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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheAuldGrump" data-source="post: 1673731" data-attributes="member: 6957">Diving into some old notes from before Steam & Steel appeared and converting them, this should be the last of the railroad rules modifications at least for a while. While the railroad is the most prosaic of the changes engendered by the steam engine it was also among the most earth shaking.:Variant Steam Train EnginesThe Steam Train Engine Wagon described in Steam & Steel is a standard engine, however both larger and smaller steam trains do exist, both for more specialized tasks than the standard engine.Switcher Steam Train Engine WagonLarge ConstructHit Dice: 12d10+30 (72hp)Speed: 60 ft (confined only to tracks)AC: 23 (+14 natural, -1 size)Special Qualities: Bull Rush, Carriages, Hardness 5, Limited Speed, Maintenance DC 8, Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 7 ranksCost: 2,000gpBull Rush: A Switcher Engine performs a Bull Rush just like their larger counterparts, but deal only 5d4+10 damage.Limited Speed: A Switcher Engine is designed for use within a railyard and can reach a maximum of three times its base speed. (180 ft). A Switcher Engine may not take the Improved Speed modification.Switcher: The switcher can haul a maximum of four carriages, though it designed to either push or pull those carriages as needed.. The Switcher Steam Train Engine Wagon is a smaller engine intended to switch carriages among the larger engines at the railyard. Because it is intended to be used near a ready supply of fuel the switcher carries only enough fuel for four hours of operation.Switcher Engines are given diminutive names such as 'Dinky'. A very few are attached to tenders to haul private carriages along the rail lines.Heavy Load Steam Train Engine WagonGargantuan ConstructHit Dice: 18d10+60 (159hp)Speed: 60ft (confined only to tracks)AC: 21 (+14 natural, -3 size)Special Qualities: Bull Rush, Carriages, Hardness 5, Heavy Hauler, Limited Speed, Maintenance DC 8Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 7 ranksCost: 8,000gp +1,000gp per carriage.Bull Rush: A Heavy Load  Engine performs a Bull Rush just like their smaller counterparts, but deal 5d8+10 damage.because of their greater mass.Heavy Hauler: Heavy Load Engines can pull an almost limitless number of cars, and is not subject to the maximum of 12 cars that affect standard steam train engines.Limited Speed: A Heavy Load Engine is designed to haul heavy freight that does not require great speed. As a result the Heavy Load Engine can reach a maximum speed of three times its base speed. (180 ft.). A Heavy Load Steam Train Engine with the Improved Speed modification only has a maximum speed of four times its base speed (240 ft.).The Heavy Load Steam Train Engines are designed to haul slow freight across great distances, coming with a double sized tender carrying enough fuel for four days of operation, laying over only at origin and destination.   They can pull enormous loads, in the case of the 2-4-4-4-2  'Ogre' the train can pull a chain of loaded ore carriages four miles long while on the flat.Hand CartMedium ConstructHit Dice: 5d10+20 (47hp)Speed: 50 ft (confined only to tracks)AC: 18 (+8 natural)Special Qualities: Bull Rush,  Hardness 5, Hand Powered, Maintenance DC 7, Creation: Craft (Steamworks) 5 ranksCost: 500 gpBull Rush: A Hand Cart or performs a Bull Rush just like their more powerful counterparts, but deal only 2d6 plus the damage bonus of the combined Strength scores of those manning the pumps.Hand Powered: A Hand Cart is powered by a pump mechanism that is usually crewed by two people. As a result moving the Hand Cart at greater than its base speed requires a Strength test at the following difficulties: Hustle  DC 10Run x3: DC 15Run x4: DC 20Being muscle powered the Hand Cart cannot maintain a speed greater than a hustle for overland travel. The crew posessing the Run feat has no effect on the speed of the Hand Cart.Hand Carts (or Pump Wagons) were created to allow maintenance crews to travel along the lines quickly and easily. The pumps are usually manned by two people, and two passengers, plus their gear may also be transported on the cart.It can only be upgraded with a Headlight, which is mounted to allow the light to be moved as the line is inspected.***************************************************************Some rules to cover the nuts 'n' bolts of steam trains...Speeding Up, Slowing Down and Crashing:Steam Trains have great inertia while at rest, and once moving have great momentum. As a result a Steam Train takes time to either speed up or to slow down. The damage given for the Steam Train's automatic Bull Rush assumes a standard engine travelling at base speed, a reasonable assumption in the close confines of a city. In the open countryside, where a Steam Train's throttle may be opened wide a different story is told, and the moral of that story is 'If you race a train across the tracks, and it's a tie - you lose!' See the chart below.Speed Multiplier *********: x1 spd /   x2 spd /  x3 spd /  x4 spd / x5 spd  /Feet per Round  **********:  60 ft rnd/ 120 ft rnd / 180 ft rnd / 240 ft rnd / 300 ft rnd /Speed Change in Rounds ***: 1 round.    / 2 rounds.    / 3 rounds. / 4 rounds. / 5 rounds. /Damage Switcher ********: 5d4+10 / 6d4+20 / 7d4+30/     ---   /  ---     /Damage Standard ********: 5d6+10 / 6d6+20 / 7d6+30 / 8d6+40 / 9d6+50 /Damage Heavy Load *******: 5d8+10 / 6d8+20 / 7d8+30 / 8d8+40 / ---  /Speed Multiplier: Multiples of the base speed of the Steam Train.Feet per Round : Number of feat that the engine moves in one round at that multiplier.Speed Change in Rounds: The number of rounds that it takes for an engine to change its speed to the next multiple either up or down. So a Steam Train moving at 180 feet per round takes three rounds to slow to 120 feet per round, then 2 more rounds to slow to 60 feet per round, and finally come to a complete stop after a total of six rounds.Note: Braking (or deacceleration) on a train was increased over time, the pressure to the brakes was increased gradually in order to avoid the horrible consequences of an engine stopping while the carriages continued. Without this precaution the carriages pile up around and over the engine cab, generally killing the engineer and stoker. Likewise acceleration was a gradual process to avoid stress on the couplings between cars.Damage: The amount of damage inflicted by a Steam Train's automatic Bull Rush while travelling at that speed.****************************************************And a couple more modifications.Improved Brakes A Steam Train with Improved Brakes is treated as moving the next multiplier down in regards to slowing down and stopping. So the train above would come to a complete stop in three rounds. In essence Improved Brakes are brakes on each of the carriages, not just friction or traction brakes on the engine.Cost: 100 gp for switcher engines, 250gp for standard engines, and 500gp for heavy load engines, +50gp per carriage.  Tender Carriage: The standard Steam Train Engine Wagon in Steam & Steel carries fuel sufficient for twelve hours of operation. A Tender Carriage carries a sufficient supply for forty eight hours, but counts as one of the twelve carriages an engine can pull. In practice the engineer still lays over for one hour at every significant town with a station, topping off the fuel and water supplies needed for the journey, however on longer runs the extra capacity afforded by the Tender can be crucial.Cost 1000gp.The Auld Grump Those who believe that the Industrial Revolution was bloodless are unfamiliar with the histories of the unions. And so this is dedicated to the Memories of the Molly Maguires, and to the Wobblies.*EDIT* There does not seem to be any easy way of inserting a table, so line up the slashes on the charts above to figure out what they mean, sorry. (I added astrisks to try to line things up, but no go...)*FINAL EDIT* The 'Ogre' is based loosely on the Hughes Big Boy and the Aleghany, whose capabilities were understated for the purposes of this article. (The Aleghany could pull a train of ore cars five miles long! That was one serious engine.)</blockquote>

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