My good friend and collaborator, Preston Nirattisai (who did most of the drawings in my two books on the Disneyland Railroad), has been working over the past three years to develop a computer simulation of the operation of two of the Disney steam locomotives (demo below if you don't want to read all this).
This isn't you're everyday steam simulator. It's designed to be as accurate as possible--every valve, lever and gauge works as it's intended. As Preston told me, he doesn't want this to be a "fun" game--he wants it to seem like "work," where you will have to think about what your are doing and why.
I have been playing with a couple versions of it over the past few days. It is mind-boggling to me how accurate to firing and operating a real steam locomotive this is. You basically have to do *everything* the way you would on a real oil-burning engine. You have to hook up an air compressor if the engine is cold, in order for the blower and atomizer to work. All appropriate valves must be opened, and condensed steam drained if required. The fire door has to be opened in order to throw in a lit piece of waste, which will go out in about 10 seconds unless you apply atomizer and oil. As the boiler heats, the water in the sight glass goes up. Why? Because water expands when heated!
I initially fired the engine up from a cold start. Took about two hours to get to operating pressure--that's real time, and extremely accurate (for this size engine). If you don't want to do this every time, you can start the sim with the engine fully under steam: However, you will still need to open all the necessary valves, and get a fire going in the firebox.
There's even a padlock on the throttle that needs to be removed! When I initially moved the Johnson Bar into the forward corner, it took quite a lot of "effort." It wasn't until I told Preston about this that he let me know that when cold, all the grease is cold too, and that would be reflected in things being a little harder to move initially, but everything would eventually warm up. Of course--Brilliant!
The sim starts out with a random amount of condensate in the cylinders, which has to be drained through the cylinder cocks when starting. If not, bad things can happen. As the engine heats up, the steam won't condense in the cylinders, so it won't be necessary to open the cylinder cocks every time you stop.
For me, the experience of firing this engine and running it is exactly as I would expect from the real thing--I felt quite at home, knowing that when I made an adjustment, say, to the fire, I'd see that adjustment reflected on the steam pressure gauge. When I added water with the injector, the pressure invariably goes down in proportion--you're adding cold water to the boiler and cooling it off, so the pressure goes down.
The graphics are incredible, from the texture of the plaster gauze-wrapped steam pipes to the cab wood grain to the slightly dirty window glass.
The scenery is also spectacular, although with my ancient computer I had to turn off most of the lush greenery so the program would run smoother. But that's a menu option. And speaking of menu options, there are a ton of different options available, from time of day, to day of year, to how many cars you can pull, to your choice between the Holliday and the Ripley. If you run at night, there's even a "flashlight" option!
Every function of the cab is replicated. Too hot? slide open the cab window! Ready to move? Grab the whistle lever and pull it. You won't just get an "on/off" whistle--you'll can "quill" it like the real thing!
Sounds are very important in running a steam engine, and I found Preston's use of them to be perfect. The chuff of the engine sounds just like the ones from the Disney trains. The throttle and Johnson Bar latches sound good, and I know I've left the injector on because of the noise it makes. The engine will also pop the safety valves if the pressure gets too high! My dad's computer has a better sound system, and with the sound up, you'll be immersed in this steam locomotive.
While poking around the Internet, I came across the Trainz Big Boy on YouTube. Now, not being much into the sim gaming world, I'm not sure if Trainz is the best out there or what, but what I saw was sad. The "control panel" of the Big Boy consisted literally of a light-rail style control panel, with a little knob/joystick for a throttle and brake, and a green circle that said "285 psi." If the circle changed color, that meant your pressure went down. Very realistic...
Seems the only object of the Big Boy sim was just to make the engine go and stop. There was no actual steam locomotive knowledge needed to operate it. If that's what exists out there as far as steam locomotive sims go, then Preston's is simply the best one there is.
On Preston's sim, even the fuel and water in the tender will be depleted over time. On the first night, I left the sim running when I went to have dinner. When I came back, the inevitable had happened--catastrophic failure! I had let the crown sheet get exposed, and I "blew" the engine up!
Almost every contingency you might find on a real steam locomotive is programmed in. The engine can stop on "dead center," meaning that opening the throttle won't do anything. You have to throw the Johnson Bar in reverse to get the valves off dead center, and then you can proceed again in forward. On random occasions, the injector will get clogged with sediment. If you use the injector a lot, it will get hot, and be unable to function properly, until it cools off over time.
I will report back when I can to keep people posted. But I can say that this is as close as you can come to actually operating the real thing. The thought has crossed my mind that Disney themselves might be able to use this as a training tool. If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to fire and run a real Disney-style steam engine, this will be as close as you will be able to get unless you get a job on the Disneyland Railroad.
I have been playing with a couple versions of it over the past few days. It is mind-boggling to me how accurate to firing and operating a real steam locomotive this is. You basically have to do *everything* the way you would on a real oil-burning engine. You have to hook up an air compressor if the engine is cold, in order for the blower and atomizer to work. All appropriate valves must be opened, and condensed steam drained if required. The fire door has to be opened in order to throw in a lit piece of waste, which will go out in about 10 seconds unless you apply atomizer and oil. As the boiler heats, the water in the sight glass goes up. Why? Because water expands when heated!
I initially fired the engine up from a cold start. Took about two hours to get to operating pressure--that's real time, and extremely accurate (for this size engine). If you don't want to do this every time, you can start the sim with the engine fully under steam: However, you will still need to open all the necessary valves, and get a fire going in the firebox.
There's even a padlock on the throttle that needs to be removed! When I initially moved the Johnson Bar into the forward corner, it took quite a lot of "effort." It wasn't until I told Preston about this that he let me know that when cold, all the grease is cold too, and that would be reflected in things being a little harder to move initially, but everything would eventually warm up. Of course--Brilliant!
The sim starts out with a random amount of condensate in the cylinders, which has to be drained through the cylinder cocks when starting. If not, bad things can happen. As the engine heats up, the steam won't condense in the cylinders, so it won't be necessary to open the cylinder cocks every time you stop.
For me, the experience of firing this engine and running it is exactly as I would expect from the real thing--I felt quite at home, knowing that when I made an adjustment, say, to the fire, I'd see that adjustment reflected on the steam pressure gauge. When I added water with the injector, the pressure invariably goes down in proportion--you're adding cold water to the boiler and cooling it off, so the pressure goes down.
The graphics are incredible, from the texture of the plaster gauze-wrapped steam pipes to the cab wood grain to the slightly dirty window glass.
The scenery is also spectacular, although with my ancient computer I had to turn off most of the lush greenery so the program would run smoother. But that's a menu option. And speaking of menu options, there are a ton of different options available, from time of day, to day of year, to how many cars you can pull, to your choice between the Holliday and the Ripley. If you run at night, there's even a "flashlight" option!
Every function of the cab is replicated. Too hot? slide open the cab window! Ready to move? Grab the whistle lever and pull it. You won't just get an "on/off" whistle--you'll can "quill" it like the real thing!
Sounds are very important in running a steam engine, and I found Preston's use of them to be perfect. The chuff of the engine sounds just like the ones from the Disney trains. The throttle and Johnson Bar latches sound good, and I know I've left the injector on because of the noise it makes. The engine will also pop the safety valves if the pressure gets too high! My dad's computer has a better sound system, and with the sound up, you'll be immersed in this steam locomotive.
While poking around the Internet, I came across the Trainz Big Boy on YouTube. Now, not being much into the sim gaming world, I'm not sure if Trainz is the best out there or what, but what I saw was sad. The "control panel" of the Big Boy consisted literally of a light-rail style control panel, with a little knob/joystick for a throttle and brake, and a green circle that said "285 psi." If the circle changed color, that meant your pressure went down. Very realistic...
Seems the only object of the Big Boy sim was just to make the engine go and stop. There was no actual steam locomotive knowledge needed to operate it. If that's what exists out there as far as steam locomotive sims go, then Preston's is simply the best one there is.On Preston's sim, even the fuel and water in the tender will be depleted over time. On the first night, I left the sim running when I went to have dinner. When I came back, the inevitable had happened--catastrophic failure! I had let the crown sheet get exposed, and I "blew" the engine up!
Almost every contingency you might find on a real steam locomotive is programmed in. The engine can stop on "dead center," meaning that opening the throttle won't do anything. You have to throw the Johnson Bar in reverse to get the valves off dead center, and then you can proceed again in forward. On random occasions, the injector will get clogged with sediment. If you use the injector a lot, it will get hot, and be unable to function properly, until it cools off over time.
I will report back when I can to keep people posted. But I can say that this is as close as you can come to actually operating the real thing. The thought has crossed my mind that Disney themselves might be able to use this as a training tool. If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to fire and run a real Disney-style steam engine, this will be as close as you will be able to get unless you get a job on the Disneyland Railroad.
