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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive

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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 15:23 #133395
bugsy
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I’ve read that aging class 90 locomotives were notoriously unreliable.

It just so happens that whilst playing a Carlisle sim I’ve had a Class 90 freight train with 15 wagons, 587m long, struggling in the up direction from Lockerby towards Carnforth and it’s causing me a few problems. At virtually every opportunity I’m having to route it into loops (providing they are long enough) to allow other trains to pass.

In reality, would this locomotive be taken out of service and be replaced with a locomotive that is parked up, for example at Carlisle, where they must have something available surely?

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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 15:26 #133396
headshot119
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Speaking in present day terms, very likely the train would be put inside at Kingmoor Yard for replacement motive power.
"Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 15:32 #133398
bugsy
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headshot119 in post 133396 said:
Speaking in present day terms, very likely the train would be put inside at Kingmoor Yard for replacement motive power.
I thought as much.

Is that something that SimSig could simulate or would it be too difficult?

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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 15:55 #133401
58050
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Motive power of any type on the railway doesn't last forever. Cl.90 locos are 30 years old now & Freightliner will be if not already running them in pairs replacing the even older Cl.86/6 locos. As with age the relaibility becomes an issue. Pretty much all traction on the railways don't get the proper maintainance that they should get Operators always tend to go for the cheaper parts which obviously don't last as long & it becomes a case of false economy. Locomotive spare parts are exetremly expensive & any form of traction is on the go pretty much 24/7 which takes its toll. I remember when the Cl.90 locos were brand new & were used on long distance liners between Ipswich & Tilbury through to Trafford Park, Garston & Coatbridge daily, so they haven't done bad for being 30 years old now. Even the Cl.66 loco when they arrived here in 1997 are not brand new anymore & for 23 years they've been pretty much thrashed on a daily basis as freight trains get longer & heavier than in previous decades. It would certainly be a big step forward if the core codes is able to simulate loco failures in traffic & then a rescue loco of sufficient power can be dispatched from the nearest loco depot. I wouldn't be too critical of loco performances bearing in mind the work they do.
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 16:00 #133405
jc92
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The sim doesn't know its a class 90, only that its electric traction and presumably a heavy load with low acceleration.

I'm curious what the wagons are though for 15 of them to be 587m long. Spine wagons? In fairness to the loco that's a pretty hefty load to take over shap.

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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 16:15 #133406
bugsy
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jc92 in post 133405 said:
The sim doesn't know its a class 90, only that its electric traction and presumably a heavy load with low acceleration.

I'm curious what the wagons are though for 15 of them to be 587m long. Spine wagons? In fairness to the loco that's a pretty hefty load to take over shap.
It is a pair of Class 90s. This is a screenshot of the timetable.
...


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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 16:56 #133408
jc92
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Right...but thats just a handwritten train description. The sim doesn't know its a class 90 and make it underperform as a result.
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 29/10/2020 at 17:22 #133410
58050
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Maybe you ought to amend the train type for this train so it performs more like the real thing. If you look at the Carlisle 79-80 TT Postal(John) amended the train types so the trains would keep time over the Carlisle sim especially between Lockerbie & Carnforth due to the severe gradients on the sim. In some instances freightliner trains were given the same acceleration rate as medium(Inter City) or High(Commuter). If you amended the train type weight to light like John did the trains tended to keep to time over the Lune Gorge section of the sim if the gradient was against the train. That might help your problem with that train.
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 30/10/2020 at 11:33 #133429
bugsy
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Thanks for that tip. Probably too late to do on this occasion but I might give it a go next time.
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 30/10/2020 at 14:10 #133430
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When the Carlisle 79-80 TT was first written I'd put the train types in as Very low or low for freight trains subject to whether they were loaded or not. But when we played it some trains were losing time hand over fist between Penrith & Oxenholme & that was before we had the weight option included. Postal(John) exetensively tested the timetable over a number of years tweaking bits here & there to make it what it is today. If you look in the train types some of the freight trains have a passenger acceleration rate & the weight categories changed from heavy to light so they could maintain the time taken from the WTT over the severly graded section between Penrith & Oxenholme. I suspect if you changed thesame for the train type you applied to the pair of Cl.90 locos it would probably move along as you expected it to. Good luck with it anyway.
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 30/10/2020 at 15:37 #133432
bugsy
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Is it correct to say that you have to make the change at the start of a sim or can you make the change at any time during play?
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 30/10/2020 at 15:48 #133433
Steamer
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You can make the change at any time, but you can't change the properties of a train already in the simulation.

Be sure to save the TT with the changes applied so they're there next time you start a new game with the TT.

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Last edited: 30/10/2020 at 15:48 by Steamer
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A troublesome Class 90 locomotive 30/10/2020 at 17:06 #133436
bugsy
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That's done the trick. Was able to release 4M27 from the Eden Valley loop before anticipated and it's travelling much faster than before. Fell a bit guilty though.

Thanks

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Last edited: 30/10/2020 at 17:09 by bugsy
Reason: added comment

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