See summary below! Since I have seen some questions regarding the new shut down feature on the BR101 Expert, rather than answer each question repeatedly in different threads I thought I would make a thread here explaining everything. Firstly, to set the context I will explain how the shutdown function works and where to locate it. 1. Press the "St" soft key on top of the EBuLa screen (right screen on the BR101). This will take you to the Sim Control page. 2. From here you can press soft key "5" which gives you two options "Long Layover" and "Electrical Only". The former simulates that the locomotive has been shut down for an extended with air reserves low, while the electrical only option simulates a shorter shutdown. Electrical Only should allow you to raise the pantographs and close the main circuit breaker without having to start the auxiliary compressor, so this guide will focus on the "Long Layover" option. Both the pantograph and the main circuit breaker are pneumatically actuated on the BR101. Air pressure is used to raise the pantograph and to close the spring-loaded main circuit breaker. The air controlling both of these mechanisms is taken from a small auxiliary reservoir ("Vorratluftsbehälter SA/HS") that is fed air from the main reservoir via a check valve or the auxiliary compressor. There is a gauge located at the top of the brake equipment panel ("Bremsgerätetafel") inside the machine room which indicates the pressure of the auxiliary reservoir. To raise the pantograph the following conditions have to be satisfied: (i) The pantograph cutoff valve has to be closed, (ii) The battery has to be enabled and the LSS Pantograph/Main Circuit Breaker has to be closed. (iii) The reverser in one cab has to be in R, M or V ("Reverse", "Neutral" or "Forward") (iv) The pressure in the auxiliary reservoir has to be above 4.8 bar In the "Long Layover" preset, the fourth condition can sometimes be false. If this is the case the auxiliary compressor has to be started ("Hilfsluftpresser"). It is controlled by the big breaker on the breaker panel in the machine room "LSS Hilfsluftpresser"). Closing the breaker with the battery turned on will start the auxiliary compressor as long as the pressure is below 4.8 bar, if the pressure is above 4.8 bar the breaker will not latch closed. If the compressor starts it will automatically stop (the breaker opens) when the pressure exceeds 7.0 bar. Some of you might already suspect that these conditions could cause issues in certain situations I will get to that in a moment. Okay, so suppose you have raised the pantograph, now you want to close the main circuit breaker. The main circuit breaker has several conditions that need to be satisfied for it to close, I will go over the most important ones: (i) The voltage in the overhead line has to be above 10.5 kV and below 18.5 kV (you will not be able to close the MCB on 25 kV routes or 1.5 kV routes, except if you enable Off Rail which fakes the voltage to be what the locomotive requires) (ii) Both LSS HBU Lasten has to be closed (iii) At least 2 HBU have to be operational (working and LSS closed) (iv) No HBU or ASG regrouping program have to be active (can be seen on the MTD as a status message) (v) Battery voltage has to exceed 85 V (vi) Reverser has to be in R, V or M (vii) The throttle has to be in "0" (viii) the pressure in the auxiliary reservoir has to be 7 bar. For those that paid attention they will now see that we have a problem. If the auxiliary compressor will not start if the pressure is above 4.8 bar, but the main circuit breaker will not close if the pressure is below 7.0 bar there is a range between 4.8 bar and 7.0 bar where the locomotive can get soft locked What do you do if this happens? Well, you will have to drain the auxiliary reservoir. This is done by opening a small valve under the main compressor Drain the valve until the pressure on the gauge shown previously indicates less than 4.8 bar and then start the auxiliary compressor again. NOTE: Since the pantograph is raised by a piston-cylinder it will drain air from the auxiliary reservoir when raised, which could decrease the pressure below the 7.0 bar criteria for the main circuit breaker! Make sure to raise the pantograph while the auxiliary compressor is still compressing, unless the main reservoir is above 7.0 bar. Summary: 1. The pantograph requires the auxiliary reservoir pressure to be above 4.8 bar. 2. The main circuit breaker requires the auxiliary reservoir pressure to be equal to 7.0 bar. 3. The auxiliary compressor will only operate between 4.8 bar and 7.0 bar so the locomotive can get soft locked if the auxiliary reservoir is between these pressures and the main circuit breaker is open. 4. Use the auxiliary reservoir drain valve to drain the auxiliary reservoir to below 4.8 bar if you get soft-locked, and then make sure to raise the pantograph while the auxiliary compressor is still operating.
"Make sure to raise the pantograph while the auxiliary compressor is still compressing, unless the main reservoir is above 7.0 bar." That was the trick thanks! cwf.green No i can start the loco and activate the MCB with no issues
I'm raising this thread from the dead since I'm curious, now that there's been some time since the BR 101 Expert patch was pushed out and also the Kassel-Würzburg Expert gameplay pack has bee released, what is your opinion on the auto shutdown feature? Do you often or was once enough? Or perhaps you haven't tried yet? On the Kassel-Würzburg Gameplay pack there is a service (T 64255) where you have to start up the locomotive from "cold and dark" before departing. Would you be interested in more of such services (not necessarily just with a light loco but perhaps a whole train) in the future?
I don't have the new pack but I like to use that feature quite often when freeroaming. I would love if even non-expert locos had such button
Definitely yes. In my opinion we definitely have not enough opportunities to use all of the features this loco offers. It would also be interesting to start up the entire train, so im all for that too.
Just yesterday I played the ‘rescue’ scenario and I loved it. It was one of those few times in TSW where I felt like a real life train driver, with all those radio communications, it was spectacular! Yes, of course... I'd love to see more of this. Feeling like you start your working day and you have to prepare that amazing engine! There was just one thing that struck me as odd, and that is that a lot of the cold start instructions were being completed automatically because the buttons and switches were already in the correct position. I would have liked to have had to do absolutely everything myself. cwf.green Is there any chance of this being the case in other scenarios?
I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed the scenario, I'll let Fabian know Regarding the auto-completing steps these were intentional to show what switches would be moved during the V1 train preparation checklist, but since these are already in the default positions it auto completes. I'm sure in future scenarios we will situations where some of these switches need to be set to a different position
Are you planing a new Expert Timetable for Frankfurt Fulda, because the copied Timetable is Full of Bugs? Are You replacing the wrong 423 with the 430 from S-Bahn Frankfurt then?
I definitely do. I really miss the opportunity to take over the train at the depot in the morning, set everything up and prepare it for the journey, and perform a cold start of the locomotive at TSW.
Can this locomotive be use like the normal DB BR101, I mean without have to go to Berlitz to set it up, I mean just driving it I would be interested to get it, especially for the latest pack, but I do not read, and much less speak german :-(
If you do not have enough knowlage about German switch you're game to English and text and voiceover is in English
The game is already in English, from what I read the setup screen are all in German, so are the driving annoucement like all the german locomotive I am looking to use it, if at all possible just to enjoy the regular (I have inspiration to become a real-life train driver) driving like all the other locomotive, but the rear locomotive look interesting, and the play pack does as well
Ah okay then i can only share the EN manual with the translations: https://media.dovetailgames.com/Manuals/Train Sim World 4 DB BR 101 Expert Driver's Manual.pdf
The manual is well done, but not use full when you are trying to drive, you need to understand right away what is happening, so trying to find the proper information while driving not exactly the best way to enjoy, it would instead make a run extremely stressful
Yeah but why you should need the manual while driving? I guess you need them to translate the faults that will show up right? But you need some basics in German to understand this loco. Try to teach you're self some German is the only option. They will not translate the information to English thats not realistic. But you know you can deactivate the Fault Simulation right? Than you can use this loco as the normal 101 but with a littlebit more. But you did not get any faults.
I use Google translate on my phone which allows you to use the phone’s camera to view the screen in the 101 and it translates the messages into English in real time. It is pretty easy to use and after a while you actually start to pick- up some basic phraseology.
fault simulation is just a feature of expert mode and can be disable while keeping on expert mode. fault simulation just requires expert mode to be on it should be defaulted as off afaik but you can look in the manual on how to disable it in the loco
Not really. Expert mode will make a big difference in terms of difficulty (since it enabled the fault simulation), but the underlying physics is still the same between Expert mode On and Off, and that physics simulation is significantly more complex than the standard BR 101 (I think I can credibly make that assessment since I worked quite a bit on the BR 101 for the free TSW3 update). The machine room doesn't exist on the original BR 101. On the BR 101 Expert, even when Expert mode is disabled, all the breakers (almost 120 all in all) and pneumatic cut-off valves are simulated and present. Just don't forget to enable the electric train supply, or batteries load shedding can still ruin your day even without Expert mode enabled Another big difference between the original and Expert BR 101 is how PZB and LZB are simulated (if you choose to enable them). On the BR 101 Expert, changing PZB mode is done via the ZDE (or MFD), there is no physical PZB Mode switch. Additionally, on the original BR 101 you couldn't change LZB data, which you can on the BR 101 Expert. If none of this interests you, or it doesn't make a difference to you, then an Expert locomotive might not be your cup of tea. Though I guess the Bpmmbdzf 286.1 cab car might be a big enough difference maker My recommendation would be to watch some gameplay videos or streams of the DLC, whether the locomotive counts as simple, when Expert mode is disabled will be highly dependent on the individual. While accessibility is something that I think we can always do better (and we have some plans for that with the next Expert locomotive), I still think that the learning curve is relatively smooth, if steep. You can start with Expert mode disabled, and play the tutorials, then when you feel more comfortable with the locomotive and want a challenge, you can enable Expert mode and start by using the manual as a "quick reference handbook" to look up how to handle a given fault, rather than reading it end to end.
In my opinion take some time to teach your'e self to understand what this loco has to offer. If you do you, you have the feeling of driving a real loco. And also for me it feels a big step ahead if you compare it with the general locos and trains in TSW
You actually reminded me of something I wanted to ask but forgot about. How happy are you with LZB curves? Sometimes I notice the curve is very aggressive and I wonder if this is according to reality. Like, double the aggressive as signal-led train would have. This is a screen from SKA (importantly it's from May already, so not the newest 101 update I believe). There is a Hp 0 at usual 1000 meters from me. If signal-led, here I would start braking down from 160 km/h and still have enough time to stop, perhaps a little nervous in the conditions, but enough. LZB however started generating braking curve long ago and by the Ks 2 I am already being ordered at 100 km/h, much and much lower than a signal-led train would have to be here. It's an IC consist, so I put 180-200 BrH in, enough to stop from full speed..?
Locomotive 101 expert has one disadvantage for me. I only drive the expert locomotive and leave the other locomotives in the depot. The whole simulation is amazing. I learned a lot of new things. Just one small thing. When there is a cold start of the expert locomotive in the timetable, I need at least 15 minutes to prepare the locomotive.
I read about the battery. But, it turns out, the startup procedure is no different in expert and normal mode? Is it just as complicated that nothing will work without reading the manual? Do you need your calculator to enter the correct train data to make it run and complete the scenario? In non-expert mode.
I am happy with the LZB curves we have simulated. They are based on a combination of Ril 457 data and the BR101 LZB diagnostics page for the common BRH values that IC trains use. I don't mean any offence, but I think you may have gotten the logic a bit backwards One of the strengths of LZB is that you don't need high deceleration rates to achieve the brake curves. The reason why PZB requires such a high deceleration rate when the VMZ is 160 km/h is due to the limited (1000m) pre-signal distance. This limitation doesn't exist with LZB (it's kind of the whole point of LZB) and you can have advanced warnings up to 13 km in front of the target point. For example, with LZB it is possible to drive a freight train with low Brh, in brake mode G, at 140 km/h, something that would never be possible with PZB. For an IC train with BRH 18 or 20 a reasonable rule of thumb is 1000m for 100 km/h, 2000m for 160 km/h and 3000m for 200 km/h (as verified on the real locomotive). It depends on what you mean by "startup procedure". If you mean starting up the locomotive from a "cold and dark" state, then yes, the procedure is essentially the same with Expert mode toggled on or off. In the timetable services that require a startup from this state, you could skip the pre-departure tests and just do the critical steps (battery on, pantograph raised, main circuit breaker closed) and the locomotive will be drivable after the main reservoir has been charged. However, the Expert tutorial and several of the Kassel-Würzburg Expert Gameplay pack scenarios explain and walk you through the full startup, so there should be enough opportunities to train before you actually have to do it by memory. However, if by startup you simply mean the steps required to make the train ready for departure in most timetable services, then Expert mode disabled will already have pre-set the train data so you just need to insert the reverser, move it forward, unlock the brake valve, release the brakes and go. Just to reiterate: you do not need the manual to learn how to start up the locomotive, either from cold and dark or from the normal state in the timetable. You are walked through these steps in both the Expert tutorial and several of the scenarios. The manual is for a deeper dive into the systems of the locomotive, more detailed descriptions of certain procedures, and trouble shooting faults. As mentioned above, in timetable service the train data is pre-set already, so you don't need to touch the train data panel (ZDE). In all scenarios that come with the BR 101 Expert DLC, the train data configuration is given to you, so there is no need for manual calculation. In the Kassel-Würzburg Expert Gameplay pack, there are iirc two instances where you would need to figure out the train data yourself, but there are hints and if you fail there is a an option to "cheat". The timetable services also include the train data in the description, so if you do play with Expert mode enabled, you can just copy that (though you'll need to convert the "Brh" from the description into the BRH input value, using the conversion table printed on the back wall of the cab of the BR 101).
No no, that's why I am asking if this is to reality, only just realised that the language I used in the previous post makes it sound like a bug report more than a question. Because intuitively you have two brake curves available as output from the system, the explicit one, and the one that is 30 km/h under it (when the indicator lights up). I would have expected that the lower one is the "comfortable" one and the higher one is the "safety" one, so I was mostly driving according to the lower one. I didn't realise the higher one is already the comfortable one To me it seems like it unnecessarily limits the driver, you can certainly make a comfortable stop from 100 km/h even in way less than 1000 meters. Thanks for answering!
cwf.green Isn't it an idea to first release the manual that's still pending in English, and then later publish a corrected version in German? The current version of the manual is simply too limited especially when you look at the startup process when the locomotive is completely dead. That part is not properly described in version 1.0 and is therefore essentially not documented. Raph wants to wait for Lukas, but that's really going to take quite a while. I'd say just put it online it might not be ideal, but it's better to have something than nothing. Everyone has been waiting so long for an improved version, and many people are running into these issues. The most German users are very capable to read English so is not very productive this way i believe.
