Jeb's Locomotive, now with working running gear!

[Jamie Logan]

Howdy, Y'all.

 

 

Way back in ye old days of 2013 KSP, a younger and perhaps less-skilled me tried his hand at building a steam locomotive replica. This was the result:

 

 

Not too shabby, given the limited part repository at the time. Though I've seen many KSP players build fantastic train replicas, I had yet to come across one that utilized the new stock robotics parts to make working running gear. So, I set out to overhaul Jeb's once-mighty steamer with the latest in Kerbal engineering technology:

 

 

Jeb's Locomotive was designed to function in a similar fashion as typical modern locomotive replicas do; the running gear is powered by the drive wheels which are in turn powered by electric motors, instead of steam power driving the running gear and subsequently driving the wheels. The 6 rover wheels only provide brakes and steering, while the 6 rotor wheels are coupled in axle pairs using standard docking ports to provide side-to-side consistency in operation. The running gear is largely coupled together using junior docking ports.

Engine power is controlled using the KAL controller in the cab. Press action group 1 to engage the drive motors and start up the fuel cells, set the controller to play until you reach your desired speed, then pause it. The play speed is set slow intentionally, as sometimes sudden changes to the RPM can mess up the running gear synchronicity. Unfortunately, the engine plates used to make the drive wheels don't have great traction with the ground (leading to slight slipping), and collision tolerances will limit your top speed to <9 m/s (as you will see shortly). You can of course go faster by disabling crash damage on the debug menu, but beware that at higher speeds the running gear can easily go out of whack. I find it runs quite nicely around 6-7 m/s surface speed.

You are welcome to download and add on things like coal cars, passenger cars, etc. if you'd like. The locomotive is already 218 parts as-is, so expect lag if you're planning on adding a lot to it. If anything, download it just to drive it up to 9 m/s, for funzies.

 

The entire vessel is Stock + DLC.

 

Download: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Jebs-Locomotive

 

Here is a gif of the running gear in motion at a slow speed: https://i.imgur.com/bHYKT1b.gifv

 

Gallery:

I'M GOIN' OFF THE RAILS ON A... oh nevermind.

 

 

I hope you liked it! Check out my last build too:

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Jamie Logan

[Klapaucius]

That may be the best looking locomotive I have seen.  I did a doubletake when I realized it was stock only.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Klapaucius

[Jamie Logan]

1 minute ago, Klapaucius said:

That may be the best looking locomotive I have seen.  I did a doubletake when I realized it was stock only.

Thanks!