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Now that the JetTrain trainset is finally available, I was able to get my hands on it and thought it was another fine work. A little later, I thought I'd do some speed tests between that and its brother, the Acela Express. I've timed and tested both of them (each train has 2 power cars and 6 passenger cars) by how fast they would go by every 10 mph on a private route with flat terrain. Therefore, which one of these American high-speed trains is the fastest: Alex's Acela Express (with Joseph Realmuto's modified physics) or NALW's JetTrain? Let's check 'em out!---------- (time example: minutes:seconds.milliseconds)0-10 mph AE: 0:05.3 JT: 0:05.30-20 mph AE: 0:10.9 JT: 0:11.00-30 mph AE: 0:16.5 JT: 0:16.70-40 mph AE: 0:22.7 JT: 0:22.80-50 mph AE: 0:28.5 JT: 0:29.70-60 mph AE: 0:37.4 JT: 0:38.50-70 mph AE: 0:48.2 JT: 0:48.30-80 mph AE: 1:02.1 JT: 1:01.20-90 mph AE: 1:18.3 JT: 1:16.50-100 mph AE: 1:37.6 JT: 1:34.20-110 mph AE: 2:00.0 JT: 1:54.50-120 mph AE: 2:27.6 JT: 2:18.20-130 mph AE: 3:01.1 JT: 2:46.00-140 mph AE: 3:42.8 JT: 3:22.40-150 mph AE: 4:37.5 JT: 7:16.0 ----------From the times I've posted above, it seems that both the Acela Express and the JetTrain simultaneously reach 10 mph at 5.3 seconds. After that, AE begins to accelerate more than JT from about 10 mph to around 75 mph. After both of them reached 80 mph, JT catches up with AE and passes it at a much accelerating pace, leaving AE in the dust! As both of them reach 150 mph, AE is the first one to reach that speed at a time of 4:37.5, while JT's speed hangs when reaching around 140 mph and takes 2 minutes and 39.5 seconds later to reach 150 mph. I wonder what happened here? For the fact that AE's top speed is 165 mph while JT tops out at 151 mph, AE is actually the one to leave JT in the dust.In the end, the Acela Express is the fastest thing in MSTS America! As for the JetTrain, it's not such a bad alternative as it is the fastest non-electric locomotive around with a quick acceleration after reaching 80 mph. Will it have a future in running high-speed services, I'll just have to see it when its time comes for JetTrains to begins their runs across the U.S. and Canada...
---------------------------------------------------------------------- "If there's any NEC 4.0 Multiplayer Session, you'd better count me in! "
RE: Which train is faster: Acela Express or JetTrain...
LAST EDITED ON Jun-23-03 AT 06:46 PM (EDT)
Part of the explanation is that both have similar weights, with the Jet Train being slightly heavier, and similar Adheason factors since they are both AC traction with a 3rd generation wheelslip control system... This gives them similar MTE and CTE with the MTE of the Jet Train being higher due to higher locomotive weight... However the Acela Express has approx. 12500 horsepower per trainset and the Jet train only has 8000 horsepower per trainset pulling the same load which causes the high speed performance delta.... Also the Governor on the JT is set to 151 and if you have the AE set right it is at 165..... So what you are seeing is the governor logic in the MSTS Physics engine strangling the JT as it hits its MAS....Chuck Schneider (Virtual) CEO North American (Virtual) Locomotive Works
RE: Which train is faster: Acela Express or JetTrain...
>with the Jet Train being slightly heavierThe JetTrain power cars and passenger cars are actually lighter than the Acela Express power cars and passenger cars. For example, from what I saw on the Bombardier site, the JetTrain power car is about 200,000 lbs.; from this section of the TGVweb site, the AE power car is 204,000 lbs.>Also the Governor on the JT is set to 151 and if you have >the AE set right it is at 165..... So what you are seeing is >the governor logic in the MSTS Physics engine strangling the >JT as it hits its MAS.... I understand what you're saying there. No wonder why the JetTrain took a little longer to reach 150 mph.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- "If there's any NEC 4.0 Multiplayer Session, you'd better count me in! "
RE: Which train is faster: Acela Express or JetTrain...
>>with the Jet Train being slightly heavier > >The JetTrain power cars and passenger cars are actually >lighter than the Acela Express power cars and passenger >cars. For example, from what I saw on the Bombardier site, >the JetTrain power car is about 200,000 lbs.; from That's with out fuel.... 1200 gallons or so will fix that....Chuck Schneider (Virtual) CEO North American (Virtual) Locomotive Works
RE: Which train is faster: Acela Express or JetTrain...
I think in real world tests they are both pretty close getting to 150 mph. It appears the physics in the NALW JetTrain is adjusted to allow a 151 mph balancing speed. The MaxVelocity was set for 135 mph in the lead loco and 150 mph in the trailing one. In MSTS the power decreases linearly from maximum to zero as the train accelerates from MaxVelocity to MaxVelocity + 5m/sec. So for the JetTrain the lead loco is essentially out of the picture after 146 mph. The trailing loco has just enough power to get the train gradually up to 151 mph.I've used this trick of different MaxVelocity values on trains with more than one loco, especially MUs. Sometimes when you set all the powered units to the same MaxVelocity value the train just accelerates faster than the real thing past a certain point. A good example would be the Arrow MUs. Although nobody has released a model of one yet I've been playing around trying to get the series 2000 to have similar acceleration characteristics. When adjusted for the weight(~61 metric tons), power(~1000 HP), and MaxVelocity(100 mph) of the Arrows the train more or less matches my recorded acceleration of the real Arrows up to around 75 mph but after that it just accelerates too fast. But setting the MaxVelocity of some of the MUs to be less I can adjust the acceleration curve to match perfectly. IIRC, the real Arrows do 0-30 in about 12 seconds, 0-60 in around 38 seconds, and 0-80 takes about a minute. From 80 mph onwards it's a slow creep. 90 mph takes about another half a minute and 100 usually isn't seen until about 2:30 to 3:00 from a dead start. Some units seem to have more power than others, and I did actually see 116 mph on the speedo once between Princeton Junction and New Brunswick(a nice 16 mile run). It took over 5 minutes to get up there though.
RE: Which train is faster: Acela Express or JetTrain...
>I think in real world tests they are both pretty close >getting to 150 mph. It appears the physics in the NALW >JetTrain is adjusted to allow a 151 mph balancing speed. >The MaxVelocity was set for 135 mph in the lead loco and 150 >mph in the trailing one. In MSTS the power decreases >linearly from maximum to zero as the train accelerates from >MaxVelocity to MaxVelocity + 5m/sec. So for the JetTrain >the lead loco is essentially out of the picture after 146 >mph. The trailing loco has just enough power to get the >train gradually up to 151 mph. >I wondered if anyone was going to catch me on that! LOL!Chuck Schneider (Virtual) CEO North American (Virtual) Locomotive Works
Now that the JetTrain trainset is finally available, I was able to get my hands on it and thought it was another fine work. A little later, I thought I'd do some speed tests between that and its brother, the Acela Express. I've timed and tested both of them (each train has 2 power cars and 6 passenger cars) by how fast they would go by every 10 mph on a private route with flat terrain. Therefore, which one of these American high-speed trains is the fastest: Alex's Acela Express (with Joseph Realmuto's modified physics) or NALW's JetTrain? Let's check 'em out!----------