ft and as such will never use water. Using the old test code, the boiler is as you set it at 1008 cu ft, and the engine does indeed use water.

This leads to the conclusion that something has been altered in the steam code, or something else that affects the steam code to give the behaviour change. Something for Peter to investigate.

[midneguy]

Thanks for the observations http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/sign_thank_you.gif

I've moved the Davis values ahead of the friction line in the .eng file and will give that a test shortly. I do have the .pdf reference file you linked to and have been working my way through it, getting me to where I am today. It will still be nice to see a full OR compatible .eng file as a template at some point as the background details come together, for items like your hint about where to put the Davis values.

I'm glad also that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me regarding the water level not going down either lol. I'll be looking forward to a correction on that, and of course the issue with the main air reservoir not being drawn down either which still intrigues me.

Thanks again for looking at this a little :)

[trainagrandevitesse]

Hello ,

I myself noticed this problem in the main tank. As you stated, made ​​to vary the brake pressure does not change the value of the main tank.
Suddenly the compressor never starts!

I noticed this problem because my TGV POS V2 have compressors that work with triggers 12 and 13.

I was surprised not to hear.

It seems that the problem is apparent there is little time (perhaps one month) during an update.

I will deal with the problem on my return from weekend.

Good bye.