Trade Wars 2002 has always had data file problems, as have most on-line games. 
When a user logs off in the middle of a door, well, strange things can (and do)
happen....

If:

The expander runs for a while, and then starts acting up
You mysteriously start running out of hard drive space
People complain about wierd things inside Trade Wars

Check the file called TWDATA.DAT, it should be exactly 214452 bytes long. And
I mean exactly. If the file is any length other than that, you have problems.
If it's too large, the solution is simple, get a copy of TWPRUNE (both Castle
Ravenloft and The Clock Works have copies) and use it to trim the file back 
down to size (believe it or not I've seen files as large a 3.1 megabyte).

If the file is too small? Re-roll the universe, unless you have a recent back
up.