The DM3 is incredibly capable

[Napalm51]

I wanted to write this since I'm seeing a lot of people complaining about how complicated to use the DM3 (not so much IMHO after a bit of practice and if ever driven anything with a manual transmission irl).
I managed to pull a 950t train, 580t to the steel mill and the rest to the harbor from goods factory and town, I only had to attach a DE2 just before the steel mill to help it a bit, for a 30k license I believe it's really impressive!
Now I bought the DH4 license, but for sure the DM3 will be my n1 choice for shunting or as an extra "safety" engine with the steamer.
I'm curious to know your experience with it 😁

[schutt]

DM3 is great and the mainenance costs are quite low if you keep the engine below 100 and are extremly careful with shifting. But boy ripping a wrong gear in can ruin your day pretty fast.

[RainmakerLTU]

When you remember how certain gears raise your RPM, you can start moving from 2-2 gear, and move to 2-3 or 3-2 and back without much thinking. Slow down with engine brake (or just any brake) and lower gears on 400 RPM-ish. Just remember do not touch gears if engine brake is ON or throttle is ON, and you always be on safe side. Reverse lever already has "precaution from idiot" - it simply do not move when you moving.
I personally like it's sound when you try to move from spot with load.
Also it slows down by itself is you not throttling, useful when approaching cars for coupling, just slow down RPM, and lower gears, when on 1-1, it moves at 3 km/h - safe speed to hit anything without damage and couple. I think it's best for shunting jobs.

[Buzzzz]

DM3 IMHO is the best all around engine ingame. It will also make you a fortune very quickly due to low maint cost. And I don't find it any more difficult to drive than the other locos. I'm usually only switching between 2-3 gears. Also, you can start from a dead stop in 2-2 with hardly any problem. When it's by itself, I run it in 3-3 all day. When shunting a consist under 250 tons, I can run it in 2-3 or 3-2 all day. The lower the gear you run it in, the less fuel and oil it uses. And going full throttle in a lower gear (Chugging) from a stop doesn't harm anything. It's a low RPM torque monster and seems to have the most torque between 400-700 rpm, the sweetspot. One last thing, with it's engine braking at higher rpm and it's compression braking, it's the best engine for control on a descent.

[Pops]

It's a great shunter. But it is too slow for any haul jobs. It tops out at around 45kph. I think I hit 60kph at 80 rpm but it took almost the whole trip from CSW to SM to get there

[Buzzzz]

Originally posted by Pops:

It's a great shunter. But it is too slow for any haul jobs. It tops out at round 45kph. I think I hit 60kph at 80 rpm but it took almost the whole trip from CSW to SM to get there

I'm pretty happy using it as a mainline engine as long as I consider it's low cruise speed when choosing jobs. If it was too fast, then it would be too capable.

[RainmakerLTU]

Originally posted by Pops:

It's a great shunter. But it is too slow for any haul jobs. It tops out at round 45kph. I think I hit 60kph at 80 rpm but it took almost the whole trip from CSW to SM to get there

Once I had consist of 600t with attached DH4 and DM3 (was taking it with me to other town, in case there won't be one). And first small uphill, DH4 refused to go. Had put it on remote, wake up the DM3 and drive all the way with it :D Got there in time to receive bonus.

[Johno]

DM3 makes shunting fun i never enjoyed it before, really satisfying using gears, traction motors are so dull. use of sand is more interesting in the update.
i carry it around with the steamer too, handy when i keep breaking it.

[B0K]

Originally posted by Buzz313TH:

... The lower the gear you run it in, the less fuel and oil it uses.

to avoid confusion: low gear is when you are moving slower, you meant high gear. Think of those signs you see on the highway at the top of a big descent: "trucks use low gear".

[Holyvision]

It's fun for sure but for the love of VR I would love to have a gear-cheat sheet in the cab.

[Sannois]

I wish there was a way to put the thing in neutral without having to stop. Feels like there is always a little engine braking occurring even at idle and highest gear.

But the feel of the thing is very nice overall. Perhaps it should struggle more at low revs and high load, producing dark smoke and shuddering if you're in completely wrong gear.

[Knsgf]

Originally posted by Sannois:

I wish there was a way to put the thing in neutral without having to stop.

What would happen when you put reverser back to forward? SCRREEECH-BANNGG!!!

[Sannois]

Originally posted by Knsgf:

Originally posted by Sannois:

I wish there was a way to put the thing in neutral without having to stop.

What would happen when you put reverser back to forward? SCRREEECH-BANNGG!!!

Why? It'll be fine if you're in the right gear, as with any manually operated transmission.

[Knsgf]

Unlike a car, forward/reverse on a mechanical and hydraulic locomotives is done by a separate non-synchromesh gearbox. So once you're in neutral the shaft between main and direction gearboxes will quickly lose momentum and stop. And because there is no synchromesh, reengaging the reverser at speed is a surefire way to grind and strip the gears.

[Sannois]

Originally posted by Knsgf:

Unlike a car, forward/reverse on a mechanical and hydraulic locomotives is done by a separate non-synchromesh gearbox. So once you're in neutral the shaft between main and direction gearboxes will quickly lose momentum and stop. And because there is no synchromesh, reengaging the reverser at speed is a surefire way to grind and strip the gears.

Well, that's why you'd throttle up to match the engine to the transmission speed before re-engaging the reverser. Double clutching is nothing new, been done for over a hundred years.
I think this would add yet another layer of complexity to the beast that is DM3.

There is a bug in the engine today though - if you throttle up while in neutral, then engage the reverser either way while the RPMs are still dropping, the engine stalls. Surely the momentum of the engine should be transferred into motion...

[Mavark²]

I've pulled ~1000t with DM3 out of IMW to Harbor. Took a while.
I've also pulled ~1400t with the DH4 on the same route.
Using that westernmost route. Easy money.