<kmath>
YouTube - Union Pacific 3985 Catches FIRE on 1999 excursion
<Pinkbeast>
icefire: Whoops! Also a speciality of Bulleid's Merchant Navies, that
<icefire>
catching fire was just a small part of the video
<icefire>
everything else is just watching it run
<icefire>
and getting pretty dang fast
<Pinkbeast>
"As we approached the platform the safety valve on our locomotive lifted. Specifically, it lifted fifty feet in the air and landed some distance away."
<Iskierka>
most recent edit I see is 31 July (though is by you getting annoyed at someone specifying railway stations are railway stations)
<Pinkbeast>
It may have been some related page... [[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard]]
<icefire>
I never knew one of these giants ever ran after they were put out of service
<Iskierka>
aaah I see. Yeah, that's unnecessary and unclear
<Iskierka>
icefire, I believe it had to be restored, and unlike the few UK ones they don't run it without two diesels ready to push
<Iskierka>
which somewhat ruins the look
<icefire>
restoring isn't surprising at all
<icefire>
the backups also don't surprise me, that things pretty complex
<Iskierka>
I think it now also runs on oil which gives more direct control of heating; just turn the valve to increase the burn
<icefire>
those things ran on mechanical coal injection before oil I think
<icefire>
they had a drill push it in
<Iskierka>
Possibly. Not sure there'd be room in a UK locomotive
<icefire>
oh yeah these things were built for the plains of america and nothing else
<Iskierka>
they do have to be somewhat size-limited by signage and poles and such. They work out about the same size as european locos
<Iskierka>
UK ones are just smaller due to our tunnels, which makes the HO/OO model size distinction odd but convenient that everyone's consistent on each side
<Pinkbeast>
icefire: All the big American ones did, there was a law that over a certain grate area you had to have a mechanical stoker, which first caused a comedy spate of grates one square inch under it but then just meant everyone had them - no way a human could keep up with those bigger grates anyway.
<Pinkbeast>
Some big Chinese locomotives had two fireholes, two shovelling plates, and two stokers
<Iskierka>
That's definitely the chinese solution
<Pinkbeast>
a human> well, Chapelon's pet stoker could shovel 4 tonnes an hour but he was uh exceptional
<Iskierka>
... the only figure I've heard before is the 33 lb/min for the A1 Tornado. That's 147 lb/min
<Iskierka>
exceptional is, uh, a word for that
<Iskierka>
I think by scaling he could probably shovel the 3985 on his own
<Pinkbeast>
He had been on a steam torpedo boat in the war and had a lot of practice shovelling for his life
<Pinkbeast>
Chinese solution> I've seen a modern-day picture from one of the last graveyards of steam in Africa of a locomotive with two chaps on the buffer beam with a little bucket. Why? It's cheaper to employ them to scatter sand than to fix the sanders.
<Iskierka>
actually since we're talking about steamers and there's always silly arguments on the internet that aren't that useful: Is the main (or only) problem with steamers on electified lines that the smokebox can have enough force to damage the lines and supports?
<Iskierka>
(that's the one that seemed most reasoned from random internet arguments)
<Pinkbeast>
I dunno that that _is_ a problem, plenty of steam on the ECML.
<icefire>
I would think the bigger problem is its blocking up schedule time for normal trains
<Pinkbeast>
The main problem AFAIK is that kettles accelerate very slowly to a maximum of 75mph whereas electrics accelerate very quickly to 125mph
<Iskierka>
The implication seemed to be that there was some minor modification to limit (or redirect) the blower and that they had to be careful of where they stopped
<Iskierka>
so as not to blast supports directly with blower when restarting
<Iskierka>
icefire, the ECML at least does have four lines to allow overtaking in both directions
<Pinkbeast>
But even "slow" trains on the ECML accelerate much faster to 90-100mph
<Iskierka>
I feel like the acceleration is reasonable in the middle range (off the stops and not peaking out) but yes, 80 year old tech does top out quite early and can struggle starting
* Iskierka
wants new steamers that have been re-engineered. And probably have a nuclear reactor instead of a firebox
<Pinkbeast>
Wardale's 5AT?
<Iskierka>
Doesn't seem to have a reactor
<Pinkbeast>
Mmm, but you could actually build and run it (if you had a really huge bushel of money)
<Pinkbeast>
Aha, I remember now. Railworks by convention has the optimal fire mass be the one you start with. Remembering that I've got Union of South Africa up to 101 in no time
<Iskierka>
... yeah I was running above that and getting 136 though, so mine might be weird :p
<Pinkbeast>
Blower makes sod-all difference at speed (as one would expect); I do have to close the regulator a smidge (to 95%) but I think there's a hardcoded steam generation limit
<Iskierka>
What speed, though? (and of curiosity, if you nudge the cutoff forward and balance with the regulator, what happens?
<Pinkbeast>
I just hit 125 around Northallerton; I'll try that now
<Pinkbeast>
Oh, no, Thirsk
<Iskierka>
I think the 125 ends around northallerton so watch out for surprise bends
<Pinkbeast>
I'm going from Darlington, it's more downhill and it's all 125 at the end of the run where I've burned off more coal and water mass
<Iskierka>
Fair enough, did it in a short run then
<Pinkbeast>
50% regulator, 20% cutoff - squeezed up to 126. (This shouldn't work, but you're right that it does)
<Iskierka>
You're getting less out of it than I did :p
<Iskierka>
so you seem to have a better model
<Iskierka>
(maybe it in fact does work, but it's so small in a better model that it wasn't measurable)
<Pinkbeast>
Mmm. If you hypothetically speaking would like to find a copy of the JT A4 pack lying around SHIVER ME TIMBERS, drop me a /msg
<Iskierka>
Might be entertaining to see how it compares. Though I could also do plenty more testing with this set, like making more effort on the fire level and checking if they share models
<Pinkbeast>
Tho' since it's 15 of your Earth pounds and not poxy Steam, timber-shivering might be redundant anyway
<Iskierka>
£15 is a lot for me right now but I don't have a problem either way. Though I've generally found it awkward to search for 3rd party RW mods, google results were inconsistent last I tried
<Iskierka>
wasn't clear that anything was for and would work with most recent version
<Pinkbeast>
I can do a bit better if I cheat by closing the small ejector :-)
<Iskierka>
Do the stuff that they don't want you to do, sure!
<Iskierka>
waaaait is this a mod to give that as an interface?
<Pinkbeast>
Well, so I infer from about 2 seconds inspection - and to work with a joystick
<Pinkbeast>
Maybe even to restore proper injector control!
<Iskierka>
you think the sim still models it properly?
<Pinkbeast>
I'm pretty sure it does because when the new HUD came in the old injector controls were still there, they just got eaten every time one brought up the new HUD
<Iskierka>
so won't be able to monitor upcoming signs. Unless the mini-HUD doesn't do that
<Pinkbeast>
I'll just have to keep my eyes open... but fortunately kettles don't go that quickly!
<Iskierka>
a 125 -> 50 speed change might be surprising :po
<Pinkbeast>
It does show the next speed limit and distance
<Pinkbeast>
"The program can also sound the alarm for the DSD, AWS and Sifa while in any view."
<Iskierka>
that is convenient
<Pinkbeast>
The overlay seems to be in the Advanced mode
<Pinkbeast>
Plus, joystick control
<Iskierka>
interestingly I noticed that my A4s do have AWS sound outside the cab. But they're pretty much the only ones to do it
<Pinkbeast>
I'm jolly glad you mentioned all this, I'd given up on searching for an answer to the HUD issues
<Iskierka>
Guess it needed a few years for people to figure it out
<Iskierka>
actually out of random curiosity, I suppose yarred trains don't have super-complicated piracy protections?
<Iskierka>
one A320 I got for X-plane has a key validation built into the very custom flight computer that will turn off the controls after two hours flight
<Pinkbeast>
You'd need to know an email address and throwaway password
<Iskierka>
to know an email address?
<Pinkbeast>
A specific one (the one I used when I dropped 15 quid on it - my copy isn't yarred)
<Iskierka>
fair enough. A bit late right now so I might go read, but will bear in mind. (Probably gonna try the accurate controls on the *official* version and see how silly it is. Maybe I'll be able to get more speed)
<Pinkbeast>
I'm presently yak shaving since my throttle has developed a vexing jitter
<Iskierka>
Iiii'm not sure an X52 would be appropriate control for a train :p
<Pinkbeast>
It'll make a fine regulator
<Pinkbeast>
(FWIW it's a CH Pro Throttle although in what sense it is pro I am not clear since I don't get paid to waggle it)
<Iskierka>
Similar thing with my X52Pro but it does objectively have at least one extra bit on each of the sensors and presumably higher quality to provide it
<Iskierka>
so I have the sense, even if it does not match definition
<UmbralRaptor>
Iskierka: just don't achieve liftoff?
<Iskierka>
I would hope it's not possible to produce enough lift from just under 2m width to lift 167 tonnes
<Iskierka>
although I cannot say I wouldn't be entertained by an understeering steam loco
<Pinkbeast>
If I were SENSIBLE I'd have let this funky joystick program do its data extraction before going and fiddling with my throttle
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<Pinkbeast>
Iskierka: If you're still awake, turns out you can drive with the F3 minimal HUD and this, and it shows you where all the signals are which is handy if your route knowledge is perhaps lacking
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<Iskierka>
I was wondering if that might work. Good to know, as I definitely don't have things memorised :p
<Iskierka>
although the overview does miss things like the fact you're going to change lines and speed limits associated with that. Hoping the advancecd hud gives warning of that
<kmath>
<Choco_Optimus> Cop pulls over a black man for failure to signal, walks to his car with his gun drawn... Black dude is my fucking… https://t.co/qyPMMLzdVV
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<Iskierka>
Pinkbeast ... I was not under the impression that this thing *required* a joystick interface
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<Iskierka>
... trying to drive with the official A4s is immediately entertaining as several levers around injectors don't work, or they alternate directions as they would normally go the whole way but your timing chooses to where
<Iskierka>
but then they do actually have some model differences - only the three refitted with airbrakes let you select braking directly by the lever
<Iskierka>
and I can't get the same nonsense out of mallard as Bittern. Apparently bittern is better?
<Iskierka>
nevermind, 130. I can get the same nonsense with the advanced controls (turning off live injector) but not with the normal controls
<Iskierka>
only here it's probably not nonsense because that was a working 130 on low load
<Pinkbeast>
Doesn't require a joystick> yes, I reached that conclusion after you'd gone to bed, or rather examined my unexamined assumption that since it's "for" using with joysticks I must use a joystick
<Pinkbeast>
... but it's rather jolly and quite viable to "wind" the reverse forward with the joystick throttle
<Pinkbeast>
The main downside seems to be it absolutely murders framerate by polling the game constantly
<Pinkbeast>
It does IPC by the script added to Railworks writing a file somewhere (!) which the tool then reads umpty times a second. Vexingly, putting that tool on a RAMdisk doesn't help.
<Pinkbeast>
There's a "delay" value in the script which isn't a delay (sigh) but a number of iterations to busywait before polling again, but increasing it seems to make no difference
<Pinkbeast>
I might try putting it up to something colossal; if I'm only using it for information overlay not control input I don't need it to poll that often, and I don't care if it thrashes a whole CPU core busywaiting if it stops it poking Railworks so often
<Iskierka>
Huh. My performance is fine on HDD. My problem was that the tool refused to start if no joystick was detected, even though it's not actually required
<Pinkbeast>
Performance> I get the impression from the thread it eats about 10-15fps so it may be significant how many one had to start with :-)
<Iskierka>
I was pretty steady on 60
<Pinkbeast>
I've never got more than about 30fps out of it which is odd since my computer now is about 10x as fast as it was when Railworks first launched
<Pinkbeast>
As such if something eats 15 it becomes a b i t p a i n f u l
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<Pinkbeast>
Anyway, I've got to go and screw something up^W into the gate, back in a bit
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<Pinkbeast>
"Usee whatever you have to try and protect yourself from flying debris: pillows, blankets, mattresses, etc"... I admit I thought "well, those all sound quite soft, I'd be more worried about chairs and doors and things... oh, wait"
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<Pinkbeast>
Sigh the thing about these Victorian novels is not only do you find yourself thinking "Will you please just BONE already" but you know they won't because Victorians
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