The DB Set



A new Train Set for TTDPatch

by Michael Blunck

June 2003

Version 0.8 (XL) - Nov 30st, 2004

Content

What is the DB set?
What is the DB set XL?
Why a DB set?
How to install the DB set XL?
What vehicles make up the DB set XL?
Refitting freight wagons
Tractive effort and choice of locomotives
What about the DB set XL liveries?
Known Bugs
History - Bug fixes
Further plans
Copyright Notice
Acknowledgements
Want still more information?

Tables

DB set engines
DB set coaches and mail vans
DB set train services
DB set freight wagons
Wagon refittability
Hauling capacities of locomotives
Liveries of german railways



What is the DB set?

Itīs the very first full regional train set for Transport Tycoon (deLuxe) working under TTDPatch. Itīs a set of vehicles for the temperate climate using the most important german DB (Federal Railways) rolling stock and including a range of older vehicles of the german "Reichsbahn" (DRG).

The DB set allows for an early start of the game (in 1920) which is highly recommended.


What is the DB set XL?

Itīs the newest version of the DB Set which uses the most advanced TTDPatch features, namely the diverse range of "callbacks" which allow patch functions to change their behaviour according to specific requirements of a vehicle.

In consequence, youīd need one of the latest alpha versions of TTDPatch to run the DB Set XL.

Whatīs new in v0.8?

Besides from inplementing newest TTDPatch features, adding another couple of new locomotives, coaches and freight wagons and a massive redesign of most of the existing vehicles, version 0.8 makes available a novel price and cost scheme, full AI support and a better user interface. For details, please check out the history section.

New price and cost scheme

Since alpha 39 itīs possible to have a more flexible price system for vehicles and infrastructure which the DB set v0.8 makes full use of. If used with the "hard" setting for building cost the DB set uses real historical prices, at least for the early and medium engines but not for the modern ones - an ICE-1 would cost 50 million DM. Because the new prices are very much higher than before and because some of the very early rolling stock has been launched before the DB setīs start date in 1920, youīll get the chance to buy those ones for a reduced price:

"A budding entrepeneur wants to open a railway business (that happens to become the DB in later years), and to start with, buys old rolling stock from other railways in Germany. Then, they move onto electrics, and order some from Bavaria (which is why they are brown). As time goes on, newer tech is developed and bought brand-new for the railway, painted in the livery of the DB." (Raichase)

Higher prices for engines, wagons, track building and infrastructure, together with the features of "waggonspeedlimits" and "freighttrains" will put a new touch to your games. Now, itīll be very unusual to use all engine models in a single game because engines are much more differentiated with the new features: some are well suited for hilly terrain, others are best at level ground, some are special for passenger trains, others for hauling heavy cargo - and the higher prices require a thorough investigation of transportation needs and route planning which will make even older engines useful.

From now on, every game will be a different game.

Why a DB set?

Since the 19th century, Germany has always been a country with one of the largest railway systems in the world, both in terms of track length and in terms of number and variety of rolling stock. E.g. in 1935 the "German Reichsbahn" (DRG) had 655,000 people on its payroll and was using 23,197 locomotives and 677,242 coaches and wagons. (For more information on german railways, especially on long-distance trains visit the comprehensive pages of Joost Wilbrink.)

Added to that the interesting mix between traditional steam usage and early electric services in the mountainous regions of Bavaria and Silesia, together with the heritage of old stock from the former "Länderbahnen" and famous train services like "Rheingold" or "TEE", youīll get an impression why I have been tempted to choose the DRG and DB railways as a model for a new set of train vehicles for TTDPatch.

OTOH, itīs complexity in number of locomotives (some 200 different types), in coaches (many hundreds of different types) and in liveries cannot be mapped at all onto a set of only a relatively small number of vehicles. In addition there are many locomotives which wonīt fit into the game roster which requires locomotives being successively more powerful. Therefore, many locomotives had to be discarded, though many of them would have been important enough for inclusion from a historical point of view, e.g. the famous E18 and E19 electrics.

Thatīs why Iīve been forced to simplify the whole thing, e.g. historically there have been three different red liveries alone (purple red, orient red and traffic red) in the DB age, but due to the limitation of red colours in ttdīs palette this couldnīt be achieved well, so in this set there are only 2 red liveries.

Same is true for coaches and freight wagons. For both classes, Iīve designed a rather simple scheme of just 5 different coach models for both local and long-distance traffic whith roughly the same introductory years. Also each of these coaches got an accompanying mail van which is handy for the game but far from reality.

Nevertheless, the rough scheme is there: youīll find the very early passenger coaches of the 20īs (the "thunder bolts"), the "Hechtwagen" (pike coaches) of the 30s, the well-known "Silverfish" coaches, the blue "F" train coaches, the "TEE", the "Rheingold" and a choice of InterCity coaches together with an assortment of dining-cars.

Additionally, all "train sets" (DMUs, EMUs) got fitting coaches. Because most of these train sets, like VT-137 or VT-08, have been always pure passenger trains, I abstained from designing fictional mail vans for them. Instead, as a compromise, mail vans on these train sets will look like normal passenger coaches.


How to install the DB set XL?

Preliminaries

The DB set XL is available in a DOS and in a Windows version ("dbsetxl.grf" resp. "dbsetxlw.grf"). Just copy the appropriate DB set XL .grf file into the "newgrf" directory under your TTD main directory and add the entry "newgrf/dbsetxl.grf" resp. "newgrf/dbsetxlw.grf" to your "newgrf.cfg" resp. "newgrfw.cfg" file.

The actual version of the DB Set XL is v0.8, grf-ID is 6D 62 04 01 and itīs of november 30th, 2004.

Youīll need TTDPatch version 2.0.1 alpha 42 (or higher) to run this version.

Because of the need to preserve the 0.5x versions of the DB Set for the benefit of people which are not using the latest alpha versions of TTDPatch (and in need to differentiate between both DB Set versions) a different grf-ID had to be introduced for the XL version.

Therefore, youīll have to enable the DB set XL from the graphics status menu if you want to use savegames which have been saved under the previous (non-XL) DB Set.

It would be also a very good idea to remove all those original wagons in savegames because they donīt fit well with the new ones, at least because they have different offsets than the new wagons.


Configuring "newgrf[w].cfg"

.grf files of different vehicle sets can only coexist if theyīre for a different climate. This is due to the internal mechanism how a .grf file is loaded and activated by TTDPatch. E.g. TempSet and ArcticSet could be both included into "newgrf[w].cfg" but only one of them would be activated, depending on the chosen climate.

Because the DB Set XL, the DB Set v0.5 and the TempSet are all intended for the temperate climate, you could encounter difficulties with this mechanism. Because the DB Set XL is a full set it uses (nearly) all available vehicle IDs, but e.g. the TempSet does not. Insofar, you would get only the expected behaviour when having the line "newgrf/dbset[w].grf" after the line "newgrf/tempset[w].grf", but not vice versa!

In the latter case, the TempSet vehicles would overload those DB set XL vehicles with the same identifiers resulting into an (unwanted) mix of both sets.

To prevent this, especially with additional train sets for the temperate climate to come, a special mechanism has been built into TTDPatch. This mechanism prevents a vehicle set from being loaded if another vehicle set for the same climate has been loaded before.

Because of the way this feature is implemented itīs only possible to skip loading of further sets for the same climate, i.e. always the first set of the same climate will get activated. If there is more than one set for the same climate in your "newgrf[w].cfg" you have to take care of order of entries in "newgrf[w].cfg" yourself.

However, because this mechanism relies on a joint behaviour (mutual exclusive sets have to check against each otherīs grf-ID) itīs only possible to set up such a scheme to include a new set by modifying all those other sets too (only to include the grf-ID of the new set).

Because this procedure isnīt always suitable with regard to the novice user, alpha 14 introduces an additional mechanism for grf-handling which enables deactivation of incompatible .grf files.

The DB Set XL uses this feature to cooperate with following sets:

Because the DB Set XL is able to overwrite previously loaded .grf files and to reset the list of vehicle IDs which could have been already re-ordered by a previously loaded .grf file itīs best to have this order of .grf entries in "newgrf.cfg":

...
newgrf/dbset.grf
newgrf/tempset.grf
newgrf/cargoset.grf
newgrf/dbsetxl.grf
...

When deactivating .grf files the DB Set XL issues a warning message to give the user a hint for re-arranging his/her newgrf.cfg file.

E.g. if youīre using

...
newgrf/dbset.grf
newgrf/tempset.grf
newgrf/dbsetxl.grf
newgrf/cargoset.grf
...

the warning message "Deactivating CargoSet. Must be loaded before DB Set XL." is given. This is because both the CargoSet and the DB Set XL contain freight wagons, hence those loaded first would be overwritten by the set loaded afterwards. OTOH, because there are no cargo trucks in the different DB Sets youīll still need the CargoSet for availability of trucks.

Therefore, to get the DB Set XL running and to include the trucks of the CargoSet you should have the DB Set XL entry after the CargoSet entry in "newgrf[w].cfg". If you have the CargoSetīs entry after the DB Set XL entry, it would be deactivated to avoid confusion. Of course, this would result in having none of the CargoSetīs trucks available.

OTOH, if you want to use one of the older DB Set versions youīll have to comment out the DB Set XL entry in the "newgrf.cfg" file because it cannot be overwritten by any of the other .grf files, neither by the old DB set versions nor by the TempSet.

Supplying parameters to the DB set XL

The DB set XL uses some default settings, e.g. for using new railway gates or usage of random liveries. However, you can pass parameters to control some of its features. Simply add up the numbers given below and pass the result as a parameter to the DB Set XL:

1 - disable railway gates

The new railway gates of the DB set XL replace the original crossings. There are two types of gates:

  • rural - these are so called "half-gates" outside city centers including traffic cross signs.
  • city - these are full gates in city centers including the usual warning lights.

Depending on the chosen road traffic side, gates will be right- or left-handed, i.e. in the case of half-gates they will be closing on the correct side of the road.

2 - set random livery for tankers

When buying new tankers for crude oil, their livery will be random but uniform for a consist. You can change this to random liveries for every single tanker of a consist by supplying this parameter. Notice however, that tankers for liquid goods will always have time-dependant liveries, i.e. never get randomized.

4 - set random load for stake wagons

In the XL version the stake wagon is able to show eight different steel products. The default sets one of these eight products for the whole consist each time the train is loaded. However, you can change this to a totally random behaviour so that each stake wagon in a consist will show a different product.

8 - disable german-style semaphores

Keep in mind that german-style semaphores are shown only if the switch "signalsontrafficside" has been set to "on" in the file ttdpatch.cfg and the "right" side has been chosen as road traffic side.

Examples

  • "newgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf" - enables new railway gates by default, also sets random liveries of the tankers and random load of the stake wagon to default,
  • "newgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf 1" - disables railway gates,
  • "newgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf 2" - sets random liveries for tankers,
  • "newgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf 3" - disables railway gates and sets random liveries for tankers,
  • "newnewgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf 6" - sets random liveries for tankers and random load for steel.
  • "newnewgrf/dbsetxl[w].grf 11" - disables railway gates and german-style semaphores and sets random liveries for tankers.

Variables to set in ttdpatch.cfg

You need to set following variables in your "ttdpatch.cfg" file:

You should also enable the "realistic kinematic model" of train acceleration to get full benefit from the different engines in the set. I.e. you should include: into your "ttpatch.cfg" file. (Only the settings for trains and monorail/electrics are shown, the last two digits are for maglevs and road vehicles and should also be set to a value of [0 ... 3])

Specialities with the locos

Articulated locomotives

Some of the original electric locomotives are articulated engines, these are implemented internally as double-headed engines (even if youīll notice it only in curves), therefore you must have set the switch "multihead", preferably in the form "multihead 0" (and not the default value "multihead 35"!) to keep power and speed according to the original specifications of those engines.

There are two of these articulated locomotives, which you shouldnīt separate its parts but keep them together at the front of the train (usually the first part unit looking forward and the second part unit looking backwards, use <ctrl>+click when moving them around inside the depot window):

Dual-headed engines

And these are the "normal" dual-headed engines. When used in train sets there will be one head in front (looking forward) and the other on the rear end of the train (looking backward). Again you should use <ctrl>+click to drag them around inside the depot window:

Custom train sets

Historically, many DMUs and EMUs have been used in fixed layouts, due to technical reasons or because the power of the motor heads were limited to move only a specified number of coaches, especially in hilly terrain. To overcome that limitation, often two (or three) of those train sets were linked together, a feature which can be achieved in the DB Set XL either in the traditional way of TTD or by exploiting some of the newest patch features in a much more sophisticated way.

Although there have been already some DMUs and EMUs in recent versions of the DB Set, not all of them have been changed over to the new building scheme from a couple of reasons, mostly game-related.

Since alpha 11 TTDPatch uses a "callback" scheme to enable modifying locomotivesī and wagonsī behaviour in a subtle way. E.g. itīs possible now to have different wagons (powered and unpowered) depending on their position in a consist.

E.g. the DB Set XLīs new ICE-3 train set is no simple "dual-headed" consist anymore, instead a "full consist" is composed as follows:

These different coaches and trailers are made available automatically, i.e. you have to buy only the ICE-3 "engine" (i.e. the first trailer) and then - constantly buying coaches and/or mail vans, either local or long-distance ones with different capacity - these are automatically allocated according to their specific design and data (weight and power) and will even give you the end trailer automatically.

Like in reality, itīs possible to have either a single 8-unit consist or a so-called "double consist" (two linked 8-units). In reality the smallest operational ICE-3 consist has to be composed of 4 units (a "half consist"), so thatīs possible too in the DB Set XL. However, because these half consists donīt look very good, both in reality and in the game, you may try to avoid building them.

There are more custom train sets, however:

Building custom train sets

Whenever buying a custom layout train set, the usual procedure is as follows:

The difference between "double-head" locomotives and "custom train sets" is highlighted in the buying menu by using different icons: "double-head" engines are shown in the usual way (by a combination of a normal and an inverted head) but custom train sets are shown as a part of the real train set.

Other options

In Germany, signals - including semaphores - are on the right side of track (the "arm" pointing outward). To get "german" semaphores (they look different than the british) you have to choose "drive on right side of road" in TTDīs options menu.

The road side to drive on can be changed until the first road vehicle has been bought. In case youīve forgotten to choose the right side to drive on, change the side before buying a road vehicle and save the game. After reload, the side should be corrected.

DB set XL and the AI

The DB set XL is most useful for those of you who like to play without the weird AI. However, for those of you intending to let them participate in building up the world, version 0.8 of the DB Set offers a much better support of the AI as has been possible before.

Now, the AI would be able to use multipart locomotives, itīll built long-distance trains for the longer routes and commuter trains for city lines as well as fitting freight wagons, depending on cargo and the type of industry serviced. With regard to locomotives, itīll even try to use suitable engines depending on the type of cargo transported.

Check the vehicles table what engines the AI will use (the AI always uses the engine with the highest rank at a specific date and if itīll be affordable).

DB set XL and "vehicle.dat"

Because the "vehicle.dat" file will be loaded by TTD after the names in the dbset[w].grf file have been processed, those custom names will overwrite the DB set XLīs engine names. Therefore you should remove or rename an old "vehicle.dat" file in TTDīs directory or switch "vehicle names" to "default" in Game Options.


What vehicles make up the DB set XL?

The DB Set XL is a "full set", i.e. it uses all 35 available original vehicle IDs for train, monorail and maglev engines. In addition there are more than 60 passenger coaches and mail/baggage vans and a full set of freight wagons, mostly generated by special features of TTDPatch like "wagon override" (when adding a passenger or mail carriage to some of the locomotives the graphics of the carriages is changed automatically to fit the train set type) "variational sprites" (the graphics of engines and carriages are changing, mostly when reaching a special date, e.g. to reflect a change in livery) and "wagon refitting".

The DB Set XL also includes freight wagons which are divided in three groups (generations). A first generation of shorter length and smaller capacity wagons is introduced as early as 1920 so thereīll be transporting capacities for all kind of goods. However, more specialized wagons of higher capacities are introduced successively in the later years. In v0.8 a third group for use with the "wagonspeedlimits" feature has been added.

Nearly all of the new freight wagons are refittable to different cargo. Please read how to refit them.

Since alpha 19 TTDPatch supports a more realistic behaviour of locomotives by taking into account their max "tractive effort" which is depending on the "adhesive weight" of an engine. In general, an engine with a higher max tractive effort will be better on grades, regardless of its max speed and also its max power will not be that decisive.

Max tractive effort has been included in the following vehicleīs table. For more information e.g. what engines to use best, read the chapter about tractive effort.

Locomotives

Locomotives
Veh-ID Name Traction Type1 Year Power
[hp] 		Speed
[km/h] 		nax. tractive
effort [kN] 		Capacity2 Reliability
Decay3 		AI
usage4
00 BR92 (pr T135-11) Steam U 1920 500 50 115   9 [1111]
73 BR75 (wü T5) 1922 880 80 101 7 [1110]
01 BR38 (pr P8) 1923 1180 100 138 6 [0101]
02 BR183 P 1925 1715 115 90 12 [0100]
03 BR01 U 1930 2240 130 152 10 [0101]
5B BR85 F 1932 1150 80 280 8 n/a
04 BR05 P 1935 2360 165 154 16 n/a
05 BR45 F 1936 2855 90 260 16 n/a
06 VT-137 Diesel DMU 1933 2 * 5105 150 1157 56 pass. 11 [0100]
07 V-140 U 1936 1400 100 137   25 [0010]
08 VT-08 DMU 1952 2* 1000 120 1287 56 pass. 15 [0100]
09 VT-95 P 150 90 347 40 pass. 6 [1000]
0A BR221(V200) U 1954 2700 140 235   11 [0011]
0B VT-11 DMU 1957 2* 1100 1287 20 mail 11 [0100]
0C BR212 (V100) U 1962 1348 100 176   5 [0010]
0D BR218 (V160) 1968 2500 140 235 6 [1010]
5C BR614 DMU7 1972 2 * 600 977 56 pass. 13 n/a
0E BR232 F 1973 4000 120 410   5 [0001]
0F BR605 (ICE-TD) DMU 1998 2 * 2300 200 160 40 pass. 17 n/a
10 BR612 "RegioSwinger" 2 * 1520 160 1287 72 pass. 17 [1000]
6A DE-AC33C "Blue Tiger" F 1997 3300 517   12 [0001]
71 E 62 (bav. EP1) Electric P 1920 710 60 133 11 n/a
6B BR152 (E52, bav. EP5) P/U 1924 2990 90 196 16 n/a
6C BR116 (E16, bav. ES1) P 1926 3182 120 141 14 n/a
6D ET-87 EMU8 1927 680 100 76 75 Pass. 11 n/a
11 BR175 (E75) U 1928 2175 70 235   16 [1110]
12 BR195 (E95) F 3777 353 15 n/a
6E ET-11 (el T 1900) EMU8 1935 1700 160 74 75 pass. 17 n/a
13 BR144 (E44) U 2530 90 200   8 [1010]
14 BR194 (E94) F 1940 4400 363 5 [0001]
72 BR515 EMU9 1954 220 100 907 56 pass. 5 [1000]
15 ET-30 EMU 1956 2 * 1245 120 2 * 1467 56 pass. 12 [1000]
16 BR140 U 4920 110 320   7 [0011]
18 BR110 (E10) P 4670 150 275 7 [0100]
17 BR150 F 1957 6000 100 443 7 [0001]
19 BR103 P 1969 8090 200 312 8 [0100]
6F BR420 EMU7 1971 3264 14010 181 65 pass. 9 n/a
1A BR155/250 F 1974 7350 125 380   8 [0001]
36 BR181 U 4400 160 271 15 [0010]
70 BR11111 P 1975 5030 150 274 7 [1000]
37 BR120 U 1979 7620 200 340 13 [0110]
38 BR112 P 1990 5650 160 248 8 [1000]
54 BR401 (ICE-1) EMU 2 * 4624 280 200 9 [0100]
55 BR101 U 1996 8700 220 300 13 [0010]
56 BR403 (ICE-3) EMU8 1999 10880 330 46 pass. 13 n/a
57 BR182 U 2001 9520 230   11 [0010]
58 Transrapid 09 MagLev EMU 2010 18000 500 n/a 120 pass. 25 [1110]
1 U = universal, P = passenger, F = freight locomotive, DMU = Diesel multiple unit, EMU = Electric multiple unit,
all DMUs and EMUs, as well as engines marked as bold P wonīt allow attaching of freight wagons,
2 General refittability to passengers and mail.
3 Reliability decay: 5 (98% - best) to 25 (45% - poor).
4 AI engine usage: [1111] = all cargo, [1000] = local passenger service, [0100] = long-distance passenger service,
[0010] = light/fast goods (mail, valuables, livestock, goods, steel, paper),
[0001] = heavy/slow goods (coal, crude oil, grain, iron ore, lumber).
5 real power is 2 * 410 hp.
7 estimated
8 Custom train set, special building procedure required.
9 battery-powered
10 real top speed is 120 km/h.
11Since 1980 in gray/orange "S-Bahn" (commuter) livery w. "wagon override" for local coaches (livery and loading amount).

Coaches and mail vans

Coaches and Mail vans
Veh-ID Name Type 1st Livery Year1 Capacity Load2 speed
limit 		Remarks
28 pre-war DRG Coach local dark green
or brown3 		1920 30 pass. 5 100 short carriages /
limited lifetime
29 pre-war DRG Mail van 18 bags 3
1B DRG Coach Bi dark green 1925 40 pass. 8 140 Type
"Thunder bolt"
1C DRG Mail van Pwi 24 bags 6
2A DRG AB4ü-26 Coach long-distance 56 pass. 7 160 Type "Hecht"
("pike" coaches)
2B DRG Post4ü-26 Mail van 32 bags 8
1B/2A Mitropa WL4ü-24 Dining car dark red 40/56 pass. 5
2A DRG SA 4ü Coach "Rheingold" violet/cream 1928 63 pass. 7 n/a BR18/BR01 only
2B DRG SPw4ü Mail van "Rheingold" 40 bags 8
1B DRG Coach local dark green 1930 40 pass. 8 140  
1C DRG Mail van 24 bags 6
2A DRG VT-137 Coach long-distance violet/cream 1933 56 pass. 14 n/a
2B DRG VT-137 Mail van 32 bags 8 same as coach
2A DRG AB4ü-35 Coach green 1935 56 pass. 7 160 semi-streamlined
2B DRG Pw4ü-35 Mail van 32 bags 8
1B/2A Mitropa WR4ü Dining-car4 dark red 40/56 pass. 5
2A DB Coach Aüm blue 1950 63 pass. 8 n/a "F" train allocation
2B DB Mail van 40 bags 8
1B/2A DB Wrüm Dining-car4 purple red 40/56 pass. 14
2A DB Coach Büm green 56 pass. 8 160  
2B DB Mail van 32 bags 8
2A DB VT-08 Coach purple red 1952 56 pass. 14 n/a
2B DB VT-08 Mail van 32 bags 8 same as coach
1B DB VT-95 Coach local 40 pass. 10  
1C DB VT-95 Mail van 24 bags 8 same as coach
2A DB BR515 Coach 1954 56 pass. 14  
2B DB BR515 Mail van 32 bags 8 same as coach
2A DB ET-30 Coach long-distance 1956 56 pass. 14  
2B DB ET-30 Mail van 32 bags 16 same as coach
2A DB TEE Coach cream/red 1957 56 pass. 8 VT-11 only
2B DB TEE Mail van 32 bags 8
2A DB Rheingold II Coach cream/blue 1960 56 pass. 8 Rheingold allocation
2A DB Rheingold II Dome car 7
2B DB Rheingold II Mail van 32 bags 8
1B DB Coach "Silverfish" local silver 40 pass. 10 140  
1C DB Mail van "Silverfish" 24 bags 12
2A DB TEE Coach long-distance cream/red 1968 56 pass. 8 n/a TEE allocation
2A DB TEE Dome car 7
2B DB TEE Mail van 32 bags 8
1B/2A DB TEE Dining-car4 ("hump" type) 40/56 pass. 5
1B/2A DB TEE Dining-car4 (Pantograph) 1971 40/56 pass. 5
1B DB BR614 Coach local pop, cream/blue,
mint, red 		1972 56 pass. 56 140  
1C DB BR614 Mail van 24 bags 12 same as coach
2A DB Coach long-distance cream/blue 1974 56 pass. 7 160  
2B DB Mail van 32 bags 8
1B DB "S-Bahn" Coach local gray/orange 1975 40 pass. 40 140 BR111 only
1C DB "S-Bahn" Mail van 24 bags 12
2A DB InterRegio Coach long.distance white/blue 1987 56 pass. 14 n/a IR allocation
2B DB InterRegio Mail van 32 bags 16
2A DB Intercity Coach white/red 56 pass. 14 IC allocation
2B DB Intercity Mail van 32 bags 16
1B DB Coach local white/green 40 pass. 20 140  
1C DB Mail van 24 bags 12
2A DB Intercity Coach long-distance white/red 1990 56 pass. 14 n/a ICE-1 only
2B DB Intercity Mail van 32 bags 16
2A DB Intercity "BordRestaurant"4 56 pass. 10
1B DB Coach local red/white 1997 40 pass. 20 140  
1C DB Mail van 24 bags 12
2A DB Intercity Coach long-distance white/red 56 pass. 14 n/a IC allocation
2B DB Intercity Mail van 32 bags 16
1B/2A DB Intercity Dining-car4 56 pass. 14
2A DB Intercity Coach 1998 56 pass. 28 ICE-TD only
2B DB Intercity Mail van 32 bags 16
1B DB RegioSwinger Coach local red/white 40 pass. 40 140  
1C DB RegioSwinger Mail van 24 bags 12 same as coach
2A DB Intercity Coach long-distance white/red 1999 56 pass. 28 n/a ICE-3 only
(same as ICE-TD)
2B DB Intercity Mail van 32 bags 16
59 DB Transrapid 09 Coach 2010 120 pass. 40  
5A DB Transrapid 09 Mail van 54 bags 18 refittable to goods and valuables
2C generic Tender  
1The short coaches and mail vans have a limited life span of 30 years (1920 - 1950).
2Load amount specifies how much cargo is loaded/unloaded per tick.
3Brown w. bavarian locomotives ES1, EP1 and EP5 in brown livery
4Dining-cars are only available in sufficiently long consists, i.e. youīll need 8 coaches or mail vans to get
a dining-car which will replace a normal coach being on the fifth position of the consist (i.e. engine,
tender, coach1, coach2, dining-car, ...).

Train services

Following table summarizes those express train services which can be represented by the DB Set XL. This is done by choosing an appropriate locomotive during the desired time-frame and adding long-distance coaches resp. mail/luggage vans to it. Depending on the type of locomotive, different configurations regarding dining-cars and dome-cars are possible.

Please notice that coaches will be converted to a specific livery only when built within the assigned time-frame.

Normally, a dining-car will be attached if there is a minimum of eight vehicles in a train (incl. engine and tender, if any). However, for those services intending also the use of a dome-car, a dining-car will be attached if there are at least six vehicles in a train and a dome-car for a minimum of eight vehicles.

Some of the trains can be refitted either to their special service or to normal long-distance service (both coaches and mail vans). e.g. using a BR18 in the time frame of 1928 - 1939 its coaches and mail vans may be alternatively refitted to "Rheingold" livery or to the normal green livery of that time. Notice that all express train services get a slightly higher passenger and mail/luggage capacity of 63 passengers (or 40 bags of mail) in contrast to the normal long-distance coaches and mail vans.

In this way, quite interestic and genuine livery schemes can be obtained, e.g. for the V200 which in the years 1950 - 1960 may be used with F-trainīs "Aüm" or normal long-distance coaches, and in 1969 - 1973 w. TEE coaches, alternatively. From 1974 - 1986 itīll use cream/blue long-distance coaches and until 1996 itīll use InterRegio coaches. In addition, you may also include some old or local coaches to boost that special DB feeling further ...

Express services
1928 - 1939     Rheingold refittable?1 intern. Express: (London) - Amsterdam - Switzerland
  BR18 yes  
BR01
1950 - 1959 "F" trains   national and international Express trains
  BR01 yes Dining-car "Wrüm" (purple)
V200
BR110
1960 - 1967     Rheingold   intern. Express: (London) - Amsterdam - Switzerland
  BR110 no Dining-car, Dome-car
1968 - 1986     TEE   Trans-Europe-Express
  BR110 no Dining-car, Dome-car
BR103
V200 yes Dining-car
BR120 no
1987 - 1996     IR   InterRegio (medium-range)
  V200 no  
BR110
BR103
BR111
BR181
1987 - 1996     IC   InterCity (national Express)
  V160 no  
BR120 Dining-car
BR112
ICE-1
BR101
BR182
1997 -     IC/EC   InterCity (national), EuroCity (intern.)
  V160 no Dining-car
BR120
BR112
ICE-1
BR101
ICE-TD  
ICE-3 Dining-car
BR182
1refittability to normal long-distance coaches and mail vans

Freight wagons

For each wagon class (hopper, tanker, ...) there will be successors with a higher speed limit and, possibly, a higher capacitiy in later years.

Freight Wagons
Veh-ID Name Type1 Livery Year Capacity Speed
limit 		Cargo Refittable to
1D DRG low side wagon short brown 1920 15 tons. 60 coal iron ore, grain, goods, lumber, steel, paper
1E DRG tank wagon random crude oil  
1F DRG closed wagon brown livestock goods, mail
22 DRG low side wagon normal 1930 25 tons 80 lumber coal, iron ore, grain, goods
24 DRG flat wagon w. stakes steel lumber, goods, grain (straw ), paper
20 DRG closed wagon3 30 tons goods livestock, goods (beer)
21 DRG high-sided wagon 1935 28 tons grain coal, iron ore, goods
34 DRG tank wagon random 1940 30 tons goods crude oil
23 DB self-discharging hopper brown
red 		1950
1997 		40 tons iron ore coal, grain
3C2 DB closed wagon brown 1950 30 tons 100 goods livestock
31 DB flat wagon w. stakes (heavy load)  
2E DB refrigerator random 120
3B2 DB high-sided wagon brown 1970 30 tons grain coal, iron ore, goods
412 DB flat wagon w. stakes steel lumber, goods, straw (grain), paper
402 DB refrigerator random 140 goods  
33 DB container wagon 1975 40 tons 120
32 DB sliding wall wagon silver/brown
white/red 		1975
1997 		35 tons. 140
2F DB car transporter brown 1980
3D2 DB tank wagon random 40 tons 120 crude oil
422 DB flat wagon w. stakes (heavy load) brown 1990 140  
3F2 DB self-discharging hopper brown
red 		1990
1997 		120 iron ore coal, grain
35 DB tarpaulin wagon silver
red 		160 goods  
1The short wagons have a limited life span: low side wagon (1920 - 1960), tanker (1920 - 1970), closed wagon (1920 - 1980).
2Only available with "wagonspeedlimits"
3Brakeman's cabin in 1930 - 1950 on last wagon



Refitting freight wagons

The following table summarizes refitting possibilities of freight wagons ordered by year of availability:

Wagon refittability
year capacity speed Veh-ID Name goods coal iron ore grain steel paper lumber crude oil livestock mail
1920 15 60 1D low x x x x x x x      
1E tanker               x    
1F box x               x x
1930 25 80 22 low x x x x     x      
24 stake x     x x x x      
30 20 box x1              x  
1935 28 21 high x x x x            
1940 30 34 tanker x             x    
1950 120 2E reefer x                  
100 3C box x               x  
31 stake x                  
40 80 23 hopper   x x x            
1970 30 120 3B high x x x x            
41 stake x     x x x x      
140 40 reefer x                  
1975 35 32 slide x                  
1975 40 120 33 container x                  
1980 30 3D tanker x             x    
35 140 2F car x                  
1990 40 42 stake x                  
120 3F hopper   x x x            
160 35 tarp x                  
1refittable to piece goods or beer.

Most of the freight wagons are refittable for a different number of cargoes but itīs only possible to refit a whole consist rather than a single wagon. To do this you have to link the wagons you want to refit to a locomotive and then you can use the refitting button in the train window when being inside a depot to get a "refitting list".

Now, this refitting list will contain all the cargoes which the (possibly different) wagons of a consist will be refittable to, i.e. the refitting list will show a combination of the refittable cargoes of all wagons of that consist.

E.g. if you have two types of wagons in a consist and type "a" will be refittable to "coal" and "iron ore" and type "b" will be refittable to "wood" and "goods" then the combined list will read {coal, iron ore, wood, goods}. Now, if you refit the consist to "goods", all wagons of type "b" in that consist will be refitted to "goods", (obviously, not the ones of type "a"). If youīll do a second refit to "iron ore", all wagons of type "a" will be refitted to "iron ore", but not the wagons of type "b".

Although youīll have only single type cargo trains most of the time, itīs possible to carry out more complex refitting actions:

E.g. if you have two types of wagons in a consist and type "a" will be refittable to "goods" and type "b" will be refittable to "wood" and "goods" then the combined list will read {wood, goods}. Now, if you want only wagons of type "a" to be refitted to "goods" but not those of type "b", you have to de-couple those type "b" wagons during refitting. Thatīs called shunting - a long-missed feature in TTD. :o)

Youīll find a graphical carriage allocation scheme on the Patagonia TTD page and thereīs also additional information (including images) about each of the original locomotives on that web page.


Tractive effort and choice of locomotives

Whatīs "tractive effort"?

"Tractive effort" is the force that a locomotive can apply to pull a train. Itīs a function of power and speed:

(1) TE = P / v

However, TE is limited by "adhesion" which is a measure of the resistance of friction to slippage, in this case between the powered wheelīs surface and the rail.

I.e. the max force that a locomotive can generate in order to pull a train is limited by its weight and the amount of adhesion that it can maintain without wheel slippage: once the wheels start to slip the pulling force is lost.

(2) TE_max = W adh * ĩ

where ĩ = 0.20 ... 0.33, depending on the condition of the steel surfaces (roughness, moisture, ...).

The attached diagram shows tractive effort vs. speed for the BR101 electric engine. The blue line is tractive force according to friction, the black hyperbola is the tractive force according to motor power (Eq. 1) and the red line is the max speed.

Thus, for motion, only area 3 will be usable: Area 1 is beyond max friction, which results in wheel slippage, for area 2 the tractive effort is too low. If it wasnīt, wheels would slip, too. In area 4 wheels wouldnīt slip at all but the tractive effort is too low, either. And area 5 is inaccessible because itīs beyond max speed. Anyway, notice that TE at max speed is only a third of TE_max.

What engines to use best?

Because tractive effort is limited usually by the power of the engine but only for very small speeds by the ratio of weight and adhesive weight this will have consequences for choice of locomotives, especially in mountaineous terrain.

Many high-speed locomotives, especially steam locomotives, have only powered half of their axles. This makes them rather unsuitable for steep grades. OTOH especially electrics with all axles powered are very well suited for such a terrain.

The following table summarizes maximum train weights for the DB setīs passenger and freight locomotives (ex DMUs and EMUs) and ttdīs extraordinarily steep grades. You can easily calculate the max number of coaches or wagons from the max train weight numbers, taking into account your setting of the "freighttrains" switch. Engines with highest max tractive effort have been highlighted: these are best suited for steep grades:

Hauling capacities of locomotives
Veh-ID Name Traction Type1 Year Power
[hp] 		max speed
[km/h] 		max. tractive
effort [kN] 		max train
weight [t]
00 BR92 (T13) Steam U 1920 500 60 115 217
73 BR75 1922 880 80 100 188
01 BR38 (pr P8) 1923 1180 100 140 264
02 BR18 P 1925 1715 115 90 170
03 BR01 U 1930 2240 130 153 288
5B BR85 F 1932 1150 80 280 539
04 BR05 P 1935 2360 165 142 274
05 BR45 F 1936 2855 90 267 519
07 V-140 Diesel U 1936 1400 100 131 252
0A BR221(V200) 1954 2700 140 237 452
0C BR212 (V100) 1962 1348 100 177 334
0D BR218 (V160) 1968 2500 140 231 435
0E BR232 F 1973 4000 120 414 780
6A DE-AC33C "Blue Tiger" 1997 3300 160 517 971
71 E62 Electric P 1920 710 60 131 247
6B BR152 (E52) U 1924 2992 90 196 369
6C BR116 (E16) P 1926 3182 120 141 266
11 BR175 (E75) U 1928 2175 70 236 445
12 BR195 (E95) F 1928 3777 70 355 669
13 BR144 (E44) U 1935 2530 90 199 375
14 BR194 (E94) F 1940 4400 90 364 686
16 BR140 U 1956 4920 110 322 607
18 BR110 (E10) P 4670 140 275 518
17 BR150 F 1957 6000 100 445 839
19 BR103 P 1969 8090 200 316 596
1A BR155/250 F 1974 7350 125 384 724
36 BR181 U 1974 4400 160 272 513
70 BR111 P 1975 5030 150
37 BR120 U 1979 7620 200 344 648
38 BR112 P 1990 5650 160 249 469
55 BR101 U 1996 8700 220 305 575
57 BR182 2001 9520 230
1 U = universal, P = passenger, F = freight locomotive.

What can be seen from the table is firstly, that steam engines are very weak in general. This is due to their low "adhesive weight". E.g. the BR01 has a total weight of 114 Mp but its adhesive weight is only 60 Mp. This is corresponding to the axle scheme 2'C1'. OTOH the BR92 has a weight of 57 Mp which is identical to its adhesive weight (because there are no non-powered axles). This enables to pull a higher load as the BR75, although the BR 92 has a power of 500 hp but the BR75 has 880 hp.

On the other hand, heavy (and usually slower) 6-axle diesel and electric engines are far superior. Even the modern lighter 4-axle (passenger) locomotives arenīt as bad because their built-in "slip control" causes a better use of the available tractive effort.


What about the DB set XL liveries?

The german Reichsbahn (DRG) and the DB were using quite a couple of different liveries of those the most important ones have been collected into the following table.

Liveries of german railways
Co. colour RAL code colour name Vehicles
DRG 1920 - 1945
  Locomotives
  9005 jet black Steam locomotives
  3005 wine red Streamlined steamers BR03 and 05 1928 -
  8017 chocolate brown Electrics - 1927
  70181 blue gray Electrics 1927 - 42
  3004 purple red Train sets
    1001/3004 beige / purple red Train sets 1929 - 1941
    1001/40002 beige / violet SVT train sets 1937 -
Coaches
  6008 brown green - july 1939
  6007 bottle green july 1939 - 1959
    1001/4000 beige / violet "Rheingold" express 1937 -
  3005 wine red "Mitropa" sleeping and dining cars
  3003 ruby red "DSG" dining cars - 1954
Freight wagons
  7011 iron grey tankers
  9022 pearl light grey reefers
  8012 red brown all other wagons
DB Locomotives
  1948 - 1974
  9005jet black Steam locomotives
  3004purple red Diesels 1955 -
  6007bottle green Electrics 1953 - 59
  6020chrome green Electrics w. max speed < 120km/h 1959 - 75
  5011steel blue Electrics w. max speed > 120 km/h 1955 - 60
  5013cobalt blue Electrics w. max speed > 120 km/h 1960 -
    1001/3004 beige / purple red "TEE" service 1965 - 75
1974 - 1986
    1014/5020ivory / ocean blue diesels, electrics and train sets
    7035/2012light gray / salmon orange "S-Bahn" engines
1986 - 1996
  3031orient red diesels, electrics and train sets
1996 -
  3020traffic red diesels, electrics and train sets
Coaches
1948 - 1974
  6007bottle green local and long-distance 1948 - 1958
  6020chrome green 1959 - 75
   aluminium "Silverfish" local
  5011steel blue "F" trains (fast services) 1959 - 60
  5013cobalt blue "F" trains (fast services) 1961 - 75
    1001/5011beige / steel blue "Rheingold" express 1953 - 62
    1001/5013beige / cobalt blue "Rheingold" express 1962 - 66
    1001/3004beige / purple red "TEE" express 1965 - 75
  3004purple red Dining cars 1965 -, Sleeping cars 1970 -
    7035/2012light gray / salmon orange "S-Bahn"
1974 - 1986
    1014/5020ivory / ocean blue medium and long-distance
1986 - 1996
    7035/6033light grey / mint turquoise local coaches
    7035/7042light grey / traffic grey A luggage vans
    7035/5053light grey / distant blue "InterRegio" (medium-distance)
    7035/5053light grey / orient red EC/IC (EuroCity/InterCity) (long-distance)
1996 -
    7035/3020light grey / traffic red local coaches, EC/IC 1996 - 2000
    3020/7035traffic red / light grey IC 2000 -
Freight wagons
  7011 iron grey tankers 1942 - 74
  7022 umbra grey tankers 1974 -
  9022 pearl light grey reefers 1942 - 74
  7032 pebble grey reefers 1974 -
  8012 red brown all other wagons - 1996
  3020 traffic red all other wagons 1996 -
1RAL 7018 no longer available, instead RAL 7031 is shown
2RAL 4000 no longer available, instead RAL 4001 (lilac red) is shown which seems to be
slightly brighter

Depending on launch year and lifetime, the DB set XLīs engines will have different and changing liveries. When an engine is first introduced it will come in the actual livery of this time. If youīre buying an engine at a later date when livery has changed the new bought engine will be in this new livery. Of course your old engines will stay in their old liveries (and thus will be easy detectable as "old" engines ...)

Again, for an overview about possible liveries for all the engines of the set, check the carriage allocation scheme.


Known Bugs

The railway gates are made by simple sprite replacement of the original tiles, i.e. both old and new ones are "flat" tiles which lack height information. Consequently, in some rare circumstances there will be clipping errors, e.g. caused by high buildings on a neighbouring tile, or when a vehicle passes in front of an open gate. These effects cannot be avoided by using flat tiles and therefore are normal.

Thereīs a small bug in TTDPatchīs randomized cargo routine which cannot handle the case that a random trigger which is attached to the consist instead of a single vehicle should not be randomized again even if the engine of the consist is replaced. As a consequence, tankers are changing livery when replacing the engine of its consist and having a parameter of 2 supplied to the DB Set XL.

Due to an attempt to spare some sprites, only "symmetrical" mail vans have been designed to show loading states. Because a symmetrical wagon (i.e. no backlights) needs only 4 sprites but an asymmetrical vehicle (i.e. w. backlights) needs 8 we could spare 12 sprites per van (assuming three extra loading states). If you want to have loading states for local and long-distance mail vans, donīt put them last in a consist. The short "pre-war" and the "Rheingold" mail vans are showing loading states when last in a train, though.

Passenger capacities for custom train sets could be wrong due to TTDPatchīs missing callbacks for capacity, i.e. at the time being itīs impossible to adjust the capacity of standard passenger coaches when adding them to a custom train set which uses different capacities for itīs coaches.


History - Bug fixes

V0.80 (Nov 30th)

V0.71 (June 20th)

V0.7 (May 31th)

V0.64 (Apr 4th)

V0.63 (Feb 18th)

V0.62 (Feb 18th)

V0.61 (Feb 11th)

V0.6 (Feb 9th)

V0.5 (Nov 15th, 2003):

v0.4 (Sept 16th, 2003):

v.0.3 (August 16th, 2003):



Further plans

There are still some ideas to enhance further the DB Set XL but most of them rely on specific patch features which havenīt been implemented yet:

track maintenance vehicles
Such vehicles have been designed already but ATM thereīs no real usage for them in the game, this could be changed by implementing a "trackmaintenancecosts" feature.

driving trailers
Those are very common today sparing time by not to have the train reversing at end of line stations. Nevertheless, in TTD trains are reversed instantaneously and only travelling with their locomotive in front.

Copyright Notice

DB Set - © 2003 Michael Blunck - All Rights Reserved.

DB Set XL - © 2004 Michael Blunck - All Rights Reserved.

This Software is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. All copyrights in and to the Software are owned by the aforementioned copyright holder.

Permission to use, copy and distribute this software (consisting of the graphics and its implementation code) and its documentation for non-commercial purposes, without fee and without a signed licensing agreement, is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice, this paragraph and the following four paragraphs appear in all copies and distributions. Contact the above Copyright holder for commercial licensing opportunities.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

THE SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION, IF ANY, PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS PROVIDED "AS IS". THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER HAS NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.

ALL COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

ALL REDISTRIBUTION OF THIS SOFTWARE TO OTHER PARTIES FOR COMMERCIAL USE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.


Acknowledgements

The availability of new vehicles was only made possible by the outstanding work of Josef Drexler and Marcin Grzegorczyk on TTDPatch. In particular Iīd like to express my gratitude to Josef for the fruitful collaboration during further developing the TTDPatch.

The short "time to market" of version 0.8 could only be achieved by Raichase who made his way through quite a big number of test games in an indefatigable bug-hunting.

Iīd like to thank Georg Ringler for help with the DB coachesī colour scheme and the reliability numbers for the engines.


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