What's up with the trains

[Tiger27]

Originally Posted by DayGlow

I'll take real pilots testimony over an interweb hero any day on both accounts

I'm just re reading The Hardest day by Alfred Price, and it is clear that you cant always rely on pilots testimony, he describes one German bomber that was claimed by up to 4 pilots, all had attacked it and seen it go down smoking, so all gave factual accounts of what they saw, it was what they didnt see that was the problem, how would a pilot know for sure that when he attacked the Tiger tank it wasn't also under artillery attack at the same time, it's that old fog or war.

As for the cannons or bullets knocking a train off a track, well that's just not possible, unless of course the boiler explodes or a shell may damage the tracks and derail it but most times you would think the boiler would be hit from the top and just let off a huge fountain of steam.

[Foo'bar]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

If your bullets hit in the firebox area of the boiler and the crown sheet ruptured then indeed the loco could be blown off the tracks by the almost instant conversion of all the water into live steam and then exhausted into the cab of the loco.

Not real good for the crew though...

Indeed. With an abrupt boiler detonation the unleashed force is equal to a moon rocket. A loco with 100 tons of mass easily could be thrown a hundred of meters away.

Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler_explosion

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by ElAurens

If your bullets hit in the firebox area of the boiler and the crown sheet ruptured then indeed the loco could be blown off the tracks by the almost instant conversion of all the water into live steam and then exhausted into the cab of the loco.

Not real good for the crew though...

True enough. I guess you could call that a "primary" explosion if caused by cannon/machine gun fire. I still maintain the weight of the projectiles themselves, even at a velocity of, say, 2,000+ ft/sec wouldn't be enough in themselves to topple or derail a locomotive. Unless the aircraft ran into it as well! LOL

But to the OP's post, if perforating the locomotive's boiler results in a catastrophic explosion.........then it SHOULD be launched off the rails in a huge plume of steam! I stand corrected on that.

[ElAurens]

Result of boiler explosion on a C&O H8 loco. These had the largest boilers ever put on a steam locomotive...

June 9, 1953 - Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 2-6-6-6 “Allegheny” number 1642 suffers a boiler explosion. All three head-end crew members are killed when the cab is blown in one piece 200 feet (60 m) in the air and 300 yards (275 m) off the mainline into the adjacent river. The boiler is blown off the running gear and flips end for end, coming to rest 600 feet (180 m) ahead of the train. The blast is blamed on a faulty feedwater injector and/or cold water pump.

[DayGlow]

Well I'm thankful that we have working station clocks vs trains blowing up good

[ParaB]

Why shouldn't a 0.50cal throw a train off the tracks? Just look at what Mustangs armed with 0.50cals did to both the Bismarck and the Tirpitz! Or when they totally flipped over a KingTiger in Normandy who landed on Rommel himself, killing him.

[palker4]

cannon shell is tiny compared to 70 tons of locomotive. you need massive amount of energy to move such huge thing even a feet and your average 20mm cannoshell just does not have it. Think man.

[CaptainDoggles]

Originally Posted by cheesehawk

I can confirm that happens in game, I blew up a locomotive, it let off a huge steam cloud, and then when I returned, it was laying on its side, next to the 3rd railcar. Post pictures after work.

Someone mentioned I had a orgasm in TS3 when it happened, it was pretty cool and very unexpected!

Sounds like a boiler explosion to me. Pretty sweet that the DM for trains includes such a thing. Definitely not knocking a train over by the "weight of fire" though.

Anyone with a basic grasp of physics can tell you it just doesn't happen.

[DayGlow]

Originally Posted by CaptainDoggles

Sounds like a boiler explosion to me. Pretty sweet that the DM for trains includes such a thing. Definitely not knocking a train over by the "weight of fire" though.

Anyone with a basic grasp of physics can tell you it just doesn't happen.

Please show the math that it isn't possible.

[FFCW_Urizen]

Go play pool, just replace the white ball with a tiny marble and see what happens. No need for an equation.