Southern Pacific Cab Forward -Coming Tonight on Steam

[buzz456]

Not to be rude, but if you thought the train was going to be a flop in the first place(even stated you dislike G-Trax products), why did you purchase it?

I am pretty content with the train myself. The only complains I have so far are some visual glitches with the locomotive.

I'm pretty happy too. This might take a little tweak here and there but I'm not complaining.

[ArcticCatZRT]

I can't hold back on an SP Cab Forward, I am really trying to look past the poor audio. So at this point my only real real complaints are the borked scenarios

I gottca boss, audio is what you do so I'll bet you will get them the way you want!

[SteelRoad]

Cant wait for the audio mods! b737 makes some beastly stuff!

And aside from the front wheels not moving, the only other oddity I myself have noticed was the headlamps. The conductor side lamp seems to have some sort of decal over it and doesn't light up, and the other forward facing lights aren't 100% centered on the lamp portion.

[AdmiralLeviathan]

Not happy GTrax. There's just something not right about almost everything on the model, sounds, cab, etc. Normally their engines are good but it seems like this one was rushed a bit (Maybe on the heels of the Donner Pass update announcement to hype the route up again?). I'd hate to sound negative (which I hardly ever do elsewhere), but this one disappointed me to say the least.

Not to be rude, but if you thought the train was going to be a flop in the first place(even stated you dislike G-Trax products), why did you purchase it?

Because you get that teeny bit more credibility if you own the product you're criticizing. Also, because of what he said. It's hard to resist a Cab-Forward if you're familiar with them.

[BNSFdude]

No, Rick made the whole model and everything else to go with it. Bet he really appreciates seeing people say he didn't make something he spent a lot of time on.

[arizonachris]

I think Rick did a great job on this locomotive, like he does with all his creations and routes. I think it's brilliant. I love it. It's just brilliant. I have been so waiting for a cab forward, just brilliant!

Rick Grout and quite a few other third party creators around here is what keep RW alive. (yeah, you, too, Marc)

[Bananarama]

Rick created many of the objects on the MSTS version of Donner Pass, which I believe also included the caboose. Stands to reason that some of the bits and textures would migrate over to the RW version - no sense reinventing the wheel. The 3DTS Cab Forward, however, I believe was created by Nigel Apperley, and the RW model from RSC is all new sharing nothing from the MSTS one.

FWIW.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

I for one wouldn't mind quality RW conversions of some *or even all* off the USA stuff I see on those MSTS pages like at 3dtrainstuff.com and elsewhere.

I hope RSC's Cab Forward, combined with an updated Donner Pass, are one step in the right direction. If the announced SD45, F40 and Sherman Hill are quality assured and well accepted by us - the community of buyers - perhaps there will come more third party USA stuff to Railworks. ... one sheep over the dam, etc.

While there are glitches with the Cab Forward and sounds sound a bit lame to many of us, I really enjoy the engine and think it was well worth buying, even at full price.
Those small modelling errors are easily corrected, and a new soundpack is also within reach. Sounds are a bit of a personal preference in the first place and will probably never satisfy everybody.

Sound packs should be captured off a real, live engine by a professional, which in the case of the Cab Forward is out of the question as none are in operation. So the sounds either have to be captured off old film, "guesstimated" off other live steam engines or completely synthesized.

The sounds I miss the most are the roar of the burners inside the firebox, including the "poof" when the main burners are ignited. I once watched an oil fired DB Class 01.10 express passenger 4-6-2 on an excursion and noticed this "poof" which even had a burst of fire coming down into the "ahspan" when the driver was preparing for departure. This is an effect that - when prototypical to the Cab Forward - can easily be implemented using the "stoker" and "firedoor" controllers.

[buzz456]

I think Rick did a great job on this locomotive, like he does with all his creations and routes. I think it's brilliant. I love it. It's just brilliant. I have been so waiting for a cab forward, just brilliant!

Rick Grout and quite a few other third party creators around here is what keep RW alive.

I agree.

[styckx]

Digging back and checking out some past releases I missed.

This is easily the best Steam locomotive I've seen in the game yet and Rick stepped up his game a lot. This looks nothing like his past portfolio of work (that wasn't bad for its time and place) and is fantastic work. Easily the best representation of the "worn" and "weathered" steam engine look I've seen.

[styckx]

Has anyone ever manually fired this?

If so.. Did you find you can run this thing nearly wide open with a shockingly small fire mass and still have enough steam generated to leave the exhaust cracked open so you never have to worry about filling your boiler.

I say shockingly small because default fire mass when you start with these is 750lbs. I was blasting up to Truckee out of Sparks running with a fire mass between 470lbs and 570lbs and still was blowing pressure relief valves



By the time I got to Truckee I let it run down even more and still had plenty of steam to throw around..

[styckx]

Ok, wide open at speed requires a decent fire..

Threw on 5 Amfleets and opened her up down the NEC out of Trenton.. At 108mph I needed roughly a 750lb fire, blower and dampers open to generate enough steam to match usage. Exhaust injector open 100% and live injector at about 75% to maintain a safe boiler water level. She was nearly using it as fast as I was putting it in.. Scary!!

[evafan002]

Ok, wide open at speed requires a decent fire..

Threw on 5 Amfleets and opened her up down the NEC out of Trenton.. At 108mph I needed roughly a 750lb fire, blower and dampers open to generate enough steam to match usage. Exhaust injector open 100% and live injector at about 75% to maintain a safe boiler water level. She was nearly using it as fast as I was putting it in.. Scary!!

how the dickens did you get it to do 108 mph? i struggle to get it to do 75!

[styckx]

Rudolph!

Just noticed I had the blower on at 108mph... Just a tad pointless...

[MontanaRails]

Has anyone been able to figure out how to fix the right hand head end numberboard when the lights are turned on? I did some poking around in the texture files and didnt see anything obvious...I wonder if its a mapping issue?