Atomic Systems

I've just upgraded from MSTSbin 1.6092223 to the latest 1.7010302 patch.

Most steam locos I've tried now suffer fatal blowback within seconds of launch, whatever the route or track location. Other locos do not. On investigation it seems that any steam loco which starts the game with the firedoors 100% open suffers this problem, as evident in a Blowback value of 1 on the monitor. Any ideas please?

If anyone wants to replicate this, BATS Abney Hall and MN 35005 have this problem, whilst the 3DTS 4MT does not.

Changing the final digit in the 35005 eng file firedoor entry from 1 to 0 closes the firedoor and stops the blow back on starting the activity. There is still a blow back problem however if the passenger view is selected while running with open firedoors .

Hi Longbow, Just had a go With MN 35005 With fire door open, Sander on, Reverser set at 35%, regulator at 68% and it went like a dream no blow back Sorry

Regards

Ron P

I get the same problem - all BATS steam does the same thing (and I have most of them, including Severn Valley, Peppercorns, Southern Region etc). I've just spent the last hour updating the FireDoor entry as suggested, and this does cure it straight away. This only started happening when I updated to the latest patch late last week.
It is an odd problem though - though I haven't tried it with the generic Flying Scotsman etc (though the chances of using that particular stock are low to say the least...).
Is it something that should be brought to the attention of the MSTSbin author?

He's a bit of a star by all accounts, isn't he?

Hi All, I am running the latest Bin Patch and since my last post I have just run 6 BATS locos including A4 60010 and BoB 34067 as before with the firedoors open without any trouble It seems funny that no one else as reported the same problem On two Engines I opened the fire door before starting ,still no blowback

Regards

RonP

I can confirm that altering the firebox door opening value to 0 (closed) cures the blowback on start up, but as this seems to be a glitch with the latest MSTSbin patch hopefully those involved will see this thread and look into it.

subsequent to my previous post i realised that not only did the passenger view cause a blow back but so did using loco cab view with firebox doors open at any time while driving. This is not just a problem when activity first loads. Managed to over look this as i use internal cab view relatively little once on the move . Interesting that not everyone has this problem. Presumably MSTS is now treating internal views as if they're tunnels.i've now reverted to the previous patch.

I have exactly the same probs with BATS SVR engines with the latest Bin patch. Actually I've just reinstalled MSTS complete & added all my stuff back on. Was wondering what was causing this fatal blowback but it now seems clear.
Thanks

Just gone back to the 1.6xxxx version & everything is fine again.

I noticed this problem last night on B-D2, Stafford to Derby Friargate activity. If I was quick I could shut the firebox within the three second timespan, but on this and the Britannia to Nottingham activity, I got a blowback on open track with fairly normal regulator and reverser settings in a #1 cab view. It would seem to be a hiccup in George's coding somehow. I shouldn't have to edit every .eng file to cure it, so until this is fixed, I think I'll revert to the last v1.6 patch myself.

BarryH - thenudehamster

Must agree that altering eng files is not a satisfactory solution. Reverting to 1.6xxxx still leaves the mysterious loss of boiler pressure on opening cylinder cocks when priming - have others experienced this?

Overfill the boiler before hitting a fierce upgrade with full regulator and generous cut-off and allow to prime - then open the cylinder cocks. The result is an instantaneous drop of boiler pressure to 40psi and a very long wait before restarting.

This problem does not occur with cylinder cocks open on starting in the absence of priming. A previous thread mentioned a similar problem and suggested slipping was the cause but this is definitely not the case here.

Anyone got a solution or is it another software gremlin specific to steam locos?

I can confirm experiencing that problem too as described; it is definitely not associated with slipping and it has appeared since MSTSbin installation.

longbow wrote:I can confirm that altering the firebox door opening value to 0 (closed) cures the blowback on start up,

David which figure do you have to alter? I`ve changed the final figure (in fireboxdoor opening) from 1 to 0 and still get blowback.
Thanks Rick

Rick, the relevant entry is in the Engine Controllers section of the loco eng file. In the line beginning FireDoor, the last number sets the starting value for firedoor opening. Change this to 0 (closed).