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Rack railway

Started by Miziiik, November 25, 2013, 09:56:07 AM

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Miziiik

I like to have something like a rack railway in Simutrans. It should be good in halfheight paks.

About: You will have special railways for full slope in halfheight pak. You will have special locomotives for this railway. With normal locomotives you can't go to full slope, but with special locomotives you can go to normal railways and to rack railways (with full slope) too.

Informations (rack railway): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_railway
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Fabio

So rack locos can go also on normal tracks? I might add it rack full slopes for full slopes for narrow gauge in pak128

Miziiik

Yea rack locos can go to normal railways (czech republic Between Tanvald and Korenov for example). Normal tracks will be better than Ng.. But it must be programmed that normal locos cant go to full slope
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Fabio

In exp this could be possible with way constraint. In pak128 I'll go for ng because I want normal tracks to be more for heavy rail.

Ters

I wonder if this can by done as a system type. One would have to introduce system type flags to vehicles as well, though, but I can't really see any other way of doing this so that it integrates with normal rail. System type would also have the advantage that you can have both standard gauge with rack and narrow gauge with rack. Racked tram tracks wouldn't work, though.

Miziiik

Fabio: But a lot of modern countries aren't using NG now (Mostly as an atraction). It isn't so nice to use NG for 21st century. It's true that you can use normal railways but if you have city on "hill" you can use rack railway and it look better than "old" NG.
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Fabio

But are rack tracks built in modern times either?
Well, tracks can climb steep hills with engineering works and some ng might be made look more modern.
Anyways recently few railways are built to climb hills.
I also plan suspended railway to climb also steep slopes and be extended to some cargo (something alike cableways).

Ters

If you have a city on a hill, the most modern looking solution is to put the station inside the hill, below the city, but perhaps a bit up from the surrounding landscape. Rack railways would be for earlier parts of the timeline.

AP

Don't forget there are also funiculars and incline plane railways - anything cable driven. Lots of precedents for using them for freight as well as passengers in hilly towns/ cities.

Early cross country railways had cable worked sections when they reached hills the locomotives couldn't climb too.

VS

Quote from: Miziiik on November 25, 2013, 04:12:46 PM
But a lot of modern countries aren't using NG now
Well, we do have timeline, so 2013 != 1913 ;)

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Vladki

Quote from: Fabio on November 25, 2013, 01:23:01 PM
In exp this could be possible with way constraint. In pak128 I'll go for ng because I want normal tracks to be more for heavy rail.

I'm not sure about the constraints... We could make it a prohibitive constraint so that only rack-locos can go on rack-railway. But what about the waggons? They are usually just normal ones.

isidoro

I don't know if the name Narrow Gauge is hardcoded in the game or not.  The truth is that the game has an open slot for a "special" sort of railway.  Normal railway can be used to simulate fast, small grade trains.

NG can be used to simulate all other special railway system.  In fact, in this NG we could have one kind of normal rails only suitable for low grades with higher max speeds and other kind of rails only suitable for high grades with lower max speeds and possibly a higher building and maintain costs, just between those of normal railway and tunnels.

That way,  when climbing a steep mountain, one should use those slower systems in that segment of the line or dig a tunnel.


Ters

Quote from: isidoro on November 27, 2013, 12:26:17 AM
I don't know if the name Narrow Gauge is hardcoded in the game or not.

Both yes and no. The game uses the term narrowgauge, but translations can show whatever term they want to the player. Narrow gauge and normal railroad will form two separate networks though, with their own vehicles, depots and platforms. This is unlike trams, which mix with normal railroads.

prissi

Well there are recent rack railsways, athough most of them narrow gauge and light railways,
Panoramique des Dômes Puy-de-Dôme (2012)
Queenstown–Strahan (2003)
Catanzaro Città–Catanzaro Lido (1998)
Raiz da Serra – Paranapiacaba (1974)
Lyon Metro C (1974)
Štrba – Štrbské Pleso (1969)

Fabio

Quote from: prissi on November 27, 2013, 01:52:59 PM
Well there are recent rack railsways, athough most of them narrow gauge and light railways...

Thank you Prissi. It confirms my idea to some make ng slopes as rack tracks and have newer ng tracks as well.

Vladki

Just one note about standard gauge rack railways. There are two examples - Tanvald (CZ) and Tisovec (SK), where the rack is not needed anymore, because the braking technology has improved significantly. Nowadays the rack is used only by historical engines. These two railways are not very steep (5,6 %) comparing to roads. I checked the list od swiss mountain railwas and they use racks on slopes from 9 to 25 %, mostly on narrow gauge (only one standard gauge - 9 % slope). And a special example of pilatus-bahn 48%, which has special racks. I think that for the game it should be fine to keep standard gauge on half slopes, and allow steep slopes only for narrow-gauge, and ignore the racks... Or as isidoro noted, just make the high slope NG railway more expensive.