The train.dat file format

The train.dat file format

■ Contents

↷ 1. Overview
↷ 2. The file identifier
↷ 2a. Version history
↷ 3. Syntax
↷ 4. The Acceleration section
↷ 5. The Performance section
↷ 6. The Delay section
↷ 7. The Move section
↷ 8. The Brake section
↷ 9. The Pressure section
↷ 10. The Handle section
↷ 11. The Cab section
↷ 12. The Car section
↷ 13. The Device section
↷ 14. The Motor sections

■ 1. Overview

The train.dat file describes the characteristics of trains including acceleration, brake behavior, installed equipment, speed-sound associations, and more.

☀ Tip: Train Editor

You can use the Train Editor to more conveniently edit the train.dat. This page should still be used as a reference. However, you can also edit the train.dat manually if so desired.

The file is a plain text file encoded in any arbitrary encoding, however, UTF-8 with a byte order mark is the preferred choice. The parsing model for numbers is Loose, however, you are encouraged to produce Strict output nonetheless. The file is required to be located inside the train folder and is expected to be named train.dat. The file is interpreted on a per-line basis, from top to bottom.

■ 2. The file identifier

The first line in the train.dat is expected to be an identifier indicating the version of the file format. Allowed values are:

	Version 1.22 is being used:
▶	`BVE1200000 BVE1210000 BVE1220000`

	Version 2.0 is being used (choose either one):
▶	`BVE2000000 OPENBVE`

From Version 1.5.3.3 onwards, the OPENBVE identifier may optionally be followed by the minimum version number of OpenBVE required, e.g.

	OpenBVE 1.5.3.0 is required:
▶	`OPENBVE1530`

Any other value will be reported as being non-supported and version 2.0 will be assumed. The selected version number affects the parsing of the #ACCELERATION section, which is explained later on.

■ 3. Syntax

For each line in the file, white spaces at the beginning and the end of that line are ignored.

Each line in the file after the identifier can mark the beginning of a new section or contain data entries for the last opened section. Empty lines or lines solely consisting of white spaces are not ignored.

A new section is opened by starting the line with a number sign character (U+0023). The text which follows the number sign indicates the name of the section and is case-insensitive. The beginning of a section has thus the following form:

#NameOfTheSection

The order in which sections appear within the file is irrelevant. Each line following the opening of a new section is interpreted as a data entry. These data entries are not named, thus their order is important. When a data entry is expected but omitted because a new section was started, a default value will apply. The exact interpretation of each data entry is explained in the following sections, along with default values.

You can use comments anywhere at the end of a line. A comment is started by a semicolon (U+003B). Comments, if present, are stripped away from all lines before these are processed.

	Acceleration between 0 km/h and v₁, where x is the current speed of the train in km/h:
ƒ	`a₀ + (a₁ - a₀) * x / v₁`

	Acceleration between v₁ and v₂, where x is the current speed of the train in km/h:
ƒ	`v₁ * a₁ / x`

	For version 2.0: Acceleration above v₂, where x is the current speed of the train in km/h:
ƒ	`v₁ * a₁ * v₂^e-1 / x^e`

	Converting a version 1.22 exponent into a version 2.0 exponent:
ƒ	`e_2.0 = min(1 - v₂ * log(e_1.22) / log(9/4), 4)`

	Example of an Acceleration section for 4 power notches:
▶	`#ACCELERATION 0.77,0.39,7,7,1 1.96,1.96,24,24,3 1.96,1.96,52,52,3.4 1.96,1.96,52,83,2.7`

☀	The following spelling variations can be used:
	#PERFORMANCE, DECELERATION

	Example of a Performance section:
▶	`#PERFORMANCE 3.6 0.35 0 0.0025 1.1`

	Example of a Move section:
▶	`#MOVE 500 3000 3000 500 200 160`

	Example of a Pressure section:
▶	`#PRESSURE 440 440 690 780 490`

☀	The following spelling variations can be used:
	#CAB, #COCKPIT

NumberOfMotorCars	NumberOfTrailerCars	FrontCarIsAMotorCar	Effect
1	0	1	There is only one car, and it's a motor car.
1	n	0	The rear car is a motor car. All other cars (including the front car) are trailer cars. This corresponds to a locomotive pushing the train from behind.
1	n	1	The front car is a motor car. All other cars are trailer cars. This corresponds to a locomotive pulling the train from the front.
2	0	1	There are two cars and both are motor cars.
2	1	0	There are three cars. The front car is a trailer car, and the other two cars are motor cars.
2	1	1	There are three cars. The front and rear cars are motor cars, and the car in the middle is a trailer car.

	Example of a Car section:
▶	`#CAR 42 4 36 2 20 0 2.3 3.4 2.6 7.5 1.8`

Type	Reduce interval	Reduce amount	Increase interval	Increase amount	Characteristics
A	high	instantly zero	medium	very high	Cuts off power instantly and rebuilds it up fast in steps.
B	medium	small	high	small	Updates not so often and adapts slowly. Wheel slip can persist longer and power is regained slower. The behavior is smoother.
C	medium	medium	medium	medium	The behavior is somewhere in-between type B and type D.
D	small	high	small	high	Updates fast and adapts fast. Wheel slip only occurs briefly and power is regained fast. The behavior is more abrupt.

	Example of a Device section:
▶	`#DEVICE 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 2 2`

	Example of a part of a #MOTOR_P1 section:
▶	`#MOTOR_P1 -1,100,36 0,100,36 0,100,35 0,100,35 0,100,34 0,100,34 0,100,33 0,100,33 0,100,32 0,100,32`