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WhistleWiz edited this page Mar 23, 2024 · 3 revisions

Derail Valley uses a comprehensive naming scheme for its rolling stock, which can be found in full in the ingame manual. This page only lists the basics.

Rail Vehicle Types

Types of rail vehicles in Derail Valley can be categorized as:

  • Car – Unpowered rail vehicle designed to carry freight or passengers.
  • Locomotive – Motorized rail vehicle designed to pull cars.
  • Railcar – Car which can self-propel and doesn’t need a locomotive.
  • Multiple-Unit (by design) – Railcars or locomotives permanently coupled together, with or without cars in-between. These configurations may have rigid connections and are typically inseparable.
  • Multiple-Unit (by cable) – Railcars or locomotives temporarily coupled together, manually connected by an MU cable.",
  • Train – Set of coupled rail vehicles.
  • Control Car – Cab-featured car at the end of a train, MU-connected to a locomotive elsewhere in the train.
  • Work Train – Special-purpose rail vehicle, such as for track maintenance, crew transport, etc.

Related terms:

  • Cab – Vehicle’s interior space designed to house the driving controls and crew. Some vehicles may be double-cab, meaning they have a cab on each end.
  • Bogie – Pivoting structure that houses suspension and wheel axles. The body of rail vehicles, mostly cars, is typically situated on two bogies, per unit. Depending on the type of vehicle, bogies may be powered or not, housing two or more axles, and they may come in various shapes and numbers.
  • Unit – Singular vehicle in a multiple-unit train.
  • Tender – Unpowered unit behind a steam locomotive used to carry fuel and water.
  • Booster – Motorized cab-less unit used to provide additional power to the main unit.
  • Slug – Cab-less unit used to provide additional traction to the main unit with electric transmission.
  • Draisine – Light work train used for crew transport.

Motorized Vehicle Naming Convention

All motorized rail vehicles in Derail Valley are named according to a particular naming convention, such as DE2-260, S282-730B and such. These names consist of different designations grouped together, respectively:

Powertrain

Represented by abbreviation of the powertrain type, as follows:

  • DM – Diesel-Mechanical
  • DH – Diesel-Hydraulic
  • DE – Diesel-Electric
  • BE – Battery-Electric
  • WE – Wire-Electric
  • S – Steam

Wheel Arrangement

On diesel and electric vehicles, wheel arrangement is represented by the number of powered axles. Unpowered axles are not taken into account. On steam locomotives, wheel arrangement is represented by the number of leading unpowered wheels, the number of driving wheels, and finally the number of trailing unpowered wheels (aka Whyte notation, but with hyphens omitted).

Capacity

Represented by letters P, F or U. P if the vehicle can carry passengers aboard any of the coupled units, F if the vehicle can carry freight, and U if the vehicle can carry utility objects, such as vehicle parts.

Dash

The dash separates the vehicle type from the specific model designation.

Load Rating

Represented by a single digit ranged 0-9, with 0 being a draisine, 1 being a railbus, and 2-9 being a haul-capable vehicle with increasing capacity.

Production Decade

Represented by a single digit ranged 0-9, with 0 representing the start of production being in the 1900s or earlier, 1 being 1910s, 2 being 1920s and so on, until the 1990s.

Unique Designation

Represented by a single digit ranged 0-9. The first vehicle of this type is designated 0, and the others follow in chronological order of their addition to the fleet, if any.

Unit Designation

Represented by letters ranged A-H, starting from the frontmost, and only if there is more than one. Represented by letter S, if it is an optional slug unit.

Some examples:

  • S060-440 – A medium-powered 1940s steam locomotive with six driving wheels.
  • S282-730B – Second unit (in this case, tender) of a high-powered 1930s multiple-unit combination steam locomotive with two leading wheels, eight driving wheels, and two trailing wheels.
  • DM1P-150 – A non-hauling 1950s diesel-mechanical vehicle with one powered axle designed to carry passengers.
  • WE2P-380A – First unit of a barely-hauling 1980s multiple-unit electric vehicle designed to carry passengers.
Powertrain Wheel Arrangement Capacity Dash Load Rating Production Decade Unique Designation Unit Designation
S 060 - 4 4 0
S 282 - 7 3 0 B
DM 1 P - 1 5 0
WE 2 P - 3 8 0 A

ID Plate

Almost all rail vehicles have ID plates on the sides, displaying information about their type, unique ID number, body health and ID of their order assignment. If the vehicle is loaded, cargo type and its health are listed too. The values are updated in real time.

The listed IDs are used to locate and refer to specific vehicle units when making delivery orders or browsing fees.

Unique ID number of a vehicle can look something like “L-049”. The characters before the dash indicate the vehicle’s role:

  • L – Main unit of a motorized rail vehicle
  • C – Secondary unit of a motorized rail vehicle
  • BK – Car designed to transport bulk material
  • FF – Flatbed car designed to transport large objects
  • FS – Flatbed car with stakes designed to transport stackable objects
  • FC – Flatbed car with centerbeam designed to transport tied objects
  • FB – Flatbed car with bulkheads designed to transport heavy large objects
  • BX – Enclosed car designed to transport small objects
  • RF – Enclosed car with air conditioning designed to transport small objects
  • OL – Tank car designed to transport fossil fuel derivatives in liquid form
  • GS – Tank car designed to transport fossil fuel derivatives in gas form
  • CH – Tank car designed to transport chemicals in liquid form
  • FD – Tank car designed to transport food in liquid form
  • PD – Car designed to transport powders
  • VT – Car designed to transport road vehicles
  • LS – Car designed to transport animals
  • PS – Car designed to transport passengers
  • XB – Enclosed military car designed to transport boxes
  • XF – Military flatbed car designed to transport large objects
  • XN – Military car designed to transport nuclear flasks
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