Railfan727
07-02-2006, 08:33 AM
Will KRS have built-in support for articulated cars, with multiple units permanently coupled and adjacent units sharing common trucks? This would be essential for correct North American simulations, as the majority of modern intermodal equipment consists of 3- or 5-unit spine cars, and 5-unit double stack wells. Also, there are two different types of two-unit articulated autoracks (Thrall's Articulated Bi-Level and Gunderson's Auto-Max), and two-unit articulated container cars designed for hauling municipal waste.
In MSTS, the only way to build articulated cars was to model each unit as a separate car and juxtapose the units so they "appeared" to be an articulated set. The main drawback is that, as you were assembling consists, you had to constantly keep track of what units you were putting in the consist and what order they were in. And, for those of us who like randomly-generated consists, this method just doesn't work at all.
What would be much better in my opinion, would be to have a way to have the car itself modeled as an empty car with all five units considered together as one car, and then select individually the trailers and/or containers to be loaded.
In MSTS, the only way to build articulated cars was to model each unit as a separate car and juxtapose the units so they "appeared" to be an articulated set. The main drawback is that, as you were assembling consists, you had to constantly keep track of what units you were putting in the consist and what order they were in. And, for those of us who like randomly-generated consists, this method just doesn't work at all.
What would be much better in my opinion, would be to have a way to have the car itself modeled as an empty car with all five units considered together as one car, and then select individually the trailers and/or containers to be loaded.