RAILROADS Online! Duke's Locomotive Guide

Driving Interface Explanation

The UI for Railroads Online isn't the cleanest, but all the controls we need to drive our engines are present.

Boiler Pressure: You don't need to worry about your boiler exploding (yet). So dont worry about keeping your pressure within the margins, this usually maxes out between 110-150.

Air Brake Pressure: If your train has air brakes this gives you an indication of the capacity of your air brakes. Turn on the compressor to generate air brake pressure.

Water temperature: As long as its at 110 you are fine.

Water level: Your train essentially has 2 water levels. This one and the reservoir that you fill from the water tower. All that matters within the game is that you have water to create steam. Exploding boilers is not yet implemented.

Fire Temperature: try to keep this maxed out.

Fuel: The amount of fuel in the firebox. As long as this value is above 0 your fire temperature will climb or stay maxed out.

Throttle: This controls the amount of power. 0 is none and 100 is max.

Reverser: This controls the direction and efficiency. 0 is reverse and 100 is forward. The reverser also controls the efficiency with which your engine operates. Setting reverser to 100 gives you maximum torque going forward and 51 gives you maximum efficiency going forward. Setting reverser to 0 gives you maximum torque going backwards and 49 gives you maximum efficiency going backwards.

Brake: This controls the amount of INDEPENDENT brake you apply. 0 is none and 100 is max. For the discerning reader who doesn't know what Independent means. It means that the brake only controls the braking power of the engine you are driving, not the cars. As of right now there is no train brake, or brake that is connected to all cars of the train, so if you want to apply more braking power across your train you will have to physically run down the length of the train and apply the brakes to each individual car.

Whistle: Controls the volume of the whistle essentially. 0 is off, 100 is max.

Generator: Not sure if this is currently implemented, but at 0 its off and 100 its on and allows you to take steam and spin a dynamo to generate electricity for accessories of your train such as the headlamp.

Compressor: This is currently implemented for some locomotives but not all. At 0 its off and 100 its on and allows you to take steam to power a compressor to compress air for air brakes.

Bell: Makes ding dong noises.

Sander: Dumps sand in front of the train wheels to give additional traction.

Cylinder c o c k s: These are currently only aesthetic, to use turn them on whenever you begin moving the locomotive, turn them off after 1-2 seconds of releasing condensation within cylinders. Originally posted by Stockbridge Locomotive Works Website:Cylinder ♥♥♥♥♥ are valves that release steam condensate (water) that occurs when cylinder temperatures are significantly cooler than that of the incoming steam, typically when the locomotive begins to move. As hot steam comes in contact with a colder surface, liquid water will form which does not compress! As the pistons move up and down, damage can occur if there is too much water in the “compression area”. As soon as the cylinder temperatures rise due to the continuance of incoming steam, the amount of condensate lowers at which point the valves can be closed. Cylinder ♥♥♥♥♥ have very small openings which allow just enough water to be expelled without a drastic reduction in steam pressure, allowing the engine to continue to create power until they are closed for normal running.

About Tractive Effort

Originally posted by Republic Locomotive Website:The tractive effort required to move a train consists of numerous factors, but for most applications only four need to be considered. First, a force of 2 to 5 pounds per ton of train weight is required to move on straight level track. At very slow yard speeds only 2 to 3 pounds is needed while increasing to about 5 pounds at higher speeds. This force is required to overcome bearing friction, rail deflection, minor flange contact, etc. Years ago, the initial starting requirements were much higher when cars had friction bearings. Today, with all roller bearing journals, this is not much of a consideration. At speeds above 30 to 40 miles per hour, air resistance becomes significant but since this depends on the aerodynamics of specific trains, it is not addressed here.

The second factor to consider is track curvature. Cars in a curve require a good deal of tractive effort because the wheels are mounted on solid axles. Thus the wheels must slip and slide through the curve because of the difference in radius of the inside and outside rails. Wheel flange contact adds additional friction.

For the cars in the curve, the tractive effort required is 0.8 pounds per ton per degree of curvature, where curvature is defined as the number of degrees the track curves per 100 feet. Degree of curvature can be calculated if the curve radius is known by dividing 5730 feet by the radius. For instance, track with a 573 foot radius would have 10° of curvature. Curvature can also be directly measured by the following method: Stretch a cord or tape tight across two points on the rail which are 62 feet apart. Measure the distance from the midpoint of the cord to the rail. This distance in inches is equal to the degrees of curvature.

Good engineering practice limits maximum curvature to about 12°. However, curvature may exceed 20° in an industrial yard with limited real estate, but excessive wheel and rail wear will likely result.

The percent of grade is perhaps the most important factor governing tractive effort. For every ton of train weight in a grade, 20 pounds of tractive effort is needed for each 1% of slope. (One percent of a ton or 2000 pounds equals 20 pounds.) A 1% grade is defined as a vertical increase of one foot for each 100 feet of horizontal distance. A 1% grade is considered steep; a 2% grade is unusually steep.

For the purposes of weight capacity per grade in this guide we use 5 pounds per ton of train weight * 2000 minus the weight of the locomotive for 0% grade and 5+20*percent grade per ton of train weight * 2000 minus the weight of the locomotive for all other grades.

Handcart

This is a generic handcart. It is useful for getting from point a to b without hauling any cargo.

Tier: 1

Base Price: $150

Weight: 2,200

Tractive Effort: 112 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.042,600.001.06,760.002.02,777.78 3.01,246.15 4.0435.29 5.0Negative Value6.0Negative Value7.0Negative Value8.0Negative Value9.0Negative Value10.0Negative Value

Porter (Tier 1)

Common historically used for shunting and light freight.

Tier: 1

Base Price: $2900.00

Weight: 15,965 lbs

Tractive Effort: 2,870.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.01,132,035.001.0213,635.002.0111,590.56 3.072,342.694.051,564.415.038,701.676.029,955.007.023,621.218.018,822.889.015,062.0310.012,035.00

Porter (Tier 2)

Common historically used for shunting and light freight.This version of the porter is slightly heavier, but has a higher capacity for firewood.

Tier: 2

Base Price: $3,200.00

Weight: 17,956 lbs

Tractive Effort: 2,870.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.01,130,044.001.0211,644.002.0109,599.563.070,351.694.049,573.415.036,710.676.027,964.007.021,630.218.016,831.889.013,071.0310.010,044.00

D&RGW Class 48

Common historically used for shunting and light freight.

Tier: 3

Base Price: $3,500.00

Weight: 33,000 lbs

Tractive Effort: 9,550.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.03,787,000.001.0731,000.002.0391,444.443.0260,846.154.0191,705.885.0148,904.76 6.0119,800.00 7.098,724.148.082,757.589.070,243.2410.060,170.73

Montezuma

Also known as the D&RG Class 25

Fast

Best used for passenger service

Tier: 2

Base Price: $2,500.00

Weight: 33,000 lbs

Tractive Effort: 3,650.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.01,427,000.001.0259,000.002.0129,222.223.079,307.694.052,882.355.036,523.816.025,400.007.017,344.838.011,242.429.06,459.4610.02,609.76

Eureka

Also known as the D&RG Class 38

Fast

Best used for passenger service

Tier: 2

Base Price: $2,900.00

Weight: 37,840 lbs

Tractive Effort: 5,620.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.02,210,160.001.0411,760.002.0211,937.78 3.0135,083.084.094,395.295.069,207.626.052,080.007.039,677.248.030,281.219.022,916.7610.016,989.27

Glenbrook

Historical Use - 2 built as log haulers for the Carson and Tahoe Logging and Fluming Company (C&TL&FCo.)

Tier: 2

Base Price: $3,100.00

Weight: 37,840 lbs

Tractive Effort: 7,811.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.03,086,560.001.0587,040.002.0309,315.563.0202,498.464.0145,948.245.0110,940.95 6.087,136.007.069,897.938.056,838.79 9.046,603.2410.038,364.88

Climax

Also known as Class B-28 Climax

Compared to shays are cheaper, but 1-2 mph slower

Would commonly “shake themselves to death”

As a result of this a big part of Climax's business was repair parts

Tier: 3

Base Price: $5,650.00

Weight: 53,339 lbs

Tractive Effort: 17,210.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.06,830,661.001.01,323,461.002.0711,549.893.0476,199.464.0351,602.185.0274,470.526.0222,021.007.0184,040.318.0155,267.069.0132,715.0510.0114,563.44

Heisler

Also known as Class 37-8-36 “Armill” Heisler, used by West Side Lumber Co. 3

Faster than any other geared design at cost of power

Logging engine

Basically a big v twin motorcycle engine powered by steam connected to the drive shaft that drives the locomotive

Tier: 4

Base Price: $5,650.00

Weight: 61,870 lbs

Tractive Effort: 13,010.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.05,142,130.00 1.0978,930.002.0516,352.223.0338,437.694.0244,247.655.0185,939.526.0146,290.007.0117,578.288.095,826.979.078,778.6510.065,056.83

Shay

Also known as Class A15-2 Shay, Used by the Michigan-California Lumber Co. 2

Geared locomotive

Slow

Common use - logging railroads

Tier: 3

Base Price: $5,400.00

Weight: 47,960 lbs

Tractive Effort: 5,896.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.02,310,440.00 1.0423,720.00 2.0214,084.44 3.0133,455.38 4.090,769.41 5.064,344.76 6.046,376.00 7.033,364.14 8.023,506.67 9.015,780.54 10.09,561.95

Cooke Mogul

General use- used for everything from freight to passenger trains

Tier: 5

Base Price: $4,300.00

Weight: 58,176 lbs

Tractive Effort: 11,872.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.04,690,624.00 1.0891,584.00 2.0469,468.44 3.0307,116.31 4.0221,165.18 5.0167,957.33 6.0131,776.00 7.0105,575.72 8.085,727.03 9.070,169.95 10.057,648.39

D&RG Class 70

General use- used for everything from freight to passenger trains

Tier: 5

Base Price: $4,300.00

Weight: 74,104 lbs

Tractive Effort: 15,468.00 LBf

GradePulling/pushing capacity (lbs)0.06,113,096.00 1.01,163,336.00 2.0613,362.67 3.0401,834.46 4.0289,848.94 5.0220,524.57 6.0173,384.00 7.0139,247.72 8.0113,386.91 9.093,117.62 10.076,803.32

Cars

Flatcar tier 1

Base weight: 8,360 lbs

With logs: 34,815 lbs

With steel pipe: 44,074

Flatcar tier 2

Base weight: 8,800 lbs

With lumber: 26,657 lbs

With raw iron: 18654 lbs

With rail: 28,641 lbs

With beam: 18,125 lbs

Flatcar tier 3

Base weight: 9,020 lbs

With cordwood: 30,184 lbs

With oil barrels: 22,913 lbs

Hopper

Base weight: 13,200 lbs

With iron ore: 35,246 lbs

With coal: 35,246 lbs

Tanker

Base weight: 30,135 lbs

With crude oil: 56,590 lbs

Boxcar

Base weight: 17,463 lbs

With tools: 24,517 lbs

Bobber Caboose: 11,880 lbs

DSP&P Waycar: 11,000 lbs

Changelog

This is version 1. Created November 6, 2022.

Credits And Sources

This guide is made by me.

If you have additional historical information about the locomotives, please drop a comment below. I would love to include it in the next iteration of the guide and you will be added to this section for you generous contribution.

Tractive effort calculations by me:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oemU3WQ0Dl2I23fFCJX6fJ65jCy5sgX3fjTChH1XZHk/edit?usp=sharing

Historical information about these locomotives is from the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1llQGZ1hV8

Other sources have inline citation.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2885380810

Duke's Locomotive Guide

Driving Interface Explanation

About Tractive Effort

Handcart

Porter (Tier 1)

Porter (Tier 2)

D&RGW Class 48

Montezuma

Eureka

Glenbrook

Climax

Heisler

Shay

Cooke Mogul

D&RG Class 70

Cars

Changelog

Credits And Sources

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