Brake Shoes

Hi Everyone

Re............... ORTSNumberCarBrakeShoes ( xx )

The above parameter can now be entered into .wag files, however the exact number of brake shoes on a given vehicle seems to be difficult to source.
Would it be safe to assume as a rule of thumb the following-:

Bogie Carriages 2 per wheel total 16
Wagons 1 per wheel total 4
Tenders 2 per wheel total 12
Steam Loco 2 per driving wheel
Diesel Loco 2 per powered wheel
Electric Locos 2 per powered wheel

ETC ETC ETC

Variations are probably endless however if any one has any knowledge on the topic that they could share it would be most appriciated.

Thank you

Terry W.

Hi Terry,
I know you're only asking because the parameter is there, but I think Open Rails is getting far to complicated.  If it was a professional simulator I could understand the need for such parameters but, frankly, all we need is the ability to stop any train within a reasonably realistic distance - it's not necessary to know how many brake shoes each vehicle has or what they are made of!  As dear old Otto used to say, KISS!!

Sorry, mate, as you can tell, I don't have an answer

Cheers,
Ged

If we're not careful we're all going to disappear up our own tunnel....

Sorry, I missed this one when posted.

With regards to keeping it simple, you do not need to enter number of brake shoes for most wagons, carriages, diesel and electric locomotives. The default value is four brake shoes for every axle - which is good for most things.

This does allow extra detail for those who want - steam locos in particular where sometimes only the driving wheels were braked and then with only one shoe per wheel - so a 4-6-0 loco might have 6 brake shoes rather than the default 20 for example.

Again material - cast iron P6 is good for most historical things. For UK use cast iron P10 for 1950s to 1970s and modern goods wagons with brake shoes. For anything with disc brakes - Mk 3 and after plus some modern wagons put disc brakes.

I think default is cast iron P6.

Hi Chaps,

And thanks for your inputs to this topic. All duly noted.

It cannot be denied that trying to keep OR up to date with changes to the loco physics can be challenging and for many the time and effort will just not feel productive.

For me however I quite enjoy working with various new parameter inputs and observing the results (or not) when the loco runs. A side effect of entering correct and up to date data is that most warnings in the Log File are eliminated and that, to me, means I should be getting the best from the Sim.

The latest changes to the brakes and other features may not be too important in the greater scheme of things but again for me if it’s there, it must have a purpose and so I may as well use it.

all the best

Terry W.

To be fair Brakes are indeed the biggest bugbear when moving onto OR.
Sluggish acceleration though a nuisance can be overcome by using  Geds splendid  Activity Time Changer, though not attaining Line speed is a bit galling, especially so though when you run through the next Station.
In my case, being totally blind to the workings of PC's I still think OR is getting complicated.but great fun.. Regards,