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I crashed MSTS bad enough last week that I decided to reinstall. I saved the trainset, uninstalled, and did a clean install. Installed the MS patches and "added content". Installed X-tracks. So far so good. Then I started to reinstall the non-stock portion of my trainset. I decided that since this was a major exercise anyway, I would take the time to check each folder as I brought it across -- make sure I was happy with the Name field in the .wag/.eng file (and add one where needed), make sure I had a .jpg with the same name as the .wag file so I'd get a thumbnail in ConBuilder, etc., etc. In the process I have come across a couple of things that I hope someone may have some useful imput on.Below are sections of three different .wag files from stock equipment:Wagon ( US2Freightcar3 comment( Diesel Tanker Car ) Name ("Tank_BN_58") Type ( Freight ) WagonShape ( US2Freightcar3.s ) Size ( 3m 5m 18.4m ) Mass ( "98.163t #24.186t empty, 98.163t full" )Wagon ( US2ChemiCar comment( Chemical Tanker Car ) Name ("Tank_nn_48") Type ( Freight ) WagonShape ( US2ChemiCar.s ) Size ( 2.79951m 4.61893m 14.93706m ) Mass ( "117.57t #24.298t empty, 117.57t full" )Wagon ( US2GrainCar comment( Grain car ) Name ("Hop_bn_grain") Type ( Freight ) WagonShape ( US2GrainCar.s ) Size ( 3m 3.5m 19.6m) comment( 22.805t empty, 106.747t full" ) Mass ( 106.747t )Two things. First, the Mass statements are different between the grain car and the two tankers. So far as I can tell, both styles work OK so I can see no need to edit for consistancy. Anyone run into problems over this? Second, it looks as if the smaller US2ChemiCar actually has a bigger capacity then the US2Freightcar3 -- 117.57t vs 98.163t. Is that correct? If not, what would more realistic figures be? Brad "thanks in advance" Meyer
Brad, why would you want to make the weights of your cars consistently the same? There are probably not 2 cars on the railroad that weigh the same. The contents of a loaded car also vary in weight depending on what it is. You could load the same type car with diesel fuel or corn syrup and get a different weight. My point is, why not vary the mass number of identical cars? It'll add a bit more realism to the way the train handles. M.R.
That is a side issue from the one I am addressing. What the wag files are showing (as I understand it) are the "empty" and "full" weights. A difference in the type of load would not, IMO, account for the smaller car having the greater full load weight. The real problem for me is actually the repaints of various sorts. I can modify the mass depending on what the car is carrying, but I would like to start from a reliable "circa" figure for weight before I do. I expect what I will have to do is faind the capacity in gallons (or liters) and work backwards from there depending on the nature of the load.That brings up another question though. I would suspect that tank cars travel either fully loaded or empty, but never partially loaded due to free surface effects (i.e. sloshing). I could easily see a part full tanker managing to slosh itself right off the track given the wrong conditions. Is the above true for tankers? If not, do they have some sort of swash plates or baffles to minimize free surface effects?Brad Meyer
> A difference in the type of load would not, IMO, account for the smaller car having the greater full load weight.I suspect the "size" refers to the bounding box. It may not be an accurate indicator of capacity, because there could be stuff (like a valve on top of the tank) that contributes to height, but not to capacity. I looked at these units in the Consist Editor, and it looks to me like the tank on the shorter car has a much larger circumference. Adding length would only add capacity linearly, but making it fatter would square the increase.
