How To Do 3-Step In ORTS?

[geepster775]

I don't believe there ever was.

In the manual:

7.6.1 Diesel Power On/Off

[geepster775]

But I concur, Gerry, that he should buy Run8, they have an awesome level of support for train movie fans. I mean, where else can you hi-rail alongside a runaway train and feel the authenticity??? Not to mention the abundance of RIP tracks to scurry into in an emergency.

[geepster775]

A few years ago, I ran an experiment to see if a trailing unit would shut down due to fuel starvation. It did cease providing tractive power, fell back to idle, but did not actually shut itself off. Despite having zero gallons in the tank, It just idled drawing the minimum fuel consumption level (which I recall it was set at 4 gal/hr) and did so indefinitely.

Yes, you can shut down any unit. but if you put the train into autopilot mode, it re-starts any shutdown units.

[LetsGoRailfanning]

But I concur, Gerry, that he should buy Run8, they have an awesome level of support for train movie fans. I mean, where else can you hi-rail alongside a runaway train and feel the authenticity??? Not to mention the abundance of RIP tracks to scurry into in an emergency.

You mean like this?

[geepster775]

Sorry, I'm just not feeling the authenticity with that.

[PerryPlatypus]

Hopefully we're not missing the important point here, which is that completely turning off a locomotive is NOT at all equivalent to turning off the generator field switch. Imagine a switching job in real life, where every time a crew member has to go between to uncouple cars, hook up brake lines, etc. that the engineer first had to say "Hold on, let me shut down all the locomotives... okay, go ahead and uncouple... okay, now give me a few minutes to turn the engines back on again..."

Long story short - there is no generator field switch in ORTS, and turning off the locomotive is not at all a practical substitute for that.

[geepster775]

Open Rails does have a scriptable 'traction cut-off relay' for diesels, which is probably how programmers from European countries say 'generator field switch'

[CSRX]

Due to the generator fields sometimes giving out, we've been reduced to, reverser in the center, independent fully on, and trainline fully applied, if possible. The other method is to isolate the unit, especially if it's the only unit you have switching.

I don't think we really need this feature in the sim itself, but as I have done in some cases in the videos I've posted on the MRL, I've even gone as far as setting the brakes, adding hand brakes, and releasing everything to test the hold. While it's a game, it's always a bonus to go the steps, to see how much it messes with the AI meets, etc.