Lining up all the cars into a perfectly strainght line is the hardest part… once I have a single “picture” of an entire train, making it '“move” down the picture of the track is actually the easy part.
The short train length of the original train isn’t due to an oversight on my part, rather if I had a train the size of the bigger one, moveing at the speed of the slower one, the total file size would be so huge that it would be killing the forum users having to use a dial up web service
They probably did it for safety reasons, steam is hot and you dont want it exhausting just any old where.
That’s why the big train isn’t in my signature. Though the mechanics of “train building” might make the smaller train seem 'foolish" because of it’s short size, the realities of web mechanics make the reason for the shorter train abundantly clear
Or, you can right click on the picture , and select “block images from this server” and you’ll be all set [:D]
Interesting, wasn’ t aware of that one, but that blocks individual signature images. The way to block images in signatures from all posters is through the forum profile settings:
“Do you wio view members signatures when reading posts?
Do you wio view images in posts, such as smilies and posted images?”
Gates…I’m on dial up and neither one of your “trains” bothered me in opening it up…
True man,…I was just trying to be helpful, out of concern that you might have found MY sig offensive due to its size, and just wanted to block my signature, but not everybody elses… using the setting you mention would block EVERYBODY’s signature…
Well, thanks man, that’ good to know.
but for the record, the reason why my train is “overpowered” could be:
a) I cut the train short out of concern for impact on dialup users
b) Broken knuckle , the crew is asleep and the brake line is fouled
c) surplus power move
Anyone can take their pick
back to boosters, After the guys here got me smart enough to know what to look for, I found that Wikipedia of all places, has a good explanation, worth reading.
The C&O generally seemed to be a fan of boosters on their later engines.
The T1 2-10-4 was booster equiped for a total starting TE of 108,625 lbs.
The J3a 4-8-4’s (#614 is an example) had a booster and could produce 80,700 lbs. starting TE.
However, the mega-boiler 2-6-6-6 Allegheny did not have a booster, and was limited to 110,000 lbs starting TE from its drivers. High speed HP was another story…
It is interesting to compare the N&W 611 to the C&O 614.
Both locomotives are 5000 HP machines. The N&W decided to not use a booster, but instead use smaller drivers and a higher boiler pressure to allow the 611 to produce its 80,000 lbs starting TE. The downside to this design is more stress on the steam system from the high pressure, and higher piston/drive line speeds due to the smaller wheel diameter. The N&W J was also reported to be a rather slippery engine from concentrating so much TE on only 4 axles.
The C&O went with larger diameter drivers and a lower boiler pressure+a booster to allow the 614 to produce its 80,700 lbs TE. With this approach, the C&O 4-8-4s were reported to have a very high level of adhesion, and often would stall out on a hard pull rather than spin their drivers. The downside to this approach is the high maintenance required for the booster truck. High enough that Ross Rowland disconected the booster while operating the 614 in excursion service.
Really, there is no easy way to get low speed power out of a steamer with few drive axles. Both the N&W and C&O designs had good point and bad points.
Some RR’s stayed away from boost
The Boston & Maine #3713, a Pacific Type being rebuilt at Steamtown has a booster trailing truck that’s also being rebuilt for operation. A booster trailing truck is a self contained steam engine that will power the axle(s) of the trailer. It has separate controls in the cab and its own steam supply and exhaust. The exhaust steam being directed to other cylinders for use is a compound or Mallet type locomotive, which showed up for a short time in the early 20th century, but quickly fell out of favor due to lowered top speed, and the shear size of the secondary cylinders. Steam is exhausted through the stack to create a draft for the fire, but where else would it go? At least this way it is used for a purpose.