Welcome to the penultimate round of the TSW World Cup, six routes remain and three can progress to the final. Four of our routes come from the UK and two from Germany. Last year's champion, WCML Over Shap, is still standing. Draw 1a. Great Western Express 1b. Riviera Line A Great Western derby with HST taking on 802 and 166 taking on 150. Can GWE continue it's fairytale season or will Riviera Line make a debut run to the final? 2a. WCML South 2b. Mittenwaldbahn A bit of a mismatch here but given that the two German routes have met in Round 3 it seems like a waste of time to have them together. Mittenwaldbahn is enjoying a strong debut and WCML South is looking to make the final for the first time. 3a. WCML Over Shap 3b. Frankfurt S-Bahn Newcomer Frankfurt S-Bahn has had a strong season but it'll take something special to get past reigning champion WCML Over Shap, looking to retain it's crown in the TSWWC. Rules Three votes; one per tie. This vote will run for 2 Days as ever, so will conclude on January 1st, 2026 at around 2pm GMT.
I've gone for GWE over Riviera as I prefer fast routes. GWE is a good mix because of express and stoppers. Riviera I don't have, but as far as I am aware, the top limit on the route is rather low
I’m still confused why people are picking WCML south over Mittenwaldbahn like one is just a boring modern uk commuter route with a single handle emu as main loco, average scenery and pretty terrible performance still in some areas (blurry textures and the other is a highly detailed masterpiece with a proper well done locomotive and a updated version of a previous train, also quite a bit of new rolling stock, great scenery and best of all no blurry textures same for Frankfurt S-Bahn Vs just train’s west coast mainline like seriously if you are on console and voted for it, i have to question uhh why like we have a permanent reduction timetable (really my only complaint) wcml by just trains Basically the best route in the game value wise, like 90+ miles, the class 08 with 5 liveries/ versions, class 47 with more upgrades and a Scotrail version, class 87 with 8 liveries and basically has one of the best driving experiences, class 101 upgrade with a new insides ^ also new freight and rolling stock, like mk 3s in both intercity and br blue, previously upgraded stuff from Blackpool branches, the freightliner stuff a has a ton of layers also end note, vote for whoever I don’t really care at the end of day,
With the OTS timetable (or Faux) WCMLS is an excellent route to run with tons of variety and different service patterns, Mittenwald is an excellent quality route but given the nature of the single track line the gameplay is limited somewhat, thats why I voted for the previous over it, perhaps others did as well. WCMLOS - did get my vote but it was close for me as I really enjoy Frankfurt S-Bahn as well and sometimes JT's offering is just too long and some of the freight services can be tedious to complete.
The entire reduction is due to the absence of freight trains. In 45 trips in travel mode, I saw a freight train coming towards me a couple of times. They usually stop at stations because most of their traffic is early in the morning or at night. I've never seen the G6 or 363 ride. They only stop at stations. And that's it. And that's okay, because they usually go to industrial routes that aren't visible from the line.
My old dad used to have a saying about poor quality TV shows or movies, “Some people are easily entertained.” That seems to be the case here. Maybe a bit of parochialism has crept in too, although I buy and enjoy routes across the whole spectrum some may not be that fussed and only own WCMLS. I had the pleasure of travelling on the Mittenwaldbahn in 1983 and to me it relives that 42 year old adventure. That and it’s a first class high quality piece of work, of course, as opposed to Rivet and DTG’s box ticking exercise with WCMLS.
It’s almost as if this voting lark is for people to express their own preferences and not that of one person with narrow tastes.
I feel like WCML South and Birmingham - Crewe could end up performing even better in the future once WCML Trent Valley joins them, being part of those conjoined routes and able to run such long services from London may make both routes perform stronger. But there is no objectivity here to which route is better. I voted for Mittenwaldbahn solely because I imagined it would lose and I want to stir the pot a bit. If I were voting personally I'd pick WCML because I don't own Mittenwaldbahn and compared to WCMLS it does seem like there's a lot less to do. It's all down to a matter of taste and some people will compare a busier Mainline to a quiet mountain line.
I voted for Mittenwald, but for me it was the hardest decision of the three ties. MK to Euston is a really good route in its own right, it wasn't on release day but has improved a lot. Plus it has a lot of added content by now, even more in the near future (class 805 and class 90). A route I regularly return to.
I struggled there too, but I looked at which of the two routes I would more likely fire up and WCML South just about won it, Mittenwaldbahn is probably better quality overall and I prefer the era but WCML South, as you say is so much improved and is getting some more attention.
Easy: WCMLOS is a straight A-B route, no variety, little replayability. Freight, passenger, it's all the same run, maybe stop at Lancaster maybe not. Yes, it has all the Just Trains virtues, but isn't nearly the route Blackpool Branches is. Whereas Frankfurt S-Bahn has a multiplicity of routes and service patterns
