I have a question regarding the db br 111. As stated in the Title, is it possible to use them double traction ? Ive created a consist with two of them at the front and it seems that only the leading loco powers on. Is there anything i have to do to make it work ? As far as i can see, they where able to do irl.
There's a ZWS/KWS/ZDS switch on the back wall of one of the cabs. Set that switch to ZDS on both locomotives.
I have not tried it, but according to this post from Maik it does: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/br-218-expectations.80992/#post-833446
Pardon if it's not about the 111, but what about others? Is this for example a thing for the 110? Which others?
Push-pull and MU controls on German trains. I've tried to learn a bit (using my primitive German and a lot of Google Translate), and here is the TL;DR- Roughly speaking, there are three, or two and a half, or three and a half, or four systems, depending on how you count. 1(a) and (b): KWS (Ost und West) In the beginning (the 1950s, with experiments before the war), there was the analog cable system (KWS). Or actually two systems, because the DB and DR developed systems using different cables (36 and 34 pin, respectively) which are not compatible. Conceptually it's similar to the American MU system. This way of controlling a locomotive from a cab car- but not anything else like coach doors - was widely installed on local-service locomotives, chiefly the E 41 (BR 141) local passenger loco. Originally it was not fitted to the E 10 (BR 110) express loco, although many were later backfitted as the 110 was demoted to less prestigious trans than the F-Züge and TEEs it once hauled; however the BR 103 never received it. None was built into freight locos, obviously, but many 140s (and 139s) were also retrofitted as they increasingly took on light passenger as well as freight duties. KWS was not an original feature of the V 160-family diesels, but was built into the BR 218 variant. Note that all the intermediate coaches have to be equipped with a matching cable, or the signal can't be transmitted down the train. The oldest n-Wagen didn't have it, at least as built. When the "Karlsruhe Kopf" n-Wagen control cars were built, they all got KWS. A characteristic of this very old tech is that different desks and thus different vehicles are needed for electric or diesel control. The newer "Wittenberger Kopf" cab cars on the other hand have controls for both, and the function can be changed over simply by pulling a switch. The DR 243 (ie BR 143) was built originally with the 34-pin East German KWS, which won't work with Western cars. However, the 143 model in game is the DBAG upgraded version. 2(a) and (b) ZWS und ZWS 120 However, things changed in the 1970s, with an all-new time-switched multiplexing system (ZWS). This system instead of its own separate cabling chain makes use of the standard UIC bus and transmits more-or-less digital signals. ZWS was first installed in some new BR 111s that were assigned to work S-Bahn services pulling x-Wagen, which were also ZWS equipped. The new system was standard on the cutting-edge BR 120, the progenitor of all subsequent DB traction. After reunification, new-build Dostos (from the East) carried both 34-pin KWS as well as ZWS. In the late 1990s DB ordered the conversion of a batch of former DR passenger coaches into cab cars for the Interregio (Bimzf). Shortly thereafter, an order was placed for more conversions, this time for the Intercity (Bmzdf). Note that cab cars on long-distance trains really are a Verkehrsrot-era thing. ZWS 120 has become standard on all passenger and dual-use locomotives ever since. 3 (or 2(c)), and 3(a) (or 2(c)(i)): ZDS und ZMS- ZWS was designed for cab car control of a locomotive. Oddly, in its basic form it can't be used for controlling locos from locos. ZDS fixed that: a variant of ZWS that permits double-heading, as well as "sandwich" passenger trains (freight wagons don't have the needed bus cabling). A further development, ZMS (still uncommon), permits the control of more than one remote loco, allowing for triple-heading and for control of two locos from a cab car.
One addition to your (otherwise completely correct) post: there's not just one post-reunification version of the 143. Most, if not all, of them got ZWS, but a few of them got fitted with West German KWS36. This is not the variant we have in game though, sadly.
But you still can't use KWS for double header or push pull. So the answer is No to 110s and 103s or such with KWS. They can only work with a single cab car. Locos that you see in double formation or such use ZDS/ZMS. If it's a 110 or 103 then they are retrofitted with those systems. And even if they all have ZDS/ZMS, they are not exactly compatible to each other. It's more the opposite. Retrofitted locos can only work with the same series/class. Some are compatible with others, but that's rare.
Great to not only have the answer but some expertise on this aswell ! I already tried it and it worked perfectly fine
