Upcoming Release Liberec - Stará Paka Czech Signalling Guide

So it will come soon then! Great news I can not wait to drive this masterpeace.

 

This will be the first time I won't have to learn the signals and regulations. I'm really looking forward to this DLC. (Hopefully the texture issue will be fixed)

 

Will the 750 feature an original audio set similar to Sulzer Type 2 or will it be the modernised muffled version?

 

If you love to see a view inside the cab while driving the class 843 please check this link:

Its the route Liberec -> Stara Paka

 

Exciting news. A route that’s been on my radar ever since it was announced. Can’t wait

 

Very much looking forward to this will get this on Day one for sure !

 

It might just be me but when I see this loco.


I immediately think of...

 

What era is it set in.

 

AAAAAA!!

 

I'm not usually a fan of non UK stuff, but I might give this a go... Seems very unique and interesting!

 

For me, this is the most anticipated release.

 

Will probably release either next Thursday March 5th or the following week Tuesday March 10th.

It will be good to see another new country in the game, which is pleasing.

 

That's what I was just thinking, and I would be really happy if that happens.

In general, I'm looking forward to a new route in a new country.
Finally something different again.

 

Very exciting and sounds like we won't have to wait too long if the preview is next week

 

Just stoked up the Steam Wallet in readiness. Assuming they don’t drop the ball and this has been rushed through QA, probably my most eagerly awaited of the tranche of new routes. Even more than Preston to Crewe.

 

What era is it set in Vern.

 

In the Roadmap article from August 2025, it states that the route is set in 2018.

 

Thank you.

 

This route is an intriguing prospect, even though I'm not usually a fan of single track running.

However, as with all DTG releases these days, 3P or home grown, I'll be reading the reviews from early adopters before hitting the buy button.

 

Really quite looking forward to this, it’ll be the first time TSW gets a route in a country where I’m not at all familiar with the railway, it’s stock, systems or protocols.

Diesel trains on single track, 50mph running & very twisty looking route, nice to get something different gameplay wise.

 

looking forward to this one, and hoping it is successful, so we see some more modern Czech and Slovak routes and traction

maybe one day:

tho I would love to see the Slovak version that has increased max speed 160 kph ... but even this one would be awesome

 

That's some pretty awkward information but I'll try to clear it up.

For the signals, 5-light main signals are basically split in two parts where the bottom yellow is only used for showing speed restrictions while the top yellow, green and red show everything else. The two parts aren't really tied together so you can expect almost any combination of the top and bottom aspect.

For the bottom light, a yellow glowing by itself means 40 km/h speed restriction valid from that signal. If there is some kind of indicator under it showing an aspect, it means speed restriction according to that indicator. An indicator can be a painted board with a white number on black background, glowing white number on black background or a a glowing stripe indicator.

For stripe indicators, the rules are as follow:
1 yellow stripe = 60km/h speed limit
1 green stripe = 80km/h speed limit
2 green stripes = 100km/h speed limit

For the top part, the signal can show a still red, green or yellow just like what everyone is familiar with. If it's showing a flashing light, it means there is a speed restriction from the next signal. Flashing speeds are 54 or 108 flashes per minute, creating slow and fast flashing aspects.

Flashing aspects are as follow:
slow flashing yellow = expect 40km/h
fast flashing yellow = expect 60km/h
slow flashing green = expect 80km/h
fast flashing green = expect 100km/h

Note that if there is a speed restriction that doesn't fit these numbers like 50km/h, the pre-signal will always show lower speed that can be displayed. So for example a 50km/h speed restriction will have "expect 40km/h" on it's pre-signal. Only exception is 30km/h speed restriction that should have "expect 40km/h" on the pre-signal but I'm not sure if these still exist anywhere.

Last but not least, a still white light displayed alongside a main-signal aspect means that the next signal is at a reduced distance (at least 50% of the regular distance). Signals that show this aspect also have an altered order of light where the white is in the middle instead of being 4th from the top. The white light is only shown if there is some kinds of restriction on the next signal, like a stop aspect or a speed restriction and isn't shown otherwise.

As for the VZ train protection and switching between 50 and 75 Hz, it's not really done to avoid power-line interference as far as I know. Instead, it has to do with track circuits. They inject small amount of 50Hz AC voltage into the track to detect trains and to be able to tell between that and the coded informations, the informations have a 75Hz signal instead. This applies to all the lines with 3kV DC traction so the entire northern half of the country. For southern half with 25kV 50Hz AC traction, the track circuits are 75Hz and the information is (somehow) coded with 50Hz instead. Not sure how it would be on mainlines with no traction like everything around Liberec but I still don't think we will see the "VZ 5" signs.

 

I actually got quite interested in Czech railways a few years ago after finding a few cab or “from the train” video clips on YT. There is or at least was quite a following from the UK as one of the bastions of loco haulage,in the same way that Greece and the Alco’s were a few years previously. Just a shame we are getting a 750 rather than the noiser 749 or 751 classes which sound very similar to our old Sulzer Type 2’s.

 

Ok here's a fun signal installed in Ostrava-Svinov. Basically it has both a painted board and a stripe indicator. So if the bottom yellow is glowing and the stripe indicator is not, then the allowed speed is 50km/h (bottom yellow with a painted board showing a 5) but if the indicator is showing a yellow stripe, then the allowed speed is 60km/h (bottom yellow with a yellow stripe) and the board is ignored.

Number boards with a glowing white 5 and a yellow stripe through the middle are made and it would serve the same purpose but I guess someone had a different idea.

Sorry about a crappy photo but it's quite far from the platform for a phone pic.

 

Even if the route is well made, I think perhaps the same mistake might be being made as with the Dutch route, by not starting with a route linking major cities like Prague and Plzen. Just a thought.

 

No i think avoid Prague is a very smart decision! Big cities like that are problematic. Prague is the same size as Frankfurt and it will give big issues in consoles. Maybe in the future it will be possible but now with the console drama this is a well done decision is think.

 

This is a unique single-track line that isn't even electrified yet, so diesel locomotives operate there. We have two such routes (the Niddertelbahn and the Maintalbahn). If I want to travel on yet another two-lane (or more) route between major cities, why would I need the Czech Route? I'll get exactly the same thing anywhere. And I'm unlikely to get diesel locomotives as traction, of which there are currently very few in the game.

 

I must agree and what i already mentioned its performance wise a more performance friendly route with stunning views

 

That's exactly it. And most importantly, it's different from the others. We have too many of the same routes, essentially. If they release another DLC with CD 770 - It's just a wish come true.

 

Yeah i like the Bohemian Landscape! I can not wait for the preview.

 

Well maybe you're right, though you missed my point. We'll see if this route has longer legs than Niddertalbahn and Zwolle- Groningen.

The fact that it's 45 miles and includes yard work and a freight component does give it more " oomph " than those other routes.

I bought both of those routes, enjoyed them for a while, and I'm sure I'll pick this one up too if the early adopters like yourself recommend it. ( and the price is right ).

However I doubt very much that Vector Simulations were thinking about console performance when they made their route choice.

 

Disagree completely. Simply not realistic to think a first route from someone might include a major city. Let them cut their teeth on something manageable, then let them take that experience on to something bigger or more ambitious.

 

Hmm. I seem to recall Mildmay involving a fairly large city. MAC, Birmingham Crewe?

 

MAC = Manchester is a copy from DTG
Birmingham = The same copy from DTG

Otherwise this discussion is useless.... We did not know how big the teams are and what their work effort could be.

 

Mildmay is a single developer and isn't copied from another map tile as you point out the MAC and B2C are

Edit: no, I guess the Gospel Oak station could technically be counted as "copied from DTG" under the same standard as applied to the MAC and B2C

 

I want to be excited about this route, I really do. Especially since it's totally up my alley, being a single-track, not-too-modern diesel route through stunning landscape. And the snippets we've seen so far do indeed look breathtaking.

But I've gathered enough experience with DTG at this point, that I think I'll join Crosstie and wait what reviews and the feedback thread will say about it first. It's not an in-house made route, I know... Nevertheless, looking at DTG's latest QA track record, I became incredibly cautious.

 

Liberec - Stará Paka Real view.

 

Neither of which were completely standalone, in a country never featured in the game before. Both were able to draw on previous routes or trains for at least something.

There's also a very good reason why the first route in a country doesn't go to a major city terminus any more; past experience that people moan about empty stations.

 

It would be a mistake to start with major cities. Its the first route, so there are no Czech trains at the moment. You cant have a Prague in the game with only 1-3 Czech trains. Its not that bad with Liberec Stara Paka. It was good decision to start there.

 

That will be a good yardstick to see how accurate the route has been compiled.

 

Been watching a few RL clips of the 750 and 843 in action. While it won’t stop me buying the route, unless the sounds have been buffed there were more interesting traction types that could have been chosen.

As suspected, the 750 has very little “stack talk” the traction motors even in exterior shots are noisier than the exhaust which sounds very subdued. A “Grumpy” 749 or 751 with its akin to Sulzer rasp would have been more of a crowd pleaser.

The 843 sounded a very odd beast. From interior/cab view it sounds more like an EMU. The little 810’s or the older 850/851 DEMU’s would have perhaps been more interesting.

 

The whole "first route shouldnt include a major city" talk is mainly due to introducing a new country, where it makes a lot of sense unless you want to include at least double the usual rolling stock amount. (and you already get a ton of new stock with Liberec)
Especially Czechia has such a big stock variety that prague or other big stations would look like a ghost town with only 2 or even 3,4 new trains.
If something like Amsterdam wouldve been the first dutch route itd look very wrong and empty too with the SNG and ICM only.

Early german routes had this problem too, where busy mainlines like HRR or munic are a shadow of their real life counterparts due to the lack of many trains when they came out

Mildmay only really has the 378 driveable and doesnt feature big stations in the playable area outside of maybe stratford, where Johannes went the unusual extra mile for lots of AI only stock. And the other 3rd party UK routes that do include major termini can make use of the big catalouge for modern british stock to layer, which new czech or dutch routes cant. Also while MAC or B2C did have big cities and stations, they didnt come with a single new train

 

Sorry Vern, but Liberec Stará Paka is set in 2018. So any trains considered “better” weren’t in service anymore. They may sound nicer, but they don’t belong in the time period of the route and timetable.

Except the 810 but i believe they ware not active on this line. Or only partially.

 

Well, it's good to have a new country in the game.

But the Dutch route, which also ran between a couple of regional stations was well made but, truth be told, turned out to be rather dull A-B and somewhat tedious in terms of scenery.

As far as single track running goes, Niddertalbahn was also very well built, but again truth be told, the shine wore off pretty quickly, at least in terms of repeat playability. Single track routes have real limitations for gameplay.

Now, if this route has substantial yard work and a solid freight component, that would enhance its attraction for me.

A lot depends on the preview stream, so I can't say yea or nay at this point.

But watching the cab ride kindly provided above, did not fill me with enthusiasm for the scenery, though the early screenshots looked much better. But then you would expect that. I'll be on the fence until the preview.

 

damn thats nice

 

You clearly don’t know what Zwolle is. It is certainly not a small regional station. Similarly, Groningen is the capital of the province of Groningen and has a population of 243,000.

 

I get terrible performance at Stratford on the Mildway route (PS5). The FPS hovers around 20-30fps mark.

I hope to see better optimisation when the route gets its extension to Richmond.

 

I certainly remember what Manchester Picc looked like when we first got it with the Glossop Line & I completely agree that avoiding mainline stations/termini is the way to go until a good amount of stock has been established.

I do also agree that it would be nice for new countries/railways to get a significant route, but in the reality of TSW it’s just not a realistic hope if you want that route to actually reflect reality.

Then of course it’s a new developer, I personally wouldn’t have wanted a repeat of MAC here with it being an overly ambitious product that gets stumped. ATS didn’t even do a new train & had a lot already to work with on the Piccadilly end.

I think a quieter line, with less substantial stations that still gives a full length run & has a very generous fleet of stock is an excellent proposition.

 

Or even Stratford.
(and Mildmay, for that matter!)