RHEINGOLD

Thank you for purchasing our . We have made every effort to create it and hope that you will have a lot of fun with it.

This manual provides all interesting and useful facts so that you can enjoy using the train without hindrance.

Our thanks go out to Freundeskreis Köln e.V. for your tremendous support and patience. www.rheingold-zug.com

Contents:

1. Preface 2. Historical background 3. Configuration in the setup 4. The wagons at a glance 5. Day/Night version 6. Instructions for session developers 7. Known problems 8. Feedback requested 1. Preface

For you to be able to read these lines is actually owed to my former girlfriend. She encouraged me, back in 2001 when the Train Simulator was launched, to invest the necessary 120 DM. As far as I was concerned, that was too expensive. After having looked at the not user-friendly editors for the first time, it became obvious quite quickly: "You will never develop any contents for that". As you well know, things turned out differently: due to various circumstances, I encountered a team which was developing the Rheintal route from to Frankfurt - Pro Train 1 was born. We worked non-stop through nights and holidays, measured the progress in km/h (yes, indeed ), Mum served coffee and several renowned manufacturers still active today developed this milestone in record time. I returned to the in 2010 and was part of the team which developed one of the most famous German for Pro Train Perfect - the legendary Rheingold. I got to know and love this train and thoroughly enjoyed its realisation. The prospect pulprit offered an entirely different view of the railway lines. In fact, it became obvious what great deal of affection the designers put into the digital tracks. I could imagine how travelling must have been at a time long before the ICE started service and money wasn't an issue.

Whilst developing the Orient Express from 1921, the Rheingold entered my mind once more. I earned a lot of criticism as to why I developed a train that nobody needed... Well, I needed it in so many ways. As an experiment, as a realisation of a dream, as a vision of what I want to achieve in the Train Simulator and YOU needed the Orient Express, too. Because without the Orient Express and my experience gained with it, this add-on would not have been possible. "Why don't you build the Rheingold", they said. Alright! Here it is: 's most luxurious train in a quality that is equal to the train. And as with the Orient Express before, a growing number of people asked me, why I used the colour blue for the train instead of the more familiar red TEE version.

Very simply because a good story begins on page 1 and the blue Rheingold was the first version of the new edition of the cars of 1960. All further conversions came afterwards. The attentive reader will interject that there was an earlier version of the Rheingold which started service in the 20s. That is correct. Our story begins with the new cars and who knows? Perhaps we will write the preface to the 20s one day.

The idea of the Rheingold train had so much matured in the summer of last year that it was time to start with the research. I travelled to Cologne to the Freundeskreis Eisenbahn e.V., which runs a blue Rheingold train and entered the train for the first time. Very soon we realised that it would not comply with this train to quickly construct a few coaches and to implement the prospect pulpit. If I intended to show this train as it probably was then and how I felt it, the train had to be made tangible. The project was extended. Apart from the prospect pulpit I wanted to make the dome car as well as the "humpback restaurant" freely accessible. Because unlike the dome car, the "humpback" will probably not appear in simulators too often. This expansion made the project very extensive. Designing detailed interiors is many times more elaborate as constructing a wagon. And two at once? There is a miniature Rheingold with a track size H0 in the dome car of the Rheingold coming from Cologne. That was to become my claim for detail. This is how accurate I wanted to design the train. I wanted a H0 Rheingold, liquids in pots, table covers, crockery, inscriptions on the plates and many more things that can only be spotted when taking a closer look. The materials should be as authentic as possible, whether varnished wood, golden frames or flowers. Everything should look as in the Original. I encountered many moments in which I asked myself, if it all was feasible, if I had taken on too much or if I wasn't overdoing it. Today, on 29 January 2018, I can say: No! It is done. My idea of how the Rheingold should look like has been realised. And there is nothing, not a single point at which I have to admit that compromises had to be made, because I had run out of time or the project had to be finalised. You are holding the Rheingold in your hands. It is the result of what 3DZUG can, wants and will continue to do. Use everything of the train. Take a ride and I guarantee that you will have a unique journey. I hope that you will have as much pleasure with the train as I had constructing it. And if you like it, recommend 3DZUG.

Thank you for purchasing this train. Your "ticket" secures further trains of this quality. Because 3DZUG will not be content with anything less.

Have a great time with the Rheingold!

Matthias Gose – managing director 3DZUG

2. Historical Background

It was the German equivalent to the famous Orient Express - the exquisite Rheingold. The German Reichsbahn introduced this luxury train as early as 1928, promising its illustrious passengers utmost comfort and leaving nothing to be desired. Starting its journey in Hoek van Holland, it passed through the Rheintal before reaching its destinations in . In 1960 the Deutsche Bundesbahn eventually commissioned new rolling stock for the traditional Rheingold. Just as its pre-war predecessor, the new train was designed to beat all other trains in comfort and style and allow a cruising speed of up to 160 km/h. With effect from the summer timetable in 1962, this unparalleled train featuring a unique dome car along with compartment and high-capacity coaches finally started service. Today it is rated among the best-known coaches ever. A further impressive innovation was the dining coach, a so-called "Buckel dining car" or "Humpbacked dining car" - which featured a two-storied kitchen.

3. Configuration in the setup

The Rheingold can be configured additionally in the setup.

Options:

Quality of the texture: Here you can adjust the quality of the texture. We have provided two different qualities for you to choose from: the normal texture quality and a high-resolution quality. You can start off with the high-resolution texture quality and switch to the normal quality, if needed.

Tip: If you want to use the highest resolution, but optimised, then always use the night version of the train. This view provides a passenger view with simpler shaders. Thus, you don't have to cut back on the outside.

Passengers:

The realistic passengers are an absolute highlight of our train. Dressed in authentic clothes, they accompany you on your journey. Should you experience problems in terms of performance (keyword: dump error), you can disengage the passengers with this option.

This option was added especially for you to decide, whether you want to have all details including the passengers or not, before switching over to the normal texture quality.

4. The cars at a glance

Compartment coach Av4üm-62

Wagon number 10401-10422 - construction year 1962 - quantity 22

High-capacity coach Ap4üm-62

Wagon number 10501-10511 - construction year 1962 - quantity 10

Dome car AD4üm-62

Wagon number 10551-10555 - construction year 1962 - quantity 5 - withdrawal from service 1976

Dining car WR4üm-62

Wagon number 11101-11105 - construction year 1962 - quantity 5 - withdrawal from service 1981

4. Day/Night version

In order to be illuminated at night, a model has to be processed differently in the Train Simulator than when it is only used by day. For instance, shadowing, shine or depth information disappear. However, in order to make these visible from the outside in the interior view, there are two versions of each wagon: a day and a night version.

As the name already suggests, you should use the unlit day version during the day and the night version during the night.

5. Instructions for scenario developers

In order to create your own sets of cars, you have to select "3dz_Rheingold" in the "Provider menu 3DZUG" in the editor first. As the names of the wagons are very long, you have to hold the mouse cursor over the entry of the wagon briefly, in order to see the full name.

A distinction must be made between the day and night version. The night version is illuminated, the day version is not. The latter version, however, provides more details in the passenger view as well as in the wagon interior visible from the outside.

Train sets are included and are based on the long-distance train F10. The KI-Version is intended for oncoming trains.

ATTENTION: the dome and dining car are ALWAYS coupled together. The humpback has to point to the dome car. In that way the galley is located centrally, thus limiting the distances for the personnel.

Train destinations:

The following destinations can be shown in combination with the wagon number:

A - B Amsterdam-Basel C Munich-Hamburg D Hamburg-Munich E Special train

Passengers:

The passengers and the luggage are defined as cargo and can be added through the menu.

6. Known issues

Larger accessible interior views unfortunately show some bugs of the Train Simulator, which we cannot debug. For instance, it rains at a distance away from the gamer camera into the coach models. Also, the Train Simulator can encounter temporary problems with the sound performance during fast changes of positions. We are aware of these problems, however we wanted to show you as much as possible of the interior fittings.

5. You're in charge

The Rheingold is our result from the Orient Express. You can expect that from us and we hope that you will have much pleasure with out train. As special as this train is, as different are the views on it.

And now enjoy your game!

Your team of 3DZUG

Buxtehude 29th January 2018