[gpz]

Sid P., on 08 January 2015 - 12:37 PM, said:

But incidentally, I could not find any examples of the "Retainers_3_Positions" or "Retainers_4_positions" setting in my own MSTS files using TextCrawler.

It is in Realmuto's eng manual, AFAIK. There is no other document to work from, unfortunately...

Sid P., on 08 January 2015 - 12:37 PM, said:

I notice that the "Initialize Air Brakes" command ignores the retainer settings (they reset to zero) - this continues to support the simplified (but not realistic) operation for coupling and setting up the brakes: \ (backslash) to connect the hoses and set the angle cocks, Shift+/ to fast initialize the brakes.

Instead of this debug option you could use the "Connect brake hoses", which doesn't unrealistically pumps up the air line. Maybe the Shift+/ operation should be considered to be made more annoying to use, e.g. by popping up a blocking-pausing window with a warning, that "this breaks simulator realisticity, are you sure?", and requiring hitting an OK button, or such. :)

[Csantucci]

Pls. don't... I already hate these game stops when an event pops up. Maybe a post-action log line could be added on the screen writing "Train brakes release times overridden" or something similar.

[Sid P.]

Csantucci, on 09 January 2015 - 12:55 AM, said:

Pls. don't... I already hate these game stops when an event pops up. Maybe a post-action log line could be added on the screen writing "Train brakes release times overridden" or something similar.

I agree, you don't want to "scold" a user who may be just getting started with ORTS. There are a lot of details to learn.
Also, it is a useful shortcut when testing or debugging other aspects of activities or timetables.

[copperpen]

gpz, on 09 January 2015 - 12:49 AM, said:

It is in Realmuto's eng manual, AFAIK. There is no other document to work from, unfortunately...

There is the MSTS Tech doc, eng and wag reference guide, which is the basis for the Realmuto/Richter guide.

[Sid P.]

copperpen, on 09 January 2015 - 11:04 AM, said:

There is the MSTS Tech doc, eng and wag reference guide, which is the basis for the Realmuto/Richter guide.

Aha! I'd forgotten about that one; sure enough, the declarations are there. I did not find anywhere a method in MSTS to invoke them like ORTS can.
Thanks for the hint.

[KiwiPeter]

KiwiPeter, on 23 December 2014 - 01:55 AM, said:

When a pushed car is uncoupled, the loco brakes, the car rolls into the target siding, I throw the switch and the loco passes over it the switch becomes permanently locked. Even saving and restarting keeps it locked.

I thought this had been fixed, but I just got another switch locked on Marias Pass 3.1. I remembered my old post, coupled the car, uncoupled it again and the switch cleared.

[Genma Saotome]

gpz, on 08 January 2015 - 06:41 AM, said:

Please keep in mind that the majority of the world doesn't use retainer valves at all, the cars are not equipped with it. It is limited only to North-American railways.

I just checked and in the U.S. there still is a legal requirement for retainers to be on all cars in interchange service (i.e., handed over to another railroad for further movement), which would also include Canadian, private ownership cars, and all passenger cars.

Retainers have been legally required on each car for a very long time, very likely since before WWI when the first safety appliance laws were passed by the Congress.

Because non-revenue cars (caboose, work cars, etc., are normally not interchanged they would not have retainers unless the car had been retired from revenue service and re-purposed.

What this means is Retainer_3_Position or Retainer_4_Position should be present in every BrakeEquipmentType() parameter for every .wag for U.S. cars, and probably every .wag for Canadian cars too.



My own solution for transitioning cars to this requirement is to use the Include() statement and a corresponding .inc file.

I insert this line* into each .wag:

Include ( "..\\Common.Inc\\Fleet\\Single_Pipe_AB_Brakes.inc" )

and use this .inc file:

Comment ( "Single_Pipe_AB_Brakes.inc" )

BrakeEquipmentType ( "Handbrake, Triple_valve, Auxilary_reservoir, Emergency_brake_reservoir, Retainer_4_Position" )
BrakeSystemType ( "Air_single_pipe" )
NumberOfHandbrakeLeverSteps( 100 )

TripleValveRatio( 2.5 )
MaxReleaseRate( 20 )
MaxApplicationRate( 0.9 )
MaxAuxilaryChargingRate( 1.684 )
EmergencyResCapacity( 2.604 )
EmergencyResChargingRate( 1.684 )
EmergencyBrakeResMaxPressure( 90 )
BrakeCylinderPressureForMaxBrakeBrakeForce( 70 )

... having removed the same parameters from the .wag.

I put the .inc file into a readily located directory suitable for access by all .wags:

\trainset\Common.Inc\Fleet

* For cars built before the late 1930's and due to be retired I use a slightly different .inc file specific to K brakes. For modern equipment I have another alternative .inc file specific to ABD brakes.

[jared2982]

Dave I see one possible error in your air brake setup. Your “BrakeCylinderPressureForMaxBrakeBrakeForce( 70 )” I believe should be 77 psi. This is where the brake cylinder, auxiliary reservoir, and emergency reservoir equalize out with a system charged to 90 lbs after an emergency brake application, which would be the maximum brake force that could be applied.

[Genma Saotome]

Ok. Having that in an .inc file means just one edit in ONE FILE and all the cars are fixed.

But I do want to ask... what was the typical system charging pressure in 1950?

[jared2982]

I’m not sure on that Dave maybe someone else may have an answer. If I had to guess I would say it was no less than 80 but I’m betting 90 was probably it.