Headcodes are a very important aspect of Stepford County Railway. A headcode is composed of four characters, three of them numerical and one alphabetical. The purpose of headcodes are to identify each train with a unique code and using them to smooth out communications between drivers, dispatchers, guards and signallers. Headcodes were introduced in V1.0 which made it easier to communicate.
Formation[]
First digit[]
The first digit indicates what type of service the train is operating.
First Digit | Service Type | Use | Dispatch Priority[note 1] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.0.0 - 1.4.0 | 1.4.1 - 1.7.4 | 1.8.0~ | |||
9 | 1 | 1 | Semi-Fast | AirLink and Stepford Express services with more stops | 3 |
- | 9[note 2] | Skipping Stepford Connect services | 4 | ||
2 | Stopper/Local | Local Stepford Connect and all Waterline services | 5 | ||
5 | 3 | Empty Coach Stock | Not in service - Given while the train moves from the depot to the next station | 6 | |
1 | 9 | Fast | AirLink and Stepford Express services with fewer stops, as well as AirLink Shuttle services | 1 | |
Exclusive Stepford Connect services (R026 and R036) and R009 | 2 |
- ↑ Late trains take priority over on-time trains. Stepford Express takes priority over AirLink, AirLink over Stepford Connect and Stepford Connect over Waterline.
- ↑ Semi-Fast Stepford Connect services (eg. R005) have always used 9 as their first digit since headcodes were introduced (until Version 1.8), and the 9 headcode was given to semi-fast services before Version 1.4.1, which means they are not classified as express; however, they are still treated as 9 headcode trains, so it has priority over 1XXX AirLink and Stepford Express trains.
Second digit[]
The second digit is alphabetical and indicates the train's destination.
Letter | Destination | Previously used for |
---|---|---|
A | Stepford Airport Central | |
B | Benton | |
C | Beechley | 1.0 - 1.0.22: All Connect services
1.1 - 1.5.1: Connolly |
D | Willowfield | |
E | Edgemead | |
F | Whitefield | |
G | Greenslade | |
H | Newry Harbour | |
I | St Helens Bridge | |
J | Farleigh | 1.1 - 1.9.7: James Street |
K | Leighton West | |
L | Llyn-by-the-Sea | 1.1 - 1.3.29: Leighton Stepford Road |
M | Morganstown | |
N | Newry | |
O | Connolly | |
P | Port Benton (Stepford Connect) |
1.1 - 1.9.7: Port Benton only |
Q | Esterfield | |
R | Leighton Stepford Road | |
S | Stepford Central | |
T | Leighton City | 1.1 - 1.7.4: St Helens Bridge |
U | Stepford United Football Club | |
V | Stepford Victoria | |
W | Westwyvern | 1.0 - 1.0.22: All Waterline services
1.2 - 1.3.29: Whitefield |
X | Airport Terminal 2 | |
Y | Berrily | |
Z | Airport Terminal 3 |
Last two digits[]
The last two digits are numerically ordered, increasing from xx00 to xx98, and then returning to xx00. However, a headcode will not overlap with another one in service.
Examples of headcodes:
- 9S32 (Fast service to Stepford Central)
- 9P23 (Fast service to Stepford Airport Parkway)
- 1I40 (Semi-Fast service to St Helens Bridge)
- 1M65 (Semi-Fast service to Morganstown)
- 2P78 (Local service to Port Benton)
- 2E11 (Local service to Edgemead)
- 3D15 (Empty Coaching Stock [ECS] to Willowfield)
- 3L02 (Empty Coach Stock [ECS] to Llyn-by-the-Sea)
Trivia[]
- Headcodes directly affect train priority, which goes as follow: fast services (9XXX), semi-fast services (1XXX), stopping services (2XXX), services from the depot (3XXX).
- When Stepford Express was first added, R075 and R078 were the only Stepford Express routes using the 9XXX headcode.
- From V1.7 onwards, 3 more Stepford Express routes have been added, all of them containing the 9XXX headcode (R080, R081 and R082).
- In V1.4.1, the first digit of Stepford Express services' headcode (formerly 1) and Semi-Fast services' (formerly 9) switched places. Because of this, every AirLink route had its headcodes changed, initially causing lots of confusion to players.
- In real-life, a headcode is also known as the train reporting number, with 9XXX trains being used for trains with special routing instructions, an example would be Eurostar trains.
- Stepford Connect kept the 9-headcode services in V1.4.1, but not classified as express although these services skip some stations. This is believed to be due to Stepford Connect only operating local services.
- Before V1.4.1, delayed trains used to have priority regardless of the headcode - however, that has changed and the headcode table displays the correct priority order.
- After the opening of the Llyn Extension in V1.4, Llyn-by-the-Sea took over the L headcode and Westwyvern took over the W headcode. As a result, Leighton Stepford Road and Whitefield changed their headcodes from L and W to R and F respectively.
- After the opening of the Willowfield Extension in V1.6, Beechley took over the C headcode. The headcode of Connolly changed from C to O.
- In V1.8, the K headcode was assigned to the new station, Leighton West, as well as the T headcode transferred over to Leighton City from St Helens Bridge, which has the I headcode now.
- In the same update, Stepford Connect started using the 1 priority headcode on most routes, the Class 68 and Class 444 exclusive routes still have the 9 priority headcode. R009 also has a 9 priority headcode despite no longer being exclusive to the Class 68.
- P is the first letter headcode to be shared between 2 stations, being Port Benton and Stepford Airport Parkway.
- In V1.10, the Q headcode was assigned to Esterfield, while the J headcode was transferred from James Street to Farleigh. With this change, all letters of the alphabet have been assigned to a terminus, with the letter P now being shared by 2 stations.
- Stepford Connect is currently the only operator that uses every first headcode digit, as Waterline does not use 9 or 1 headcodes, while Stepford Express and AirLink do not use a 2 headcode.
- There are simple methods to identify whether or not a service with the headcode P terminates at Port Benton or Stepford Airport Parkway.
- AirLink services to Stepford Airport Parkway use a 9 headcode. (e.g. 9P18)
- Stepford Connect services to Port Benton use 1 or 2 headcodes. (e.g. 1P00, 2P82)
- Stepford Connect does not terminate at Stepford Airport Parkway and AirLink also does not terminate (and stop at) Port Benton.