User Guide

MICROSOFT TRAIN SIMULATOR ENGINEER’S HANDBOOK
HOW TO DRIVE A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE | 29
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1 Smoke Box 3 Fire Box 5 Cab Control Room
2 Boiler 4 Pilot Truck 6 Tender
WHAT IS A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE?
Note: The terminology used throughout this Engineer’s Handbook is American English. See
the Sidebar for some differences in American and British terminology.
The simplest explanation of the operation of a steam engine is that the fireman creates steam and
the engineer uses the steam to move the train. The fireman and the engineer are a team; they must
cooperate closely to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the locomotive. The conductor is
charged with the safety of the train and its passengers or
freight, and its adherence to the rules of the railroad.
The first steam locomotive was built by British engineer
Richard Trevithick in 1804. By the mid-1830s, steam engines
largely replaced horses for pulling loads along the railways of
Britain. By the end of the century, steam locomotives had
completely transformed the landscapes and economies of the
industrializing nations.
In Train Simulator, you are the engineer. You can choose to
perform the duties of the fireman, too, or you can delegate
that task to the computer, which performs the fireman’s task,
but not as well as you can. The role of the conductor is
handled by the computer.
Terminology differences
U.S. U.K.
Engineer Engine driver,
driver
Conductor Guard
Freight Car Wagon
Passenger Carriage
Coach
Freight train Goods train
Consist Rake
Switch Points
Exhaust Chimney
Stack