Close train passes by adjusting the throttle

[MaglevForever]

Just for fun, who has adjusted the throttle to make two trains pass by each other on a short stretch of double track without stopping?

 

Here are two pics (before and after) I got when I did this while playing the "Amtrak" map. I was so amazed that they didn't "collide" that I took the screen-shots to prove it.

 

Happy railroading!

[jeffryfisher]

There's no outward flag to tell me that one of my trains has a low throttle setting, so I'd be likely to forget to fix it, so I never mess with the throttle.in the first place. Besides, how could I calculate exactly how to set it?

 

Throttle control could be taken out of the game and I'd never miss it.

[MaglevForever]

I admit, not practical, but still fun. The fact that neither train stopped helped me to book those early profits faster.

 

I do use the throttle though. On engines with poor reliability such as the Pacific. Once they get a breakdown chance above 20% with a caboose I tend to throttle them back a little to keep the breakdown chance from increasing anymore. That said, I don't really play a lot with those engines. I like multi-purpose trains. (The Pacific is no good at all on grades)  In most scenarios I tend to use the same engine for everything: express and freight, hills and flat runs. The stop/start issue I was trying to avoid here makes me want to do this.

[j7n]

I once tried to use throttle to keep several trains delivering loads for a scenario goal running one after another without yielding, but was unsuccessful "feeling" the decrease in acceleration. I soon caused a trailing train to slow down rapidly with the throttle too low, when slight decreases seemed to have no effect.

In normal play I don't use throttle, because, as I posted in the Wish List thread, this alters train priorities, which cannot be read precisely, and the throttle setting does not snap in the default position.

I also use all-round practical trains like the Mikado. In tight economy of the post-Geocore world, the Pacific seemed more efficient on flat ground though.

[MaglevForever]

Have you ever tried a train simulator such as Trainz?

 

Cutting the throttle will only cut available power. The train will coast a fair way without slowing significantly. There is no way that I know to apply brakes in the game. Trains have a very low power to weight ratio. Once a train is in the green speed it can go at that pace with a fraction of full power (on flat ground). If it has more work such as a grade or corner you will notice a big difference once you decrease the throttle.

 

In this case, I dropped the throttle to 0 for a brief moment. This slows the train enough. Then I pumped it straight back up to full power.  It dropped speed instantly to the top end of the yellow as you can see.

 

Thanks for the reminder about priorities. Are you playing Cascadia? I also use the Pacific for passengers and mail throughout most of that scenario. The Mikado is a way more expensive engine to run. I only used it on routes involving mountains.

 

I discovered something new today. Pressing Ctrl+t will track the train the current train. I came from playing RT3 and missed this feature. Nice.