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Old 06-21-2021, 08:34 PM   #21
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Steam train

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Sticking tractor (tank, in modern times) treads on an armoured train should be feasible,
Well, physically possible anyway but painfully inefficient.

Using the Ve2 formulas for the same power vehicles with railway wheels at TL6 get 3.2 x the speed as vehicles with treads.

Then you're going to need big treads because railway vehicles are designed without concern for off-road speed or ground pressure. At a guess you'd need treads not only for the whole length of the engine and cars but as wide as the bult-up roadbed that supports the tracks.

By then you're probably hitting recursive issues with the weight of the treads affecting performance. At 70 tons for a modern boxcar you're already slightly over the weight of a modern MBT and you're using engines with much lower power-to-weight ratios than any used in historical tanks. A TL5 triple expansion steam engine needs a base 50lbs per KW or output and even a TL6 steam turbine needs 25. AWWII tank engine only needs 6 lbs for diesel and 3 lbs for gasoline..The gas turbine that powers the modern Abrams might be as low as 1 lb per KW of output.

I'm also not in love with the idea of unpowered treads on the cars with only the engine's treads being powered.

It probably is physically possible though.
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Old 06-22-2021, 06:23 AM   #22
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Default Re: Steam train

There were a small number of (off)road-rail vehicles, many of them developed by the Japanese which combined off road mobility with rail mobility, but these tended to be later than the typical Western Era (usually 1920s-1930s). The good ones had two seperate sets of running gear and jacked one or the other up and down - which would be the best way for a tracked vehicle. The bad ones fitted tyres or tracks to rail wheels ... and that rarely worked well.

Armoured trains appeared in the Anglo-Boer war and the American Civil war so are entirely feasible for the West ... albeit traditionally the coming of the railway is the beginning of the end of the West. What you are arming for and against will have a major effect on the design but protecting the boiler is a significant issue. Artillery, for example, is probably too much gun, but a Gatling or a one pounder Maxim might impress most of the threats you are likely to face. Otherwise bullet-proofing and small arms should suffice. Heavier solutions are probably for military grade armoured trains.
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Old 06-24-2021, 10:09 PM   #23
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Default Re: Steam train

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
And stopping civilian trains on regular runs is often easy. Change the signals to red by hand.
Or cover the signals and hang up bullseye lanterns with red filters behind the lens. Signal lanterns, possibly with different colored lens inserts, were common railroad gear and could be found in any properly stocked equipment locker aboard a caboose or inside a depot.

Someone really needs to do a High Tech supplement which covers railroad equipment and operations.
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Old 06-24-2021, 10:41 PM   #24
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Default Re: Steam train

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
Someone really needs to do a High Tech supplement which covers railroad equipment and operations.
Better yet, we need that and a GURPS supplement exploring the potential in campaigns centered around anthropomorphized locomotives exploring the struggles of living in a premodern corporate-totalitarian dystopia.

Choo-choo!
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Old 06-25-2021, 12:36 AM   #25
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Default Re: Steam train

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... a GURPS supplement exploring the potential in campaigns centered around anthropomorphized locomotives ...
Rule 34R: any vaguely plausible RPG idea has already been suggested.
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Old 06-25-2021, 12:55 AM   #26
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Default Re: Steam train

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Rule 34R: any vaguely plausible RPG idea has already been suggested.
First I giggled at the very specific request for a GURPS supplement for railroad operations and equipment, then I giggled at my own joke for a GURPS take on a TTTE campaign supplement, then I laughed some more having now come to the realization that the TTTE fandom truly does inject Thomas into almost every form of media imaginable.

You sir, win internet points! :^)
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Old 06-25-2021, 01:39 AM   #27
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Default Re: Steam train

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Originally Posted by Dexion View Post
I'm looking for the stats of a steam-powered train like in cowboy movies for a post-apocalystic scenario. In which book can I find it? I look in HT but nothing.
Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances on the GURPS wiki should point you in the right direction for the basic stats.

You are likely looking for a variant of the Colonial Locomotive; ~1880s or a Military Train; 1882 (prototypes 1860s) which have ST/HP of ~139 and ~250 respectively. Acceleration is slow (1) and unless the track are in good condition (odds are they aren't) you don't want be coming another near even Colonial's top move.
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Old 06-25-2021, 04:45 AM   #28
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Default Re: Steam train

The thing about a steam train is it's contextual. If you're not dealing with a sophisticated, numerous and/or well equipped opponent, a train can be a force multiplier extraordinaire. A motorised base of supplies, able to move artillery and quickly overwhelm dispersed defenders with superior firepower, grab loot and then leave.

Think of it in terms of how it was used in Manchuria, the Russian Civil War, the Russo-Polish War, and in China during the Warlord period. A train can be more like a cross between an airship and a warehouse, rather than a tank.

If the setting has a valid reason for folk to not damage rail infrastructure, a train can be an interesting mobile base for a bunch of PCs.

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Old 06-25-2021, 08:30 PM   #29
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Default Re: Steam train

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If the setting has a valid reason for folk to not damage rail infrastructure, a train can be an interesting mobile base for a bunch of PCs.
I've seen this used in some movies. I remember the movie "Wild,Wild West" used it. I forget if the series did.
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Old 06-26-2021, 01:02 AM   #30
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Default Re: Steam train

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I've seen this used in some movies. I remember the movie "Wild,Wild West" used it. I forget if the series did.
The series used the train car as mobile base as well. But what happened off the train was far more interesting: the steam powered automaton and the land ironclad.
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