Vaccuum Brakes.

I love the way the Brakes work on these Loco's,is there any way to convert other Steam Loco's to this system. Often I find myself stopping short and just cannot get the brakes released quickly enough to stop stalling ? Mind you I'm not saying I'm competent to do it but would'nt mind trying on a loco (west highland maybe) because if I failed its on a CD and easy to replace.

Good Morning, Roger,
It should be a fairly straight-forward matter to transfer the vacuum braking system from one loco to another!
You don't say whether you're using MSTS or Open Rails, but I suspect the latter.  Also, you don't say which loco's brakes you wish to 'clone' !

Cheers,
Ged

Hello Ged I'm always doing it, for some reason I assume people would just "Know" what I'm on about,which of course is impossible.

In General I love the way the Engines are "Braked" in Mid East Coast. On most steam engines you drive with the Brakes in a "Running" Position, when I Brake we'll say you break the Vac: to whatever is required and return the lever to Running.So far so good but if you find your going to stop too soon you have to go to the release position, wait for the Vac to build up enough to actually release the the Brakes (usually stopped by now), and then get back to the running Position,open the regulator to pull forward, and repeat the whole procedure .
As an example in WHL if your running at 40 mph with the Brake set at "running 98%",apply the Brake to 20%, go back to Running, your Train Slows as it should, but if you see your going to stop too early you have to get back to the release position, which seems to take forever,then finger on ";" to get back to actually stopping.This I find to be very awkward now on OR when there's usually a "Red" at the end of the Platform.

Of course none of this is a Problem on MEC, pinpoint accuracy every time.... I hope that explains what I mean or does it confuse the issue even more.

PS on the Cambrian Railway the Steam Trains brake fine, but the Dmu Vac : drops to Zero immediately ?

Hi Roger,
Thank you, but I really can't help very much as I, also, have trouble braking under Open Rails!
If the MEC locos work 'properly', you have to compare their braking parameters with those of the loco you're having problems with, then make the appropriate modifications.

One thing I might be able to help with is to do with :

...on OR when there's usually a "Red" at the end of the Platform.

Maybe you've checked : "Forced red at station stops" - Options > Simulation > Activity Options. If you uncheck it, the platform end signal should be 'off', so long as the line ahead is clear, of course!

Cheers,
Ged

Hi Roger and Ged
I am sure Roger, that you must be using Open Rails when you talk about pin point braking in the MEC route. The ability to be able to stop a loco in this way is because MEC is an OR only route and all of the .eng and .wag files have been written specifically for OR use only. As downloaded neither the route nor stock will run in MSTS and of course was not written for that platform.
The stock however is available as MSTS compatible files and so it follows that other MSTS compatible files for other routes can be rewritten to make full use of Open Rails Physics. For instance the MEC trainset file OR-73082-BR5MT is available as DR_BR_5MT_73082, UKTS file number 23432. If you were compare the contents of the two .eng files against each other it becomes very soon apparent that there is little similarity in layout, parameters used and data written into any common parameters used. This is true of not only the braking section but most other sections of the .eng file also.
So the question now is-: Do I wish to continue using MSTS as well as Open Rails or -: Do I wish to abandon MSTS and use only Open Rails.
If it is the latter, it would be a case of either using the original .eng and .wag files and persevering with their unsuitability for Open Rails or rewriting said files following the templates as used in MEC.
Darwin Smith has also uploaded OR suitable files for several items of rolling stock. Particularly useful are his GWR .eng and .wag files, file id UKTS 39397 and 39293. There are other OR only loco and carriage files too that can be downloaded and used as a guide.
Also before embarking on any rewriting of .eng files I would recommend a visit to the Coals to Newcastle web site where you will find everything you need to know with regard to Open Rails.
If ,however, you still wish to continue to use MSTS (which I do myself) then each MSTS stock file should contain a new “include” folder named Openrails. This should have a copy of the .eng file(s) within and these should be the files that are edited to the requirements of OR.
As MSTS and OR move further away from each other because of OR’s continuing development, it is unfortunate that OR is so dependent on MSTS stock. That stock was never written to support the OR platform and as a consequence now falls short in many areas of visual simulation but mainly with regard to physics used and thereby loco performance.
I am sure that it would be a huge benefit to the community if each library rolling stock file available for download were to contain the necessary Open Rails “include” file already for use “out of the box” so to speak. How could that be achieved? Is it a topic for consideration? What format would such a file take? Possibly a team effort to undertake such a massive task?
It would be useful to have an indication of how model creators who have uploaded stock items For MSTS would feel about having their original .eng and .wag files adapted for OR use .
I have been rewriting .eng and .wag files for my own use in OR for some five years now and have six fully completed routes with all items of MSTS rolling stock containing an “include” OR file. One of the benefits of researching accurate data for these OR files has been the ability to adapt the original MSTS .eng and .wag files and insert that researched data into the original MSTS file. This I feel has given an improved loco performance when running MSTS too.
Braking Issues have long been a thorn in the side when using MSTS .eng files in OR but I speak from experience when I say that these issues, as well as quite a few others, can be resolved.

Wishing you both (plus everyone else) a very HAPPY NEW YEAR

Terry White

Hi Roger,

I'm glad you are enjoying driving the MEC Locos.

The main  reason you find the braking easier is because the brake system controller is set to <Notch ( 0.2 1 TrainBrakesControllerVacuumContinuousServiceStart ) > This allows any setting of brake pressure to be applied without having to go to self lap mode, so you can add or reduce brake force rapidly as required while you slow down. For longer trains the response is slower, as you would expect, since the total vacuum system volume is much larger.

Please note, there are many other factors involved in getting realistic performance, and as already said Coals To Newcastle covers all aspects of Open Rails Loco Physics in good detail.

It is important to realise that braking is only one aspect of the performance. Probably the most important factors are getting the Locomotive parameters right such as cylinder size, wheel size, grate size, evaporator tube size etc etc and the friction the loco will have to overcome in order to move as defined by the Davis Formula. In MEC the Loco performance is generally based on actual test report information from several different types pf locos. Where no such report is available it is then a matter of tuning the loco on the basis of these reports. In MEC the eng and wag files give a certain amount of information as to what has been done by use of comments entries.

I am hoping it won't be too long before a much more substantial stock release will be available, and there are some activities in the pipeline.

Best wishes for the New Year to all,
Mick Clarke
MEC