Top speed of trains

[Meisterhau]

It would be really nice, if the trains (especially the higher tier trains) could get a higher top speed. At the moment it takes a really long time even on a flat line to get from A to B. I would really love it to go fast on my smooth tracks. I think this would be a large profit for the game.

[Knsgf]

Above 15 mph physics start to get wobbly.

[MadMof0 / TTV]

anything other then the Climax I suppose. All depends on the load/grade.

[Knsgf]

Heisler is fairly slow too.

[MadMof0 / TTV]

Originally posted by Knsgf:

Heisler is fairly slow too.

Its pretty safe bet for speed though.

Cooke is pretty balanced also.

[A Fat, Angry Serval]

This is actually realistic. Early narrow gauge trains like the ones featured in this game tended to travel at low speeds due to the terrain they were generally expected to operate over.

[captpkelly]

The "Eureka" top speed was 45 MPH pulling two lite passenger coaches. For people riding the train at the time this was "lightning fast" compared to the horse and carriages they were used to. There were those who warned that speeds in excess of 60 MPH would suck the breath out of, and suffocate anyone riding the train at that speed. There were other baseless (humorous today) theories of what might happen to human bodies at speeds in excess of 40 MPH.

The developers are trying to stick to historical accuracy. They have said this themselves in their developer's live streams. Steam engines were hard pressed to make over 50 MPH until the early 1900s. The work horse engines we have in the game ran between 20 to 30 MPH in good conditions - pulling few cars on flat terrain.

Knsgf's comment is also true. This game relies entirely on the collisions detected by the physics engine between the wheels and track to make the train behave and follow the track. This detection happens on a "time slice" basis, The faster the train moves down the track, the further it moves between detections and has more possibility for the wheels to "clip" into the rail. When 3D objects clip, the physics engine response or sometimes the game program itself is to resolve the clip and often results in sending the train into space.

[Jhea]

i'd like to have a speedometer to be fair
something in the UI Control or in the engine itself, that shows me on a graph/display how fast i'm going.
of course heisler and climax won't go fast... but Class 70 and Mogul could do about 40 mph - maybe a bit more.

or 88mp/h if the fire is REALLY REALLY HOT and the track goes downhill... and we have some kind of superfuel in it that makes the fumes go red yellow and so!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktMe0xclxA

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by Jheakryna:

i'd like to have a speedometer to be fair
something in the UI Control or in the engine itself, that shows me on a graph/display how fast i'm going.
of course heisler and climax won't go fast... but Class 70 and Mogul could do about 40 mph - maybe a bit more.

or 88mp/h if the fire is REALLY REALLY HOT and the track goes downhill... and we have some kind of superfuel in it that makes the fumes go red yellow and so!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktMe0xclxA

No speedo may well actually be historically accurate, here in the UK locos were being built without them at least into the late 20's and almost certainly later, I don't find it hard to imagine that similar small locos in the US (from a rather earlier time frame as well) also omitted a 'luxury' feature in many cases.

[Jhea]

Originally posted by TheLostPenguin:

Originally posted by Jheakryna:

i'd like to have a speedometer to be fair
something in the UI Control or in the engine itself, that shows me on a graph/display how fast i'm going.
of course heisler and climax won't go fast... but Class 70 and Mogul could do about 40 mph - maybe a bit more.

or 88mp/h if the fire is REALLY REALLY HOT and the track goes downhill... and we have some kind of superfuel in it that makes the fumes go red yellow and so!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktMe0xclxA

No speedo may well actually be historically accurate, here in the UK locos were being built without them at least into the late 20's and almost certainly later, I don't find it hard to imagine that similar small locos in the US (from a rather earlier time frame as well) also omitted a 'luxury' feature in many cases.

They also hadn't had sliders to go up and down on a UI ;)

[captpkelly]

If the devs would include track side markers that could measure the distance to the first marker you place and label that marker with that measurement in miles, then you clock the time in seconds to get one mile. 60 minutes ÷ (clocked time ÷ 60) = speed in MPH. If the track markers measure in kilometers (most 3D applications and game engines use meters as the default measurement. The cube in Bender is 1 meter) then the formula gives KPH Verify: 200 seconds to go one mile = 18 MPH or 60 seconds to go 1 mile = 60 MPH

This is pretty much how they did it in the 1800s - conductors were known for their accurate watches.

[Meisterhau]

Ok, so do you think that the top speed of the trains is intentionally low cause of the historical accuracy or due to the physics of the game?
I would really like to know, if there will be any locomotive in the future which can go faster and can haul enough wagons. At the time im frustrated, cause it takes so much time to go from A to B. In addition i am not really motivated anymore to make curves with a high radius, when its not needed.
Does anyone agree with my point of view, or are you all ok with the current top speed?

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by Jheakryna:

Originally posted by TheLostPenguin:

No speedo may well actually be historically accurate, here in the UK locos were being built without them at least into the late 20's and almost certainly later, I don't find it hard to imagine that similar small locos in the US (from a rather earlier time frame as well) also omitted a 'luxury' feature in many cases.

They also hadn't had sliders to go up and down on a UI ;)

Nope, they had cab controls that when you put your hand on say the reverser it didn't magically make both the regulator and brake move as well :)

Seriously though I wouldn't mind at all if the UI ditched the temperature readouts (which I guess are there as a crutch because people don't realise you need to wait for pressure to rise after firing a loco) and put a speedo there instead. But not having one in the cab makes perfect sense since knowing your absolute speed wasn't all that relevant on small backwoods freight lines, like we build in game.

[Comrade_Bob]

I’m excited when the sounds are thoroughly synced with each engine. There’s a lot you can tell by ear, and this game has the potential to utilize more than just your eyes to best use your locomotive. The sounds are pretty good now. Just get used to hearing how fast you are going rather than lamenting the lack of a visual indication.

[BatWingSix]

Originally posted by Meisterhau:

Ok, so do you think that the top speed of the trains is intentionally low cause of the historical accuracy or due to the physics of the game?
I would really like to know, if there will be any locomotive in the future which can go faster and can haul enough wagons. At the time im frustrated, cause it takes so much time to go from A to B. In addition i am not really motivated anymore to make curves with a high radius, when its not needed.
Does anyone agree with my point of view, or are you all ok with the current top speed?

The big ones in game (2-4-0 series) on the best tracks could run about 45 MPH, reality though they were usually running 25 to 30 MPH as a top speed. The top speed feels like they run about 35 on flat smooth track, but as pointed out earlier, go faster than that and the wheel on tracks physics go haywire (especially if you have a long consist) and may randomly send a car or two into low earth orbit.

[MadMof0 / TTV]

If you watch some of the old steamers running, you will see them checking their watch and watching mile markers. Unsure when speedos were installed, but a watch and markers were first used to measure locomotive speed.