I have never started a which route thread. I am torn between whether to pick up the Bremen or Hamburg route in the sale. And I wondered which one was preferable to most people as I can't decide? I had purchased Munich to Augsburg but refunded it as it looked good but didn't seem very busy and there was a conflict between two ICE's in Munich station. I like the look of Hamburg as it seems many services are self contained plus there are the longer distant services coming off map, however I know about the incorrect Dostos and it seems a bit plain from videos I have seen. The timetable apparently is a good selling point. Bremen looks interesting for the 110 and N-Wagens plus it is a TSW3 route and has the bridge and the barges but again looks a little uninteresting overall as a route. The German high speed and strangely for me Cajon Pass also look interesting. Thanks in advance.
I’d say Hamburg is less interesting than Bremen, it’s very straight and basically just a run at 87mph until a station stop every 5 or so miles. It does however look quite good, my personal favourite areas being the approach into Lubeck as you pass some tower blocks, and then wind into the HBF past the loco sheds. Hamburg is also very busy with AI. The scenery overall is mostly country side with towns at most stations. The biggest issue is that it both has the wrong Dostos and a bastardised 112 (excuse my German). It can get a little boring too since it’s quite straight and you don’t get much in the way of variety - other than that it’s quite a polished route and has minimal issues. Bremen is busy at both ends, has a little more variety than HBK in terms of what trains you can use, and the cab car is much better than the dosto (which you will have to use a lot in HBK, if you want to do return journeys from Lubeck). The scenery is also more varied since it’s an urban route. Overall, I’d say you cant go wrong with either, I think Bremen makes up for being short with all the things you can do, you can take anything from a shunter upto the ICE 1 on this route. My personal favourites are the BR612 & G6 runs. Hamburg offers you the longer runs, a smoother experience and a more relaxing run. Worth noting that HBK is busy as a base route since the majority of traffic is made up of rolling stock you get with the DLC, then substitution, ICE & IC layers take it a little further. Bremen on the other hand requires quite a lot of other DLC to get it to its prime.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have pretty much most DLC apart from the G6 (which I intend to get) which would offer layers so I should be covered there.
I like Bremen better cuz there's much more variety in terms of services you get. Freight is repetitive in hamburg. In Bremen, you get several different freight runs which is not always a to b. You stop at different locations of the route. You got services with the shunters, br 101, ice1, 612, 425, cab car. So you've got many different service types to work with. I find Hamburg to be more boring. Freight is repetitive and the 112 is not my favorite locomotive to drive. There are other layers too but Bremen oldenburg gives more variety and fun.
I'd recommend Bremen as well. The 110 is simply more interesting than the somewhat half-baked 112, you get the n-wagen, the TSW3 lighting and the route is a bit more interesting (but not by much). I got Hamburg because it's a route I actually know, and Hamburg Hbf would be a great hub for trains - unfortunately it is rather empty.
Bremen suffers from being very short and has numerous level crossings where the vehicle stoppers don't wotk. DTG CBA to acknowledge this, let alone fix it. On the positive side the 110 is good and the N-wagon cab car is also fun to drive, completely different to the insulated and near soundless Dosto 766/767.
I would probably say Bremen as well. Stock is definitely more interesting. however on Hamburg you are working full length services rather that just a small section of one, which is why it’s actually one of my favourites.
Normally I would but I need to be careful as I am in the middle of getting a mortgage so on a bit of a budget and the new TSG route is definately going to be purchased.
Huh. Have you tried it with the new timetable? It's fantastic and I was actually under the impression that Hamburg Hbf is now one of the busiest stations in the game.
Thanks all for your input. I think I will plump for Hamburg and try and stop myself buying Bremen on Wednesday!