How To Drive "Relief Mail" in RailWorks скачать в хорошем качестве

How To Drive "Relief Mail" in RailWorks

The Class 86 is a relatively realistic - and therefore relatively difficult - locomotive to drive in RailWorks. I wrote the "Relief Mail" scenario and made this demonstration video to help players understand how to get the most out of it. The scenario can be downloaded from UKTS: http://members.uktrainsim.com/filelib... The power controller on the 86 does not directly control power as on a diesel locomotive. Instead, it is used to adjust a "tap changer", which applies voltage to the motors according to it's position. This tap-changer has 38 positions called notches, which are indicated on the black percentage meter to the right of the ammeters. The central position on the power controller holds the tap-changer in position. The positions immediately each side of that are used to nudge it one notch up or down at a time. You can use these "notch up" and "notch down" positions about once a second. For large power changes, there are the "Run Up", "Run Down" and "Off" positions. At low speeds only a little voltage is needed to get a lot of tractive effort, while at higher speeds the upper end of the voltage range becomes useful. As modelled and demonstrated, you should always use only Notch 1 to start the train from rest. There are, unfortunately, some glitches in the video, caused by the strain on my computer of running RailWorks and FRAPS capture at the same time. Mostly these show as stuttering and pausing when new scenery is loaded, but at one point the power controller flies into "Run Up" when I was trying to notch down. Watch out for this when playing yourself. -------- A summary of my driving technique for this demonstration: After switching on the headlights, adjusting my view and selecting Forward (which turns on the motor cooling fans), I use Notch 1 to accelerate to 15mph. Note that even Notch One puts the ammeters well into the yellow arc from rest. You should always avoid using the red arc, because this risks tripping the overload relay. At 15mph, I shut off and coast into the station. With the starting signal showing a proceed aspect and the train entirely in the platform, I use Notch 2 to accelerate gently to 30mph. The express is drawing well ahead of us at full line speed, so by the time we are fully on the main line, the next signal shows we are clear to accelerate further. I select Run Up for maximum acceleration, and carefully watch the ammeter. It stays in the yellow arc, which is fine. With a heavier train or a slower initial speed, I may have had to move back to Hold briefly before full voltage was achieved. At this point the brake handle should be moved out of the overcharge position, since the brakes will be properly set up by now. The brake pipe gauge should then settle on the yellow mark at 5 bar. Once at full voltage, the power controller should be moved back to Hold to allow easy reduction of power later. There is a short 95mph restricted section near the summit. I notch down to 80%, 60%, then 40% voltage when approaching this to stay within the limit. There is a short level section before the summit, and it is easy to miss the extra speed this gives you. The 40% setting proves sufficient for the first mile or so of the following downhill 100mph section. I have double-yellow signals, so I should not accelerate too hard as I would only catch up more with the express in front. Since I am clearly not far behind the express at this point, I shut off 3 miles before Law, anticipating the speed restrictions there which the express must obey as well. I have been driving quite aggressively to keep the video within YouTube's 15-minute limit, so you may find that you still have clear signals here. Law and Garriongill have a steady progression of reducing speed limits. It is best to select a light and steady brake setting for this. My first setting is a bit too hard, so I have to release it and try again. (On a real train, a partial release would be possible and preferred.) I eventually slow to a little below the final 60mph limit, since we are still running downhill and thus I expect to gain some speed after releasing the brakes. I accelerate slightly, using only 20% voltage, to 70mph after clearing the restriction, purely to keep within time. The gradient has steepened to 1:100 down, so braking from a higher speed than that would be difficult. Moderate braking from well before the junction signal gets me to the correct approach speed. You should definitely be braking at the latest while passing the disused platforms. Light braking keeps my speed under control while entering the depot siding. Once fully alongside the loading platform, firmer braking brings the train to a stand. Once stopped, set the reverser to neutral to turn off the cooling fans and lock the locomotive down.