Steam in Open Rails

[seagoon]

Since downloading the latest X-file I've been tootling around in a selection of steam locos.....something which I have not done for a LONG time in MSTS.
Love the smoke and steam effects.....very, very nice, you clever chaps!

One question....relating to the Water Gauge.
How does one ensure that it remains full and also, when it emptied, although I received a message that the plug had fused and my engine destroyed, nothing so dramatic occurred - the loco kept right on locomoting.

Are the steam physics not yet applicable in OR or.....???

Bruce

[baldwin]

The water gauge when the engine is running will slowly fall to about half way, somewhere between 4 and 5 inches unless there is a large demand on the boiler, in which case it will fall even further, and can result in blowing the fusible plug. At that point the engine will continue to run but not for much longer after the event, or at least that is how it should work.

When driving you must ensure that the demand for steam does not exceed the rate of production for long periods, that will definitely blow the plug. Not having enough water in the tender or tank to replenish the boiler will also end up in the same situation. The T key is operative for refilling and refuelling.

There are some new OR specific parameters that can be added to the eng file in the engine section, the first of which is
ORTSEvaporationArea ( 2198ft^2 ), that will determine the base steam production rate, and we also have working,
ORTSGrateArea ( 48.5ft^2 ) to cover the amount of fuel used in conjunction with
ORTSFuelCalorific ( 14526btu/lb ) which covers heat released by burning fuel. The lower this value is, more fuel will be used
ORTSSuperHeatArea ( 612ft^2 ) used if the engine was fitted with one and reduces the steam used.

http://orion.math.iastate.edu/jdhsmith/term/slindex.htm has some of the data needed for a wide but not comprehensive range of locomotives.

[seagoon]

The water gauge when the engine is running will slowly fall to about half way, somewhere between 4 and 5 inches unless there is a large demand on the boiler, in which case it will fall even further, and can result in blowing the fusible plug. At that point the engine will continue to run but not for much longer after the event, or at least that is how it should work......

Well, I s'pose it's not activated at this time because the engine happily continues on its way......even when the tender is empty and the water has been used!

Thanks for the info on the additional lines but I'll leave well enough alone.

[baldwin]

Which version of OR are you using?.

[seagoon]

which version of or are you using?.

x1955.

[baldwin]

The basic steam code including the modelling of water usage is complete in that version as is the use of the T key for refuelling. For the boiler to run out of water means the tender or tank has also run dry and therefore you have run too far without refilling the tender/tank or the demand for steam is too high and the injectors are unable to cope.

One other thing, when the fusible plug blows, the engine does not stop, it slows down gradually, unless you apply the brake, or are running downhill. If you get the fusible plug warning at the start of an activity there is probably an error somewhere in the eng file.

[seagoon]

Thanks, Mr. Baldwin.
I'll check it out using a couple of different locos.
(The one to which I have been referring is the WP Mikado, file name WP282s.zip.)

[baldwin]

I have checked the performance of the WP282s and you are quite right in what you say about the water glass and fusible plug. This has not been checked for correct working since it was first in operation. While testing this I located another problem that contributes to the low water over the fusible plug. All of this has been passed along for correction.

[seagoon]

I have checked the performance of the WP282s and you are quite right in what you say about the water glass and fusible plug. This has not been checked for correct working since it was first in operation. While testing this I located another problem that contributes to the low water over the fusible plug. All of this has been passed along for correction.

Good stuff!
I like the sounds supplied with this little loco, so it's become a bit of a favourite.

Thank you, squire.

[rdamurphy]

seagoon, wait until you've seen the latest changes...

Open Rails 2014-01-31 05-30-57.jpgOpen Rails 2014-01-31 05-32-12.jpgOpen Rails 2014-01-31 05-32-20.jpg

The steam and smoke are less "mixed" and the steam has more of a rhythm to it...

Robert

[baldwin]

Sorry, but this new effect is not liked by me. The concept is sound, the implementation is not because we still use a texture. It is rather off putting when running to see squarish amorphous blocks with very visible spaces and further, the code does not allow for 6 cylindered engines.

[farrmp]

Hey baldwin, Just a thought. You may want to try a different smokemain.ace file.
I use Niels Picciotto's UKTS_8261. Looks very good to me with this weeks x1975 release.

[baldwin]

The problem of running out of water and associated items such as fusible plugs are fixed in X1991. Should be in the next weekly update if you do not use SVN or James's site for updates.

[scottb613]

Hi Mervyn,

Re: x1975 hand fired steam.

Test Setup: Feather River Route - East Bound Grain Empties Activity - player consist loco swapped with Derek's 2-8-8-2 Mallet.

No matter what I do I can't seem to keep water in the boiler - even with both injectors running at 100% from the very start... Granted - the activity starts on a hill - but - even when I back the reverser off to 20% - I can't replace the water fast enough... I tried other locomotives as well with similar results - it seems that even at reduced throttle settings - the injectors can't keep up with steam consumed...

Is this what's fixed in x1991 ??? Are you hand firing the locomotive as well ???

Thanks...

[baldwin]

Scott

The injectors have the same capacity in auto and manual and use the same code to decide on injector size and rate. The problem was that the code was not able to set a high enough figure to cope with the larger engines. This is now fixed for both firing methods.