I have just received my Paragon2 Hudson from FDT. Looks great and I love the way it runs. However, when I decelerate, the chuff sound cuts out. Does anyone know what cv I have to change to fix this?
Ed
Ed,
are you sure chuff sound COMPLETELY cuts out, or is just a little bit quieter? If it ain’t completely cut out, then this is OK, because in this way locomotive imitates the real situation (for example, when going upgrade, sound must be louder then when going downhill, and the chuff sound also).
Hrvoje
Ed
When a engineer decelerates a steam engine he is cutting off the steam to the cylinders. This lets the weight and momentum push the engine along in effect like putting your car in neutral. A steam engine drifting along can be very quiet. There may be some flange noise or on an older steamer some rod knock will be heard until all the drivers are in unison. Your Hudson represents a more modern locomotive that has been fitted with rods and bearings that have very close tolerances that will not have too much rod knock. Some locos were fitted with roller bearings on the main rods that had no rod knock unless something was broken.
Pete
There’s nothing wrong with your locomotive – real steam engines stopped making the chuffing noise when coasting.
Thanks everyone for your time and expertise.
If the enginner doesn’t want or need to brake the train, and wishes to merely coast, he can shut the throttle and the engine will coast freely if the Johnson bar is in the correct position. However, with the snifter valves closed, it will begin to brake the train due to back-pressure on the pistons. So, a snifter valve must be opened if the engineer truly wishes to coast on level or slightly descending track for any substantial distance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snifter_valve
This from http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/toc.Html
PURPOSE OF RELIEF-VALVE ON DRY PIPE.
Should the throttle-valve close so tight that the compressed air from the cylinders can not pass into the boiler, there is danger of bursting the steam-chest or some part of the, steam-pipes. The compressed air will lift most of the throttle-valves far enough to prevent any great danger from this source. In some engines a relief-valve is secured in the dry pipe, which provides a passage for this compressed air. When the cylinder-cocks of an engine are opened when the motion is reversed, they form an outlet to the compressed air, and also admit air to the sucking end without letting the piston draw air so freely through the nozzles. Many cylinder-cocks are now made so that they will open automatically to permit the piston to draw air through them. The reversed engine will stop nearly as well with the cylinder-cocks opened as when they are closed, and it is much more easily handled with the cocks opened. Where the cocks are kept closed, the rush of hot air from the smoke-box laps every trace of oil from the valve-seat, and a heavy pressure — frequently above that of the boiler — is present in the steam-chest. When the engine stops under these circumstances,