Will adding an engine in the middle or the back add additional power?

[Cardinal51]

When I just created a new consist via quick drive I clearly noticed the difference between 1 or 3 engines leading the train.

Will adding an engine in the middle or the back also add additional power to the consist ?

And will the train respond differently now that the power is now distributed differently and not just at the lead ?

[Cardinal51]

Did some tests tonight and the center and back engine definitely add some power, and the rear of the consist also seems to start moving a lot quicker.

[Railfan722]

Like anything else in this game, it depends. Most things will apply power at the same time as the player, so long as they use the built-in physics simulation. For other locomotives with custom physics implementations (think Searchlight, etc.) they will send special messages in code down the train. This approach relies on the rolling stock in the train to have compatible scripting, so for example if you're running a train with Searchlight cars and a single one of the old Kuju boxcars in there, the whole thing breaks and your locomotives at the rear won't do anything. These are very much in the minority of locomotives though -- as ever, check the manual before going wild and see if it has anything to say on the matter.

[ElphabaWS]

Like anything else in this game, it depends. Most things will apply power at the same time as the player, so long as they use the built-in physics simulation. For other locomotives with custom physics implementations (think Searchlight, etc.) they will send special messages in code down the train. This approach relies on the rolling stock in the train to have compatible scripting, so for example if you're running a train with Searchlight cars and a single one of the old Kuju boxcars in there, the whole thing breaks and your locomotives at the rear won't do anything. These are very much in the minority of locomotives though -- as ever, check the manual before going wild and see if it has anything to say on the matter.

For the vast majority of content in TSC, the simple answer to the original question asked is "yes and yes."

[Cardinal51]

Thanks Elphaba and Railfan

[jlms48]

There was a discussion on this topic years ago on the UKTS forum - recently closed down, so I can't refer back to it.
The main points I remember were that each helper loco ( or banker) added only 50% of the power of the lead loco. This was independent of the type and power of the helper.

This applied to DTG locos about the time of TS2015 and earlier.
Since then things may well have changed.
(a) locos are more heavily scripted
(b) DTG have been updating the core of the game.

I would like to know if anyone has more up-to-date information on this topic.