Tips and Tricks

[Huntn]

To Push or Pull?
This decision can have lasting ramifications. ;) For yard work, pushing or pulling seems viable depending on the circumstances. However for station to station, there is no way that you should ever be pushing, because the string of cars is out beyond where you can see what is happening and you can't see switch junctions which are hard enough to see when you are at the front of the train. :)

[TheLostPenguin]

Another reason not to push cross country is that you are extremely likely to suffer a derailment with anything other than the shortest train when working uphill. This is essentially the same mechanism by which train compression caused by harsh braking leads to derailing as you have a lot of force being applied through the buffers which is very rarely being applied in a perfect head-on manner, this leads to generating a net force on the wagons either sideways, or worse yet up on one and down on another, in both cases greatly increasing the chance of wheels leaving rails. This is less of an issue with the lower speeds and loads when shunting, although there are places where you can end up pushing a train uphill when taking it clear of a yard to switch tracks.

[Metallos]

Train stretching / compression doesn't play a big role, depends on the couplings. This game uses the European* (except Russia) screw couplings, the buffers are pulled together and compressed by the chain so you don't have much slack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffers_and_chain_coupler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIUiyavOpO0

And the driver has to be on the front of the train (while shunting he uses a remote control if the loco is at the back end), pushing over land is out of discussion.

*) Exception is the ore train between Hamburg and Salzgitter steelworks, which is too heavy for the screw couplings, it's the heaviest train in Germany since decades and was the heaviest train in Europe for a long time.
Some passenger trains like the German ICE are using other couplings like Scharfenberg ("SchaKu"), they are a fixed consist.

[DigitalCora]

Visually the game does have those couplings, but doesn't seem to model elastic forces between cars right now. Physics-wise they seem to be coupled via (invisible) loose chains with a large amount of slack, and the "buffers" are rigid and don't compress at all. I'm sure this was easier to do for early access, but the sudden jerks while braking as cars slam into each other is a potential cause of derailments.

[TheLostPenguin]

Even before the bug that gave us 4' couplers the game very clearly modelled loose coupled stock not screw couplers in terms of the physics, and visually there's about nothing to go by since we have a crude drawbar and zero else shown in terms of coupling hardware. Maybe the intention is to model screw coupled stock at some point (it would make sense to do so for passenger stock, both from a realism point of view and providing a variety of player experiences) but I was referring to how things have been so far, and how/why the ingame experience actually largely reflects real life (conceptually at least) in that regard.

Also whilst I agree that IRL for many obvious reasons you drive from the front outside of yards, whilst shunting it's normal procedure to drive pushing from the rear whenever required, and remote operation is about unheard of at least here in the UK. I'm sure there are probably a handful of large sites equipped for it here, but it's something that I imagine is pretty cost prohibitive for most applications compared to just having a banksman watch you back when coupling. Probably something that will vary hugely depending on your locale.

[chksix]

The couplers need to be put under tension in the game and have damping constants to avoid bumping and pulling.
I'm looking forward to the version where there won't be any longitudinal kicking of the loco which pushes me either forwards or backwards in the cabin. Maps and stuff fall to the floor due to this also.

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by chksix:

The couplers need to be put under tension in the game and have damping constants to avoid bumping and pulling.
I'm looking forward to the version where there won't be any longitudinal kicking of the loco which pushes me either forwards or backwards in the cabin. Maps and stuff fall to the floor due to this also.

It should feel somewhat better again when the coupler length gets fixed, and the player getting jiggled around should really be reserved for the sort of big 'oops' moments that would potentially send you flying IRL, rather than something that happens all/much of the time.

Also regarding things falling on the floor I keep looking at this apparent pinboard in the diesel wishing I could put my job sheets on it
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1655608644

and putting stuff in the tray on its dash properly would be nice too
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1655608756

It should also be possible to implement something similar on the steam loco tender to let the player interact with everything in a more realistic/immersive manner

[Huntn]

I look at a train that is coupled to a car and there is no physical connection that I can see.

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by Huntn:

I look at a train that is coupled to a car and there is no physical connection that I can see.

Yeah right now there's no graphics model for the couplers at all beyond the basic drawbar part, the maximum distance of them right now makes it even more weird looking, when the wagons were somewhat more realistically spaced you didn't even notice it a lot of the time.

[chksix]

The trays are working for keeping job cards in place but the map is too big to put anywhere but on the desk or in standing the rear window. And the remote is gliding off the desk if left unattended for a while too.

[BigVern]

There are still a few locations in the UK where propelling moves are employed. The night sleeper stock is propelled from Penzance station to Long Rock depot for servicing and vice versa in the evening. The clay traffic from Moorswater which comes down to Lostwithiel to run round has to propel back from the Down Main into the Up Goods Loop before detaching and running round the loco.

However all such moves, these days at least, are made under very strict conditions and at low speed with a shunter supervising the movement and in constant contact with the driver via back to back radio. Other sims get round this by the "3" view which shows you the rear of the train while driving, but DV doesn't have that feature yet.

In theory, push pull passenger operation is a form of propelling but this is done with relatively lightweight stock and can have its own perils if the train encounters a heavy obstruction blocking the line (Polmont, Heck).

I do hope we get visible couplings and brake pipes at some stage. It would also be more realistic to actually alight form the loco and walk back to the vehicles you actually need to couple/uncouple.

[Huntn]

Coupling Wheel-
Is anyone having difficulty getting the “coupling wheel” located between the green couple and red decouple buttons to work?

For those unaware, this rotating wheel (or knob) is used to couple or uncouple cars located in a string of cars.

For example on one job, you need to exract 3 cars out of a string of 7 cars. As far as I know, this wheel is the only way to accomplish this. When you couple to a string of cars you’ll see a line of dots in the coupling window (where the couple/decouple buttons are) that show you are connected to them.

So if you want to decouple say the two cars on the opposite end of the string, you rotate the coupling wheel to move a coupling icon to the point in the string of cars where you want them to separate, then press the decouple button.

This is where I am having problems, manipulating this wheel. I’ve had no issues manipulating controls in the cab of the train, except for this one. I grab, or better said, grab at it and very rarely will it turn. Is this a bug, a specialized technique, or operator error? As I said, I am not having issues in general with manipulating train controls.
Thanks!

[TheLostPenguin]

Originally posted by chksix:

The trays are working for keeping job cards in place but the map is too big to put anywhere but on the desk or in standing the rear window. And the remote is gliding off the desk if left unattended for a while too.

The few times I've had anything stay in that tray properly have felt like flukes, 90+% of the time they just fall through onto the floor inside the cabinet and are then a pain to pick up again.

Originally posted by BigVern:

I do hope we get visible couplings and brake pipes at some stage. It would also be more realistic to actually alight form the loco and walk back to the vehicles you actually need to couple/uncouple.

I assume they're in the plans to be visually added at some point in development, agree as well it would be nice to couple/uncouple 'in person' even if it's just s single button press action. Having to count wagons then fiddle around with the controller in the cab is a nuisance, hopefully that system is just there as a minimum viable solution for the purposes of early access.
It might even be interesting to more fully simulate coupling for VR users, although being able to clip through wagons and not needing to heft the couplers around whilst in a super awkward position would of course make it a very rough version of the process.

Originally posted by BigVern:

In theory, push pull passenger operation is a form of propelling but this is done with relatively lightweight stock and can have its own perils if the train encounters a heavy obstruction blocking the line (Polmont, Heck).

There is still at least 1 GWR push-pull set in passenger operation (and several others preserved but not as yet operational afaik), although as you mention this only ever works very short (hence light) trains (2 coaches IIRC) and on top of that these days is only seen on heritage railways or very occasional branch line service with I believe 25mph speed limit in place.
Network Rail are probably the only significant push-pull operators in terms of mainline non-shunting operations as one of their test trains operates with a 37 at one end propelling the train whichever direction is required, with a driving cab located at the other end in what is I believe a converted DMU. It's probably the largest train that routinely works at any significant speed/over long distances as a push-pull in the UK now, and even then it's only I think 5 or 6 coaches plus the 37 itself.

[Huntn]

Guys, I have a fleet setup with 2 ships following me, there orders say "escort", but they won't escort me unless I do the "click on them" "right click on me". Also when I set up this fleet they are designated to defend me, but I just lead us into a flight against a Xenon Destroyer, and they are just hanging around, not defending me at all.

What am I missing?
What is wrong with the current state of the game?
I've had ships seem to defend me before, but they are not doing so good right now.

[chksix]

Well the wagons in this game don't have much of defences. They are bad at escorts as well since they can't move on their own...

[Crunchy[Daz]]

Most trains fear the Xenon Destroyer. Haven't you ever heard the old saying "don't bring a train to a space fight"