I long had an idea to make some tool to help me remember the routes when returning to them, especially when driving freight trains as those require a bit of route knowledge and foresight if you want to avoid panic braking and stopping for no reason. Eventually I started developing sort of mix between Ebula and Book timetable that holds most of the points of interest along the route, that I can either print out and build a book of all (german) routes we have in TSW, or that I can have displayed on a tablet next to my PC when driving. I am working on a first pack of routes I plan to publish some time soon, but I figured some of you could like to have it at least for the new route that you don't remember yet. The format should be familiar to those who poke around what tools real train drivers use, but for the rest of you just a short explanation: The main part you watch is the "KM" column that says what lies where. These correspond to the large hectometer signs you see on every third or fourth catenary pillar. If the column is split by a horizontal line, counting distance changes at this point. To the left of it you have allowed track speeds - a number at the place where change happens, and a bar alongside its validity. If the speed is in parentheses, it is not dictated by standard Lf7 sign, but by signals. If the speed is in inverted colors, it is unannounced change with Lf7 (and advance Lf6 warning) missing. Signalled speed within stations (when going to non-through tracks) is varying and hence not marked here. Signal speeds are marked only when all trains are expected to be slowed down by the signal to the same speed. Your maximum allowed train speed might be lower than allowed track speed. The wide column on the right contains the points of interest that are located on the marked location: Esig, Zsig, Asig - entry, intermediate and exit signals in stations ¥ - end of junctions and end of speed restrictions imposed by previous signal Bksig, Sbk - block signals alongside the route Bü - level crossing Name in bold - station or other railway facility (junction, freight-only station) that may or may not be where your train is stopping ▽ - insufficient braking distance to next signal The data for this I collected from the game itself, so it is likely not corresponding with reality outside of the game. Let me know if I missed something you think is important. Routes Currently contained routes are: BRO: Bremen - Oldenburg DCZ: Dresden - Chemnitz DRA: Dresden - Riesa / Meißen / Großenhein FTF: Frankfurt(M) - Fulda HBK: Hamburg - Lübeck LFR: Mainz - Koblenz MSB: Aschaffenburg - Gemünden MTB: Aschaffenburg - Miltenberg NID: Bad Vilbel - Stockheim RSN: Hagen - Finnentrop SEM: Wiener Neustadt - Mürzzuschlag SKA: Köln - Aachen – new to this pack SRM: Rosenheim - Salzburg – updated in this pack VRBG: Lindau - Bludenz The complete pack can be downloaded from Train Sim Community here. Some routes can be downloaded individually in posts below, but they may no longer be up to date. Due to size limits on the forums, new packs will only be uploaded to the community website.
Thats incredible, just used it and its lovely! And you plan on doing this for every route? That'd be insane. This is exactly what I wanted or even loved if it was provided with every route. Simple enough that you can drive the track without HUD if you want to, just gotta know where to stop and when. But thats fine by me. Thank you very much for this!
Impressive! I had built my own Excel timetable sheets, but your layout is much more convenient. Well done!
Honestly if they could implement a simplified Timetable (dare I call it Ebula) into the trains like that it'd be such a good first step. Like every route you have the basic information as represented in this timetable. Obviously you have that information for every route. Now, theres also the information for every train and when it has to be at which station. If this was implemented, so that it automatically detects which service you drive and whatnot and it'd just fill in the arrival/depart times of each station everytime it'd be so great. Sure, an actual EbuLa has much more functions and so on. But with that simplified way it would at least be possible to drive completely hudless. You'd just need to monitor your own position constantly, but that was done in the past too :P
You've actually given me an idea to implement this in a simple program (could be as easy as some VBA code in Excel) that could run on a side monitor or laptop. Every time you pass a POI you press a button and the 'current position' indicator moves, scrolling the window as required. Every time you press another button, your arrival time at a certain POI/station is noted, so you remember when it's safe to close the doors. When starting a service, you 'd be able to enter arrival times, timetable n°, train n° etc. Not as convenient as an actual ebula, but better than my paper solution now. I'll follow up.
There's the Beta - "ebula" Tool For Dresden - Chemnitz | Dovetail Games Forums. For 2017 I found this which is the TS-MFD, quite impressive. Then there are plenty of documents, like this one which is updated frequently. And some modify the MFD texture. Then there's the timetable site here. etc etc The missing EBuLa sure makes people creative! If TSW had an SDK/API or whatever then I'm sure someone would implement a fully working EBuLa
I don't think the game tracks enough information to have ebula moving automatically by location (I am fairly sure the hectometer signs are purely visual objects), but things like stations the service passes through and times of arrival and departure the game definitely knows. So if DTG wanted, some very simplified version is absolutely possible.
The streckenkilometer and speeds added to a more condensed looking timetable (when pressing T) would be really nice to have too. But to be honest, I think DTG would rather focus on creating new DLC's. The old routes are being preserved, and not necessarily improved with new tech, unless it's global and portable like the TSW2/TSW3 thing. I hope I'm wrong though
By chance I do I have added an archive with bunch of DRA (Nahverkehr Dresden) timetables to the first post. Some new symbols appeared: Km column split by horizontal line - change of distance counting at this point ▽ in front of a signal - insufficient braking distance to next signal If you find some errors, let me know. Drive safely!
You're the best! Heads up to you if you actually pull through and make one for every route. For now this is the best Ebula/Buchfahrplan kinda document I've found so far
Good news everyone! I've added HBK (Hamburg - Lübeck) timetables to the first post. Now you will finally be able to anticipate that awful brake-check on the hazardous bridge in Bargteheide
I've created LFR (Linke Rheinstrecke: Mainz - Koblenz) in my standardized format Download is in attachment of this post.
Thanks to tygerways#2596's youtube channel (with many cool educational videos I recommend) I got a refreshed feeling for NID (Niddertalbahn: Bad Vilbel - Stockheim) and finally finished my book timetable for this route as well. With a little bonus in the archive this time, although normal version is of course still available
Love it! A book timetable for SKA Köln-Aachen would be amazing, too That would be so nice. A plain API to draw a frame in the MFD and maybe retrieve basic route info would enable so many possibilities
Yep, my first thought was how nice it would be to have this amazing work additionally in EBuLa style, in order to scroll it bottom to top on my iPad. But this version is very, very good and helpful, too, please don’t get me wrong! There was an EBuLa for iPad once, but that was never completed. And due to the fact that there is no API it needs to move by hand anyway. Really love your work, noir !
Let's make use of my mood for TSW in last days before I get inevitably disappointed with TSW4 release and go play something else for next half a year again RSN (Ruhr-Sieg Nord: Hagen - Finnentrop) is now available. Use timetables to/from Hagen Gbf for freight trains, and to/from Hagen Hbf for passenger trains.
I have tried many various styles before settling upon this one, including an ebula bottom to top screen style, but it felt really confusing unless you had some real experience with the system. Eventually I settled on keeping the ebula simplicity (there are "real"ish book timetables from other authors), but made in a way that it makes it easier to follow if you are still learning, which is most of the intended audience. And as a bonus, it works great also if you decide to print it out instead of being locked to tablet-only
Maybe it is easy for me cause I‘m familiar with driving using EBuLa. But anyway, your work is great, no matter in what layout.
I WISH we had a working ebula in game, I'm so tired of having an empty screen and having to rely on the HUD for most of the time. For now, ig I'll just have to wait till DTG actually gets around to making one... probably TSW7.
Agreed! I'm opening the documents in Drawboard PDF and then use the "Invert document" toggle to make them white-on-black
Now with the PC Editor out and some people already doing modifications to the exterior and interior of locomotives, maybe you could collaborate with a creator/modder to get your Buchfahrplan tables onto the empty EbuLa screen or the cabin in general in any way? We've already seen some nice modifications like a cup of coffee in its dedicated holder in the cab of a BR 101 made by nourthelokdriver . So, maybe having a paper on the the EbuLa screen or otherwise some imprinted papers of your Buchfahrpläne laid or fixed anywhere in the cabin, for example the co-pilot's dashboard, maybe could be a doable thing, I think. The only issue is that of course these would kind of need to be route-dependent modifications, which I think is challenging. However, an independent tool to choose of several of your Buchfahrpläne could maybe do the trick, tough.
I think, honestly, DTG should let the community help out with QoL features and missing additions that they are obviously not going to work on. The EbuLa should've been here from the start! It is very important for the train, yet we are 4 games in and still nothing. So I believe the PC editor community can make some very positive changes got the game as a whole.
This forum has several discussions and so many wishes and even demands to get the EbuLa system in, but in the end it changes nothing. They're still not enough interested to get it in. Yes, it might has technical hurdles to get over, but they did so with many other things in the past too and things came out very well. I share absolutely the same opinion as yours, that it should have been in the game since day 1, but I lost the hope in the concern that DTG will get a working EBuLa at any time in the (at least near) future. However, and this is a thing I really do criticize, their engagement around improvements (maybe an API interface) and lessons about the Editor to let the community help them for things like that, seems to have been shrinked since the launch of TSW4. Creatung a fully functional EBuLa is probably not yet doable by the community, but maybe there could be other ways like the ones I mentioned to get an Buchfahrplan directly into TSW.
Well as long as they'd give the community the tools to make one AND be open to at least try and port it to Console, I'll be happy
I was just playing Maintalbahn this afternoon, and was thinking I wish there was a Buchfahrplan for this. Now there is, so many thanks! Also useful, as I tend to prefer black on white, even on a screen.
I'm glad. It is a pity that starting from Obernburg-Elsenfeld, there are almost no mile poles, so it is difficult to track your location. I am not sure that in reality they are not there..
After watching the Rosenheim preview stream once again full of glaring bugs I was thinking about what could be done about it to make driving more fun in buggy content with broken signalling, missing signs and malfunctioning level crossings. And in the end, I approached it in the only possible german way - with bureaucracy! So I am starting a new series, this time on written orders. Once again, similar to my timetables, their form is just inspired by real procedures and it is not supposed to be 1:1 mirror. In reality, lot of the information would be scattered around other documents as well, here the idea is to give you just one sheet of paper that informs you on what to expect along your route on top of the information from timetable. Note that the orders may become obsolete over time if DTG decides to actually fix those bugs, which is very uncommon, but it happened before. Let me know what you think!
Comparing your form to the real one, you made an amazing reproduction with perfectly understandable changes for general use like this. Well done, indeed!
There is one forgotten route with loads of speed changes that also vary depending on train's tilting capabilities. Surely in this case a timetable with all the speeds comes extra handy Good news is that Vectron's lighting was fixed some time ago on TOD3 routes, because those LED high beams are definitely useful when going through dark forests! DCZ: Tharandter Rampe (Dresden - Chemnitz) is now available! Some new things appeared since my previous timetables, notably slope indicators with ⟨ and ⟨⟨ symbols for more than 1 and 2 percents, respectively; the GNT speed column is of course also new. And because I think there can be a lot of fun and variety in freeroam on this route in particular (and because the whole route is equipped for opposite track operation), I also included signals on opposite track, marked with <brackets>.
And even more annoying are speed changes that are not announced at all, and even where they are, the signs are buggy or showing nonsense.. That's where S-Bahn Vorarlberg: Lindau - Bludenz timetable may come handy as well
WOW, thank you very much for the hard work. That's great. Can't wait to use it today. One question before I start. Since, as you already mentioned, the speed signaling in the Vorarlberg DLC has a few problems, my question is what are the speeds in the Buchfahrplan based on? Are they based on the signals on the track or the speeds in the HUD of the game? Unfortunately, this differs from time to time and you get points deducted if you always follow the signs. One more question. Are there also dark versions of your book timetables so that you can use them when driving at night without constantly being blinded by the second monitor?
SRM: Bahnstrecke Salzburg - Rosenheim is now available! Plenty of speed limits to look out for on this one.
The Maintalbahn one ... please? With the upcoming BR 218 there might be more interest again in this cool route ...
I will do it once I buy the route, but unfortunately the feedback so far did not really convince me that it is worth even the €17 in a discount. But maybe a small and very very early sneak peek can make up for that sad news...
Not sure how I missed this thread...late to the party as usual >.<. Anyway, some brilliant work is contained in this thread, honestly needs to be pinned. Thank you, Noir.
I have some good news for you I have to admit that (after all the patches, of course), I like this route much more than I anticipated. And so, Maintalbahn: Aschaffenburg - Miltenberg is now available.
Good news, everyone! Kinzigtalbahn: Frankfurt - Fulda is now available. This is probably the largest timetable I have done so far, so have fun and let me know if there are any errors. Speeds are written according to trackside signalling (and HUD where the trackside signalling is missing), in-cab signalling using LZB and GNT are not written there, in these case, follow the in-cab signals. Entry and exit points from both systems are marked down, however. Furthermore, I am also releasing Main-Spessart Bahn: Aschaffenburg - Gemünden. Note that this one is not new (in fact it's the very first timetable I have done), but as I will probably not return any time soon to such old routes, it was pity to not publish it, even while I did not test it in a while. As the amount of timetables grows significantly (it's currently 38 timetables!), I will be publishing them also in a single archive, so it's easier to grab them all at one go. As DTG forums do not support so large files, you can grab the whole package over at the Train Sim Community. Some happy users also approached me if there is a possibility to send a tip or gratitude, so I set up a Buy me a coffee site, if you like my work – be it the timetables or the freight calculator – I'll be happy if you support me in doing more content in future.
With an exhaustive list of all the tunnels and viaducts on the route, Semmeringbahn: Wiener Neustadt Hbf - Mürzzuschlag is now available. As always, you can download the whole pack at the Train Sim Community and you can also Buy me a coffee if you like my work.
Hello, I just noticed that in all of your timetables you mark the end of junctions for the left track with ¥, though I think ¥ is used to mark the end of junstions for the right track. The end of junctions can be different if you stay on the right track as if you were to stay on the left track. The end of junctions for the left track is marked by <¥> and the end of junctions for the right track is marked by ¥ though marked the end of junctions for the left track with ¥. Is this on purpose since I don't belive <¥> exists in the EbuLa? If so ¥ would still mark the end of junction the specific path I'm taking, that being the left- or right track. Source: 5 Angaben in Spalte 3a s) das Zeichen „¥“ zur Kennzeichnung des Endes des anschließenden Weichenbereiches bei Ausfahrt aus einem Bahnhof oder Fahrt auf einer Abzweigstelle. Zur Darstellung von Fahrwegen, die auf das Gegengleis führen, ist das Zeichen in Winkel eingerahmt: „<¥>“ https://jonroma.net/media/rail/opdocs/world/germany/ril/rw_302.3211Z01.pdf (p. 202 on the reader; p. 414 in the document)
I don't, all my timetables only focus on regular (right) track, with the exception of Dresden - Chemnitz that contains both and that has the end of junctions marked exactly as such: Tharandt is realistically the only station where it matters, everywhere else the end of junctions lies for both tracks close enough to be basically at the same hectometrage. In real EBuLa, you would use a button to switch between regular and opposite track markers, so there is no real need to show the not applicable ones.
