Stuttgart To Heilbronn Discussion

A DTG German Route announced today at Dovetail Direct, the route features the DB BR 140 Electric Locomotive




Fire away your discussions

 

And maybe even more importantly for some: With the Wittenberger Steuerwagen

 

For people who don't know their german cab cars

This is a Wittenberger:


And this is the already in TSW Karlsruher for comparrison:

 

Wittenberger Kopf and 140 are both awesome. The route itself looks pretty interesting too: big terminus station at Stuttgart, the south half is urban and quad track, then north of Bietigheim-Bissingen it's a lovely scenic river valley and "just" double track to Heilbronn, which is a good end point given that it's a regional hub/junction.

Hopefully they'll do the big freight yard at Kornwestheim justice and add some of the freight spurs in Heilbronn, so we can have some fun with that new 294 too.

 

And one more thing: Stuttgart's S-Bahn tunnel is pretty short, and it has just four underground stations (Hbf, Stadtmitte, Feuersee, & Schwabstraße) in total. Seems perfectly viable to include the whole thing in the route. That would give us the entire S5 line end-to-end, from Bietigheim-Bissingen to Stuttgart Schwabstraße, through the underground reversing loop (!!!) and back out to Bietigheim-Bissingen.

(c) OpenStreetMap contributors

 

While I've always been critical about the abundance of multi-track electrified main routes in TSW, I'm still looking forward to this.

The Stuttgart area is interesting and quite complex. Also it's a good way to honour the old main station, since it's in the process of being replaced by a subterranean one ("Stuttgart 21" project).
The big freight yard at Kornwestheim will be the perfect playground for the new 294. Hoping for extensive shunting operations!
I'm quite curious about how the tram-train system at Heilbronn is being dealt with ingame. Hopefully at least a part of it will be included in some way, would be a great opportunity to add something fresh and new to the game!

Finally getting the BR 140 is a huge treat for me. This has been much requested, and could be put to good use on any electrified German route. With the right livery even on Linke Rheinstrecke, for both timetables and for freight as well as passenger services

The Wittenberge cab is another nice and versatile addition. They saw widespread use during the late 90's and early 00's, and work with n-Wagen as well as Dosto's.

 

And the have KWS and ZWS, so they can (and should) go wild with the loco substitution on this route! 110, 111, 143, 146, it all works!

I don't think the tram-trains go on the line to Stuttgart, so I'd be surprised if they were included. But it also means we're not missing out on much.

 

Indeed, as well as the 218 and most likely the 140

Agreed. It would make for a nice branch line though, I rather like this whole tram-train concept and it could be an interesting new addition to TSW

 

Yeah, it could be fun! Maybe for a future Heilbronn-based route?

 

BR 140 and Wittenberg are awesome!
We're hoping for the BR 151 in the future (in general).

Below Camel...

 

Very much looking forward to this - with highlights being the Wittenberger Steuerwagen and Stuttgart Hbf.

Regarding the Wittenberger, it was quite common for them to be couple with dosto coaches too, correct? Certainly would add some nice variation, not just to this route, but so many other German routes too.

 

Correct, this combination could also be linked with 111, the 143 family, 146 or the 218.
Many opportunities for many routes

 

Absolutely. While I might be one of the only people who doesn't mind the dosto cab car, the Wittenberger would bring so much 'newer' gameplay to existing TSW routes.

I'm guessing the Wittenberger is not too complex regarding random substitution for the dosto cab car where appropriate as it'd be similar to how locos are substituted?

 

I don't know if substitution works the same way for cab cars as it does for locos.
From a driver's perspective, the Dosto cab and Wittenberge cab can be used interchangeably (happened a lot of times in my area here during the 2010's). As far as I know, the Wittenberge's cab layout is very similar to the 111's, or even closer to the IC cab's.

I'm a big fan of the old Stuttgart Hbf as well! On first glance it didn't look that inviting, but it had a unique flair to it. And it was a melting pot of different services from multiple directions with a wide variety of rolling stock.
It's good that at least the main building will be preserved even when the new station opens

 

Sorry for double post, but... did anyone already mention in which era this route will be set? The inclusion of the Wittenberge cab suggests mid 90's to late 10's.

If it's set in the late 90's, this would offer the opportunity for a huge mix of liveries. This was the time when DB really started the widespread use of their standard red colour scheme, but it only happened gradually. The n-Wagen from Linke Rheinstrecke could be mixed up with the standard red ones as well as the ones from Mittenwaldbahn. Locos like the 110 or 218 could be used in both their red and vintage liveries. And the new 140 could come either in green, blue/beige, orient red or modern red... or more than one of them

This way, the standard DB red monotony of many other routes would be broken up a bit, and more variety always keeps things more interesting

And on another note: This route might also turn out to be a nice playground for the upcoming 420, during the aforementioned time period

 

2000's era

 

In Dovetail Direct it just mentions the "2000s era".

 

Probably Day One for the 140. As noted the era is a bit fuzzy, but would this route have seen UIC coaches on D trains? We sorely need them in TSW.

 

Amen to that, anything that brings new liveries to samey looking German routes is going to be a big hit with me.

 

Yeah I would love to see this. Been wanting to see mixed colour n-Wagens for a while. Hopefully we get the ABn in red and mintgreen too.

 

Pleasant surprise by this one (much more than core route) . Seems to be quite lively, touching on a forgotten DB time/era! The old gold 140 has finally appeared ingame (in her original colors/conditions someday?)! That "refurbished" cabcar will also nice to have! Definitely worth a try!

If you're referring to UIC-Xs, have to agree with you completely! They've been one of the key stock throughout Europe for over 60 years and counting!


This will unlock memories for someone, I know... Good old Late 90'/Early 00'

 

The Flixtrain coaches use the body of UIC X don't they? Doubt we'll see them though, just as I doubt we'll see IR any time soon.

 

Does anyone remember the BaWu easter egg from before?

 

Ich finde es halt cool das man endlich mal vernünftige TRI Dienste machen kann und die strecke finde ich auch geil für nightjets genutzt werden kann

 

I just love the red theme German DB Trains have. The way those trains are designed look awesome. And maybe it’s because Red is my favourite colour too so who knows

 

I hope they include Kornwestheim... perfect playground for the new BR 294.

 

Its nice Stuttgart HBF finally gets its way into a modern train simulation. It was only there in the old Microsoft Train Simulator. In TS Classic there was a freeware but sadly that main station area was not really finalised.
And that we - as it seems - get the old station and not this incorrectly calculated S21 thing ist .... WONDERFUL

But DTG please please, if not planned already, please give us the additional 4 undergrund stations from "HBF (tief)" to "Schwabstr.".There is even a underground turning loop for the S-Bahn trains. That would give us a complete suburban line from Bietigheim to Stuttgart and a much more higher value.

 

It reminds me of BR 628

 

Have the same opinion as frank351981. I know DTG said that underground stations are a lot of work, but including the 2,5 km section of the S-Bahntunnel until Schwabstraße would be a big win for the route. It would be possible to drive the complete S5 which ends in Schwabstraße (together with S4 which goes until Ludwigsburg in the DLC and the S6 which goes to Zuffenhausen). The Wendeanlage in Schwabstraße is something very unique no other S-Bahn network has.

 

I'd really be interested and hope that there'll be a BDms273 uic-x coach perhaps included as they were quite common back then in regional services between Stuttgart and Wurzburg, which uses the line oil Heilbronn.

Kind regards.

 

The problem I seem to have with this route in said timeframe is the (more or less) complete lack of long distance traffic. In 2000 there was 1(!) IR in each direction. In the second half of 2000 there was an EXPO express also, which run there.

Therfore, for my personal taste, I am lacking a bit the usual variety which I like with the German routes. Hoping the orange 420 will make it a difference, though.

In his latest Gamescom interview Lukas actually states specifically that Kornwestheim Rbf will be fully implemented in all its glory. Hoping to get some freight action there, possibly at some point even with an BR145 Expert TT But certainly the BR294 will make an appearance. Possibly serving local businesses along this route.

 

Just checked and you are correct sir. I guess the route will be centered around S-Bahn, Regionalbahn and freight. With 420, 423, 140 and BR 294 beeing the stars of the show. Interregio to Erfurt was only three coaches and could have been hauled by anything really. 110, 112, 101, 103, 120? Lots of different traction was used for them. At least up until Schweinfurt, where I assume a 218 or 232 would have taken over towards Erfurt.

 

Very standard cab with DBB for a while: look at the 103, 111, 120, x-wagen and more

 

Really looking forward to this route… spent a couple of weeks in Stuttgart in 2024 on a consulting gig and my hotel was just across the road from the Stuttgart HBF. Though a lot of construction was underway, thus old Texan spent several evenings at the station train watching. A rare opportunity for this yank.

 

I am completely stoked for the coming of the 140, which TSW has been sadly lacking. If there is any one piece of traction which was absolutely ubiquitous in the Bundesbahn period, it was the 140: you really can't do the 1955-1995 era properly without it. And it was a jack of all trades, pulling passengers and local freight with equal aplomb.

One thing concerns me though: since it is being developed by a 3rd party studio, does this mean it will be locked out of layering/inclusion on future routes by DTG itself (as well as TSG)? Or will DTG have some sort of license/royalty arrangement?

 

Third party stock hasn’t been locked out of layering before. There’s loads from JT, Skyhook on other routes. Once it’s in the game, it’s in the game, to misquote EA Sports.

 

The route, the included 140 and the WiKo are all made by DTG and not by a 3rd party. If this was your concern?

 

Yeah, the 140 will come with the route. It's not a 3rd party DLC or anything.

 

I'm really looking forward to the Cab Car, which is, along with the BR232 (Ludmilla), one of the last Trains on my "I don't care what happens to it, Day one purchase" List.