[charland]

A few days ago someone started a threat about things that just didn't work in Open Rails. I participated in the discussion and the next morning when I went to look at it, it had vanished. Not sure why.

I finished my switching activity in the Timmins Yard, five hours worth, I though I would pass along what I found and hope someone out there from Open Rails might read it and it might help them understand what's going on... or wrong.

Like I said, the morning activity in the year took five hours. It included moving a dozen cars to a mine and exchanging them with loaded cars. Strange thing happened. The spur runs off the mainline that has a 50 freight/55 passenger speed limit and the spur has a 15 mph speed limit. The 15 mph limit showed while entering the spur. I dropped the 12 cars off on the main and then backed through the passing siding, into a siding to pick up a single car. Then I went to the two track tipple and picked up the loads, backed to the passing siding where I dropped off the loads. Backed on to the main track of the spur, then forward onto the empties. To the tipple to spot them on the two tracks, then backed down to the passing siding to add the one load to the 12 loads placed in the passing siding earlier. As soon as I coupled to the 12 cars I noticed the speed limit jumped to 55 mph. It stayed at 55 while I ran around the train and changed back to 15 as soon as I couple back on to the loads. It remained at 15 until I was off the spur back onto the mainline.

Second part of the activity is to take apart the morning passenger train , exchange cars that were in a siding, and make up the next outbound passenger train, leaving it in a siding (to be cleaned). Everything went well.

Third part of the activity was to sort out 18 freight cars in the yard. The yard is flat so there is no need to keep coupling air hoses and pumping up the air... real railroad wouldn't either. The cars were sorted into four groups depending where they were going and which end they would have to be based on the direction their sidings were. Everything went wall.

This took a few hours and it was time for me to have lunch, so I saved the activity.

The fours part of the activity was to spot these cars and lift acts from various customers. The first couple of single cars from customers went well, but as soon as I coupled onto the first long cut of cars in the yard the activity started going down hill. All four cuts of cars that I had left in the yard without connected air hoses, without hand brakes, that I should have been able just to couple on to and move now showed they were in emergency every time I done anything with them. In order to move them I needed to use SHIFT+/. Drop a car off at a customer, back into emergency and SHIFT+/, lift a far from a customer, back into emergency and SHIFT+/.

In addition to constantly going into emergency, randomly, single cars in sidings that were picked up also had 100% handbrakes on. I'd understand if they all had handbrakes on but only four out of sixteen car lifted had their handbrakes on.

Just in case anyone cared. I know this has come up before and brushed aside. It appears that running from point A to B or running a way freight that uses air brakes works well in OR and that's enough for some people.

Paul

[engmod]

Hi Paul,

I have noticed switching issues as you describe as well.
I will have to watch much closer to see if I can find a pattern.
I also try not to use air when switching, and I know there was confusion with the programmers when I stated that I switch with no air.
I have also noticed that handbrakes come on without warning.

[charland]

After installing v1.4 because I was told it was my old version and making my route in MSTS I had to reinstall v1.3 to get the full F5 HUD information. to see what was going wrong and when.

I should have taken more screenshots but these two shot illustrate part of what was happening.

First shot is near the end of the five hours of switching. Just coupled about ten cars onto a flatcar and pushed them into the siding, everything appears normal enough.


https://images2.imgbox.com/ce/15/CF7vocVn_o.jpg

Uncoupled the engine from the cars and right into emergency and yet another SHIFT+/.

https://images2.imgbox.com/c8/68/cpcXpPUj_o.jpg

Well it's a bit comforting that others like Derek have been having the same problems with switching without air.


Paul

[R H Steele]

charland, on 20 May 2022 - 01:05 PM, said:

A few days ago someone started a threat about things that just didn't work in Open Rails. I participated in the discussion and the next morning when I went to look at it, it had vanished. Not sure why.....

Paul

Paul, respectfully, you are mistaken...the thread is still up ---with your posts #'s2-4-5 --- don't work in OR

[engmod]

Hi Paul,

The issue with the extended HUD is that the key sequence has changed

I will dig up the extended HUD key sequence and post it here.

In your first image, brake pipe pressure is being shown in the cars, that explains the emergency.
You need to go back to when you coupled to see if the coupling connected the air!!

I use Carlo's ORMG 124 ( at the moment ) and see that same issues.
I always run Carlo's latest to see if my switching breaks it, and it frequently does.

I will run all of your activities with the extended HUD on to see what I can see.

[charland]

Thanks Gerry, I've looked for two days and nothing, can't even find it doing a search for my posts.

Paul :-)

[charland]

Hi Derek,

Before the save before I took lunch, there was no brake pressure, it only appeared when I resumed the saved activity half an hour later.

I did search for anything to do with the F5 HUD in the manual that came with v1.4 and there is nothing other then the two screens that show up when you first hit F5, the SHIFT+F5. Might be somewhere else but it doesn't come up in a search.

Paul :-)

[engmod]

Hi Paul,

>Before the save before I took lunch, there was no brake pressure, it only appeared when I resumed the saved activity half an hour later.

You have just found the bug, do you want to report it, or shall I?

[charland]

Hi Derek,

You report it if you will. Last bug I reported wasn't triaged for four years, I don't have that much time left.

Paul :-)

[engmod]

From the manual:-

If the newly coupled cars are to be moved without using their air brakes and parked nearby,
the brake pressure in their air hose may be left at zero: i.e. their hoses are not connected to the train’s air hose.
Before the cars are uncoupled in their new location, their handbrakes should be set.

The cars will continue to report State Emergency while coupled to the consist because their BC value is zero; they will not have any braking.

The locomotive brakes must be used for braking. If the cars are uncoupled while in motion, they will continue coasting.