Woodhead EM1 FAQs

[jp4712]

This little post has been produced on behalf of the UKTS team, after a couple of hours’ play, to try to help those users who say ‘my EM1 doesn’t work properly’. As far as we’ve seen up to now, it works fine – but like the class 86, there’s definitely a technique to getting the most from the EM1.

Our advice is firstly, to READ THE MANUAL which describes the techniques to drive this loco very well. But just to provide a little help, we’ve put a few hints below that should help if you’re having a little trouble.

This post, and all the advice in it, is NOT 'official' help – if you have any customer service issues, as ever we ask you to e-mail support@railsimulator.com. We’ve had a blast playing with the EM1 today, we hope you find the hints below useful.

1. It won’t go at more than 40 mph at most, even with no load, it’s rubbish!
You need to know that the EM1, like many electric locos in the pre-electronic era, used SERIES and PARALLEL modes.

To start off, the loco defaults to SERIES mode. This is the best option for low-speed control. Set off in SERIES and accelerate to a speed somewhere between 30 and 35 mph. Then you need to take off power completely, and wait for the Field Ammeter dial (second from the right) to drop to zero. When it’s at zero, move the Traction Mode Lever (under the power lever) FORWARDS to PARALLEL (you can also do this on the keyboard by pressing B, or on the F4 display by pressing the bell icon). The loco will now accelerate to its top speed.



Think of it being a bit like second gear! And also, don’t forget to put the lever back into SERIES when you stop – the loco won’t start in PARALLEL mode.

2. It keeps slipping when I set off, do I need the sanders?
Not necessarily. You can use the sander of course, but the real EM1 was known for being a little light on its feet – something to do with the bogie articulation. So instead, you can use the ‘weight transfer switch’ just under the left hand edge of the windscreen:



What this did was to take a little power off the leading wheels, so that it was less likely to slip (and by the way, in real life also the front end of the bogie was liable to slam up against the underside of the cab – not good for the driver’s nerves). So operating the weight transfer switch at low speeds does reduce your tractive effort a little bit, but makes the loco less liable to slip.

3. I don’t understand the regenerative braking thingy, how does it work? Is it the same as dynamic braking?
It’s a little bit like dynamic braking, but really it isn’t the same. But the basic principle is that you’re turning the traction motors into dynamos on downhill stretches. Dynamos have resistance, of course, so the effect is to slow the train down.

This system was used because it stopped the brake shoes wearing out (and also probably prevented ‘brake fade’ that could happen as brakes got hot if used continuously); and it returned current to the overhead wiring, helping trains drawing power going up the hill and saving on the electric bills! As a TS2012 user you don’t get the benefit of the energy saving, of course, but using regen braking is an interesting part of the simulation.

To brake your train with the regen brake:

1. Make sure the power handle is at zero.
2. Pull the big regenerative brake lever - that's the one that looks like the power controller, but is on the far right - towards you gradually (you can move it with the mouse, or use < or > on the keyboard). As you do so, keep an eye on the second dial from the left, the Motor Voltmeter. You need to pull back the lever until the reading on this dial matches the reading on the far left dial, the Line Voltmeter, at 1500V.



4. Okay, now do something a bit counter-intuitive: pull the power controller (i.e. the throttle) ALL THE WAY to the ‘full power’ position. You should now see the far right dial, the Armature Ammeter, move from zero to below zero – that’s showing that you are now generating power by using the motors as a dynamo. You should now have a primitive ‘cruise control’ and the speed should stay constant. To increase or decrease the retarding effect, LEAVE THE POWER LEVER ALONE – move the regen controller lever.

5. As you slow down to about 15 mph, regen braking doesn’t work any more and you have to use the ‘normal’ brake lever. To switch off the regen:

a. First, move the power controller back to zero power.
b. THEN move the regen lever back up to zero.

Okay, that wasn’t too bad, was it? But one more time – PLEASE READ THE MANUAL. It’s all explained in pages 22 to 25. Happy simming!

[paulz6]

Thank you for writing this. It looks like the b, <, and > control keys are missing from page 26 of the manual. I think to get the best out of this loco I'm going to have to get used to using the in cab controls, and panning around to look at the gauges. Probably not a bad thing and better for immersion. I am pleased to see that RSC have simulated this so well.

[Griphos]

Yes, thanks for these tips, although the manual does a great job of explaining these operations.

But mostly I'd like to thank you for building a great cab with many fully functional controls for an interesting engine. I like my RailDriver, but I do get a little tired of driving every loco as if it were exactly the same! I'm drawn to the 101/111, shunters, Class86 and now this lovely Class76 (as well as the amazing third party TEM2) precisely because I have to "get in the cab" and grab the controls just like a driver of these trains and operate them more realistically. Add variety and interest and increases immersion for me. Keep it up!

[BenBlairL]

I've put together a short video explaining the operations, for those of you that still don't know how to drive.

This video is hosted by YouTube, a site which is outside of the editorial control of UKTrainSim and as such Parental Control is strongly advised. To view the video, click on the PLAY button. If you click anywhere else on this video, you will be taken to a YouTube page, where you may find yourself subjected to content that you feel is offensive. If you feel THIS video is inappropriate, please report it to a moderator immediately for prompt action.

[iceman2117]

hi, ...

Thank you for your help and great Video Demonstration.
Especially for me as non Englishman is a big help for drive the Black Beauty correct.
Also, the regenerative Brake would certainly be a great help as a Video.

g'ice

[paulz6]

Nice video Ben. The weight transfer only works in series mode. It should be used when setting off. I'm still finding regenerative braking a bit temperamental though.

[BenBlairL]

Thank you guys, here's the video for Regenerative Braking;

This video is hosted by YouTube, a site which is outside of the editorial control of UKTrainSim and as such Parental Control is strongly advised. To view the video, click on the PLAY button. If you click anywhere else on this video, you will be taken to a YouTube page, where you may find yourself subjected to content that you feel is offensive. If you feel THIS video is inappropriate, please report it to a moderator immediately for prompt action.

[quickthorn]

Thanks for this. Just one question, which doesn't seem to be covered in the manual: what's the significance of the markings on the last 5 notches of the power controller quadrant?

I notice that, when the controller is in any of the weak field notches, the red resistor light comes on (the manual says this indicates a heavy resistance load, which is bad).

I always thought weak field was a sort of low torque high speed setting, to be selected towards the upper end of the speed range, but not sure if it applies here.

[msdejesus]

Just noticed this thread, really useful, nicely done, folks.

Thanks a lot.


Manuel

[AndyUK]

...I notice that, when the controller is in any of the weak field notches, the red resistor light comes on (the manual says this indicates a heavy resistance load, which is bad).

It's a fault with the set up. The light shouldn't come on as there are no resistances in the circuit when the controller is in the Full Field or any Weak Field position.

I always thought weak field was a sort of low torque high speed setting, to be selected towards the upper end of the speed range, but not sure if it applies here.

The motors will always be working like generators even when not in the regenerative braking mode and will create a voltage opposing that being applied to make them turn, known as back EMF. If the motor voltmeter worked all the time, as I believe it should, you'd see that effect happening, as speed increased with a constant controller position the motor voltage would fall. This causes a lowering of torque and hence tractive effort. The weak field notches are there as a countermeasure. By weakening the motor fields the back EMF is decreased thus increasing the torque and tractive effort again. This is shown by the graph on page 7 of the document here: http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docume ... os1954.pdf
If the ammeters were simulated correctly you'd see the field current drop as each weak field notch was taken but as it's set up at the moment the field ammeter appears to act as the armature ammeter when motoring. Both ammeters should work all the time, not one when motoring and the other when regenerating.

Andy L

[quickthorn]

Thanks for that, Andy. I think I've got the gist of that. That's a good link, btw, I'll read that later.

[Kariban]

In a nutshell, as a motor spins faster it starts generating, which negates the power you feed into it; this is why the ammeter in the 86 goes down if you don't keep notching it up. There's two things you can do about that - feed more volts, which is what a diesel-electric's load regulator does, or weaken the electromagnetic field inside the motor - which is what a field divert does. It's complicated a bit because traction motors automatically reduce field strength a bit as they speed up.

I think really the 76 should be letting you control armature current whether it's in power or regen braking, and let you power up to your cruise speed and then set the regen braking to stop you taking any more current - so the ammeter would be zero if you're right on the speed - so it would automatically stay right on that speed as long as either the train didn't overwhem the regen braking or cause too much drag; this is based on looking at all the controls and puzzling, and also on anecdotal tales of driving the things. That's pretty damn complicated stuff - try explaining it to someone who doesn't know much about trains or physics - so I'm not surprised by it being the way it is. I would be surprised if the power controller really controlled field strength ( being able to do that independently of traction power is called SEPEX, and it wasn't really common until recently for motors ) but hey, I like being surprised, and well, it's a sensible idea. It doesn't quite fit with having weak-field at the end of the power control though.

[ChrisSargeant]

When setting up the Regenerative Brake, I noticed that you could only then move the Power Handle to the Full Field Position, and not into the Weak-Field notches, which seems prototypically correct since, my understanding of Weak-Field notches is that they are a sort of 'overdrive' for max power/cruise power settings only?

I agree that the red light should go out if the amps are not high - maybe this can be addressed....like the rundown control on the Class 86

[AndyUK]

When setting up the Regenerative Brake, I noticed that you could only then move the Power Handle to the Full Field Position, and not into the Weak-Field notches, which seems prototypically correct since......

Not sure if there was an interlock between the power and regen controls on the prototype to prevent the power controller being moved past Full Field, but the driving instructions I've seen are clear that it is the Full Field position that must be used when regenerating. I think the words used are something like ".. Then move the accelerating lever quickly to notch 15".

I agree that the red light should go out if the amps are not high - maybe this can be addressed....like the rundown control on the Class 86

There may have been some way of turning the red light on and off according to the current being drawn but as it was there to warn the driver against using notches where there were resistances in circuit that would be damaged by overheating it may have just been the case that it was on when in notches below Full Field but off in Full Field and all Weak Field notches.

I've just noticed the comment above about weight transfer only being available in Series mode. That's certainly the way the model is set up but again the prototype differed. Weight transfer could be used in both Series and Parallel, the drivers were instructed to turn it off when in Weak Field notches and when the armature current fell below a certain value, around 600A I think from memory.

Andy L

P.S. Just in case anyone's wondering, I have made RSC aware of what I believe to be the innacuracies I've mentioned in this thread.

[DavidVI]

When should one use the different braking methods? I've done about 3 activities without ever using the regen brakes.