How To Improve Service Mode On The Existing Routes (2021 Edition)

This is part two of my thread series that I am running on this section of the forum. If you what to check out parts one and three of this series, click on the links down below:

• What to expect out of service mode with the three rush hour routes
• What routes, currently not in TSW2, would ,make great 'Rush Hour' style routes?

Plus, this thread is going to be a long one since I have written enough material to make this thread 7 posts long. So for that reason, I will leave these links here to the other chapters in this thread if you want to skip to a part you want to see:

• Rapid Transit, West Somerset & RSN
• LIRR, NTP, MSB, Tees Valley & Penn Corridor
• RRO, East Coastway, Oakville Sub & HRR
• Köln – Aachen, Bakerloo, Isle Of Wight, München – Augsburg & LGV Med
• Southeastern High Speed, Arosa, Clinchfield, Hamburg – Lübeck & Cathcart Circle
• Cane Creek & Final Thoughts

But onto this post, this post will be talking about the existing routes that have come with TSW/TSW2 and asking what services can be added to each of them to further enhance the experience and get the most out of those routes in service mode.

How we are going to do this is that we will go through each route in the order that they came out starting from the first route to come out in 2017 and finishing with the most recent route to come out just a few weeks ago. For each route, I will listed two stats with each of them, firstly the total number of services that comes with the route, even with additional layers from other routes and loco add-ons and a more important measurement in my opinion for judging how busy a route may or may not be, the line runs, this is the total number of services, minus any depot/shunting services that route may have, just leaving the services that traverse any section of the route, whether it would be the whole length or just a small portion. From there, we will talk about what the existing timetable offers, whether there are any more services that can be added using the existing stock available in TSW2 and whether that route has any locos currently not in TSW2 that have the potential to add any more services to that route in the future. It may end up that I keep saying the same things about every route, but that will be because most route share the same strengths, weaknesses and things that need improving.

Before we begin I just what to say this as a disclaimer: All opinions here are my own and there's no guarantee that any of this will happen one day. These just happen to be what I personally think needs to be added to each route's timetable, not what will be coming out each timetable.

So with all that out of the way, lets begin with thread with the first ever Train Sim World route that was available when it first came out in March 2017... In it's TSW2 guise.

Sand Patch Grade

The original TSW route set in the Allegheny Mountains, running for 52 Miles between Cumberland and Rockwood, plus an additional 4 miles of branches to places such as Shaw and Rockwood Mines which takes the total length to 57 miles. The original route had only 36 services, but when the route came over to TSW2, that number was increased to 65 with new services being added and many existing services receiving major changes when the came over from TSW 2020. On top of that, 10 additional services were added with the C40-8W loco add-on that came in November last year which took the total number of services to 75. In terms of the line runs, since this route comes with a lot of switching services, especially around Cumberland Yard, the number goes down to a total of 47 total line runs with the C40-8W services included.

So with that said, when it comes to Sand Patch Grade's timetable, I always thought the original timetable on TSW 2020 was a bit basic. I mean it was to be expected considering it was the first ever route made for TSW, but I could see how it could be improved and to be fair, the original timetable did have moments of what that route was capable off. I mean, there wasn't in the way of switching on that route, did there were some really cool moments of the day where you could see multiple trains coming in and out of Cumberland Yard or, if you found the right place along the route and timed it just right, you could see two trains passing each other at the same time.

So when the route came over to TSW2 as part of the three routes that came with the base game, it's timetable received some major changes which also increased the amount of services, plus received a loco add-on that added more services on top of that and let me tell you, the end result was a major improvement on what was available in TSW 2020. Much more switching services around Cumberland Yard, some Westbound services that have helper locos pushing it up the mountain and a lot of great moments that happen during the day whether it would be trains departing in and out of Cumberland or two or more services meeting in the same place at the same time.

Overall, I don't think there is really any services that could be added on top of what is already available that wouldn't just be doing the exact same thing as what is currently available now. The most that I could think of was maybe one or two more services around Rockwood Mines. The reason I say this because currently, Rockwood Mines only sees one train a day which consists of two services, one that loads up at Rockwood Mines and another that takes the loaded consist down to Cumberland, although this is still a major improvement on the previous service that ran there which was literally loading up three empty cars, taking them down to the junction, parking it up and that was it. Now this could be how many services this section of the routes sees in real-life, but when the C40-8W came out, it added a second coal run to Shaw Mines which consisted of 4 services which makes me think could we have a second such service for Rockwood using the freight cars that come with that loco. You could do this either by doing the same thing as the service that runs there now, or by doing something similar to what the Shaw Mines runs currently do by starting at Cumberland, run the empties up to Rockwood Mines, load up, run the locos around the train and then take the loaded cars back down to Cumberland. I'm not entirely sure of what runs up to Rockwood Mines in real-life, but this would give a bit more traffic in that part of the route.

But other than that, not much to really add to this route in service mode on top of what is already available so lets move on to the next route.

Great Western Express (Modern):

The first passenger route to come to TSW, featuring a 36 mile section of the Great Western Main Line between London Paddington and Reading. This route actually feature not one but two timetables, this first section will focus on the modern timetable which features 339 services which has been the case ever since the route came out. But since the number of depot services that come with this route is heavily inflated (The 166 services that go to Reading Depot at the end of the day is split into two parts), the total number of line runs is 246 which again has stayed the same ever since the route came out.

For me, this is route that got TSW going into what it is today. This was the route that got me into playing TSW full time and I personally believe that this game wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for this route and even today, it stills holds up pretty well and I did like the small enhancements that were made to the route when it came over to TSW2 via the preserved collection which lead to this route being arguably the best preserved collection route in TSW2, or at least, the preserved add-on that came over the least broken.

Some onto what could be added to this routes timetable, I personally think there isn't really much that can be added in terms of passenger services to this route. The problem here is that firstly this route is limited by the time when this route is set which is between 2015 and 2016, before this section of the Great Western Main Line was fully electrified. So you can't have a Class 800/802 or a Class 387/1 because they wouldn't really be accurate for when this route was set in as you wouldn't be able to drive it passed Hayes & Harlington unless you put the 800/802 into diesel mode for the entire time. Plus, a possible Class 180 add-on would seemly sub into some of the existing HST services available with this route. But that being said, there is one loco that could be added to this route that would not feel out of place for the time frame that this route is set in and that is the Class 360/2 in Heathrow Connect livery. The thing is that, you can't do Heathrow Express because the only place it ever stops at other than Paddington was the three stations around Heathrow Airport and they aren't represent in this version of the route. But Heathrow Connect would be possible as it does stop at every station up to Hayes & Harlington and then turns off towards Heathrow Airport. Whether this world ever happen would depend on whether DTG can get access to a Heathrow Connect license, but adding these services would not only give a bit more traffic out of Paddington, but also give this route an electric loco that would be accurate for the time frame this route is set in.

Bit if there is one aspect of service mode that really needs improving on this route, it is the freight services. This route currently only has 13 freight services, 11 of them using the FKA container wagons and only two for the HKA hoppers. I brought this up in the previous post and I will be bringing this up quite a bit in this section of the post and later on, but I feel the HKA hoppers are so underutilised in TSW in general, because apart from those two services I just mentioned and one scenario, they are the only use those wagons ever get in this game, and even those two services are just two line runs in each direction, one in the early morning and another in the late evening. So how could you increase the freight services on this route and more importantly, how could you get more use out of the HKA's on this route? Well, I first thing I would suggest is by using the HKA's for services to some of the industrial places along the route. More specifically, Hayes Tarmac Asphalt plant and West Drayton Hanson Aggregates. These places in real-life, are served by wagons similar, if not the HKA hoppers available with this route. For Hayes Tarmac services, services would start at Reading, head down to Hayes Tarmac, unload what would be Asphalt at the plant and then either continue on to Acton Main Line or head back towards Reading. For the West Drayton Hanson services, services would start at either Acton Yard or Reading, run down to West Drayton with the service from Acton doing a run-around at Langley, unload at West Drayton Aggregates and then head back to either Reading or Acton Yard from there. These services would not only get some use out of those yards, but also provide more use for HKA hoppers. Plus, these services world also provide some shunting services for this route which leads me into another way you could add more freight to this route which is by adding shunting services at Acton Yard. I always feel like Acton Yard has looked dead with not much going on in the yards, so what you could have is shunting services and wagons stored in this yard to give this part of the route a bit more life, plus you don't just have to use the HKA hoppers here, you could also use the JNA wagons from East Coastway here too and have them add their own layer of services on top of the existing freight services already available as these wagons, from what I could gather, run from Acton Yard, down to Reading and then on towards Merehead Quarry.

So while Great Western Express already has quite a lot of services, I does seem like it has room for more. Not so much in terms of passenger, but definitely in terms of the freight traffic it has the potential to deliver, not just from what is already available in the route, but from what other routes like East Coastway has to offer. But that's not the only side to Great Western Express that I want to talk about. There is also another side to this route which leads us too...

Great Western Express (Diesel Legends of the Great Western):

So back in March, Great Western Express received an add-on called Diesel Legends of the Great Western. This add-on was the first to bring an entirely brand new timetable on top of the existing timetable that was already available that is suppose to represent the days of BR Blue before the HST's and Networkers came about. This timetable consists of 268 services maximum which includes additional layers from the Class 31 adding semi-stopping services between London Paddington and Reading and the BR Heavy Freight Pack adding 9 services utilising the TEA Tanker wagons from that pack. However, this 268 service number is heavily inflated when you consider that a large majority of these services are just light engine movements between Paddington and Old Oak Common depot, so when you take these services out, along with the depot services that come with the Class 101 that comes with the pack, this just leaves the total number of line runs at 184.

This add-on has gained quite a bit of controversy over the past couple of months, whether it would be decisions behind the rolling stock feature in this pack to the way this whole pack got put together. For me personally, I liked what DTG was trying to do with this pack with having a completely new timetable which is set in a different time period to what the route was set in and there are some aspects that this add-on does do quite well. Plus, this isn't the first time DTG has tried doing something like this as they have done similar BR Blue packs for existing routes in TS Classic, most notably Weardale & Teesdale Network and Chatham Main Line. But I feel like that even if you look past the bugs that came with this route at release and even now, it doesn't really pull this off very well. In service mode, you have a very busy section around Paddington, but this quickly fades away the further down the line you go and by the time you get to Reading, there is barely much traffic that comes this far down the line.

To follow on that, looking at what could be added to this timetable, the options seems to be very limited. The biggest problem here is that I don't really know what the timetable back then was like, so it could be the case that many of these services were how they were back then. Such as the non-stop express services happening one-an-hour or with semi-fast to Reading happening every one to two hours. Even with the freight services, many of the wagons from that period currently don't exist in TSW2 and I'm still not entirely sure of what freight services ran on the Great Western Main Line back then. This is something I'll have to do some more digging into. But there is something that I do feel like needs to be improved with this timetable and that is regarding the Class 101 services that run on this route. I can best summarise what needs improving with this simple question...

...is it just me? Or does the DMU feel incomplete?

What I mean by this is that starting at Paddington, the DMU's run out to either West Ealing (before turning off towards Greenford), Slough, Maidenhead or even all the way to Reading. Now the services to West Ealing, Slough and Maidenhead feel about right for the time frame that this timetable is supposedly set in as they are about 1 every two hours, maybe the Slough and Maidenhead services could benefit from a second train to help push the those services to one-an-hour, but for most part I don't have too many issues with that section of the DMU timetable. The Reading services however suffer from this issue where you get two services departing out of Paddington in one hour, but then they don't show up again for another hour or two, then they come pretty close together, and then disappear again for another couple of hours and then this cycle repeats itself for the rest of the day. What you end up with is a period of the day where you could have tons of Class 101 trying to get into Paddington and then none show up at Paddington for a couple of hours, leaving many parts of the route feeling a bit empty. Now it could be the case that when the correct DMU from the time period this add-on is set in finally comes to TSW2 (Which in this case is the Class 117) then it may come with a layer of services that adds the other half of the DMU services that ran on this route back in the day this pack was set in, but we will just have to wait see if someone actually does that add-on for TSW2. Another way that the DMU section of the timetable could be improved is by adding AI services that come of the branches along the route, such as at Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford and Reading. These services are present in the modern timetable for this route, but are not present in the Diesel Legends timetable. Even if it means using the 101 for these services, having these services would really help increase traffic at many of these stations, even during times where there is not much traffic passing through these stations.

Before we move on to the next route, there is more thing that could be added to service mode on this route, something that has before a bit of a tradition on many of the more recent modern UK routes and that is rail tour services on the Modern timetable using the content from the Diesel Legends Pack. I feel like not having this feels like such a missed opportunity to not do this as not only would it make it more inline with the more recent Modern UK route, but by using Diesel Legends instead of Northern Trans-Pennine, this would create a bit of connection between the modern timetable and the Diesel Legends timetable. Plus, you would also get the drive both the HST and the Class 52 Western available in the Diesel Legends pack in the same timetable together, even if they are from different generations, which would really put the icing on the cake with this route.

So there we have it, all that could be done to improve the service mode timetables on Great Western Express for both modern and the Diesel Legends pack. While the Diesel Legends timetable doesn't have many directions it can take right at the moment, there are lots of ways you could improve the modern timetable, through stuff we currently have right now to even stuff that have the potential to be added to this game. So with that out the way, lets head on to the next route.

Continues in Part 2...

 

...Part 2

Rapid Transit

The original German route set on the S-Bahn line that runs between Dessau and Markkleberg-Gaschwitz via the Leipzig City Tunnel. When this route first came out, it came with just 64 services which focused on the S2 services running on this section of the route during the time in which this route was set in which was 2017. This timetable used the DB BR 1442 that was available with the route. The route later got a second layer of services using the DB BR 182 add-on which added a second half of S2 services which took the total number of services up to 130. I say that because while it is listed as 127, there are also 3 more Northbound services that take place right at the end of the day and end way past midnight. Now here's where thing get interesting, this route recently got a new timetable, based on the real-life 2021 timetable, which added three more S-Bahn lines (S1, S6 & S8) and also utilised the DB BR 143 from Ruhr-Sieg Nord. This new timetable consists of 312 services, more than double that of the previous timetable. There are no depot or shunting services feature on this route so the line run number is same as the service number for both timetables, but for this section, we are only going to the focusing on the 2021 timetable as that is what DTG is seemingly going to be focusing on going forward.

When it comes to Rapid Transit, I always though that the original timetable, outside of NEC: New York, was the worst service mode timetable of any TSW route. The biggest problem with this timetable is that it's just so boring. It's just literally you go back and forth between Dessau and Markkleberg-Gaschwitz or Leipzig-Connewitz with not much variation or other services to go alongside it and while the DB BR 182 did add a much need second layer of services, it still wasn't quite enough to make the original timetable all that interesting. But when this route receive the new 2021 timetable, I will say, it was a big improvement on the original timetable as it gave the route a bit more traffic and more variety in terms of the service patterns along the route.

But the question is can this timetable be improved further? Wel, the answer is yes it can be. First thing that needs doing is to try and get those AI ICE services working, because if you didn't already know, this timetable apparently has AI ICE services that stop at Bitterfeld using the ICE 3M from Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen. But unfortunately right now, there don't appear to be working, which is a bit of a shame, because having them working would mean more a bit more traffic around Bitterfeld and also something different to see on this route compare to the normal S-Bahn trains that run on this line.

But other than that, what else can be added to this timetable? Well I might be crazy for suggesting this, but I feel like there could be a few more S-Bahn services that could be added to this timetable. I say this because while this new timetable did add more traffic to the route, there are also period where there are no trains about on some of the busiest parts of the route. For example, if you stand at Leipzig Hbf (Tief) and watch trains for an hour, you will have these moments where there a period of lots of trains coming and going, followed by 15 minutes of nothing coming through, following by another busy period, followed by another 15 minutes of nothing coming through, so what you end up with are these large gaps between periods of busy times with no trains coming through the station. So what services could be added in fill in the gaps? Well I'm not going to be crazy enough to suggest every other S-Bahn service that runs on this route, but I think there are two that would fill in these gaps quite nicely and they are S3 & S4. S3 does the exact same thing that S1 does which is start at Leipzig Hbf and traverse the City Tunnel section of the route down to Leipzig MDR and head out towards Leipzig-Stötteritz and beyond. S4 on the other hand is quite an interesting one as it starts at Leipzig-Nord coming in from the line to Eilenburg and then heads southbound all the way down to Markkleberg-Gaschwitz where the train terminates before doing the same thing in the other direction. Having those services would not only fill in this empty gaps that I mentioned earlier, but having S4 especially would also mean more services at the bottom of the route, which would also balance the amount of services in that portion with the top portion of the route, as the top portion receives four trains an hour in each direction right now with S2 & S8 running there while the bottom has only 2 train an hours with just S6 running down there. Even more, since this route is set in 2017, these services would use what were platforms 7 & 8 at Markkleberg-Gaschwitz as these services terminate here instead of running off the map and further to that, you could use the DB BR 182/143+Dostos for both S3 & S4 services so you give people the option to drive these trains to Gaschwitz in service mode in the 2021 timetable without using scenario planner.

On top of the already existing S-Bahn services that run on this route, there is also another potential service that could be added here and that is RE 13. This is a semi-fast service that runs once every two hours between Dessau and Leipzig Hbf. Although the high-level platforms aren't represent in this route, these services do make a stop at Leipzig Messe on the way out to Dessau which is about close enough to Leipzig Hbf to make it a viable starting point for an RE 13 service in this timetable. As for locos, I can think of two possible options for pulling off this service in Rapid Transit:

Option 1: Make this an additional layer using the DB BR 146.2+Dostos from Main Spessart Bahn
Option 2: Just use the DB BR 1442 already available with this route on these services even if it isn't the correct Talent 2 that is used on these services (It's the DB BR 9442 that are used on these services).

Preferably, I would go with option 2 as it would give the 1442 more services heading in the direction of Dessau as the 2021 timetable currently has only a few 1442's doing the S2 services that head up to Dessau. On top of that, by having RE 13 services feature in this route, even if it means starting at Leipzig Messe instead of Leipzig Hbf, you would have more options in service mode to have faster passenger services that didn't just stop everywhere like the S-Bahn services do which would give this route a lot more appeal.

But lets be real here, there is really only one more thing this route lacks to not only complete is route but also make it more like all the other German routes out there is TSW2 and that is freight traffic. When doing research for this section, I went and had a look at some railfanning videos that were taken from along this route see what freight services run along this line in real-life and also determine what routes would be needed to make a freight layer work. After doing this, I have determined that you could add freight to this route using the following two other German routes; Main Spessart Bahn and Rhein-Ruhr Osten. These routes would provide the following freight services to the route:

• (MSB) Mixed Freight: This would make use of the wagons currently available with that route.
• (MSB) Car Transporter: This would use Laaers 560 car transport wagons available with that route
• (MSB/RRO) Tankers: I put both routes because both routes have Zacns wagons which would used for tanker services on this route. It would just be up to DTG to determine which route is used to these services.
• (RRO) Intermodals: This would use the Sggmrss container wagons available with that route.
• (RRO) Coil Trains: I have seen a video of these trains running on this route and these services would use the Shimmns-TTU 722 wagons available with that route.

The service pattern for these freight services would all be the same, they would start at a small yard located in between Leipzig Nord & Messe coming from the line to Eilenburg and then traverse the route via Bitterfeld all the way to Dessau and then out of the map from there with the same happen for services in the other direction. In all seriousness, while it would be cool to have some of the passenger suggestions I just mentioned, freight is really what this route is missing in order for fully complete this route. Especially when your consider that many of the later routes than came after this that didn't have freight come with the route, would have these services come via additional layers from other routes in the German roster.

...and on that last point, that for me it what makes the German routes in TSW so enjoyable. The fact that the locos that run or are available in one route can be used on other routes in the German network and this has worked to great effect on the many of the German routes that I will be talking about later, and when you look back at Rapid Transit in comparison, it makes it look dull and boring. But overall, I am glad that DTG is taking steps to make this route feel more like the more recent German routes we have been getting and I hope that they take this route further and add that little bit more to make this route just as enjoyable as those German routes that came after this one.

We won't be talking about NEC: New York has as that route isn't in TSW2 so we will move straight on to the next after that which is...

West Somerset Railway

The first heritage route to come to TSW featuring the 22.75 heritage line between Norton Fitzwarren, Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. Set during a diesel gala, this route features only 28 services and this figure is heavily inflated considering many of these services are run-around services at either end of the line which leaves just 12 line runs along the full length of the line (6 in each direction), both of these numbers are currently the least of any TSW/TSW2 route out there.

But to be honest, the low service number is kinda to be expect for a route like this. This route is a heritage line, not a busy main line, so of course it's not going to be the busiest route out there. However, at the same time, I feel it's timetable, for a Diesel Gala, could a lot better. At the moment, a maximum of three trains run on this route during the day and this timetable doesn't feel very Diesel Gala like, as you get these massive gaps between trains on many parts of the route and the fact that services start late in the morning and early in the evening.

Which leads us to how this timetable can be improved and to be honest, I'm going to be bold here, I feel like this route is a viable candidate for a timetable upgrade in a similar vain to what the previous route I talked about got. I reason I say this is that I don't think there is much more that can be done with the existing timetable and besides, if we really wanted to get the most out of this route in service mode, it would be much more viable to create a whole new timetable from scratch and use that as the benchmark going forward.

So what would this timetable consist off? Well as a template, I would use the real-life diesel gala timetable from 2019, which was the last time this railway put on a diesel gala. This new timetable features 4 trains running at any one time compared to the 3 that come with the route. The total number of trains that traverse the route is nearly double that of the current TSW timetable at 20 (10 in each direction) and when you factor in the run-around services at each end of the route, I would imagine this would lead to a service number of around 40 to 50 services. Plus, as a bonus, since this timetable doesn't have any services that run down to Norton Fitzwarren, you could have a small shuttle service using the Class 09 available with the route that runs between Bishops Lydeard and Norton Fitzwarren. For what coaches would be used on these services, here is a list of what each coach set would consist of:

• Set A : Consists of Chocolate & Cream liveried Coaches
• Set B: Consists of Crimson & Cream liveried Coaches
• Set C: Mixed set using the two liveried coaches available with this route
• Set D: BR Blue set using the coaches from Northern Trans-Pennine/Diesel Legends of the Great Western as a additional layer.
• Norton Shuttle Set: Two coaches (one TSO & BSO) with two Class 08/09 top and tailing at either end.

But the biggest thing about this timetable would be the locos as this would use the locos available with this route, plus it's two loco add-ons and every other BR era loco currently out there in TSW2. This includes the locos from Northern Trans-Pennine and it's loco add-on the BR Heavy Freight pack, Tees Valley Line, plus it's two loco add-ons and the Class 52 from Diesel Legends of the Great Western. Plus, you could also use the Class 66's from both Great Western Express and East Coastway operating the BR Blue set, which I why I put that in as the 66's are air braked while most of West Somerset's coaching stock are vacuum braked.

Overall, if this were to happen, it would make for a much busier and much livelier Diesel Gala timetable compared to what is currently available now. You would have more trains running, more variety of locos available and would make much more use out of the day since the first train of the day departs Minehead just after 9am in the morning and the last service arrives Bishops Lydeard at close to 7pm in the evening and taking into account the shunting and preparing before and after the first and last trains of day, would mean a much longer timetable day compared to what the current TSW timetable offers right now with the first service starting at 10am and the final service coming to rest just after 7pm in the evening, so about an extra hour of so of services running on the route in this new potential timetable.

Also before we move on, since this route is mainly a steam railway, people have wondered whether steam will eventually find it's way to this route. For me, I found it weird that they did a steam railway but represented it in a diesel gala environment. I feel like this route was done way too early in TSW's life as steam is only now in production and probably will be coming out sometime next year. My feeling is that the only reason DTG did this route so early on was because they wanted to do a classic diesel loco hauled route and so they chose this route as a start and this format would later be perfected in later BR era routes such as Northern Trans-Pennine and Tees Valley Line. But for me, if steam did eventually come to this route, I feel like it would add it's own timetable on top of what is currently available. Maybe a West Somerset Steam pack featuring steam locos that run or used to run on this line and if there are any steam era routes out there that do come to TSW2, they could be substituted into the steam services available in the steam timetable on West Somerset Railway, but I'll save that discussion for when steam in TSW is on the horizon.

So overall, while the current timetable doesn't really offer much in the way it can be improved, this route could be a viable target for multiple timetable upgrades, whether it would be for an upgraded diesel gala timetable, or a timetable that features steam engines running on it. I feel like in future, with the fact that now we have support for multiple timetables in one route, we could see this be the route with the most amount of different timetables, but that's maybe me getting a bit ahead of myself. So with that said, let's head on to next route after West Somerset Railway.

Ruhr-Sieg Nord:

The second German route to come to TSW, set on the 38 miles stretch of the Ruhr-Sieg Railway between Hagen and Finnentrop. This route came with 119 services at release, but thanks to additional services coming from two loco add-ons, the DB BR 155 & 363, that total increased to the current total 156 services. As for line runs, that total is not too far behind at 141 and fun fact, there are services featured in this route, mainly the services that came with the 363, that make two runs along a section of the route between Boele Yard and Herbeck Cement works (and yes, that counts as a run along the line).

Now this is a route that come to be one of my favourite routes over the years. I personally didn't have a high opinion of this route at first (mainly because I bought this route alongside West Somerset Railway around November 2018 just before the Class 33 add-on came out) but after doing a pdf timetable for this route, I now class this as one of TSW's best routes. Even if it's timetable appears to not be that busy, it has a lot of complex services that involve shunting, switching out of wagons and when the DB BR 363 came around, it added a whole new dimension to the route by adding shunting services in the areas close to Hagen. Also, on a site note, if you ever get the chance, go walk the final section of the route between Plettenberg and Finnentrop. I won't go too much into detail, but trust me, there is so much to discover in that section of the route.

But back on subject, is they anything else that can be add to this routes service mode? For the passenger side, no. As pretty much all of the passenger services that run on this route in real-life are represented in this route and any future passenger loco add-on would most likely just sub into the existing passenger services currently available on this route.

For freight however, I can think of one, which is more shunting services in the yards heading towards Finnentrop. Most noticeably at Finnentrop yard, the yards that surround Plettenberg and especially the yard at the power station at Elverlingsen. These yards currently don't see much action or not action at all and having more shunting using the 363 that came last year would give these yards more life. Now, it could be the case that TSG's upcoming 232 will add some of these services in these areas, but that will have to wait and see what TSG's plans are regarding services on this route for that loco.

But other than that, service mode on this route is pretty much complete and if I did have any other recommendations, the DB BR 363 services pretty much dealt with those issues and to be honest. At this point, any additional service would be a bonus for this route as there are routes out there that I would put as a much bigger priority for more services than this one.

Speaking of which....

...Continues in Part 3

 

…Part 3

Long Island Rail Road:

Set on North America's busiest commuter railroad, this route is set on the section of the Long Island Rail Road between New York Penn and Hicksville, with branches that run down to the likes of Hempstead, Belmont Park, Atlantic Terminal and Long Islands City. But despite being set on what has the potential to be a busy commuter railroad, this route only features 181 services with it's total number of line runs being not to far behind that at 173, a sizeable difference compared to what this route could be like.

Lets cut to the chase here, out of all the routes available in TSW2, this is the route I feel that could benefit from new services the most. I don't know the full story here, but apparently what happen was that DTG was planning a bigger timetable for this route, but issues with service mode failures meant they had to cut back the timetable to where it is now, and let me tell you, this route is not even close to being as busy as it has the potential to be. There are many services that I feel are missing and what contribute to a route that in places feels empty and dead.

So the question is, what services need to be added in order for this route to fully realise it's potential? Well first off, the big thing that needs adding is more services to Hicksville. Currently, only 1 train an hour runs there in the TSW timetable whereas in real-life, on an off-peak day, it's around 4 per hour. Two of those services are Ronkonkoma services and the other two go Huntington along the Port Jefferson branch. Having more traffic in that area would already boost the amount of traffic in not only that section of the route, but also across the entire route in general. Especially when you consider that the Hicksville section of the route is probably the most empty and dead place on the entire route compared to what it has the potential to be.

So that's one place done, where else can we add more services? Well another empty looking part of the route is Atlantic Terminal. Currently, one train an hour runs in this section of line that then runs on towards Hempstead. You may get an extra service that does the same thing that runs at certain times of the day, but in reality there are a lot more services that runs on this portion of the route that go out towards many other destinations on this route. First of all is to Far Rockaway/West Hempstead, these services would travel out only as far as Jamaica before turning off towards their respective destinations, but would still give more traffic on that area of the route, similar to the Port Washington services around New York Penn that only go as far as Woodside. Plus, I also found out, at certain times of the day, there are some services that start at Atlantic Terminal that then head out to Hicksville and then on towards either Ronkonkoma or Huntington. I would really like to see these service on this route as it world give a full line run that didn't start at New York Penn and offer something different from just the same Atlantic Terminal-Hempstead services that section of the route receives at the moment.

The final way you could increase services on this route is by having services that traverse only the section between New York Penn and Jamaica before turning off, or more specifically, the Babylon & Long Beach services. The section between New York Penn and Jamaica is already probably the busiest part of the route and by having these service would help make that section a little bit more like what this route is like in real-life

Okay, so we've gone through all that, but that's just with the stuff that we already have such as the M7 that comes with the route, as well as the M3 loco add-on. What about the stuff that currently isn't in the game, but has the potential to be added to this route in the future? Well, the first thing that comes to mind in this section is the EMD DE30AC/DM30AC diesel locomotives that run on this route in real-life with C3 coaches and cab-car. From what I could gather, these services operate on the non-electrified sections of the Long Island Rail Road. Most noticeably running up to Hicksville from either New York Penn or even Long Island City, another part of this route that doesn't see any traffic at all in service mode and this loco also runs up to Mineola before turning off down towards Oyster Bay. This loco in general has the potential to make a great loco add-on as it would bring more rolling stock diversity to the route as well as giving some interesting services to places that are currently not used in service mode such as Long Island City.

Another thing that could be added by stuff that is currently not in game is freight services on this route. In real-life, freight is served by the New York & Atlantic Railway and sometimes from LIRR themselves for maintenance trains. Either way, the stock to make a freight pack for this route does exist in TSW2, DTG would just have to make some adjustments to each loco to make them look like the locos that run here in real-life. These are the EMD GP38-2 (NY&AR) and the EMD MP15AC (N&AR and even LIRR). Both of these locos, accompanied which some freight cars, both new and existing, would operate freight services along the main section of the LIRR between Jamaica and Hicksville and even into Belmont Park when that station isn't being used for special event services. These freight services would certainly complete the route and they also have the potential to be quite interesting if they maximise what they are capable off.

Overall, while Long Island Rail Road is certainly lacking in terms of services right now, maybe one day in future, DTG will come back to this route and finally give this route the timetable that it deserves. They already made some decent improvements with adding PIS boards as well as a few other fixes/improvements, so maybe the next step one day would be the increase the number of services. In the end, I do hope this can happen as this route does deserve to be busier than what it currently is and from what we've just gone through, there are certainly many ways you could increase the amount of services that run on this route, and you don't even have to think about extending the route to do so.

Now that was a big one. Thankfully the next route doesn't need quite as many things need adding.

Northern Trans-Pennine

The first period route to come to TSW as this route is set in 1983, this route takes place over the challenging 43 mile Northern Trans-Pennine route between Manchester Victoria and Leeds. When this route first came out, it had 91 services but didn't feature any freight services. This was later added by the BR Heavy Freight pack which added tanker services and a service that consisted of 2-axle box wagons. This took the total number of services to 127. But since there are quite a few shunting/depot services that are included in this number, the number of line runs that this has is 97, just shy of big 100.

Now for me, what really elevates this timetable is the services that came with the BR Heavy Freight Pack. These services really elevated this route to a whole new level by adding shunting services that a featured locos preparing trains to be taken out, and some really interesting freight services that had a variety of service patterns, whether it be running the whole length of the route, or even just a small section between Stalybridge and Mirfield. Not to mention the really cool highlight moments this pack created with the existing services, whether it would be two services passing each other at the same station at the same time, or lots of services coming in or out of one of the stations, especially at Leeds.

So is there anything else that needs adding to this timetable? Well I can think of one thing and that is more services starting at Huddersfield that come off the line from Sheffield. The thing is that I don't know what the timetable for this route back then was like, but what I can see from just looking at this route is that this route has several lines that spur off to places off the map that this route doesn't really take much advantage of and the line from Sheffield into Huddersfield is one of them. Now the aforementioned Heavy Freight pack did add one service which was a service that arrived into Huddersfield from Sheffield, dropped off two coaches for a class 08 to pick up and then carried on to Leeds making a stop at Dewsbury on the way. That's a good start, but now I would like to see more of that. Not so much more services that drop off some coaches but certainly more services that come off that spur from Sheffield. Maybe these services would use the Class 31 loco add-on for Tees Valley as I know people do want to use that loco in service mode on this route, but that will depend on what services it actually did on this route back in the day.

But other than that, I don't there's anything else that needs adding to this routes timetable. It may not be that busy, but this is probably the amount of traffic that ran on the route back in the day, and sometimes that's fine and to be honest, I do enjoy this timetable for what it's worth and it can have some enjoyable moments like I just mention, more so than most routes that have more services than this.

Speaking of a route that has more services than this, a big one is next...

Main Spessart Bahn

This route is home to one of the densest timetables in TSW in general, taking place on the 32 miles route between Aschaffenburg and Gemunden, plus an additional 8 miles of branches to the industrial site at Lohr and Aschaffenburg docks which bring the total length to 40 miles. This route is set before 2017, when this route still featured the 2.1% incline between Laufach and Heigenbrücken before this section of the route was replace with a less steep tunnel which means this timetable features banking services up that steep section of the route. Like I said earlier this route features one of the densest timetables in TSW with a total number of 309 services. Plus, when Rivet Games brought the DB BR 204 to this route, it added 7 services that focus on those aforementioned branches which took the total number of services up to 316. However, when you take away many of the depot runs and shunting services on this route and when you factor in the fact that the heavy freight services that require a banking locomotive are made up of three services and you simplify that down to just one train that runs the whole length of the route, you are left with 238 line runs along this route. Which is still an impressive number considering that many routes that have a similar service number are 4 track commuter lines, where as this one at most only double tracked for most of the way.

For me, this route would play a vital role in shaping TSW into what it is today, as this was the route that brought substitution in TSW. While this wasn't the first time this had been used in TSW as it was used a bit on previous routes, but this was the first time it had been used to great effect to enhance the overall service mode experience. When this route originally released, the two locos from Ruhr-Sieg Nord were able to be used on this route alongside the two locos available on this route and later on, locos from later add-on such as the DB BR 182, 155 and the recent 112 from Hamburg – Lübeck were able to be used on this route. But that for me isn't even the highlight of this route, the highlight of this route for me is the freight services, and I don't just me the banking services, what I mean is that this is the busiest freight route in TSW. This route has more freight services than any other TSW out there and a lot of them are so interesting, whether it would be the aforementioned banking services, to short freight services, to car transporters, to even double header services. Couple that with the substitution power on this route and it results in one of the most interesting and enjoyable service mode timetables in the whole game. Sure, it was kind of a shame that this route got butchered when it came over to TSW via the preserved collection, but hopefully the upcoming preservation crew update can resolve many of the issues that came to light when this route came to TSW2, we will just have to wait and see.

But amazingly, despite having one of the most jam packed timetables in TSW, I can still think there are areas that this timetable can be improved, most noticeably with the passenger services. First of all, there is one big passenger service that is missing from this timetable and that is the RE 54/55 services. These services are semi-fast full line runs between Aschaffenburg and Gemunden, but these services actually go beyond both ends of the line towards either Frankfurt or Wurzburg. I'm not so sure why these services aren't represented right now, but these services would be so needed for this route as they add two things currently not in this route. Firstly, a passenger service that travels the full length of the line that doesn't just stop everywhere like the current full line passenger services does, and secondly, like I said, passenger services that actually travel beyond the end of the route, where as the passenger services currently available in this route don't leave the end of the route. Maybe if this route gets a passenger loco add-on like a DB BR 111, those services will be added, but right now, the passenger timetable feels a bit incomplete without them.

But that's not the only way you can improve the passenger services on this route, another way you could add more passenger traffic is by doing something that supposedly Rapid Transit got and that is adding AI ICE traffic using either the ICE 3M from Köln – Aachen or the ICE 3 from München – Augsburg. These services don't stop anywhere other the Aschaffenburg, but would go out via Lohr onto the high-speed line to Wurzburg. Although you wouldn't be able to drive them, they would still give more passenger traffic and would give some different to see along the route other than just the usual regional trains that are currently available to drive on this route.

The final way you can add more passenger traffic to this route is by adding RE 87/RB 88 that travel the small passenger section of the branch line to Aschaffenburg Süd before turning off toward either Miltenberg or Wertheim. Now I'm not going to say that DTG should make a new loco for these services as it would be pointless to spend all that effort into making a brand new loco just for a short 5 minute service. If you wanted to do that, you would be better off making it for either a loco add-on for another route or the star loco of a brand new route and then layer it back here with those services. But a better way to add these services would be to use Rivet's DB BR 204 with the Dosto's available with this route. I know it doesn't look entirely accurate, but it would at least get more traffic down that section of the line and would provide more use for the 204.

Which leads me to another big thing that needs improving on this route and that is the 204 services in general. My biggest problem with the 204 services that not only can some of them feel a bit basic, but Rivet doesn't really get the most out of them. For example, Rivet uses one loco for every single service that features this loco on this route, that's at least eight locos, since one service is a double header, that get used once in service mode and then never gets used ever again. When really, the 204 services only needs around four to five locos. One stationed around the industrial line at Lohr, one or two doing the aforementioned RE 87/RB 88 services and two stationed around Aschaffenburg Docks. From here, having less locos to use would bring out more creativity in the services instead of just do A to B and then that's it. You can them do multiple services in one day such as shunting around Aschaffenburg Dock/Lohr Industrial, having them prepare trains to take down to the main for another train to pick up, which leads onto another point. Use the locos already available with Main Spessart Bahn, such as having them drop off wagons for the 204 to collect or pick up wagons that the 204 dropped off. That way, you would integrate the 204 into the existing timetable compared to right now, where the 204 services feel disconnected from the rest of the timetable. There is so much potential with the 204 services on this route that I feel are just wasted at the moment with the current services, and while an update last July did improve them a bit by adding a more complex Shimmns movement around Aschaffenburg docks, it still wasn't quite enough and when you compare these services to the ones that came with the 363 on Ruhr-Sieg Nord, they just blow these services out of the water.

Now there is one more thing I would like to suggest in this section regarding the freight services. I know there is already a lot of freight services that run on this route, but maybe there's a bit of room for one more type of freight. What I mean by this is an additional freight layer using the intermodal wagons from Rhein-Ruhr Osten. This would just do the same as most normal freight on this route by just running the length of the route and I don't think you need and banker for the steep climb to Heigenbrücken, not sure whether these services needed one in real-life. But still, this would give more diversity in terms of freight services instead of just seeing the same 4 wagons again and again, plus you would be able to drive the MRCE 185.5 on these services which I know many people want to use that loco on this route in service mode.

So overall, despite being one of TSW's busiest and densest routes, Main Spessart Bahn certainly has a lot of areas where it can be improved further. Whether it would be adding currently missing passenger services, or further enhancing the 204 services to really get the most out of them. This route already has quite a lot to offer and could certain offer a lot more in the future.

So with all that done, lets move from one freight centric route to another...

Tees Valley Line:

The other period UK route in TSW2, this route is smaller than Northern Trans-Pennine being at only 27 miles between Darlington and Saltburn, but still offer quite a bit in terms of services. When this route came out, it had 130 services that focused on Passenger, freight, shunting and loading/unloading at Redcar Ore Terminal. This route later received two loco add-ons that add more types of freight services which took the total number of services up to 151. But since this route has quite a bit of shunting traffic, this routes line runs is at 131.

While this route may not offer quite as much freight as the previous route I've just mentioned, there is still quite an interesting variety of freight services that run on this line and what's more, There are lots of different service patterns for many of them, whether it would be between Darlington-Lackenby, Eaglescliffe-Lackenby or Thornby-Redcar, and that's not to mention the services that came with the two loco add-ons this route received which added services running between Darlington-Thornaby and the small section between Eaglescliffe and Thornaby.

So is there anything else that I feel needs to be added to this timetable? Well I can think of two things. Firstly, there are a lot of sidings located along the route that I think this route doesn't really take advantage off. I know some of them are blocked off, but there are some that are accessible and would make for some good shunting services using the class 08 available with this route. On the subject of that, I would also like to see class 08 services that actually prepare trains to be taken out because right now, the 08 services on this route are just take some wagons from one side of yard to the other, which may not be so bad on paper, but the problem here is that nothing then comes along and picks those wagons up and takes them away, leaving those services a bit incomplete and a bit disconnected from the rest of the routes timetable, so it would be good the get the 08 a bit more integrated into the timetable similar the 08 services on other period UK timetables which prepare trains to be taken out.

The other that it think needs adding to really complete the freight services on this route are freight services that travel all the way to the end of the line at Saltburn before heading off down the branch line towards either Boulby or Skinningrove. Now even though this section of the route is not represented, that doesn't mean the services from that section can't be represented here, not so the Boulby Potash trains as we don't currently have a UK potash wagon in TSW2, but definitely the steel trains that come from Skinningrove steelworks. I mean, the class 20 add-on did add a scenario which feature a freight run like this so I can't see why DTG can't do a similar thing for service mode as it would really then complete the freight timetable for this route.

But other than that, not much else than can add to this route as far as I can tell. Even if there was a new passenger loco add-on for this route like a pacer, I would imagine it would either sub into the existing services or just add services that do the same thing as the current passenger services now. Not got much else to say other than that and a lot less about the next route coming up.

Peninsula Corridor

The only TSW route to be set in California so far, this route is a long one, taking place for 47 miles along the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose. This route features 170 services which includes an additional 15 services that came with the MP15DC add-on with focuses on switching around the Maintenance facility at San Jose and switching along the length of the route. However, since many of these services are either runs to the aforementioned Maintenance facility or switching services from either the MP15 or the GP38-2 that comes with this route, the line run number is 112, a sizeable difference from the total service number.

But with that said, out of all the TSW routes out there, this one has the most complete timetable out there. Pretty much all the passenger services are represented on this route, with a few having the option to be driven by the MP36PH Baby Bullet that came later after release and this route has a good amount of freight traffic. Not as much as other routes that came before and after this route, but these services offer so much more and can be far more interesting than many routes that have more freight services as this features switching services along the route and unloading services around South San Francisco.

Because of this, I don't really have anything else that needs to be added to this route in terms of services. The most that I could think of is maybe services using the Centerbeam Flats that come with this route because they seem to be only used for scenery along this route and not much else. But other than that, this routes timetable is pretty much complete, so I would rather the focus for this route be to fix any issues that came with this route when it came over to TSW2 via Preserved Collection and to obviously add PIS boards to the stations along the route, similar to what other preserved routes are seemingly getting, while putting more focus on adding services to other routes that have the potential have more services than what they currently have. Speaking off...

...Continues in Part 4

 

…Part 4

Rhein-Ruhr Osten

Just over a year after the release of Ruhr-Sieg Nord, DTG returned to this section of Germany for another route set out of Hagen. This time going in the opposite direction along the 17 mile line to Wuppertal, with the section between Hagen and Schwelm running along two different paths, the main line that runs via Ennepetal and the 7 miles S-Bahn line that runs via Gevelsberg. This additional length takes the total route length up to 26 miles. As for services, this was the first route to add additional services via layering from previous routes in TSW which adds RE services using the locos and coaches from Ruhr-Sieg Nord and Main Spessart Bahn, this leads to a total number of services of 248 (I say that as there are two S8 depot services that are not listed in the service selection). For line runs, that's still quite high too, being at 233, not to far off the line run number for Main Spessart Bahn.

This route was a nice follow on from the previous time we had been to Hagen in TSW. While it may be quite as good as Ruhr-Sieg Nord in my opinion as it is quite a bit shorter, it does hold up in it's own ways by having two different paths to Wuppertal as I have just mentioned. Plus, it's service mode timetable for the most part is pretty good with probably the highlight of this timetable being the periods of the day where lots of trains are arriving and departing out of Wuppertal. Plus there's also the Schwebebahn running alongside the route, which actually has working trains running on it, which is pretty cool touch.

But with that said, there are areas of this timetable that can be improvement. First of which is the S-Bahn services on this route. Now I'm not saying this in the vain of adding more of the S-Bahn lines that run on this route as pretty all the S-Bahn that came be represented on this route are represented here and even one wasn't (S7) the loco for that doesn't exist yet in TSW2. What I mean by this is that, similarly to the Class 101 services on the Diesel Legends timetable on Great Western Express, I feel like this section of the timetable is incomplete. To let me explain, for S8, which is the main S-Bahn on this route, that supposedly runs twice an hour in each direction, while with S9, the small service that runs between Wuppertal-Steinbeck and Wuppertal Hbf, that at it's maximum runs three times an hour. However, of you actually look at the S-Bahn timetable featured in this route, you will find that there are many S-Bahn services that quite obviously missing. You will have some hours with two S8 services an hour followed by an hour of only one S8 service an hour with a long gap in between. For S9, this varies between one to two an hour, with maybe the odd three an hour, but what you end up with is an S-bahn timetable that feels messy and all the over the place. Now whether these gaps will be filled one day, whether by a future update or a new loco add-on such as the DB BR 1440, remains to be seen, but filling in these gaps would help finish the S-Bahn timetable and help create a more consist traffic flow across this part of the route.

When it comes to what else can be added, one big thing that needs to be added to this timetable is faster services that run non-stop between Hagen and Wuppertal, mainly IC and ICE services. I have already in another post put this as a great route to add DB BR 101 services to, as it runs on this route, it can easily be added without need for a cab car as it just involves coming in from one end and out of other side, and quite a few of them run along this line each day. When it comes to ICE services however, it tends to be that in real-life, it's the ICE 1 that does most of the ICE services on this route and while the ICE 3 has know to have run on this route, the amount of services it actually runs on this route in real life is very few. So unless you just wanted to use the ICE 3's currently available as a placeholder, you may want to wait a bit until an ICE 1 is in TSW2. But either way, both of these services would be great to have in this route to give some faster express services along this route and more diversity when it comes to passenger services along this route.

Now, I would suggest more freight on this route as this route doesn't really have much freight traffic right now, but I feel like that's coming very soon. What I mean by this is that TrainSim-Germany is currently making a Vossloh G6 for this route which I assume would add shunting services to this route. While the small freight line to Altenvoerde is currently not represented with this route, there are still some places where this loco can do shunting services on this route, whether it would be Hagen Yard, The freight siding located on the S-Bahn line between Wehringhausen and Heubling or even the container yard at Langerfeld, there is certainly plenty of potential on this loco add-on and I look forward to seeing what TSG's plans are for this loco on this route and hopefully the services that do make the final product end up being better than how Rivet handled the services for the 204 on Main Spessart Bahn.

Overall, while this route isn't really all that long, it has the potential to be one of TSW's busiest and I feel like the Vossloh G6 is maybe just the start for this route. Because once shunting comes to this route, it can open up a whole new dimension to this route, similar to the switching/shunting services that came with the MP15DC/DB BR 363 when they came the there respective routes. Even after that, there are quite a few passenger services that could still be added to this route, whether it would be IC/ICE services or a completed S-Bahn timetable. I route I feel will be one to watch over the next few years to see what new stuff can be made out of it.

East Coastway

So on to East Coastway. This route takes place on the south coast of England, travelling for 23 miles between Brighton and Eastbourne. The 7 miles branch line to Seaford is also featured as part of this route which takes the total route length to 30 miles. This route includes 251 services which also include a bonus rail tour service running between Lewes and Eastbourne for owners of Northern Trans-Pennine. For this section, I am going to include several extra AI services that make a stop at Hampden Park on their way too and from Hastings. If you include these services, you end up with a total service number of 301, and yes I will also be count these services as line runs since they do travel a small portion of the route, which would mean a line run count of 274.

Now at first glance, there doesn't seem like there should any more services add to this route. Pretty much all of the services that head of Brighton are represented, there's pretty of freight action in between Lewes and Newhaven Aggregates and in general, this is quite a good timetable with quite a bit of traffic running along this route, especially in the section between Brighton and Lewes. Plus, the bonus rail tour service was a nice touch and something that would go on to become a staple of many future UK routes to come, if the last two modern UK routes are to be believed. So there should be much to talk about here right?....

…Well that would be, if it wasn't for one big service that is missing from this timetable, and you could probably guess what it is....

Yes, I am specifically referring to the Lewes-Eastbourne services that come off the Lewes platforms heading towards London Victoria. In real-life there are normally two of these services per hour. One that terminates are Eastbourne and the other that goes on to Ore. These I feel are really need to really complete this timetable and help get more traffic out of those platforms heading in the direction of London Victoria. Now from what I could gather, the reason DTG didn't do these services is because they didn't have enough numbers on the 377/4 available with the route in order to do these services. However, I feel like this wouldn't be such a problem very soon. Firstly, this route will be receiving the Class 313 which will take on the Brighton-Lewes and Brighton-Seaford services on this route, which would free up some Class 377/4's which could be used for Lewes-Eastbourne services. But I have of another way you could add these services to this route and that is by using the Class 387/2 from the upcoming Brighton Main Line on these services. Now I know that sounds like at first that it's completely inaccurate for these services, but if you take a closer look, you may find that it wouldn't be too far off. You see, as Gatwick Express services are currently suspended due to the ongoing pandemic, some 387's are actually being used on some East Coastway services down to Eastbourne, Hastings and Ore, so by having the 387's run the Lewes-Eastbourne services as an additional layer, and maybe if it's possible have it sub into the existing services, would feel accurate for the time that these trains were used on this line during the pandemic.

Overall, I do hope that one day these services can be added as these I feel would really make this route feel complete. We already have pretty much every other service that runs on this line, so by having these service would just be the icing on the cake for this route and would result in a very busy section of the route around Lewes with lots of trains arriving and departing from it's 5 platforms. But at least, unlike the next route I will be talking about, this route at least came with passenger services right from the start...

Canadian National Oakville Subdivision

Oh boy, this route... Currently the only Canadian route in TSW2, this route is set on the 24 mile section of GO Transit's Lakeshore West Line between Oakville and Hamilton West Harbour. However, this route is not represented as a passenger line in TSW2. It is instead represented as a freight line with services operated by Canadian National. Of which, this route has 64 services, of that number, 48 of them are line runs that either run up and down the line between Oakville and Aldershot, go all the way to Hamilton, run to the fuel loading facility at Burlington or run just a small section between Aldershot and Strathearne Avenue Yard.

We do even begin with this route? Well, for start, how's this for a TSW route, a freight centric route that is a set on the route that has passenger services run on it in real-life, but they are not represented in this route. Yes, this route, despite being set on a passenger line, features no passenger services. Now I would understand if DTG wasn't able to get access to a GO Transit license at the time they made this route, but the fact there are no passengers services on this route is what really hurts it. As a result the timetable here feels empty and lifeless, even the freight services aren't really all that interesting with most services happening at the same time every hour with only a few services that do something different such as go on into the industrial sector of Hamilton or dropping off and replacing freight cars at Strathearne Yard. But what's probably the worst thing about that fact this has no passenger services is that DTG had it literally sitting on table in front of them. What I mean by this is the MP36PH-3C add-on they did for Peninsula Corridor that came out just a week before this route came out. If they did have a license to GO Transit, all they would of have to do is just take that loco, repaint it and the bombardier Bi-level coaches/cab car in GO Transit livery, make the necessary adjustments to make it more like the version that run on this route in real-life and bang, you have a passenger loco for this route. But in the end, this is what we got, and all this contributed towards what is in my opinion, the most laughably bad route to ever come out of TSW.

So obviously the thing I'm gonna suggest here is passenger services on this route, but the question is how you go about doing this? Would you either go a make full blown passenger pack for this route, or would you just take cheap way out and just use the aforementioned MP36PH-3C in Caltrain livery representing the GO Transit services on this route? Well for the later, since I have seen this be suggested recently as a way to maybe get passenger services on this route, I will say this. Only do it if you can't get access to a GO Transit license. The thing is, while I would much prefer it if we did a proper passenger loco pack for this route, if it turns out we can't get the proper licenses in order for it to happen, then maybe this would be a viable compromise. It would feel strange seeing Caltrain logos on an Canadian route but still, it would better than no passenger services at all on this route.

So what if we do get the correct passenger licenses for this route. How would passenger services on this route look then? Well, what I would propose for this route is for this route to get full blown passenger loco pack that would consist of not one but two locos and sets of carriages. The first of which would from the MP40PH-3C with Bombardier Bi-Level coaches and cab car in GO Transit livery. This loco is a more powerful version that is available for Peninsula Corridor and would happen the grand majority of the passenger services on this route. Most of the time, these services run between Oakville and Aldershot with some peak services going on to West Harbour. The other passenger service that would in theory come with this pack would be from Via Rail. These would feature the F40PH-2D hauling Bombardier LRC coaches on non-stop express services on this section of the route between Oakville and Aldershot. This would be a viable pack to do as DTG has pretty much got nearly all of available stock needed to make this happen. The only thing they would have to do is get the licenses required and make some new coaching stock for the Via Rail services.

Overall, regardless of whether it happens through new add-ons or existing one, I hope that one day, someone will come back to this route and give it the passenger services it deserves and not only it would give this route some much need life but also, it has the potential to add more services than what is currently available in the route right now as a potential passenger timetable for this route could be quite big. Speaking of a big timetable, we are going to a route has one next.

Hauptstecke Rhein-Ruhr

What would end up being the final route made for TSW 2020 (not that we knew it at the time), this route is set on the busy main line between Duisburg and Bochum. Like with the previous German route, between Essen and Bochum, this route takes two different paths. The main line that runs via Wattenscheid and the S-Bahn line that runs via Essen-Eilberg. This route without any additional stuff only came with 212 services which supplied S1 (Duisburg–Bochum), S3 (Mülheim (Ruhr)-Styrum–Essen-Steele Ost), RE 11 (Duisburg–Bochum) and RB 33 (Duisburg–Essen). But for owners of Main Spessart Bahn, an additional layer of services was added which gave RE1, RE6 (Both Duisburg–Bochum) and RE2 (Duisburg–Essen) as well as freight services running along the whole length of the line, this increased the service total to 374, which was at the time the most amount of services for any TSW route. This total is further increased when this route got the DB BR 101, which add IC services running between Duisburg–Bochum or Duisburg–Essen. This took the final total service number to 404, which makes this route only one of two routes to have a service mode number higher than 400 as of the time of this being written, the other one we will get to later. As this route features no depot or shunting services, the line run number is the same as the service number.

This route I feel is similar to the previous German route in a lot of ways, but also quite different and also not quite as good. While this route is slightly longer than Rhein-Ruhr Osten, it also takes slightly faster to complete the longest service on this route which are the S1 services that run the full length of the line via the S-Bahn branch. This is due to the fact that this route has fewer stations and also it's speed limit on average is slightly higher than Rhein-Ruhr Osten's. Plus the fact that this timetable, while having more services, isn't quite as interesting as it has no depot services and most of the services happen at the same time every hour, but at least the IC service's that came with the 101 did bright a bit of variation as those services happen at certain times of the day. Plus for what it's worth, the timetable does have quite a bit of traffic running along it which does make for some busy times of the hour.

As for what can be added to this routes service mode, there is really one more type of service that needs to be added to this timetable that is currently not represented on this route and this ICE services using the ICE 3 from either Köln – Aachen or München – Augsburg (Or both, have a bit of a mix in there). These services do the same as what the IC services currently do on this route right now, which is route between either Duisburg and Bochum or Duisburg or Essen and then heads off towards Gelsenkirchen. These services would nicely complement the IC services already available with the 101 DLC and add even more diversity to the already diverse passenger services that run on this route.

But is there anything else that can added to this routes service mode? Well believe it or not, this route actually have some services that are missing. If you want to know what those services are, go into one of cab of the two locomotives available with the route, the DB BR 422 and 425 and just scroll through the destinations available with the two locos. There, you will find destinations for services that are currently not represented on this route. The two that stand out for me at RE 42 and S9. S9 being the big one for me as this service was represented in the small section of Rhein-Ruhr Osten between Wuppertal-Steinbeck and Wuppertal Hbf and that service joins the route at Essen-Steele and travels only three further stops to Essen West before turning off towards Haltern am See. I'm not quite as to why these services are not represented on this route as they would help complete the S-Bahn timetable on this route as well as adding more traffic in the Essen part of the route. Plus, you would also get some cool moments of S9 services passing through the middle lines that separate the two platforms at Essen-Frohnhausen as they journey out of the map towards Haltern am See. As for the other service I just mentioned, RE 42, this does the same thing as RE 2 does now, which is join the route at Essen coming in from Gelsenkirchen and then travels the route all the way to Duisburg making a stop at Mülheim (Ruhr) Hbf. There are three ways you could do these services:

• Option A: Just use the DB BR 425 that is available with the route.
  
• Option B: Make it an additional layer using the DB BR 146.2+Dostos from Main Spessart Bahn
  
• Option C: Have it be available with a new loco add-on. Specifically the DB BR 1428 which does these services in real-life and you could also have this loco add RE 49 services which run between Essen-Steele and Mülheim (Ruhr)-Styrum (I know it's not the correct version for this service, but you've got to make do with what you got).

But whatever way DTG chooses to do this service, it would still add more traffic along the Duisburg-Essen part of the route and if they did go with option C for these service, more diverse passenger locos running on this section of the route.

The only other thing I have left to suggest for this part is more AI traffic in parts such as Essen Hbf and Duisburg Hbf. Essen Hbf already has S2 services terminating here and in real-life another S-Bahn service also terminates here and that is S6, coming from Essen Süd. This would give more traffic in that section, plus the possibility of adding the only depot services on this route as I think they are stored in the depot that just down the line from Essen Hbf. As for Duisburg Hbf, The AI IC services that came with the 101 was a good start, now do some more of some of the other stock that runs on this line. Not so much with the S-Bahn locos as no such services run from Oberhausen into Duisburg, but certainly with some other rolling stock such as the 425 and the 146.2 as this would already build upon what those services started and give more traffic around Duisburg to balance that section of the route with the section around Essen.

Overall, it may lack depot services, but Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr's timetable makes up for it with plenty of services running across the length of the line. This also has plenty of potential for even more services, whether it would ICE services, putting in the missing services or just adding more AI traffic, this route has the potential one this game busiest routes and will again be one to watch going forward.

So that's all the preserved routes done. Lets move on the routes that came with and came after the release of TSW2 starting with another German route set not to far away form where this last route was set.

…Continues in Part 5

 

…Part 5

Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen

The first true high-speed route to come to TSW in general, this route is, as it states, the 43 mile line that connects Köln with Aachen with the main feature being the 25 mile high-speed section between Köln and Düren where trains are capable of reaching speeds of 155 mph (250 kph). With just the two locos that available with the route, the numbers of services is only 49, but this quickly gets increased with the help of additional layers from two other routes. First there's Main Spessart Bahnn which adds RE services using the 146.2+Dostos and a mixture of freights services, this takes the service number up to 110, and then secondly, there's Rhein-Ruhr Osten which adds more freight using the Intermodal wagons and the MRCE 185.5 and S-Bahn services using the DB BR 422. This takes the final service mode count to 221, a significant increase from the services available with the route. For line runs, since there are not many depot services, and some of them either run a significant distance of the route or go on to form a main service that runs along the route, that number is at 218, quite close to the service mode number.

Now this routes timetable leaves me feeling quite conflicted. One one hand, I think this timetable depends way to much in layers from other routes. I do like the idea of adding more services from routes to make already busy route even busier, but it shouldn't really be making up over 80% of you overall service count, as if you took all the layers off, you're just left with a very empty timetable. Plus, I don't think this route is as busy as it has the potential with many big services missing from this route which I will get into later. But on the other hand, this is such a fun route to drive, especially with the high-speed services. I love the feeling of racing down at 155 mph down the high-speed section of the route between Köln and Düren and some of these services are my favourite to drive in TSW2.

So what are those missing I here you ask? Well, the big one is the S-Bahn services, with the big one missing being S12. This service runs from Köln down to Horrem before pulling into the turn-around siding and heading back on the other direction. This is a big one as having these service would complete this section of the timetable as right now, it doesn't feel all that busy as you've got these long gaps between S-Bahn services. Maybe if the Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn version of the DB BR 423 comes to this route, it will add these services, but we will just have to wait and see on that. Also, another way you could add more S-Bahn services is by doing the small services in the Cologne area of the route between Köln Hbf and Köln Hansaring, which in this case are S6 and S11. These services, although very short, would still add more traffic in the Köln area of the route.

The next thing I want to talk about is the High-Speed services on this route. While they are fun to drive, there's not many of them on this route right now. While the ICE timetable is accurate to real-life, they happen once every two hours which leads to only 14 services, 7 in each direction. But they are not the only high-speed services that run on this route in real-life. Another service that runs on the route, and one that has the potential to make a great loco add-on is the Thalys TGV services. There are usually at these 5 of these services a day in each direction, but most importantly, they seem to happen within the two hour gap between ICE services. These services would complete the high-speed section of the timetable and would nicely compliment the ICE services already available with the route.

One more thing that could be added to this route is more AI traffic in areas of the route such as Aachen and Köln. There are some small services that would be drivable in those such as RB 27 between Köln Hbf and Köln-Ehrenfeld using the DB BR 425 from the previous route. But there are plenty of AI traffic that either terminate or run through both stations at either end of the line that use the rolling stock currently available in TSW. One of the most noticeable being the DB BR 101 on AI IC services. Plenty of them run through Köln Hbf and one even starts at Aachen heading out in the other direction to the route heading towards Mönchengladbach. But there is one way to get this loco add-on involved in this route and you don't even have to make any line runs that may feel inaccurate for this route. I've again already mentioned this in another post, but it would be cool the get the 363 doing shunting services with the IC coaches available with the 101 at both Köln and Aachen yards, preparing trains to be taken out. This would give more life and action to those yard as right now, they are currently empty and dead.

Before we move on, there is one more thing I want to talk about here which is a curious add-on that this route will be getting that may or may not be adding more service to this timetable and that is the DB BR 187 that Skyhook Games are making for this route. For a while, we knew that they were making this is TSW2, but we didn't know which route it was for, but recently it was confirmed that it would be for this route. Now this loco is a freight loco so the question is, is it going to add any more freight services? I'm getting the impression that I will since, while there are freight services on this route, they are all layered from other routes in TSW2 and even if it was just to sub into those service, it would have to depend on those services being there. So what I could see is it adding it's own freight layer on top of the freight layers we currently have now, a could candidate from freight wagons it could bring is open box wagons, but again, we will just have to wait and see what it's going to bring to this route, and maybe hopefully, we can use this loco on the other German routes on this game.

Overall, this is a route that has so much more potential than what it currently has now. This routes timetable with all layers enabled is okay, but is lacking and feels incomplete. Hopefully over time, more services can be added to this route, whether it be by future updates or loco add-ons, especially the upcoming 187, that will make this route a lot busier and livelier than what it currently is now. But at at least with this route, all the services that were promised to come after the release of this route came, unlike the next route that we are going to talk about.

Bakerloo Line

This route is exactly what you would first think of when you here those words, this is a London Underground line in TSW2. But more specifically the entire route running for 14 miles both under the surface of London and along the West Coast Main Line from Elephant and Castle to Harrow and Wealdstone, with the three main depots at London Road, Queens Park and Stonebridge Park featured as part of this route. But despite it being set on what has the potential to be a hectic underground line, it only features 201 services, a massive difference compared to how much traffic runs on this route in real-life. Now this route does have depot services, they are incorporated into services that then travel a short section or essentially the whole length of the route, in fact there are only two service that genuinely just driving from the depot and the same the other way round. This leaves just 199 line runs along either the whole route or just a small section of the route.

But here's where things get interesting. Originally the plan was that DTG was going to update this timetable at a later date and add more services which would of taken the service number up to around 450 services, which would of put this as the route with the most amount of services. However, due to issues with the dispatcher that would of resulted in the whole timetable failing, that pretty much fell through and what we are left with is a half finished timetable that leaves at lot to be desired. My biggest problem with this timetable is that you will get times of the where you have lots of trains in one section of the route and not enough in another section of the route. This problem is most felt at the top portion of the route around Harrow & Wealdstone, and I don't mean by the fact that nothing runs along the West Coast Main Line section of that route. What I mean is by the fact that you will get these moments of the day where Harrow gets one train an hour followed by about four to five trains in the span of about half an hour, and as it only 9 trains that run up and down the line right now, that leaves not many trains running down in the underground section at the bottom of the route.

So do I think this still needs a timetable expansion? Well simply, yes it does. I don't expect DTG will add literally every single service that runs on this route as that would be a massive challenge to undertake that would probably result in the game crashing or the computer exploding. But if they can get this timetable even up to a significant fraction of the services that run on this route, that would be considered a big win for this route, as it would help create a more consist spread of services across the whole route, instead of one section being incredibly busy and another section that hasn't got any traffic there at all.

So say that this issue gets resolved one day, are there any other services that new adding on top of that? Well, the big over service that runs on the route, mostly on the outdoor section between Queens Park and Harrow & Wealdstone is London Overground services. There are several ways you could pull these services off. You could a Class 378/2 loco add for this route, you could have London Overground pack where it would come with a 378/2 and the Class 313 that used to run on this route or there just so happens to be a London Overground route in the future, then the locos from that could layered back into this route. These services would add more traffic to the outdoor section of the route as well as more diversity and something to drive on this route other than the 1972 Mark 2 stock that is available with this route.

The only other that needs adding to this route would be maintenance trains on this route using a LU Battery Locomotive add-on. This loco would come with some of the maintenance wagons used on the underground and these services would operate at night when no passenger services are running at this time. These services would bring an interesting dimension to this route as overnight maintenance trains are not we have really seen on such a large scale in TSW yet.

Overall, I hope that one day, this route can live up to being a busy Underground line set in the heart of London, because right now, it doesn't really have the level of traffic require to make it a true bustling underground line. But hopefully if DTG comes back to this route and give it the full timetable update, and especially if it gets more services via future add-ons, this has the potential the busiest route in all of TSW2 by a very long way.

Isle Of Wight

Allow me to keep this brief, this was Rivet Game's first route set on the 8.5 mile long Island Line between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin. This route features 68 services which is also shared with it's line run number (and yes I do count the short services between Ryde Pier Head and St Johns Road as line runs) and that pretty much all the services that runs on this line. Unless you add the steam railway as an extension, there is nothing else that needs adding to this routes service mode apart from some 483's stored at St John's Road, but other than that, nothing more to add here.

Moving on!

Hauptstecke München – Augsburg

Set on one of Germany's busiest railways lines, is route is as the title states, the 38 mile main line between Munich and Augsburg. This route without any additional layers comes with 338 services which focuses on ICE and S-Bahn services on this route. But after additional of multiple layers from three other routes, Main Spessart Bahn, Rhein-Ruhr Osten and Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr, which add RE, RB and freight services to this route, that number goes up to 427 services. As of this being written, that is the most for any TSW route out there. However, it is not the route with the most line runs, since this route has a few depot services using the ICE 3's that come with this route, the number of line runs is 399, which is second to Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr after you add the services that came with the DB BR 101.

For me, out of all the routes in TSW2, this route has both the best timetable of any route, and also the most problematic timetable of any route. I say it's this best, because this is one of few routes that actually lives up to being a very busy and lively route with tons of traffic running up and down the route. This route pretty much succeeds where the previous two German routes could not. Yes there a lot of services on Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr, but it didn't feature any depot services and unless you had the DB BR 101, you just got the same service at the same time every hour, where as here you have depot services with the ICE 3 and a few with the DB BR 423 that go into the depot just beyond München-Pasing, plus a lot of variation with the service with more S-Bahn services running at peak and ICE services varying throughout the day. Plus, this also succeeds in being a high-speed route because while it's speed limit is lower than Köln – Aachen's, there is a lot more high speed services running along this route. Some than run non-stop, some that make a stop at Pasing and even some that are double-length 16 car services. Couple that with the additional layers that come from other German routes available and you create the most busy, diverse, and interesting timetable in all of TSW2.

But there's one catch to all this. Like I said earlier, this is also the the most problematic timetable. Because you see, all these additional layer are great... for PC players only. For people playing on the consoles such as the Xbox One and PS4, they do not get the same luxury. This is because the additional layer cause issues with the performance of the route which lead to DTG have to take the layers off the consoles until the route is properly optimised to allow the additional layers back on those platforms. Maybe when this game comes to the new gen platforms such as the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S, this route will come with the layer activated, but we will just have to wait and see about that. For me, I'm a PC player so I've got all the layers enable on my copy of the route, but even I know it's a massive shame that the console base don't get to enjoy the route in the same way we PC players do. I mean, I think is still worthwhile even with all layers enabled, but those layers are really what takes this route to the next level. It's what makes this timetable the best of any TSW out there by far with so much traffic and so much diversity of locomotives running on this route from ICE, to S-Bahns to RE/RB to the freight services on this route and vast amount of locos that can drive on those from the available German loco roster that this game has and I hope that one day in the future, this game will be optimised so that console players can have all the available layers that this route has to offer so they can enjoy it just as much as we PC players do.

But enough of that, lets say we solve the issues with layers on this route and console player can have all of what this route service mode has to offer. Is there anything else than can added on top of that? Well, to say that would be an understatement. This route has the most DLC potential of any TSW route out there with lots of ways you add new locos to this route with some adding new services on top of what we currently have. I won't go through every single one here, but I will be looking into four big ones that I would like to see added to this route using the existing stock that we currently have in TSW2. The first of which is a big one, the DB BR 101 running IC services on this route. This would be a big one as this would complement the ICE services already available with this route and help complete the faster services that run on this route. But the question is, would you need the cab car for these services? I won't go too much into this as I've already talked about this on another thread on this forum, but long story short: If we had it yes, but there are ways to work around the fact we don't have the IC cab car and don't just mean top and tailing two 101's, but for more on that, see this post I did on another section of the forum:

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/train-sim-world-2-db-br-101-coming-soon.38772/page-2

As of what else can be added to this routes timetable, I going to sound insane on this next section, but I would like to see more S-Bahn on this route, particularly in the Munich section of the route. I say this because, if there's one thing that really bother me about the S-Bahn services is that they don't use up all the available platforms that these services stop at. This can especially be seen at Pasing station where in real-life, out of the 9 platforms that station has, 4 of them are used by S-Bahn services, platforms 5, 6, 7 and 8. In TSW, only platforms 5, 6 and 8 are used since not all the S-Bahn services that run on this route are represented here and that's understand, but what you end up with is platform 7 now being used at all. Now some could argue that this is a problem with TSW2 in general with not all platforms being used up and that can be true, but what bothers me in this case is that while platforms 2, 3 and 4 don't see any use, you could kinda get away with it since it's in a section of the station you don't tend to notice much. With platform 7 however, it right in the middle of two platforms that do get used by S-Bahn services which makes already makes for a lonely feeling of one platform not being used compared to the platforms around it, but what really highlights this issue is the PIS boards on the station. I might as well say it now, if there's one thing bringing PIS boards to TSW2 has brought up, it's fact that not all the platforms at a major station get used up. All you have to do is go to a major station on any TSW2 route that features PIS boards and just look for the platform that have a blank board. That means the platform get no use throughout the day, and going back to Pasing station, with platform 7's PIS board being blank with the two platforms beside it having information for trains arriving into the station, it really sticks out like a sore thumb. So what services would help fill those empty platforms? Well like I said earlier, I not going to recommend the DTG just adds every S-Bahn service that runs on this section of the line, but I think there are 3 services that would nicely fill in some of those empty platforms along this section of the route. These services are S1, S6 and S7, S1 runs between Hackerbrücke and Laim and trains joining the route from Moosach would use Platform 2 at Laim before joining onto the route towards Hackerbrücke, S6 would do the same thing as S4 but would make use of the aforementioned Platform 7 at Pasing before turning off towards Starnberg and Tutzing and finally S7 which would only do the small section between Hackerbrücke and Donnersbergerbrücke. Although many of these services as quite small, they would still contribute towards a much busier S-Bahn timetable and most importantly in my book, would use up more of the empty platforms along this section of the route.

Another thing I want to suggest here is, in a similar vain to what I recommended with Köln – Aachen, shunting services using the DB BR 363. This would give further life to some of the yards located around the Munich section of the route and could be linked up with the IC services by having 363's prepare trains and bringing them into Munich Hbf ready for the 101's to take out.

One final thing that I would like to suggest for this route is something that, while it might not have the correct loco for these services, who still be something that would be a nice addition to this timetable and that is TGV services on this route. Believe it or, there is usually one TGV service a day that departs Munich, travels to Augsburg and heads on towards Paris Est and probably the same in the other direction. Yes, I know that the Euroduplex is the one that does these services, but the version that comes with LGV Med is close enough and besides, you have to work with what you currently have in the game. Plus, while it would only be two services, it would still be worth adding to give a high-speed service that is different from the ICE services we currently have right now.

I could on about how more services could be added to this route, but right now, that shouldn't be the priority for this route. The priority right now should be to get the layers working on all platforms, including on the consoles because once that working properly, a whole Pandora's box has been opened in terms of what services could be added to enhance this routes timetable further and I look further what else can be made out of this timetable, should the limits of this route allow it to be expanded further.

LGV Méditerranée

The first French route to come to TSW2, this route is set on the high-speed line that runs for 58 miles between Marseille and Avignon, currently the longest route in TSW2 in terms the total route length from end to end, not counting any additional branches a route may have. But more importantly, this is the fastest route in all the TSW2, with the main high-speed section capable of supporting speeds of up to 199 mph (320 kph). This route only feature 52 services that are available to drive, but there are also several AI services that travel the route, but don't stop anywhere other than Marseille Saint Charles. Adding these services on, you end with a service count of 58. For line runs, since there are exactly 8 depot services, 4 in each direction, that number is 50 line runs in total.

Now at first glance, it doesn't seem like there should be any more services added to this timetable. Yes it's not that busy, but that's pretty much what this route is like in real-life and what it does, I does this very well and unlike most routes out there that have more services, it's not just the same service every hour. Sometimes you will get moments where more services run at certain times of the day, some services run non-stop all the way while the grand majority make a stop at Aix-en-Provence, and actually either riding or driving a service on this route can be quite a fun experience racing down this route at top speed. For what one could gather, this timetable offer what you would expect out of a route like this and there doesn't seem to be anything more to add on top of it.

However, there are actually a couple of high-speed services that are missing from this timetable, but there's a reason behind this. They are not from SNCF/TGV but rather by their independent subsidiary, Ouigo. For those who don't know who they are, Ouigo are to put it best, the high-speed version of a low cost airline, offering high-speed services at a much lower price. Ouigo operate all across France and have even starting running services in Spain. In this case of this route, Ouigo services would bring an additional 15 services that run the length of the route (7 heading out of Marseille and 8 heading towards Marseille) on top of any depot services that these may just happen to do. No I feel like this would be a great basis for a Ouigo livery pack where it could have a TGV Duplex in the Ouigo livery plus any changes to make it more like the version that Ouigo uses and also that livery, it would come with those additional services. This would a good idea for an add-on as it not only add more traffic to route, but also provide a different livery for the TGV Duplex available with the route, because the only way your getting a different liveried TGV right now is if you created one in the livery designer.

But other than, not much else that can be added to this route timetable. Even if there was any other loco add-ons that came to this route other than Ouigo, I highly suspect they will just sub into the existing services we have right now. There is not much reason to expand the service mode on this route further than what it is currently now. But maybe more so for the next route coming up.

…Continues in Part 6

 

…Part 6

Southeastern High Speed

We've reached this point, it's time for talk about how to improve the timetable for one of the most troublesome routes to ever come to TSW in general. As a brief overview, this route is 51 miles between London and Faversham, but this is more divided in three sections. The first section is the HS1 section between London St Pancras and Ebbsfleet which is also the fastest section of the route with trains capable of reaching 140 mph (225 kph), then the route joins the North Kent Line which takes the route from Gravesend to Strood before joining with the Chatham Main Line at Rochester which then takes it all the way the end of the route at Faversham. When it comes to services, this is where things get interesting. When this route was first shown during the Festival of Rail livestream back in late January, it looked like this route was only going to come with 179 services, after this got a very negative response, DTG went back and tried to add more services and to be far, they did, adding an additional 85 services which took the total up to 264. 80 of them were additional Southeastern services using the Class 375/9 running from Gravesend and 5 more were from additional layers, 4 rail tours services from Northern Trans-Pennine and 1 freight service from East Coastway with a further 7 coming via an additional patch which took the final service number to 271. But this number doesn't include the AI Southeastern High Speed services that run from the lower level platforms at Ebbsfleet, which adding them onto the available services, takes the final service count to 346. For line runs, since there are a few depot services at Gillingham Depot, that number is not to far behind at 334, again including the aforementioned AI Southeastern High Speed services.

I'm sure we all have an opinion on this route, whether it is good, bad, positive, negative or just in the middle. I'm sure we are all aware of all that this route has been for reasons that I would go into too much here as I will be for the next 9 hours. But if there's one thing I will say about this route is that it's service mode timetable is actually pretty good? I will say that I do appreciate the effort that was made to add more services at the last minute and to be fair, they did this quite well to create a surprisingly busy route. Probably the best part of this route is the section between Rochester and Gillingham where you have these moments where lots of trains are all bunched up together following one another where you could have as one train is leaving the station, another is already coming in from behind. These creates so really great action during the day and a timetable that can actually be quite engaging at times.

But I still think this timetable came be improved further, especially with the Javelin services on this route. I'm not gonna suggest making the AI High Speed services drivable as that would require tearing up Ebbsfleet International and redoing it from scratch, but there is one way you could add more Javelin services to this route and to be honest, I was quite surprised these weren't added during the time DTG when back and added more services after feedback from the first preview stream and they are the Peak Maidstone services. You see, at certain times of the day, Southeastern run a couple of services that start at St Pancras, run along HS1 to Ebbsfleet, join the North Kent Line and follow it all the way to Strood, but then don't go onto the Chatham Main Line but go straight on towards Maidstone West. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting DTG to make AI javelin services drivable for the reason I just mentioned, but I don't get why they did go and add these services. They don't seem like they would be too much of a hassle to add to the timetable and would be give the Javelin a bit variety of services to do other than just doing London to Faversham 59 times a day in each direction. Maybe they will look into this at a later date.

The other thing that I think needs to be added to this route to fully complete it is more freight. Now I'll be honest, the freight services that were added via East Coastway are actually the best thing about this route. Not only did it add freight, but also shunting services around Hoo Junction Yard and many of these services have some interesting patterns, whether it would running just the small section between Strood and Gravesend, or whether it be actually going onto the Chatham Main Line down to Faversham. But I also think there's room for more freight and specifically using a wagon that I mentioned earlier that doesn't get much use on this game that has the potential into many of the UK currently available and upcoming and that is the HKA hopper wagon from Great Western Express. Like I said earlier, this wagon is so underutilised in TSW and this would be a great route to have services featuring that wagon as hopper have been see at Hoo Junction in real-life. Maybe this would add another layer of freight that would focus more on the other side of the yard, maybe with even some services disappearing off towards Cliffe Gravel works to get loaded before rejoining the route fully loaded later in the day. Either way, these services would give more freight to this route as well as a greater diversity of wagons around Hoo Junction instead of just the JNA's from East Coastway which dominate the yard right now.

You know, even after everything that this route has been through, I feel like this route has a bright future. I feel like we were lucky that DTG went back and tried to address many of the problems that were brought up in that first preview and we were lucky that, unlike other routes that have had a negative first reaction to, that they were able to address many of the issue either before release or via post release patches. I still hope that DTG continues to improve this route further and fix many of the issues that are still lingering around to this day, especially with the scenery on this route. But most important, throughout all of that, I hope they find time to further improve the timetable on this route as, like I just mentioned, there are still areas that it can be improved further. If they get it right, this route can finally live up to being one of this games landmark routes in a similar vain to München – Augsburg. This route has the potential to be something special, it's just needs to clear up some of it's biggest issues to fully realise it. Speaking of routes with big issues...

Arosalinie

This route was a bit of a landmark moment in TSW2. This was first Swiss route to come to TSW2 as well as the first non-standard route in TSW2, as this route is metre gauge (3ft 3 3/8 in). Plus this was Rivet Game's second route after the Isle Of Wight. But this route in particular is set on the mountain line that runs for 16 miles from Chur to Arosa, climbing 1155 metres in the process. This route features 84 services, but half of those services are either runaround services or services going into the sidings at either end of the line, which leaves to total line run number at only 42.

But to be honest, that's kinda to be expected for a route like this, as that is the amount of traffic this route receives in real-life. But that's not the problem I have with this timetable. The problem I have here is that the timings are completely inaccurate to what are in real-life. You see, in real-life there are two types of services that run on this route, R and RE. R services stop everywhere along the route while RE services run non-stop the whole length of the route. In this timetable we have now, the RE services run non-stop as they do in real-life but then you have some R services that some everywhere and some that only stop at certain stations along the route, and this stopping pattern tends to be all over the place for most place, plus the fact the some, if not all of the timings seem to overestimate how long it would take to complete a service on this route and you will pretty much always guaranteed run late on this route. So really, the focus for this route should be to fix the timings on this route and make them more accurate and also easier to keep up to time up.

Another problem I have with this route is regarding the use of the freight wagon that came with the route, or in this came the lack of use. For those who don't, this route comes with one freight wagon, specifically a SP-W Log wagon, however it only gets any sort of use in the scenarios on this route, it sees literally no use in service mode. It don't just they used it as scenery along this route no, it is nowhere to be found along this route in service mode, no freight services using it, none that are just stored on the sidings along this route, absolutely no use at all in service mode. From what I could gather, since this route has little to no room for extra freight services, freight wagons are usually attached to the back of passenger services on this route, which makes me wonder, could have Rivet have done something similar with this route? Or at least maybe have at least one maybe two service that is solely focused on those wagons? Or just literally do something with that wagon, even if it was just having then stored in the sidings dotted along this route, that would still far more use in service mode that right now as it just seems like some sort use of the freight wagon on this route is what this route is really missing right now to complete the timetable.

But right now, trying to find a use for the freight wagon in service mode shouldn't really be the priority here. The priority should be to try and fix the timings for all the existing services on this route so they are easier to keep to time with, but whether that happens soon, we don't know. I think a fix will come eventually, but not for a very long time.

We are on the home straight here, just four more routes to go.

Clinchfield Railroad

What is now CSX's Kingsport Subdivision, this route is set on the 37 mile line between Elkhorn and Dante, set in the 1980s during the time when Clinchfield Railroad operated this route. This route also features an additional 27 miles of branches and spurs around places such as Haysi, Fremont, McClure and Nora which takes the total route length up to 64 miles, which is currently the longest route by total route length in all the TSW2, or at lest for now until Bahnstrecke Riesa – Dresden comes out with Rush Hour later this year. This route features 48 services but many of these are services that focus on the branches and also done in several parts. So if the narrow done the services to just the services that travel any section of the main route, that number of only about 25 line runs.

Being honest here, this timetable is... about what you would expect from a route like this. I mean it's not that busy, but that's kinda to be expect from a slow moving, single track, heavy freight route set in the 1980s. This route is probably not going to be every come of tea as does take a very long time to complete even some of the shorter services on this route, but this route can be enjoyed for what it is, whether it would going off and exploring the route on foot to try and find all the collectibles or even digging hours in service mode trying to complete the services on this route.

Now there are two areas of this timetable that can be improved. First of which is more usage of the branches of this route. I do like the fact that the branches are represented here as they offer so much in explore and potentially hours of game time with it, but the problem I find here is that service mode doesn't really take much advantage of them. For the most part, all four branches on this route only see 1 train a day, and in the case of the McClure Spur and the Nora turn, the trains that run down those sections both happen either in the dead of night, or in the early morning and don't see another train for the rest of the day. It could that this is all the traffic that those sections of the route received back in the day, but it's just that it seems like those sections of the route are a little empty know that they only seen any sort of traffic early in the morning and then never get used ever again. Maybe in the future if this route gets any loco add-ons, they add more services that take advantage of these branches, similar to how the C40-8W for Sand Patch Grade added a second coal run to Shaw Mines.

But another thing that I want to see out of service mode on this route is more use of the coal loader/unloaders along the route. This route has quite a lot of them dotted along the route, some of which are even located on the main running line. However, as far as I can tell, only one service actually uses one of the loaders which is around Haysi were a F7A, picks up a set of coal cars, loads them up, puts them back in the yard again and that's it. There could be more services out there, but for most part, most of services that involve picking up loaded coal wagons just involve replacing empty sets with loaded sets. Again, this could how it worked back in the day, but just seems like such a waste to have all these loaders located along the route if no service ever really uses them. Again, this could be something for future loco add-ons to potentially explore by adding that actually use the loaders on this route.

…and that's what I take away from this route. There's so much add-on potential from this route and many of them have the potential to add new service that further maximise the opportunities this route presents. When looking into what this route present and what I could offer further, there are two add-ons that would do very well on this route.

• A Clinchfield Expansion Pack: This would come with two locos, the EMD GP7 and the EMD GP38, both in CRR livery and would also more services that advantage of the branches and many of the loaders along this route.
  
• GE U36C: This would add a couple more line runs and also maybe one set of services down the McClure Spur.

Overall, I look forward to seeing what DTG can do next with this route and whether anything more can be added to further enhance this routes timetable.

Hauptstrecke Hamburg – Lübeck

Here we are at the most recent German route to come to this game and the first set in the north of the country. This route is, as the title suggests, the 39 mile long main line that runs between Hamburg and Lübeck. This route features 202 services, which just over the 200 mark. This number also includes two additional services that add IC services using the DB BR 101 that came out just a few weeks prior to this route coming out. For line runs, that number is not too far behind being at 189 in total.

Now this is another route that I feel like a lot of you have a lot of opinions on, whether that again be good, bad, in the middle or whatever. I won't go into the troubles that this route has faced as I'm sure you probably all know by now, this thread is mainly taking about the timetable and what can be done to improve it, not the route in general. So with that said, I feel like this timetable is just a bit... eh... It not terrible, it does have quite a bit of traffic running on it, but apart from the IC services that are enabled by the 101, there's nothing really special about this routes timetable. The thing is, every German route since Rhein-Ruhr Osten has had additional support for more services from other routes that were already available in TSW2 and for most part, they have supplied a heathy amount of services to add to what the route already offers, and it's why I consider the German routes to be some of the best routes available on this game. With this route, it's either the rolling stock that runs on this route doesn't exist yet in TSW2 yet, or most of the existing stock doesn't run here in real-life and what you end up with is a route that resembles the early German routes like Ruhr-Sieg Nord or Main Spessart Bahn, but isn't quite as engaging as those two routes. But if there is one good thing I can say here is that at least the two locos available with this route are usable on other German routes on this game, not so the MRCE 182 as that only able to used on Rhein-Ruhr Osten and München – Augsburg, the 112 is practically usable on every other German route apart from Rapid Transit.

Before I actually get into suggest what needs to be added to this timetable, I would just like to mention one thing about the S-Bahn that runs along the first section around the Hamburg part of the route. This has been a point of discussion that nothing runs on them right now due to the fact that the loco that runs on them doesn't exist yet in TSW2 which is the DB BR 474. The problem here is that, while I do agree that this section of the route is pretty empty, I can't really anything being added to this section any time soon for two reasons:

1. Some of the S-Bahn stations are blocked off, such as Berliner Tor and some of the S-Bahn platforms at Hamburg Hbf and while you can walk around Landwehr station, you can't climb up onto the platform.
2. Strictly speaking, I don't think DTG should waste all that time and effort to make a whole new loco for these services if those services only last like what, 7 minutes?

So if I was DTG I would (and this might be potentially foreshadowing the next part of this thread series) make a brand new, full blown Hamburg S-Bahn line and then maybe have it add AI S-Bahn services running those services in this area of the route (Which by the way, those services at S1 and S11). That way, you would have a good route the drive the loco down and also have it directly benefit another route by giving it more traffic around a slightly empty section of the route. In fact, on the subject of AI traffic, that's something that could also be added to this route is that AI services coming in and out of Hamburg Hbf and a lot of the rolling stock to make those services happen do exist in TSW2 right now such as IC's and ICE's, just to liven up the atmosphere around Hamburg Hbf.

But that doesn't mean there are other things that could added to this routes timetable to make it more interesting. The big one that a lot of people want to see on this route is services using a DB BR 218 add-on. TrainSim-Germany have hinted that they might do it once they have finished with the current projects that they are doing and having this be a loco add-on for this route would be such a major boost for this route to give it something more unique and different compared to the locos that are currently available with the route. For what I could gather, these loco do two services on this routes, RE 85 and more IC services. Both of these services are similar to the RE/IC services currently available with the route, but also go beyond Lübeck towards Puttgarden. Having these services, while similar to what we have now, would offer more traffic and would offer a different driving experience with a different loco at the helm.

The other thing I would like to see added to this timetable is freight services using the Roos-T wagon available with this route. Now in case you forgot, this route does come with the Roos-T log wagon from Ruhr-Sieg Nord, but it only seems to be scenery items in the scenarios for this route. In service mode, it sees absolutely no use at all, not even is it used as just stored wagons at Lübeck yard. I personally think there's an opportunity to this to add services using a loco that features in the tutorials/scenarios, but doesn't have any services here right now. Yes, this is another route where the BR 363 can add shunting services to around Lübeck yard, preparing and shunting trains to taken out down the line. If you already it running around as AI in the tutorials/scenarios, then the next logical step would be for it add shunting services Lübeck yard to give it more life and actually give a purpose for Roos-T in service mode.

Overall, while it may have had a rough start in TSW2, I feel this is another route that has a bright future ahead of it in TSW2. It timetable right now may not be all that interesting, but there are a lots of ways that this can be built upon, whether that would be more AI service, services using existing stock such as the 363, or even stock that is yet to make it to TSW2. This is another route that I watch going forward to see what else can be added to it's timetable and who knows? Maybe people might find some new found appreciation for this route.

We are nearly there, just two more routes to go...

Cathcart Circle Line

The most recent route that DTG made for TSW2 and also TSW's first Scottish route, Cathcart Circle is a commuter line that's runs out of Glasgow Central either around the circle via Cathcart, or out towards Neilston or Newton, which leads to a total route length of only 20 miles. However, this route does have quite a bit for services featuring 208 in total, which includes 3 additional services from East Coastway and Northern Trans-Pennine which add rail tour services and a early morning maintenance train to Glasgow Central. But this number does not include several unlisted services that either run out into the turn back siding at either Neilston or Mainly Newton which with those a services added on, takes the total service count to 214. However, since the Neilston turn back services take up quite a large proportion of the service count, plus the services to Shields Depot, the total line run number is only 158.

Despite it being quite short, this route still has plenty to offer with a large variety of services that either head round the circle in either direction or head out to one of the two destinations on this route. Plus, the three extra services added were added via additional layers were a nice surprise that was honestly not expecting and help bring something different than just the Class 314 running around all the time.

However, I wouldn't say that this timetable is perfect. One thing I have noticed about this timetable is Newton doesn't seem to get as many services as some of the other parts of route. For example, the Neilston service are accurate to real-life as they tend to be two per hour, same thing with the services that go round the circle. But with the Newton services, it's start off alright, but as some as one train goes back to the depot at around 12:55, that's when that section of the timetable falls apart. After that point, Newton doesn't see another train for over an hour and from there, the station with either see one or two trains an hour for the rest of the day. It could just be this is what the timetable was like back in 2014 which is when this route is set, but it leaves a feeling that this section of the timetable is incomplete. Maybe if this route get any loco add-ons it will add a couple more services to Newton, but it just leaves this section of the route feeling a bit empty at times.

But if there's one thing that does need to be added to this timetable, and I'm sure you probably know what I'm about to talk about, it's more AI traffic around Glasgow Central. Although the section around Glasgow Central is the busiest part of the route, there could be more traffic running around that section. My idea for how I would go about this would be if we were to bring more locos to this route (and there are quite a few to chose from such as the 318, 320 and the 380) they would also bring some additional AI services that represent some the other services that the 314 operated out of Glasgow such as the Paisley Canal Line and the Inverclyde Line. This way, you would get locos that are able that are able to be subbed into the existing services and also some more traffic around Glasgow Central at the same time.

But in the end, Cathcart Circle does deliver quite a solid timetable, if a bit incomplete and if it was to gain some more AI traffic around Glasgow Central, that in would be a welcome sign to help liven up the atmosphere around that area.

Cane Creek & Final Thoughts in Part 7...

 

…Part 7

Cane Creek

The most recent route to come to TSW2 and the first from Skyhook Games, this route focuses on the branch line that runs from Brendel to Potash Mine, plus the small part of the main line that runs to Thompson, which leads to a total route length of 40.8 Miles. This route has the fewest services of any TSW2 route, with only 21. For line runs, as this service number also includes the loading at Potash/Moab and Unloading at Brendel, that number is 12 (6 in each direction) joint fewest with West Somerset Railway.

I'll be real here, it may not have many services, buts that's pretty much the amount of traffic that runs on this route in real-life. In fact it's actually more as usually there's only one of each type of service that runs on this route every day, so Skyhook decided to do 3 of each type of service that runs on this route because if they really did the timetable to real-life, we would only have like what... 7 services? Besides, this route is less about the services and more about the scenarios. Besides, why do you think that Skyhook decided to make 12 scenarios for the route? The most of any route out there in TSW2.

This leaves us with a bit of a problem when it comes to what could be added to this route in the future as really, Skyhook pretty much maximised what this route is really capable of. As this main section of the route between Brendel and Potash has no signalling to speak of, service mode basically works like this: One train goes down to Moab/Potash, loads up, goes back to either Brendel/Thompson where it will either unload or drive off the map and then another train takes it's place and the cycle then repeats itself for the rest of the day. At most, I could think of two tings that this routes timetable could really benefit from.

Firstly is AI traffic between Thompson and Brendel. I've heard this has been potentially floated around about the possibility of this happening, and it could still happen via future updates to this route, but this would be something that could really benefit that top part of the route to give it more life in between times when trains from the branch line come in and out. You could even make these quite long, longer than the trains that run on the branch line (not saying those train should be any longer as that's about as long as the trains that run on this route in real-life). Plus, you could also involve the tanker wagons available with this route on those services as they don't get much use on this route right now other than being used in scenarios and being scenery items in service mode.

The other thing is maybe having switching services at Thompson and Brendel if that is a thing in real-life? I say this because there are these yards at both of those locations that would serve decent locations from switching services, you could get the GP38-2 from Penn Corridor involved in these services. Just something that would give those yards a bit more life than what they are currently like right now.

But other than that, that's it. Like I said, Skyhook pretty much maximised what this route is capable off and left little to no room of anymore services on the main branch portion of the route, which would leave any services that would be added in the future, restricted to just the top portion of the route. If there were any locos that could be added to this route in the future, I expect they will just sub into the existing services already available and add new scenarios on top of ones currently available, because like I said earlier, it's not about the services with this route, it's about the scenarios. That's pretty much what you expect out of this route.

Final Thoughts

So there we have it, an analysis of every single routes timetable and what I think needs improving on each one of them. There are certainly some routes that would benefit from more services more than others and some that don't have anything else major that needs adding. But for most part, there are certainly lots of way you could enhance the timetables of many of the existing routes in this game. Whether that would be adding AI traffic around busy area, to adding new service types that isn't present on that route, to just simply adding more traffic to help increase the amount of traffic on a route. If you have anything else that I may have missed that you would like to see on any of the routes that I have talked about, please let me know in the replies below.

Now that was a long one, the biggest thread I have ever written on this forum or on any forum, and we do have more thread that I will doing in this series and that will be talking about if there are any routes out there that are not currently in TSW2 that have the potential to create a great 'Rush Hour' style route. But since this thread nearly an entire week to write, I'll have a few days break before getting into writing that.

That's all from me and I'll see you in the next thread.

 

Yeah ECW really needs an updated timetable once preservation crew get onto it - during service mode, Lewes-Eastbourne feels the only empty part of the route. In addition to your valid point of using Gatwick Express 387s, don't forget that Brighton Mainline will feature renumbered 377/4s as 377/1s. Having these 377/1 numbers on ECW will also increase the authenticity which I hope DTG will implement.

Overall, fantastic posts for all routes, I hope DTG can take some inspiration from the ideas.

 

Northern Trans Pennine could use a Layer in with the Class 31 for some new Cement services NTP is my Favorite route With my Second being Sand Patch, but one thing i feel is a Missed opportunity is the Layering of the Class 31 into it the class 31 is the Only BR Blue Loco (not counting the 52) to not be on NTP so with that and Cement services can add more things to do.
But what i think NTP meeds most is a Loco DLC

 

To fix the Long Island Railroad my suggestion the Babylon branch can serve as the Express Service from Penn Station to Jamaica then Branch off from the main line at Hillside Support Facility to serve its first stop St Albans then express to Babylon. During the rush hours Woodside and Jamaica are skipped on Babylon Branch

 

I can't believe I read this entire thread. That was a long one

I do like your analysis on how the timetables in the routes can be improved. Perhaps these are things that can be done in the future along with the addition of more passengers in stations as stations in this game are quite dead

 

Since that route is now out, I have added a section on Cane Creek which talks about what can be done to improve the timetable on that route. (Spoiler alert: not very much):

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...ode-on-the-existing-routes.41891/#post-331464

Also, I have now uploaded the final part of this thread series which talks about what routes, currently not in TSW2, would make great 'Rush Hour' style routes, which also includes a poll on each of the routes discussed in that thread. Do go and check it out if you haven't already as it's probably my favourite thing I have ever put on this forum:

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...ould-make-great-rush-hour-style-routes.42079/

 

if the GP40-2 Comes back they can if we are lucky squeeze enough services out to bring Sand Patch to the 100 service mark perhaps cant guarantee that

 

I agree and for Cane Creek the same CSX GP40-2 gets a reskin into an Union Pacific 1400-1500s GP40-2