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Do Locomotives have a damage model?


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Posted

Simply asking as having strafed multiple locos, I have never managed to see any steam escaping the boiler, they just keep going and never stop. 

 

I have of course exploded the carriages the loco is towing but never see a steam explosion or the Boilers venting steam through bullet holes?  (which as a train hunter is pretty disappointing). 

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PatrickAWlson
Posted

They are really, really tough.  I would think that hitting a boiler with a few 20mm would do some serious harm.  Having said that, they do have a DM and they do start steaming (or smoking, not sure which it is) as an intermediate step before blowing up.

Posted (edited)

Yes, I have seen them leaking steam after shooting up the boiler, and they will slowly come to a stop.

Edited by BlitzPig_EL
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Posted

They are also prone again to turning 180 degrees on the track and running in the opposite direction after sustaining damage. This was occurring some time in the past until it was fixed.

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Jason_Williams
Posted
1 hour ago, Mysticpuma said:

Simply asking as having strafed multiple locos, I have never managed to see any steam escaping the boiler, they just keep going and never stop. 

 

I have of course exploded the carriages the loco is towing but never see a steam explosion or the Boilers venting steam through bullet holes?  (which as a train hunter is pretty disappointing). 


They keep going because you missed!! As others have stated they take damage and vent etc. and will finally explode with enough hits.

 

Jason

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Posted

They explode in a most gratifying way!

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Raptorattacker
Posted

They do that!! :good:

Posted

I guess I haven't done any train hunting since the last hotfix but prior to that, flying both the P-47s and P-51s, I was able to stop locomotives quite easily. At least in my mind it seemed a little too easy to wreak a loco. I always tried to see where the train was heading, hoping to spot a clear length of track so I didn't splatter myself in the trees while I strafed the rail cars once the train was stopped. More often than not, I could stop the train in that clearing.  

Posted

They blow up real well, when one gets target fixation and you hit them with your plane...Don't ask how I know that...?

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=621=Samikatz
Posted

Do they have "armour" values like a tank? Seeing as they are made of presumably quite tough metal

Posted
Just now, =621=Samikatz said:

Do they have "armour" values like a tank? Seeing as they are made of presumably quite tough metal

I don't know about that but in real life the boilers were easily perforated. Not destroyed necessarily but brought to a stop.

Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

They explode in a most gratifying way!

It's been a long time since I've attacked a train, but in today's game, do trains belch out a big plume of smoke from the chimney when attacked?
(I've always wanted to see this in game)

 

 

Edited by No_Face
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Posted

No they do not.  The DM is not that detailed. That venting of steam from the stack happens when the boiler tubes are perforated.  That high pressure steam would also vent through the fire box and into the cab as well, scalding the crew.  Not a pretty way to go.

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Posted

Well, the durability seems to be reasonably realistic (we are talking about a mixture of heavy durty steel and iron components - it should be more durable than an aircraft).

 

However, there definitely are limitations - for instance AP rounds are much less effective against locomotives than HE rounds are. The same is true of ships (although that could be fixed more easily by just adding a hitbox for waterline hits).

Posted
15 hours ago, Jason_Williams said:


They keep going because you missed!! As others have stated they take damage and vent etc. and will finally explode with enough hits.

 

Jason

Ohh they definitely blow up good! I've taken a great joy in focusing on my ground attack skills especially trains and AAA (I hate AAA - those creeps get me more often than enemy AI so I take great pleasure in ending their pitiful AI lives!-). I always go for the locomotive because even if I miss I usually get the trailing cars, but I've gotten pretty good at taking the loco out on my first run. Bombs do well, so do rockets, 20mm in the Spits and Tempest make quick work of them while the .50s in the US planes just take extra work. Just got watch out for those pesky trees.....

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Posted

?

 

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PatrickAWlson
Posted
17 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

They explode in a most gratifying way!

 

Unless you are close to them when they blow up.  Had that happen once.  Blew my plane to pieces.

Posted

I can confirm that if you shoot them up they do vent steam and eventually stop.

PatrickAWlson
Posted
16 hours ago, Avimimus said:

Well, the durability seems to be reasonably realistic (we are talking about a mixture of heavy durty steel and iron components - it should be more durable than an aircraft).

 

I'm going to disagree just a bit.   The steam of a moving locomotive is under immense pressure.  A sudden rupture - like being perforated by 20mm cannon fire - could blow it all sky high.  If nothing else it would start to vent as soon as the internal system was compromised.  That internal system occupies the front two thirds of the boiler, with the fire box occupying the rear third.  The boiler is not really armored so I would imagine not that hard to penetrate.   Inside it is just pipes and chambers, solid enough not to rupture under normal pressure but again, not armored in any real sense.

 

If the locomotive just vented and did not blow up, or was not under steam when it was hit,  then shooting at it probably wouldn't do too much.  Punch some holes could probably be patched but definitely not cause it to explode.  The only thing that would actually blow up a locomotive is a sudden, catastrophic boiler failure ... or a big bomb :)  

 

 

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Posted

Live steam is bloody nasty stuff...

Posted

Trains are my favorite target for quick missions. Can't say why. Maybe it's because I work in the trail transit industry.

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Posted

Most non gunfire boiler explosions were caused by the water level in the boiler getting lower than the crown sheet in the top of the fire box, usually because of water injector issues.  When the top of the box gets above water level the steel superheats because of the intensity of the heat of the fire and ruptures, and instantly vents the steam out through the cab, sometimes tearing the entire boiler off the chassis of the locomotive.

Often they looked like this...

 

spacer.png

 

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Posted
5 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

Most non gunfire boiler explosions were caused by the water level in the boiler getting lower than the crown sheet in the top of the fire box, usually because of water injector issues.  When the top of the box gets above water level the steel superheats because of the intensity of the heat of the fire and ruptures, and instantly vents the steam out through the cab, sometimes tearing the entire boiler off the chassis of the locomotive.

Often they looked like this...

 

spacer.png

 

 

Oof!

Posted
On 1/18/2022 at 9:24 PM, Jason_Williams said:


They keep going because you missed!! As others have stated they take damage and vent etc. and will finally explode with enough hits.

 

Jason

Hi Jason, thanks for the reply. I have now successfully strafed multiple locomotives with explosive effect. Quick question if I may? 

Would there be a possibility of the engines exploding in a huge ball of white/grey steam? Currently, they explode like .....well, an explosion of flammable substance. Just wondering if it could be given consideration as it's great to see the steam venting from the bullet holes but then to see a fireball explosion seems a bit odd?

 

 

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Jason_Williams
Posted
32 minutes ago, Mysticpuma said:

Hi Jason, thanks for the reply. I have now successfully strafed multiple locomotives with explosive effect. Quick question if I may? 

Would there be a possibility of the engines exploding in a huge ball of white/grey steam? Currently, they explode like .....well, an explosion of flammable substance. Just wondering if it could be given consideration as it's great to see the steam venting from the bullet holes but then to see a fireball explosion seems a bit odd?

 

 

Maybe when I build better looking trains.

 

Jason

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Posted
3 hours ago, Jason_Williams said:

 

Maybe when I build better looking trains.

 

Jason

No wonder development is taking so long.  Jason is off building model trains instead of working.  ;)

I kid, I kid!

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Posted
8 hours ago, Jason_Williams said:

 

Maybe when I build better looking trains.

 

Jason

I'm sure that would be down the road a piece. Maybe a long way. If it were to happen, I'd hope the trains would be given mass so that when they hit a car or truck, they would break on through to the other side. Break on though to the other side. Break on through. Break on through..... yeah.....

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Jaegermeister
Posted

I think the trains blow up rather nicely, especially when you put a few of them together in a railyard and add in some of the new explosion effects for the cars carrying ammo and fuel. Adding a couple of 500 Lb'ers to the mix has a spectacular effect on a nice spring evening.

 

;)

Jaegermeister
Posted (edited)

Here is what happens when you hit a locomotive with a 500 lb bomb

 

2074895491_Train1.thumb.jpg.4b3b9b73935ed9666b19379ad5fa48b0.jpg

 

Train.thumb.jpg.35c160e91cfe74e64ed1376eed122d8b.jpg

 

And strafing with 6 .50s and convergence at 300 meters. The first pass separated the locomotive from the train. The second pass stopped the train on the tracks. On the third pass, I let off the trigger when I saw the fireball 

 

624594486_Train2.thumb.jpg.9bf9c3464dc09439ca9d61f9e353be94.jpg

 

1802311605_Train3.thumb.jpg.6775f3e7afddfc5d7718bce6d0eec9c4.jpg

 

1822375515_Train4.thumb.jpg.e3642d23ed9071c641d6ebdfb1bba40b.jpg

 

So yeah... they blow up.

 

Edited by Jaegermeister
Posted

Where is this rail yard located? Looks like a fun target. 

Posted

Only vaguely related but the thought just occurred to me: were goods trains carrying stuff for the Germans in occupied territories operated by civilian engine drivers or did the German Army use their own engineers? I feel like hauling freight for your oppressors only to be strafed by an Allied fighter would be a horrible way to go. 

Posted

Does the engineer ever jump from the engine when being strafed?   Swear I saw one once jump out at a road crossing, run a short burst and lay right on the road a few yards off the track as the train was rolling to a stop.

Posted

It takes a lot but I've found I can crack them with the 30mm on the 109s

Posted
2 hours ago, DragonDaddy said:

Where is this rail yard located? Looks like a fun target. 

 

The Rhineland map has a couple. If you use my mission generator you can select them as target for a bombing or attack mission.

Velikieluki also has some very nice railyards; they will be available in the next version of the EMG.

 

 

Posted

Thanks, Vander. I frequently use your EMG but didn’t think of doing this. 

Posted
4 hours ago, [CPT]Crunch said:

Does the engineer ever jump from the engine when being strafed?   Swear I saw one once jump out at a road crossing, run a short burst and lay right on the road a few yards off the track as the train was rolling to a stop.

 

Yes they do. Easy to reproduce if you attack using a tank.

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Jaegermeister
Posted
5 hours ago, DragonDaddy said:

Where is this rail yard located? Looks like a fun target. 

 

That particular railyard is one of the new ones at Duisburg on the Rhineland map

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Posted

My little boy would probably love updated trains. He already loves to put the F5 camera on the train and just watch it driving around the map.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

they do blow with a pretty effect, however   im still curious as to how a locomotive can survive an SC 1800 detonating 40 meters from it, but a SX 70 at 20 meters takes it out no issue.

Posted

This thread reminded me of this explosion behind a loco in 1944.

 

44 x 500lb MC bombs in a 12 ton wagon exploded immediately behind the loco (seen in the siding).

The tender was destroyed, but the driver and loco survived.

 

The loco was repaired and put back in service until 1967.

The crater was filled in and the line reopend next day to passengers.

 

(Just for interest sake).

 

0_JS221833674.thumb.jpg.02fae3f8a22141a7b7988d5d6c04226b.jpg

 

 

..

 

 

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