[This is the sort of general gameplay article which is not platform specific, the sort of thing which I think requires a new subforum] If you are a veteran driver, stop reading. You know all this stuff. But if you are fairly new to TSW or train sims generally, I thought I would put out some things that would help you not have to learn them slowly and piecemeal. As anyone who has driven a German route under PZB has probably learned the hard way, the HUD speed limit indicator is not to be relied on. As currently implemented, it is tied to the track maximum speed which is, in TSW like in TS, a fixed attribute of each piece of track. Necessarily, this has to be the highest speed any train on that track can be expected to go- but this does not by any means mean that all trains can go that fast! In reality, different trains operate under different limits which may be much lower than the absolute track limit. Sometimes these are set according to the train's classification, other times by the physical equipment of a particular consist. In still other cases speed limits can be imposed by a signaling system, such as PZB or the LIRR's in-cab system, but those are very big topics, and guides can be found on these forums and elsewhere so I'm not going to get into them here. What is true of all of these is that the real utility of the top-right HUD display is not that it is gospel truth, but rather it serves as a heads-up to look out for the actual trackside signage and signals. 1. Classification limits Every railroad or nation currently represented in TSW has lower speed limits for certain types of train, usually distinguishing passenger from freight. In some cases, these are reflected in divided speed limits; you can see these on, e.g., GWE and SPG. In Sand Patch, the upper speed applies to passenger trains and light locos (locomotives without wagons), the lower applies to all freight trains. On GWE they are slightly different: the faster speed applies to Multiple Units (MUs) and the lower to loco-hauled trains; for game purposes this amounts to, again, passenger vs freight service. The key point here is that, if you are driving a Class 66 Shed, the HUD speed limit is not the actual limit, and you could well be speeding, if trying to simulate reality, even if your speedo is not bright red. So look out for those signs! On much of the GWE, loco-hauled (i.e. freight) trains are limited to 60mph, even while the Networkers tool past at 90. There are also national absolute speed limits, or Vmax, for freight trains. They are all pretty similar US: 79mph (127 km/h)- individual railways may restrict further.Canada: 80 mphGermany: Light Freight (Mode M): 120 km/h (74 mph) Heavy Freight (Mode U): 100 km/h (62mph)UK: Fast Freight (Class 4): 75 mph (121 km/h) Medium Freight (Class 6): 60 mph (97 km/h) Heavy Freight (Class 7): 45 mph (72 km/h) Very Heavy Freight (Class 8): 35 mph (56 km/h) With a British train, you can tell its classification at a glance by looking at its headcode (service number); the first digit tells you the class (which is also its dispatch priority level): 1 for passenger express, 2 for slower passenger services etc. In-game when driving the 66 you will only run as a 4 or a 6. (There may be heavier classes in TVL or the HFP: I don't presently own those). German trains fall under PZB mode M (Mittlere, Middle) or U (Untere, Lower) depending on a very complex calculation involving the brake-weights of every car in the consist; there are guides to doing this if you want hyperrealism, but a casual rule of thumb for TSW purposes is "over/under 1600 tons train weight." In addition, Germany has an absolute overall Vmax of 160 km/h (99 mph) for anything not running under LZB control. Visual signaling is not considered adequate for higher speeds than that. Doesn't matter if you can push your Talent to 180 on the Schnellfahrstrecke; it's not allowed. 2. Rolling stock limits But you may not be able to go even that fast! Over and above speed limits set by classification, what you are driving, and pulling, may limit your allowable speed even further. Every locomotive, MU and wagon is designed to a speed standard, above which it cannot be safely operated. This may be because the bogies and wheels are not engineered for the stresses of higher speed and may fail, or at least suffer excess wear and tear; it may be because of the braking capacity of the unit; it may be (in the case of locomotives or MUs) because it simply can't go any faster without tearing up its mechanicals; in at least one case (Doppelstockwagen, Dostos), the limit is there in part lest a somewhat topheavy car overturn on a sharp curve. You cannot go faster than the individual Vmax of the slowest unit in your consist. Some individual Vmax limits for TSW rolling stock: Germany: Class 403/406 ICE: 300 km/h* (only under LZB) Class 182 Eurosprinter: 230 km/h (only under LZB) Class 146 TRAXX-P: 160 km/h Class 442 Talent 2: 160 km/h Class 425: 160 km/h under LZB; 140 km/h otherwise Class 185 TRAXX-F: 140 km/h Class 422 and 423: 140 km/h Class 143: 120 km/h** Class 155: 120 km/h Class 204 and 363: 100 km/h * The ICE 3 is capable of 330, but no track in Germany currently supports it. The 3M can hit 330 in France. ** The DR built the then-243 to the East German 120 km/h standard. DB found that too slow for passenger service and so in the early 2000s considered rebuilding them for 140 or 160 but it was rejected for cost reasons.Doppelstockwagen (Dosto): 160 km/h All freight cars (in-game): 120 km/h empty, 100 km/h loaded. An "s" as the final letter of the UIC code means that the car can be run at 120 empty; otherwise it is always 100 (none modeled in TSW to date).Note that these freight car limits do not necessarily indicate the appropriate PZB mode; it is entirely possible to have a relatively light train of loaded wagons which falls under Mode M, but is still restricted to 100 km/h max by the consist.UK: Class 395 Javelin: 225 km/h (140 mph) - capable of more but limited by trackage Class 43 HST: 125 mph Class 375/377 Electrostar: 100 mph Class 165/166 Networker: 90 mph Class 45 and 47: 90 mph Class 66 "Shed": 75 mph Class 101: 70 mph Class 499/2 1972 Tube Stock Mk II: doesn't matter Mk 2 coach: 100 mph Intermodal flatcar: 75 mph Aggregate/coal hoppers: 75 empty/60 loadedUS/Canada: F40PH: 110 mph MP36PH: 100 mph SD40-2, AC4400CW, C40-8W: 70 mph GP38-2: 65 mph Nippon Sharyo gallery car: 100 mph Bombardier Bi-level coach: 100 mph
Thanks solicitr! That's a lot of information. I'm still pushing diesels around on the Sand Patch but eventually (probably months from now if I gather up the courage lol), I will take a shot at the high speed trains in Europe. This will help me.
Great post, been playing for almost a year now and never knew the British freight class system. Definitely going to adjust my play style for it. Always learning new things through TSW, one of the reasons I love the game. For German speed limits, when using AFB is it true that they usually set it 5kph below the imposed speed limit? How would this also work in an ICE as it’s AFB goes up and down in 10’s rather than 5’
Germany: It is a matter of DB regulations- go 5km/h under the prescribed PZB speed. So Mode O says 85, but treat it as 80. This applies whether AFB is active or not. In an ICE, either do your station exits and approaches manually, or just be content with 10 under for a brief while- you'll be accelerating to light speed soon enough!
Excellent information! I think of the speed limit af the top right of the HUD as being the driver's knowledge. I.e. I would know the track limit from route learning, but of course, other factors can affect this. LIRR is a great example, where the ATC system enforces a lower speed than indicated by the HUD. This confused me when I first started playing TSW, but makes sense now I understand this principle.
Thanks for the list up. I know about the German rolling stock, but not the British ones, so this helps a lot. I have though one correction and one addition regarding German rolling stock. The 143 is still only allowed to run 120 kph. There were plans to rebuild them for 140/160 kph, even 2 prototypes were built, but in the end the plans were stopped, because most of them would go to scrap in a few years anyway. 112 and 114 are allowed to run 160 kph from the beginning. A tricky one is the 425. It‘s allowed to run 160 only under LZB control. Under PZB the trains are only allowed to run 140. Normally the PZB should warn you (and eventually apply the brakes) if you run over 145, but this is not implemented in TSW. Since HRR doesn‘t have LZB, actually the only trains allowed to run with line speed in the current HRR timetable mode are the 146+Dosto stock from MSB. The reason for this are the bad brakes on the 425 combined with missing track brakes, which causes problems especially on bad weather conditions. Actually the brakes are so bad that in the first years of operation the trains were only allowed to run 120 in autumn. Up to a few years ago, 140 kph was the maximum speed for most of the regional trains in Germany, even the first generation of Dosto trains was only able to run 140. The first 160 kph Dostos were built end of the 1990s, around the same time as the 425. Edit: Grammar & Spelling
In game, set the traction/brake force selector to 120%, set the AFB lever to 120, then set the right hand lever to 'Auf' when the power reaches 31. The 143 will then accelerate past 120 up to around 150 or so. I have found it impossible to keep to the timetable running at a maximum speed of 120 kmh.
I suspect that is why the 143 in passenger service belongs to RSN, because IIRC the line speed on that route never exceeds 130. Layered into other routes, I suspect it's fictional; DB wouldn't (except in an emergency) do it on a 160 km/h main line. Heck, the 182 at need can be pressed into passenger service (it's equipped for it), and at least it can do 140!
That's my suspicion as well, though I can't find a source to prove it. The only hard data I could find is this: Source For those unfamiliar with German: Betriebshof - depot aktiv - active (in service) abgestellt - not in use currently, but ready if need be z-gestellt - out of service (not fit for service - usually ready to be scrapped) SSM (Stillstandsmanagement) - not in service, engines are to be sold off Vermietung an - leased to Looking at those numbers, it seems that not a lot of Br 143s are still in (DB-) service and it's likely that in the near-ish future there won't be any anymore. I think it's safe to assume that those few are not running on 120km/h+ routes, but I'm happy to be corrected if anyone's got more information. Edit: grammar
The other problem has to do with the sectorization of DBAG- it's not a unitary railway like DBB used to be. Locos belong to either DB Cargo, DB Regio or DB Fernverkehr, and can't just be assigned as needed from a common pool like used to be done with the Standards. (I'm sure they can be loaned, but it becomes a paperwork hassle then). I strongly suspect all the 143s belong to DBC now.
In fact, the only TSW route where the 143 was used in reality (apart from Rapid Transit, which has no layers) is Ruhr-Sieg Nord. Never with Dosto stock though. In the Western Part of Germany the 143 was mainly used on RB or slower RE services, but never (except for emergencies) on the fast RE services. In East Germany line speed was almost never more than 120 kph, so the 143 was used on a wide variety of services, even after reunification. Nowadays only a few remain in service, almost exclusively in the eastern part. I dunno if the 143 is used in layers on HMA, since I don’t own the route (it was never used there in reality), but for the RE trains on SKA and RRO I can say it’s totally fictional. The RE 1 services on SKA were hauled by BR 146, sometimes by BR 111, which is also capable of doing 160. since 2020 only the BR 462 Desiro HC multiple units are used on this services. The RE 7 services on RRO were, before National Express came with BR 442 Talent 2, hauled by BR 111, for a few years the BR 112 was also used. I guess thats why DTG used the BR 143. But as you already noticed, it is too slow for the services, so you would end up being late. I don’t know why they used the 143 on the SKA RE 1 services in the first place.
What did they pull, Silberlings? Well, it's not "used" in SKA so much as it's imported from RSN, with an option to sub in to 146 services
Yep, Silberlings with a cab car. End of the 1990s/first half of the 2000s it was BR 143 + Silberlings for the RB 91 and 425 for the RE 16. Later both became BR 425 IIRC. Before Abellio took over with Stadler Flirts in 2007, there was an additional RB 56 (earlier 58) between Hagen and Iserlohn (on the Ruhr-Sieg-Line till Letmathe) which often was a 143 with just one Dosto cab car. I know, but whenever I use timetable mode on SKA, all RE 1 services I see are pulled by BR 143 and not BR 146. Guess the AI trains don‘t care about the 120 kph limit though.
ALL of it! Wow, there is such a lot since I posted that! Most significant addition is the German Srggmss container flats: these can run at 120 with or without payload. Otherwise all German freight cars still follow the 100 loaded/120 empty paradigm. The IC coaches can go up to 200, as can the 101 (obviously, only under LZB). Do remember that even if you have a 182 or Vectron in front, the coaches set the Vmax! IIRC, the Vossloh G6 switcher is limited to 60 (not that it matters a lot). The BR 112 is a 143 variant built to 160 for fast passenger service. The 110 is capped at 140: although some 110s were upgraded to 160 in the past, by the time of BRO they had been downrated to 140 again for safety or maintenance reasons; also, n-Wagen are 140 km/h coaches. The 111 is good for 160. Also, since DRA German wagons are equipped in-game with brake selectors, P (Personen) and G (Güter) modes. How to use these is part of an exhaustive thread and a handy spredsheet calculator elsewhere on the forum, which will tell you what the Vmax (and brake setup and PZB mode) is for each particular service. In the US, the new diesels are pretty much like the old ones, speedwise. The Acela can run faster than any track limit the game includes; the ACS-64 with Amfleets is I believe limited by the game to 125. In Britain, the one speed consideration to be aware of is that the RHTT is restricted to a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 60 while the track-washing system is in operation (also, you can't run it while passing station platforms). ________________________ An addendum to Sand Patch' split speed limits- oddly, two or more locos running light together use the passenger limit, but a solo loco has to stay at the freight limit. This apparently has to do with the braking force available.
There is couple more exceptions - Laaers also do 120/120, while Es and Tadgs are 100/100. (Also, the link to the calculator is in my signature.)
Perhaps somebody correct me if I read this wrong, but from UIC GCU signage norm: SS Maximum load in t (tonnes) for wagons running in trains operated under SS conditions (maximum speed 120 km/h) with no particular operating restrictions. ★★★ Maximum load in t (tonnes) for wagons authorised to run in trains up to 120 km/h with a brake that does not meet all the requirements for SS conditions. The wagons must be fitted with an automatic load-proportional braking system. N.B. 2: For wagons carrying the ★★ and ★★★ signs, RUs shall define the necessary rules for the correct formation of the train (achieving the right brake percentage, timetable changes where appropriate, etc.). I read it as "it does not qualify for running 120 km/h with no restrictions, but infrastructure administrator can define restrictions that allow it". Laaerss would on the other hand then be SS-eligible.
