Railworks America

Over at the RSC "blog" and "facebook" sites, the usual suspects are griping about the release of a new Class 57 DLC pack, especially since it isn't being given away to those who purchased the old version. Well, folks, this ain't your papa's 57. Among other entertaining features (working window shades, a movable newspaper on the dashboard, and a slappable hotplate), there's one that I find intriguing as a scenario writer.

Many of the latest diesel engine releases have featured detailed start-up procedures, but these were essentially useless since there was no way of placing an un-started engine in a scenario. Oovee has solved this issue very simply with this new 57: adding the letter "c" to any engine's name results in the need for a cold start. In this case, the driver must go through a 9-step process before being able to move. Getting an engine that is already running requires 6 steps. All of the procedures are fairly well documented in the user's manual, but folks who never read those documents are going to be screaming, "This piece of %$*!@ is broke!" very quickly.

I recently published a scenario for the latest version of the Class 66 Freightliner that begins with a multi-step prep of an already started engine ... just imagine how I'll be able to torture drivers with this procedure!

Tom, I'm no scenario writer, but I was under the impression that any of the locos could be made to start cold in this way. I believe I've read some threads on this with respect to the Centipede or one of the other newer models that feature more realistic start procedures. Could be wrong, but I'm sure I've seen something about this before the new Class 57 came out.

The old freeware GP7, GP15 and F40PH all have extensive start up procedures when running with the expert version of the BIN files.

The centipede comes with scenarios with either live locos or dead locos that you must start before using.

The 57 railtour is the same as the new 57 as well as if you put a w at the end of the number you get the head plate The 221 and 220 voyager have an option to cols start But not like the 57. The 57 is off when the scenario starts. Most of the others shut down when the scenario starts and you have to restart them

I have the old Freightliner green 57 and I'm struggling to see why they created a new Freightliner green 57. The old one was pretty good anyway and had already had been updated so that it had all TS2012 features. For that reason and that reason alone I'll be saving the cash for something I don't already have.