Railworks 4: End of the Line

While I run over to the first set of cars for the 3rd time, I should tell you guys about some of the issues I've encountered so far.

First off, my HUD does not display the Brake Air Pressure for the Big Boys and Challenger. As you might remember from the last time, the Boiler Pressure of the Big Boys remains at 280.0 psi, regardless of throttle and reverser position. The latest little issue is that while I was loading the senerio, the slideshow/advertising that plays during the long loading sequence didn't load any pictures. All these little issues concern me a little bit.


also the articulation of the Big Boys and Challengers isn't completely accurate, the connections to the front cylinders isn't accurate, but that's something that doesn't seem exclusive to me and is torable.



also I don't get why my tender coupler is hidden. I know that the front coupler is supposed to be hidden in the cowcatcher, but the rear coupler doesn't need to be hidden, in fact it seems like an inconvience to have to pull it out everytime you need to haul a train.


Having just picked up the second set of cars, I just now noticed that I'm heavy enough to roll down Sherman Hill. I should be keeping this in mind.


While boiler pressure still doesn't change, I noticed that the Reverser still works properly. At full throttle and 60% reverser I could only go 37 mph.


If nothing else, I've learned how to use the brakes to maintain 55.4 mph on a -1.5% grade


That lower sign makes no sense.





I almost forgot to ask for premission to pass. Thankfully I didn't have to stop.


Now we're goign another 5 miles down the line to Cheyenne.


WTF, I don't speak American Signaling


SHIT, I drove into a 20 mph zone at 35 mph without knowing I was about to enter one.


That's a lot of overhang.




I'm here!


This is the first time I didn't get a 100% conformant rating.

The Scenerio Brief wrote:Having a fuel shortage a few Big Boys were brought out of retirement to make a special cold storage run. This is a two part scenario using a double team of Big Boys to haul 18 refrigerator cars to Cheyenne.

This sounds so flawed. First all, the remaining Big Boys are NOT in a condition that would allow them to be restored to working order in a matter of days, let alone weeks. Hell, they're scattered all over the US, so bringing them back to Cheyenne, the one place that could restore them is a massive hurtle in itself. And while you're bringing them back, you're doing so with diesels.

Second, a Big Boy is the last thing I would consider for short term work for one reason: Massive Fuel Consumption. A Big Boy hard at work on Sherman Hill requires massive amounts of water and coal, enough that at least one refueling stop must be made. Two is a logistics nightmare, especially with the infrastructure the Big Boys had is long gone. UP 5511 is far better choice for short term power, already in Cheyenne and being in excellent condition means it would be restored in a matter of weeks.

And my last complaint is a bit dated, but even then, it shows how much effort the Research Department put in.

also my loading screen is working and there's a new locomotive in it, the
DB BR232.


If you're going to make me back up to my train, then let me run the locomotives from the round house to the train instead of making me shunt a few feet to my train. Anyway, they gave me #4018 and #4004 HOLD ON


Wow, I'm speechless.


For as long as the game takes to load, I expect much better quality than that.


Remember what I said about Massive Fuel Consumption?

We're starting out with 25 tons of coal and 15,000 gallons of water.


Finally out of the yard limit of 15.

*opens the throttle all the way*


For a moment I thought I was going to hit that train, then I realized it's on the next line over.


The two locomotives are lagging my system everytime I look out of the cab, so I'll be inside most of the time.


This cab is not signal friendly, I barely saw the signal as I went past it.


See what I mean, you do not have a big window to see the signal.


I think if the Big Boys really did need to double head a train this short, UP would've scraped them or rebuilt them in a heartbeat. After all, the Big Boy was built for the job of hualing trains up Sherman Hill unassisted.


Running a quick check of our fuels and we're at 93% for water and 99.2% for coal. Given how far we've traveled, that's not too bad.

I feel bad for anyone doing the laundry outside.


What is that?


Oh just some idling locomotives. Yay for not conserving fuel during a fuel shortage.


I let my speed drop to 19 mph.


Was this track always there?


Alright, appearently we're not important.




Look at us, passing a coal train.


Going through the switches.


That's a tunnel up ahead. I hope to get Donner Pass later this summer and they had a ton of tunnels and these tunnels were making conditions unbearable for the crews. Then someone had the idea to flip the locomotive around and this is the result.


I can't see a damn thing and I would also be sufficating.




This is the track we need to back up into. Stopping this train from 55 mph is not easy.


But we stopped anyway, way too early.


Now we can back up.


Appearently we're done. Even though I'm still in the way. I've got 12,033 gallons of water and 24 tons of coal let. That concludes part 1 of this 2 part Scenerio.


And now we start part 2.


Oh look, they're racing each other.


That does not look healthy....


I feel like the cab is rocking from these trains thundering by.


I just noticed that they refueled the locomotives.


I'm having to use about 10 lbs of air to keep within the speed limit of 55 mph. And I think I need more.


I walked away for too long, I came to a dead stop.


And now I need to lose 10 mph in a fifth of a mile.


Good grief, the locomotive jumped very badly then.




I think the positions of my locomotives changed sometime between this scenerio and the last.


I think we need to change the brakes when we get to Cheyenne.

If I'm having this much trouble on Sherman Hill, then Cajon Pass is going to be the site of another massive train wreck.



I think the problem is the guy behind me.

I'm braking and he's pushing. God dammit, can I shoot him?


We're here!

Got another slideshow error...


WOW!

This is cool. So this will my first night run in a steam locomotive, not only that, it's in the snow!


Yeah, yeah, yeah, GET OUT OF MY WAY, I WANT TO LOOK AT THE SCENERY.


Look at that moon!


It's not too dark in here. Also for some reason, my speedometer is twitching even though the brakes are at 100%


Just released the brakes, let's go.


Track speed here is 60 mph and it's a downhill grade.



I'm loving the scenery for this scenerio. I don't believe I've been on this section before.


It seems the wind is rather strong today.


I need to run at night more often. This is the cement plant we need to stop at.


I just realized that I past the spot I needed to stop and back up.


I'm not taking any chances and I'm setting the handbrakes on every single car.


Fine.


That's cool, some of my cars are in a shed and there's some random person standing by the tracks.

[img]
Which are those cars over there on the left.


That was a little hard.


Back out on the main line


Whut.


There's the signal.


Okay.


That's a lot of wood.


And finished.



"Improper Horn use 10 times"

reaction:

The guide is still glitching out, but the train hasn't broken up yet, so this is when I start recording.


I'm currently riding in #7810, the last unit in our set of 4


So far so good, apart from my guide.


If I'm not mistaken, this is by far the largest train I've hauled.


We've made it to the summit. And that's the moon over there.


Sharp eyed viewers will notice that the train appears to be leaning, which it is. We can take the corner better while leaning, but instead of the train itself leaning, it's the track that's tilted.


Did you know that long distance car transport is one of the few areas that the railroads have dominated trucks?


I think the extreme size of my train is why the game is laggy.


Are my step lights on?


We're finally arriving in Cheyenne.


Why haven't I gotten to my destaintion yet?


This confusing set of signals is where we need to stop. I'm currently half a mile out in front of my train.


Did I do it right?

This is the furthest I've travelled here on Sherman Hill. I'm close to the end of the route here.

This is the official intro ride to the Challenger, as it's just an easy intro, it shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes and should be exactly like the Big Boy Introduction.


I know.


As you can see, this Challenger has Smoke Deflecters.


I do not remember this being mentioned during the Big Boy intro, this will help me with my throttle and reverser positions.


I'm not manually firing, I'm using the auto fireman. Also we're below on that firemass, sitting at 72%


As helpful as this information is, I don't need it.


This looks like a far more reasonable load for a Challenger.


I already know this, and looking at the tender, it looks like we have an oil burner this time.


I'm pretty sure 3943 is an oil burner.


Our train numbers are blank.


I'm going to make things more interesting for the scenrio and disable the autofireman.


I don't wanna D:


And that's all folks!

Today I bring you yet another Challenger, number 3979.


That's right, we're got another passenger excusion.


And this time it's longer and the locomotive is dressed for the part. This is likely one of the few Challengers that were used in passenger service, the rest were used in freight service.

I really am liking how the scenerios were improved for the Challenger.


Without further ado, let's get this show on the road.

Dammit, I forgot to turn the autofiring off.

*goes to fix that*

*ten minutes later*

Okay, now we are ready to go.

Oh yeah, before I forget too late, fuel stats

Oil (identified as coal):31.9 tons.
Water: 25,000 gallons.

I've already used some of my oil raising my firemass For the purposes of calcuating remaing fuel, I will assume I started with 32 tons.


Almost out of the yard at about 32 mph.


The joys of burning oil instead of coal is that the cab can be fully enclosed.


We're outside of the yard, where we can run 70 mph. I'm currently accelerating with the throttle wide open and the reverser at 28%


I forgot I was supposed to be watching my fuel. My water dropped to 76% and my fire to 77%


Look at that, I'm actually smaller than an autorack car.


Got a 50 mph limit up ahead, so I'm using the 1.5% grade to slow myself from 66 mph.


This is demanding so much attention from me that I'm having trouble keeping up with the updates. I'm about 38.5 miles from Laramie.


Just passed Buford.

Oil: 30.9 (96.56%)
Water: 20,945 (83.78%)


I've had to slow down to 45 mph to take this corner.


I don't remember having to slow down to 45 this many times.


So Railworks forces me inside the cab when going inside tunnels.


God that was scary set of bumps and jerks. I thought I was going to derail


I really am starting to like the Challenger more than the Big Boy.




I hope they will come out with a model of UP #844




The depot is just up ahead so I'm going to go ahead and do the final fuel calcs.

Oil: 30.4 tons (95%)
Water: 19,237 gallons (76.95%)


Thank you for joining me on this wonderful trip over the Hill!

Next time we will be tackling my first 4 star scenerio. Stay tuned after that for my first 5 star scenerio. Both of them will feature the Challenger and my driving :D

Is that right? Couldn't you use a locomotive built specifically for this task? Challengers are road locomotives, not shunters (those massive tenders being the biggest reason why they aren't suited to shunting) and while Union Pacific likely doesn't have a shunter in storage, there are plenty of operating in the US on hertiage lines and tourist railroads. I'm sure that Union Pacific could hire a few. Also, this is my first 4 star mission (because scenerio is too hard to type out).


We've got #3943 again today. She's got smoke deflectors and is oil fired.


Okay


While I was busy setting switches, my train is rolling down hill, gathering speed due to gravity. It was going about 4 mph when I took this picture.


I've got 12 cars now if I'm not mistaken.


What do they do here?


For some reason, my brakes sound like a jet engine.




Those are the cars I need to get next.

*pans the camera left and notices something*




OMG, IT'S ANOTHER CHALLENGER

STEAM IS MAKING A COME BACK :D


My brakes take forever to release.


I hope there's not another train coming... I had to pull up quite far to switch the points for that siding.


That signal was green earlier.


For some reason, the water level in my boiler continues to drop even with the injector on and that worries me. If it drops too low, the boiler can explode.


We're clear to go, so let's get there before we explode.


Only I could stall a steam locomotive on a downhill grade.


We're building water level again


I believe I completed this really well. Now for what I'm dreading, the 5 star mission. The only thing that makes this challenging is having to set my own switches and the fact shunting is not that easy. You've got to watch your speed.

*deep breath*

Okay, the first 5 star mission.

[quote=Mission Brief]Work the BNSF stub using a Challenger. Your are picking up empties at several sidings in the BNSF area. Then taking them to Speer for points elsewhere.


Loco run down.

Road Number: 3943
Fire Mass: 73%
Water Level: 93%
Coal Stores: 32.0 Tons
Water Stores: 25,000 Gallons

...that's interesting, didn't we just use 3943, only now the locomotive looks very different. No longer having smoke deflectors and being coal fired. Though those are both very possible conversions that wouldn't take long to impliment and could've easily been slipped in during an overhaul.


So we've got a time limit. Well then, I'll be using the pause menu a lot.

Where I need to go is behind me so I'm going to use the turn table.


Why aren't my brakes releasing?

I'm looking at the left display of that box at the top. Red is the psi applied to the brake cylinders and the black is the brake pressure pipe line. The other side is the main resovior (black) and equaliser (red)

*jiggles the lever*


There we go.


The turn table is set and we're ready to switch around.

*hits g a few times*
*the table jerks, derailing me*

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GOD FUCKING DAMMIT





It may not be appearent in the screenshots, but the front half of my locomotive is derailed. Oddly enough, Railworks didn't say I derailed.


I just realized there was no reason for me to get on this turn table.....

*derails again halfway around the turn table*


Okay this time I'm not going to use the turn table. Which means we'll be running tender first.


I feel like my frame rate is very high at the moment.


I forgot to catch the conductor's speech. Basically he said wait here until they throw the switch in front of us. Then go until we get to a red signal, which we will have to request permission to pass.





Thought that was my turn off



THOSE IDO- *watches as a car passes through my locomotive*




Well ignoring that, these are the first cars I need to pick up.


Is that a Burger King? :O

*leaves my train to get a burger*


Okay.


I've been doing some research and discovered this locomotive doesn't match up to what is potentially the real thing. The builder's plate says 1943, but while Union Pacific did recieve some Challengers that year, they were numbered 3975-3999 and were later renumbered 3708-3717 in 1952. The real 3943 was part of the 1944 order of 20 and it was converted to oil in 1952. Along with the other locomotives part of this order converted to oil in 1952, the locomotives were renumbered from 3700-3707. Also there are only two surviving locomotives, 3985 (in service with Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet) and 3977 (on static display in North Platte, NE). So 3943 doesn't even exist any more, meaning the locomotive I'm driving is fictional.


I hit those a little hard.


For when a turn table either doesn't exist or is being a bitch, WYE


I need to get these cars, but I need to turn around to get around this.


We'll leave our cars here.


And then do exactly what he said.


And be dumbfounded by the cars passing through me.


Which is the next track over.


Now we get to run one last time on Sherman Hill, this time to Speer, a place I think I've only been once before.


Back across the road of death.


The running gear looks much more laggy now.


I'm sitting at 200 psi....


I'm going to stop here for a few minutes. I'm only doing 32 in a 50. I could do better if my boiler pressure wasn't so low (182 psi) and if my water level wasn't low as well.



Epic standing images.


My safety valve just popped and I'm at 89% on my water so I feel I can complete the trip now.


Well we're not exactly flying.... 25 mph in a 50, but we've got a 30 mph zone coming up so that's not too bad.


Thank you for joining me on what is my last run on Sherman Hill, at least for now.

I've chosen Cajon Pass as my next route. I've decided that my first attempt on this route will be a Challenger hauling that short passenger train. The lighter train should mean that the grades shouldn't be a big problem, hopefully. I've done a little a research into Cajon Pass and discovered that the grades are even steeper than on Sherman Hill. Not only that, Cajon Pass has a history of runaway trains, with at least 3.


That top signal light is flashing, I'm not sure what that means... Also I just looked my route and we will be traveling 78.88 miles from Barstow yard to San Bernardaino yard and this will take 2 hours.


After hitting tab a few times and getting no response, I'll take it as we are clear to procced.


Leave it to the Amerians to choose something so complicated.


We're currently doing 62 mph and the limit just went up 79.


We're maintaining 70.5 mph.


We're using a lot of water.... and the locomotive is jumping around a lot.


Why is the water supply in my tender going down after shutting off the injector? I have been using a lot of water, do I have a leak?


I just realized that passenger trains travel faster than freight trains, so an end to end route with a freight train is going to take longer than 2 hours. I'm also down to 20,000 gallons in my tender and I'm still 54 miles from the yard.

*another uncapturable train wreck just a few minutes later*
Did I hit a car? The locomotive was thrown upward and I was at 70 mph, below the track speed of 79, so I don't think it was speed that killed.