Buckeye_Type_E strength edit?

[ttjph]

Hi all,

This may be more of an RWA question (but I don't have an account there, so asking here first).

Like many people, I've had recurring issues with couplers separating on US routes such as Sherman Hill and Norfolk & Southern Coal District.

From what I can tell, these events always seem to involve the buckeye_type_e_coupling. Its .bin is fairly short, and includes a Strength entry, as well as a MaxForce (although the latter appears immediately after the SpringCoefficient and Damping entries).

Code: Select all

<cBlueprintLoader xmlns:d="http://www.kuju.com/TnT/2003/Delta" d:version="1.0">
	<Blueprint>
		<cCouplingTypeBlueprint>
			<UncoupledGeometry d:type="cDeltaString">RSC\ShermanHill\RailVehicles\Couplings\Buckeye\Type-E\[00]buckeye_type-e_uncoupled</UncoupledGeometry>
			<Bogey d:type="cDeltaString"></Bogey>
			<Strength d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000088C340" d:precision="string">10000</Strength>
			<CouplingConnection>
				<cCouplingConnectionBlueprint d:id="87745">
					<Type d:type="cDeltaString">buckeye</Type>
					<CoupledGeometry d:type="cDeltaString">RSC\ShermanHill\RailVehicles\Couplings\Buckeye\Type-E\[00]buckeye_type-e_coupled</CoupledGeometry>
					<ReceivingGeometry d:type="cDeltaString"></ReceivingGeometry>
					<PivotType d:type="cDeltaString">eMidPoint</PivotType>
					<MinDistance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</MinDistance>
					<MaxDistance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</MaxDistance>
					<TargetDistance d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="0000000000000000" d:precision="string">0</TargetDistance>
					<SpringCoefficient d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="00000000004CCD40" d:precision="string">15000</SpringCoefficient>
					<Damping d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="000000000070C740" d:precision="string">12000</Damping>
					<MaxForce d:type="sFloat32" d:alt_encoding="00000000260F4641" d:precision="string">2.89134e+006</MaxForce>
					<ManualCoupling d:type="bool">0</ManualCoupling>
				</cCouplingConnectionBlueprint>
			</CouplingConnection>
		</cCouplingTypeBlueprint>
	</Blueprint>
</cBlueprintLoader>

In an attempt to prevent the broken couplings (which aren't a result of poor train handling; they usually seem to happen when I've been running under constant power for some time, and posts in other forums report similarly) I've extracted the file from Sherman Hill and edited the Strength line to add another zero, from 1000 to 10000. A repeat run this evening, however, broke a coupling again (after 55 minutes!).

Does anyone know whether Strength is the line to edit; and if so, how high it needs to be? I presume this is a numerical issue in the physics calculations causing occasional spikes in force and exceeding the maximum load - but how high can these spikes get?

Thanks!

[ttjph]

Some related discussions:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/di ... 013329056/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/di ... 479358061/

I'll reply to one of those to see if I can get any further insight.

[skiddaw]

This post on RWA refers to a fix which should help
http://railworksamerica.com/forum/viewt ... ng#p240684

[ttjph]

Thanks, having signed up for RWA though that looks like a fix for 'spongy' couplers which was an old complaint, fixed in the Kuju assets.

That gives me an idea though... The Kuju coupler, and the one linked in the RWA 'fix', both have lower strength (just 150) so that's presumably not it.

Digging into files has also reminded me that there should be slack in these couplers... maybe I'll just have to keep playing with the numbers and see what happens.