Give Suggestions for 4449 Physics Upgrade

[SteamForever4449]

Hello everyone! I’m working on a physics upgrade for Southern Pacific 4449 and I wanted to ask you guys about what some things I should do are. I won’t do anything unrealistic like give it a million pounds of tractive effort or brakes that can stop the train instantly, but almost anything else, I can do.

So far, I’ve fixed a problem the 4449 has with its compressors — that’s why the air brake would never fully release after being applied on a moving consist — and now it can maintain brake pressure endlessly. I haven’t tested to see if it still messes up after some time, but I know it can be put into emergency ten times or more without losing any air. Since I’m still messing with it, tell me if you prefer 110 PSI or 90 PSI. Tell me also if you like the old brakes better or would like to use a #8 air brake version.

I also turned it into a locomotive that operates relatively the same as UP 844 — though I never changed stoking — and it can exceed 110 miles per hour now. I derailed before finding out exactly how fast it could go, but it held 119 up a small grade.

Let me know if there are any other questions you have about this, and feel free to give me suggestions for this, as well as criticism. I’ll take into account anything I hear. Speaking of hearing, I’m also testing different whistles and bells I find on the internet with the Daylight, and if you have any suggestions (other than sound packs made specifically for 4449) feel free to put a link for them below

Thanks for reading, and have a great day railfans! And also, have any of you seen the Big Boy around? I did an upgrade for that too, which I’ll release if enough people want me to.

[EngineerJohn]

Just looking at the basic specs of the 844 and the 4449, they are both relatively similar in just about every respect so if you can get it close to the 844 with what you have available in the engine's code it would definitely be justifiable. Big steam engines in the states generally struggle to get above 100mph just because at that point the wind resistance over the engine becomes a big factor. Also, the 4449 does make a little more horsepower and is slightly lighter so maybe giving it a slightly better acceleration rate (which would also make it more slippery) would really nail it. Everything down to the firebox and boiler area is relatively similar so I would also think your steam and fuel usage rate would be roughly the same.

[AmericanSteam]

Will it be compatible with this project? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21058

[SteamForever4449]

Will it be compatible with this project? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21058

I’ve checked it out and I think that could work. What I’ve done so far isn’t particularly novel though, I’ve just made it kind of similar to 844, though not exactly like it. I also made the cab lights automatically turn and remain on every single trip. I also want to point out that the cab of the daylight lacks a damper control, so I’ve done the same with that, but if I find a way to add a damper control (possibly borrowing 700’s) I’ll change this.

If you have other questions let me know and I’ll get back to you ASAP

[SteamForever4449]

Just looking at the basic specs of the 844 and the 4449, they are both relatively similar in just about every respect so if you can get it close to the 844 with what you have available in the engine's code it would definitely be justifiable. Big steam engines in the states generally struggle to get above 100mph just because at that point the wind resistance over the engine becomes a big factor. Also, the 4449 does make a little more horsepower and is slightly lighter so maybe giving it a slightly better acceleration rate (which would also make it more slippery) would really nail it. Everything down to the firebox and boiler area is relatively similar so I would also think your steam and fuel usage rate would be roughly the same.

Believe it or not I’ve actually made getting to 100 MPH rather easy and it’s tractive effort doesn’t reduce much with speed (same as 844 in the game). I made its tractive effort model the use of a booster (78650lbf until 20 where it drops to around 64800lbf) and that’s really the biggest difference between it and 844 at this point. The cutoff also affects the tractive effort way less than it does on 844, as I still haven’t figured out how to replicate that exactly. If you know how that works please let me know.

Wheel slip isn’t a big problem because of the friction bearings — although that’s odd because 844 wheel slips easily, especially at low speeds, and has double the friction I put on 4449. Not entirely realistic, but it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Braking is my only problem because depending on the consist it either slows down too fast or too slow. Not such a huge problem since I’ve fixed the compressors on 4449 so it doesn’t lose any air, but it still bugs me.

Aside from all this, the only thing about 844 that I haven’t been able to replicate on the 4449 is the use of an oil regulator and the requirement of manually stoking it. Obviously I’m not going to go through the trouble of animating it just like 844, so I won’t count that, but the stoking should be relatively easy to do. If you or anyone you know has any idea what to do for this, please let me know because I’d love to make its physics model that of a real oil-fired locomotive.

[SteamForever4449]

Will it be compatible with this project? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21058

Also I've done a couple unrealistic things including given the 4449 the ability to go faster than 110 MPH, at this speed it has 75% of its normal tractive effort and it maintains that for a while. Theoretically with a long and steep enough downhill slope I’ve given it the ability to go 250 miles per hour. I also gave it the ability to go much faster with a much higher cutoff. So far the best I’ve done is go 194 with 100% throttle and 33% cutoff, which I did going down a 1.2% grade for 10+ miles. It had five Empire Builder cars behind it.

Only other thing I’ve done which is a hit or miss depending on the person, is make the warbaby also be #4449 all the time. I did make the tender more realistic too by giving it 21.1 tons of coal and 23300 gallons of water. The weight has also been updated to fit the real 4449 with a full tender load.

If you have any other ideas feel free to let me know, I’m far from done with the Physics Upgrade and I’ve recently decided to make a sound pack for it as well.

[ZekTheKid]

Will it be compatible with this project? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21058

I’ve checked it out and I think that could work. What I’ve done so far isn’t particularly novel though, I’ve just made it kind of similar to 844, though not exactly like it. I also made the cab lights automatically turn and remain on every single trip. I also want to point out that the cab of the daylight lacks a damper control, so I’ve done the same with that, but if I find a way to add a damper control (possibly borrowing 700’s) I’ll change this.

If you have other questions let me know and I’ll get back to you ASAP

We've already made numerous physics and simulation adjustments, so I'm not entirely sure if this is possible. We went off of specs specifically for the GS-4 class locomotive. However, as most of us have been pre-occupied with real-life duties for the past months, we have taken a bit of a break and will continue when we have more time to work with.

[SteamForever4449]

Will it be compatible with this project? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21058

I’ve checked it out and I think that could work. What I’ve done so far isn’t particularly novel though, I’ve just made it kind of similar to 844, though not exactly like it. I also made the cab lights automatically turn and remain on every single trip. I also want to point out that the cab of the daylight lacks a damper control, so I’ve done the same with that, but if I find a way to add a damper control (possibly borrowing 700’s) I’ll change this.

If you have other questions let me know and I’ll get back to you ASAP

We've already made numerous physics and simulation adjustments, so I'm not entirely sure if this is possible. We went off of specs specifically for the GS-4 class locomotive. However, as most of us have been pre-occupied with real-life duties for the past months, we have taken a bit of a break and will continue when we have more time to work with.

I’ve made a few modifications to the upgrade and I think that it would be fully compatible now. One of those changes was making the oil regulator only move if you actually click on it and move it. The reverser is also geared only to 60% so that the cutoff change can remain constant but at the same time there can be enough power behind the locomotive. Weight and fuel specs are updated to fit the GS-4, and tractive effort is 78650 until 20 mph where it drops to 64800, then decreases at 35 pounds per MPH until 110 where it drops to 0. I also changed the wheels because previously all of them were powered and now only the drivers are powered.

If there’s anything else I could possibly do here, let me know.