Union Pacific FEF-3 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive, by Smokebox

[mrennie]

The auxiliary watercars are converted FEF-1 tenders. I do not know if you got the plans for the FEF-1 tenders, but I do have the erecting diagrams of them and I can give you length, hight, width, bolster locations ect ect ect...

I've got the full set of drawings for the "Tender Class: 23-C-1,2 Used with FEF-2,3 4-8-4". They call it a "Centipede" tender. But the one you're describing from te FEF-1 must be the one with trucks rather than pedestals, from the FEF-1. I would need separate diagrams for those, yes indeed.

[mrennie]

Can't wait to be able to get the engine later, enjoying the Consolidation.

It's going to take quite some time to build it, but it's going to be fun!

[mrennie]

Here's what I've managed to do so far ... a set of super-detailed (you can even see inside the hollow parts), fully textured (with manual shadow baking and highlighting) driving wheels for the Northern:

2013-03-26_00001.jpg

2013-03-26_00002.jpg

I can even drive these wheels along the track now

[CSX2057]

WHOA! Very nice! You're a pretty good artist my friend, wow! Now that looks awesome! Steam engines has been one of my top favorites ever since Gtrax and IHH came out. Love it! I've been seeing some really good improvements from RSC. Especially the new consolidation with the "real" bell. Keep up the good work fellas!

[mrennie]

WHOA! Very nice! You're a pretty good artist my friend, wow! Now that looks awesome! Steam engines has been one of my top favorites ever since Gtrax and IHH came out. Love it! I've been seeing some really good improvements from RSC. Especially the new consolidation with the "real" bell. Keep up the good work fellas!

Thanks!

I should point out that the Consolidation was 99.999% all my own work, including the animated bell (next time I'll animate the hammer separately) ... nothing to do with RSC. Their input to the Connie consisted of giving me the buckeye couplers (which I enhanced) and the crew figures (generously donated from the K4). They also did the beta and QA testing, and Matt helped me spot a tricky bug in the engine script (thanks Matt!). Basically, I'm a one man band doing this in my spare time, which might explain why it took 10 months to build one engine

[ozinoz]

Seriously, we all need to chip in and buy this man some spare time

Wish I could - you have forced a re-kindling in my interest in RW with the Connie, for which I (Just wish I could get out of the yard with the consist in the tutorial scenerio - just keep stalling, but I am not going to let it beat me)



Grant

[mrennie]

Seriously, we all need to chip in and buy this man some spare time

Wish I could - you have forced a re-kindling in my interest in RW with the Connie, for which I (Just wish I could get out of the yard with the consist in the tutorial scenerio - just keep stalling, but I am not going to let it beat me)



Grant

Thanks Grant, you're a good friend

Now that I've done the next installment of the steam loco building tutorial, I can do the Connie driving tutorial. We'll have you storming up that slope in no time at all!



Mike

[OlPaint]

Smokebox

I am having an absolute blast learning to drive steam. Connie is a tricky B@@@h to master. She is the first loco in the RSC livery that I can really get the wheels to slip if I goose the throttle too much as I accelerate with a heavy load. I discovered that you need to be gentle with the lady. Control of the throttle and the reverser is definitely a balancing act. Even an experienced hogger requires a tender touch. And don't forget the sand...

Do I understand that there is a steam driving tutorial video being prepared? I'll be the first one in line for that one.

OlPaint

[CSX2057]

Oh no way!! I'm sorry I'm just into steam trains I'm just crazy about it more than diesel. The picture I saw on google looks gorgeous.

[mrennie]

Smokebox

I am having an absolute blast learning to drive steam. Connie is a tricky B@@@h to master. She is the first loco in the RSC livery that I can really get the wheels to slip if I goose the throttle too much as I accelerate with a heavy load. I discovered that you need to be gentle with the lady. Control of the throttle and the reverser is definitely a balancing act. Even an experienced hogger requires a tender touch. And don't forget the sand...

Do I understand that there is a steam driving tutorial video being prepared? I'll be the first one in line for that one.

OlPaint

Hi OlPaint!

So glad you're enjoying the expert mode Manual firing too? It' certainly keeps you busy in the cab! Oh yes, the sanders. You also have to make sure to turn on the sanders in the right direction, and there's a limited (2 hours) supply of sand, so if you take the Connie along the Donner Pass, there's no more "turn on the sanders and leave them on all the time"

As well as wheel slip I also did wheel skid. If you take her at speed down a grade and slam the brakes on, you'll hear a really loud screeching sound! In thta case you have to turn on the sanders (helps braking) and ease of the train brakes (actually, release them and apply them again, but with less pressure).

I've done three video tutorials so far. They're all on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMHgQ6XVBAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJHppa1wdY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrPsvUPt2fk

Thanks again!



Mike

[mrennie]

Oh no way!! I'm sorry I'm just into steam trains I'm just crazy about it more than diesel. The picture I saw on google looks gorgeous.

[OlPaint]

Smokebox

I love watching the Connie YouTube tutorials, all three parts. Is it possibe for someone to add a voiceover dialog of the instruction to coincide with the text while they flash up on the tutorial screens? I am having difficulty reading the text and I must repeatedly pause the video to read everything. My Tri-focals must be out of adjustment. Hee, hee.

OlPaint

[mrennie]

Smokebox

I love watching the Connie YouTube tutorials, all three parts. Is it possibe for someone to add a voiceover dialog of the instruction to coincide with the text while they flash up on the tutorial screens? I am having difficulty reading the text and I must repeatedly pause the video to read everything. My Tri-focals must be out of adjustment. Hee, hee.

OlPaint

I would do that myself, but I've got these braces on my teeth (never too old!) which give me a lisp and make my voice sound awful (to me anyway ). Maybe someone else could volunteer.

Either that, or you could bring up the Windows sound recorder, record your own voice giving the narration, save that to a file, and then play it at the same time as the video



Mike

[ozinoz]

Many thanks for the gradient tutorial - something to occupy idle hands should they appear over Easter. I will get out of the yard in the tutorial scenerio eventually or die in the attempt

[mrennie]

Many thanks for the gradient tutorial - something to occupy idle hands should they appear over Easter. I will get out of the yard in the tutorial scenerio eventually or die in the attempt

The trick is, just before you reach the start of the slope, throw the reverser fully forward and give it some more throttle. If the steam chest pressure is as high as the boiler pressure, ease off the throttle. It's like driving a car up a steep ramp at a few miles per hour - best to drop into first gear (move the Johnson bar forward) and give it a bit more gas (open the throttle) but without over-revving (keep the steam chest pressure slightly below the boiler pressure).

When you go faster, the way you use the throttle and reverser is different. It's different depending on whether you're trying to accelerate, slow down or simply cruise, and whether you're doing that going uphill, downhill or on level track, and it also depends a lot on the speed (as well as the load). I found that it helps a lot to read up on how steam locomotives work, not just superficially but at the level of thermal and fluid dynamics, and about what happens during each stroke of the piston, from steam coming in, pushing directly on the pistons, followed by the steam expanding and applying pressure that way, to when it is pushed out of the exhaust on the return stroke. It's from reading many such books and technical articles that I understand why the cut-off and valve gear timing is so important and why you don't necessarily go faster by pushing the reverser further forward. At certain speeds and throttle settings, it actually slows you down, just like changing down a gear in a car when you're going fast - it induces engine braking (or even engine breaking if you're really ham-fisted with it!). I actually saw a post on RSC's facebook from someone complaining that a steam loco sometimes slowed down when he put the reverser further forward, and implying that it must be a huge error in the code! Anyway, what all of this has shown me is that, despite what some people say, the steam simulation in RW4/TS2013 is actually very good and if the simulation data is done with care, it is possible to make the models run very realistically.