DRR sim update

[Preston]

Cool! And yes the only way to tell that an injector is overheating in the simulator is to check the message page.

[Preston]

The Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad Steam Simulator will be available for purchase and download on December 16, 2017

The Simulator's Home Page is now live with feature list, screenshots, and system requirements. You will also be able to purchase a copy of the Sim from the home page.

This has been a very long journey. Enjoy the trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBlaKiUvGs

[Steve DeGaetano]

Two days until release!!

That manual looks pretty comprehensive!

[Unfortunate Bystander]

In the manual excerpt it says: "Dead center is modeled in the sim! If you find yourself stuck, this could why" or words to that effect.

What feature of a steam locomotive is being referred to here?

[Steve DeGaetano]

In the manual excerpt it says: "Dead center is modeled in the sim! If you find yourself stuck, this could be why" or words to that effect.

What feature of a steam locomotive is being referred to here?

The valve that admits steam to either end of the cylinder slides back and forth. As it does so, it allows steam to enter one end of the cylinder through a "port," then slides in the other direction, and allows steam to enter the other end through another port. This steam pushes the piston back and forth.

This video shows sort of what it looks like in cutaway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NEm3PMHPyc

The valve is the purple thing that moves above the red piston. As it moves back and forth (it is connected to the drive wheels by a cam), it alternately admits steam to either end of the cylinder, while at the same time allowing spent steam to exhaust up the smokestack from the opposite end of the cylinder.

Sometimes when the train comes to a stop, the valve ends up being placed is such a position - dead center - where it basically is covering both ports, and not allowing steam to enter the cylinder from either end. It's sort of like if you tried to start a bicycle moving, when the pedals and cranks were perfectly vertical, straight up and down. If you didn't move the bike at all, and simply applied downward pressure to the top pedal, you wouldn't be able to propel the bike.

EDIT: The above is incorrect--"Dead Center" is actually when the crank pin is in the same horizontal line with the crosshead wrist pin and the wheel center--which makes the bicycle analogy more accurate. --SMD

When one of the valves ends up on dead center, and the engineer tries to start the train, he will pull open the throttle, but the train will not move. The sound of hissing steam will increase in volume until the engineer realizes he's on dead center and closes the throttle.

Fortunately, with a steam engine, there are two cylinders and pistons, and they are set up so that they are 90 degrees apart (the crank pins on the drivers are 90 degrees apart; if they were 180 degrees apart, then both pistons could end up on dead center)--basically, even if one cylinder is on dead center, the other cylinder will have a port open.

So, by putting the engine in reverse, steam can be admitted to the other cylinder, the train will back up a few inches, the valve on dead center will move just enough to open a port, and then the engineer can put the Johnson Bar forward and start moving again as usual.

[Unfortunate Bystander]

Just for clarification, then, if the valve is covering both ports and no steam is entering the cylinder where does the 'hissing steam' come from? Does this mean that the valve in the other cylinder is allowing steam in but not enough to move the train?

[Preston]

It's here!

https://ckhollidayplans.com/disneyland- ... simulator/

Enjoy!

[Steve DeGaetano]

Just for clarification, then, if the valve is covering both ports and no steam is entering the cylinder where does the 'hissing steam' come from? Does this mean that the valve in the other cylinder is allowing steam in but not enough to move the train?

That's a good question that I admit stumped me. I asked one of our engineers who also fires on the N&W J No. 611, and he didn't know either! He's going to ask some of the experts in the steam community he knows what their thoughts are and get back to me.

See my edit above.

Our best guess right now is that while the valve is on dead center, the piston is, say, fully forward. Any steam blowing by the valve would be entering behind the piston, but because of its position fully forward already, the steam behind it does nothing except exhaust out the cylinder cock--creating the sound. Once the crank arm is shifted a little, pulling the piston away from the end of the cylinder, steam will properly go to the front of the piston, and begin pushing it back.

[Steve DeGaetano]

It's here!

https://ckhollidayplans.com/disneyland- ... simulator/

Enjoy!

Fantastic! The end of a long journey, and hopefully the beginning of a new one!

I (and I'm sure Preston) would love to hear everyone's thoughts and comments as they begin to experience the sim.

As I may have mentioned, there will be a learning curve. The sim is hyper-realistic, and because of that, learning how to properly fire and run can sometimes be frustrating. There were many times when I was learning to fire a real steam engine where I felt I just couldn't "get it." But I was lucky to have a great group of guys who encouraged me and taught me. They all assured me that eventually, I would get it. And the day I had my first "perfect" run, was one of the best days of my life.

Don't be afraid to come here and ask questions. I know we have other guys here who have steam experience. I'm more than happy to try and help anyone with learning how to fire and run the train.

[Preston]

Yes! We would love to hear your thoughts.

My advice re: firing is... do less than you think you need to, and be very proactive. Ie, you don't need to be moving and adjusting the fuel valve all that much. Make light corrections and see what happens. And as being proactive: build pressure before you need it, add water before you need it!