The Empire of Light is the largest nation within the deep expansive cave network that comprises the Below, A majority of their population has the ability to physically feel electric currents & signals, “Sparkcraft” as they call it, this natural attunement to circuitry allows them to create much more advanced electrical technology the their fellow Chthonians. Prior to the War of Restitution, the Empire's need for transportation was served by independent private trains, much like the majority of the Below, but after the war, it was clear the Empire needed a single nationalized railway with standardized motive power. Like everything the Empire has, these locomotives were going to be powered electrically, but unfortunately being in-tune with sparkcraft meant being around large electric motors & generators gave the Empire's residents splitting headaches. In a power plant this is a solvable issue, just locking the generator away in a Faraday Cage, but much less so on a locomotive. To get around this, a majority of the empire's locomotives are driven by steam, heated by an electric furnace which itself is supplied by an overhead catenary, while this is inefficient, the Empire has the electricity production to handle it, & it's better than inducing migraines in train crews. The DL96 is one of these electric steam locomotive classes, in fact it's one of the most numerous. & like all larger Imperial locomotives, it carries a supply of coal in addition to its pantograph, in case the locomotive has to operate during a blackout or outside of the Empire.
For more of this universe, see the story collection here (https://archiveofourown.org/series/3991393).
This is another one of Pikablob's designs, same as Old Polina, the camelback triplex I recently built. It was another case of I thought the concept was cool & I wanted to have it in the game. At first I tried supplying the electric furnace with the electrical connections some of the bogie parts have, but after that proved to be completely insufficient, I went for infinite electricity generation instead, aka electricity heats water into steam, steam turns a generator which makes more electricity, which makes more steam, which makes more electricity, which makes more steam & so on. Although this locomotive doesn't have a condenser so it can't run forever, since you'll eventually run out of water. It also has a coal fired mode like its basis in the Underrail Lore, though because of the way it operates in game there's really no reason to actually use it.
Start Up
For starting the locomotive on electric power, activate the key button on the far right which raises the pantograph, then flip on the electric furnace switch to begin heating the water. If you're starting on coal, flip on the damper switch located below the firebox, fill the firebox with coal & flip the lighter switch on for a second or two to light the fire.
After that flip on the Injector & Cut-in key buttons, as well as the train power breaker located below the pantograph switch. As previously stated, this locomotive uses an infinite steam generator, the generator starts once the battery falls below 90% capacity & runs till it's charged, with the wheels being turned by a separate engine. If you're starting on electric power like normal, once pressure is built, the generator will need to kick on to regain the power lost during start up. Be sure to release the handbrake before moving.
Driving
This locomotive uses gearboxes to simulate cutoff on a real locomotive. The higher the reverser position, the more torque, the lower the position, the more speed, increase the cutoff when starting or climbing a hill & decrease it when speed is needed. When the reverser position is negative the locomotive will move backwards, & the position of the reverser is displayed with a gauge. The regulator controls how much steam is sent to the engine that drives the wheels, if the boiler pressure starts to decrease, running with less regulator can let the boiler regain pressure, though because of how this locomotive works most of the steam is going to the generator so it’s not as effective as on my other builds, but it still does the trick. The brakes are controlled with the stand on the right of the driver’s seat, applying the brake will increase the brake pressure & releasing it will set the brake pressure back to zero. This locomotive also has a switch setter that works with the ZE Smart Railroad Signals add-on, without this add-on the switch setter won't work, but the rest of the locomotive will. The locomotive can also switch between coal fired & electrically fired on the move, the starting procedures for both modes are the same as when the loco is stationary.
