The Tsw World Cup: See You In December!

This could be interesting.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen.
It's the festive season, so why not have some fun on these, often miserable, forums?
It's time to find out, through the process of competitive elimination, what the Greatest TSW Route of all time is!

Spoiler: Season 1 (2023) Details

Here's how it'll work.
We'll have three categories, with the following countries within them. Numbers in brackets denote the number of routes from said countries.

• Continental Europe (19)
  • Germany (15)
  • Switzerland (2)
  • Austria (1)
  • France (1)
• Great Britain (20)
• North America (13)
  • United States (12)
  • Canada (1)

All routes that have faced TSW so far are included, apart from:

• Southeastern Highspeed (TSW2)
• NEC: New York (TSW1)
• Sand Patch Grade (TSW1)

Format
Continental Europe
Europe has 19 Available to choose from.
These will be split into 4 Groups, with 5 routes in each - apart from one group, which will have 4.

Great Britain
Britain has 20 to choose from.
These will be split into 4 Groups of 5.

North America
North America only has 13 available to pick from, so we will have 3 Groups: 2 of 4, one of 5.

Seeding
To make things a bit more interesting, some routes will be seeded away from each other.
Europe
The four non-German routes; Vorarlberg, Luzern-Sursee, Arosa Linie and LGV Mediteranee; will be split across the four groups.

Great Britain
The five BR Diesel/Electric routes; Northern Transpennine, Tees Valley Line, Isle of Wight, West Cornwall Local and Blackpool Branches, will be together.

Spirit of Steam and Peak Forest will be seeded apart.
North America
North America will have a pre-fixed group (Group C) containing 5 out of the six Passenger routes. The other will be entered into the draw between Group A and Group B, along with the freight routes. Use the Group Names to indicate this.

Voting
Voting will be conducted in seperate threads, per country.

It will be one poll with every option.
Only vote once per group.

Groups will be denoted with a letter in a bracket, next to the Route Name. For example:
(A) | East Coast Mainline

Polls will run for one day per round.
The threads will be contained in the off-topic forum, so not to clog up the TSW Discussion forum.

The Draw
As of writing literally everything above this point, I haven't actually conducted the draw.

So, let's see, who's together.
We'll start with Europe:

Europe - Groups
Group A
LGV Méditeraneé (FR)
Niddertalbahn
Ruhr Sieg Nord
Rapid Transit
Köln-Aachen

Group B
Arosa Linie (CH)
Dresden-Riesa
Bremen-Oldenburg
Rhein-Ruhr Osten
Kassel-Würzburg

Group C
Luzern-Sursee (CH)
Maintalbahn
Main Spessart Bahn
Dresden-Chemnitz
Hamburg-Lübeck

Group D
Vorarlberg (AT)
Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr
Linke Rheinstrecke
Munich-Augsburg

Two Routes advance per group.

Well, that was an interesting draw from Europe. Both of the Aschaffenburg routes meet in Group C, and none of the ICE Three (Munich, Kassel, Köln) meet.
On to Britain.

Britain - Groups
Group A - The BR Group
Northern Transpennine
Tees Valley Line
Isle of Wight
West Cornwall Local
Blackpool Branches

Group B
Great Western Express
London Commuter / Brighton Mainline
Midland Mainline
Glossop Line
East Coastway

Group C
Peak Forest Railway
Edinburgh-Glasgow
Birmingham CrossCity
Cathcart Circle Line
Island Line 2022 (BR 484)

Group D
Spirit of Steam: Liverpool - Crewe
East Coast Mainline
West Somerset Railway
Southeastern Highspeed (TSW3/4)
Bakerloo Line

Top Two Advance Per Group.

That was probably a more interesting one than Europe. East Coast Mainline v SEHS, both ScotRail routes in one group, as well as both of the Brighton routes in the same group. Of course, the pre-fixed BR Group will be interesting to see.

Across the pond now, to the land of the free. And Canada.

North America - Groups
Group A - The Freight Group
CN Oakville Subdivision
UP Cane Creek Branch
Clinchfield Railroad
CSX Sand Patch Grade

Group B - The Mixed Group
NS Horseshoe Curve
UP Sherman Hill
BNSF Cajon Pass
Antelope Valley Line

Group C - The Passenger Group
Long Island Railroad
Peninsula Corridor
NEC: Boston - Providence
Harlem Line
NEC: New York - Trenton

The pre-decided Passenger Group offers US Passenger operations a chance to be in the knockouts. Poor Antelope. No luck.

Over to You...
The Voting threads will be posted soon after this one.
Links:
EUROPE: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-europe-group-stage-vote.77088/
BRITAIN: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-britain-group-stage-voting.77089/
NORTH AMERICA: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-north-america-group-stage-voting.77090/

Final Thoughts
I had a bit of free time and was rather bored in it, so I thought: "Why not do something interesting?" - we've all probably seen the real-life UK World Cup of Train Operators, or the likes. This is TSW's equivalent.

This is just a fun little contest to determine what's the best. Be objective or subjective, the choice is yours.

Only vote once per group, though! That's the one rule!

Enjoy the ensuing chaos of a Group Stage elimination of someone's favourite route.

If this is popular I may do a Loco/Gameplay Pack version.

Season Two: 2024/25
Group Stages
The Group Stages for TSWWC Season 2 can be found below!

EU - https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...-25-group-stage-europe-starts-tomorrow.87769/
UK - https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...25-group-stage-britain-starts-tomorrow.87766/
US - https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...up-stage-united-states-starts-tomorrow.87770/

 

This will be fun!

 

I’ve made votes so far in the available polls, however I do think a rolling stock poll will be needed too.

Some routes are nice but have ‘non preferable’ stock & some routes are not so nice but have ‘preferable’ stock. I struggled to pick (or not pick) with those points in mind. (Sorry 158).

 

EUROPE: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-europe-group-stage-vote.77088/
BRITAIN: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-britain-group-stage-voting.77089/
NORTH AMERICA: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-north-america-group-stage-voting.77090/

All three voting threads are LIVE!
Open for two days. Have fun.

 

I think a Rolling Stock/Gameplay one will be due after this.

I think I'll need to wait a while so the entire forum isn't just 'TSW World Cup', though

 

Yeah no doubt someone will be along soon to try and ‘moderate’ you. I think there’s a growing desire for this sort of thing though & I was hoping DTG would be more open with it.

 

Brilliant idea! Can someone with Blender skills make a Train Sim World Cup trophy?

 

The polls state otherwise

 

Just clocked that there. I do wonder how it would have performed if in with the other passenger routes. Not as well, I'd suspect.

 

Probably below Peninsula Corridor, has decent stock, but Metrolink's roster isn't fleshed out, and Peninsula Corridor actually came with freight stock by default (In form of a UP GP38-2 and 2 cars). Both are meh in terms of scenery.

 

Round 2
Round 2 - the Knockouts.
This will be a straight vote between Route A and Route B.

24 Routes will enter, in three paths of eight.
11 Group Winners
11 Runners up.

Wait, that's only 22.
Yes! Two routes that finish third will get the chance to progress. This can come from any region, and will be determined by votes alone.
If there are three tied on the highest 3rd-place total, then it's down to a wheel to see what's knocked out.

For the purposes of R2:
Seed 1
UK Winners and Runners Up (8)

Seed 2
European Winners and Runners Up (8)

Seed 3
NA Winners and Runners Up, Third Places.

This may change to move third places in with their own territory.

Numbers
The decrease in participating routes will be fast. Your vote really does make a huge difference, especially if it's for a third-place route.

Group Stage (2 Days) - 52 Routes
R2 - 24 Routes (-28)
QF - 12 Routes (-12)
SF - 6 Routes (-6)
F - 3 Routes (-3)

And then, there will be one.

As for the Loco/Gameplay Pack WC, I will run one after this one.

Just to gauge opinion: Would it be preferred to include every Train in that competition, or just those seen in Loco DLCs? (this includes the likes of DLoGW and RHTT, which include reused trains.)

 

We're about three and a half to four hours in, and this is how things stand:
Some seem to have won already. ECW and RSN just scraping through, but Cathcart, Tees Valley Line, Hamburg-Lubeck and Munich-Augsburg giving them a run for their money, so far.

Still another 44 hours to go

 

I voted for Cajon Pass and Northeast Corridor Trenton to Boston via Providence Rhode Island Brown University Station

 

This is a very cool idea. Have cast my votes and look forward to the next rounds.

 

I am sorry but if Blackpool Branches doesn't win we clearly have Mike Dean doing the reffing.

 

Day One will probably have most of the action, so in the first 10/11 hours of voting, let's see how we're getting on.

The Flyers
Some routes are steaming ahead to victory in their groups. The following are almost guaranteed to go through:
UK-A | Blackpool Branches (82-11-9-6-0)
UK-B | Brighton Mainline (68-17-12-5-2)
UK-D | Southeastern HS (79-10-6-4-3)

EU-B | Dresden-Riesa (68-7-5-3-0)
EU-C | Dresden-Chemnitz (41-19-9-6-5)

NA-A | Sand Patch Grade (43-16-4-3)
NA-B | Antelope Valley Line (48-16-5-3)
NA-C | NEC Boston Prov'ce (50-17-14-12-0)

The Run-Offs
A few groups, however, have tight races between first and second. They'll both progress, but it could make a huge difference in terms of the route they're paired against.
As follows:

European Group A
Niddertalbahn - 41 Votes
Köln-Aachen - 24 Votes

17 is a big gap, but it's one that can be closed. Could SKA catch up to the Branch Line?

European Group D
Linke Rheinstrecke - 31 Votes
Vorarlberg - 29 Votes.

Practically a tie here in EU-D, Linke Rheinstrecke has taken a slender lead over Austria's sole route. Munich-Augsburg sits on 15, so isn't quite out of the running in a very tight group.

UK Group C
Peak Forest Railway - 33 Votes
Birmingham CrossCity - 31 Votes

Again, very close here with only two votes between BCC and PFR. No chance of being caught, with Cathcart on 9, and IOW2022 on 8. Edinburgh-Glasgow looks set to finish last, with only 5.

Third Place Race
As of the last update, Ruhr Sieg Nord and East Coastway were in the lead for spots 23 and 24.

No more! North America is now sneaking Peninsula Corridor in, whilst Europe elects Munich-Augsburg. It's very tight, however. RSN is only one vote behind Peninsula Corridor, and East Coastway only one behind that!

Rock Bottom
Some routes haven't received any love.

Nobody in the British vote chose Isle of Wight (the Original), although it's a strong group with NTP, TVL and, of course, Blackpool.

On the continent, Rapid Transit (surprisingly, I must say) and Arosa Line sitting in zero in their own groups. RT is in the competitive Group A, and Arosa is in with DRA, SKW, BRO and RRO.

No love lost for Long Island Railroad in America. In the Passenger group with NEC Boston, NEC NYT, Harlem Line and Peninsula Corridor, LIRR is rock bottom with zero.

As it stands:

The Bonus spots currently go to NA and Europe.
However, Europe could easily end up with both, or Britain could snatch one back.
Most Group Winners (see above) seem set in stone now, so it's all eyes on second-place and the third-place race!

 

I may be no fan of football but this is quite fun to have a go with and see what comes out of it

 

It is actually. No surprise that RT and Arosa doing poorly.

 

Into the final stretch...
We have around 12-13 hours of voting left, so let's see what routes are currently likely to go through.

The Runaway Trains
Some groups have clear runaway winners, with insane vote shares.
UK-A | Blackpool Branches
104 For • 36 Against

UK-B | London Commuter
87 For • 47 Against
This one seems right, but a split of that 47 amongst four routes leaves BML 65 Votes clear of MML in 2nd.

UK-D | Southeastern Highspeed
100 For • 33 Against

EU-B | Dresden-Riesa
89 For • 22 Against
Europe seems to divide opinion a bit more, as the other three groups are relatively tight.

NA-C | Boston Sprinter / NEC Boston
63 For • 59 Against
Extremely tight based on that, but no other route in the group currently has 21+ votes, so NEC Boston is quite far ahead and crusing to victory.

North America Group C
This is, without a doubt, the most interesting group - with the most to play for.

As noted above, Boston sits on 63 and is out of sight.

But, 2nd-4th is extremely tight. Peninsula Corridor, which was set to go through as a top 3rd place team in the last check-in, now sits 4th! If it manages to wrestle back third spot, it's only competition for the second 3rd-place spot is Europe's Ruhr Sieg Nord. As things stand, Harlem Line will finish third - and is in a position to progress as well. Madness!

Second place is all to play for, too, with NEC: New York - Trenton only just ahead of the pack.

As it stands, the middle of the group goes:
2. New York - Trenton (21)
3. Harlem Line (19)
4. Peninsula Corridor (16)

Long Island Railroad is out of the picture, having gained it's first votes since the last update, it sits on a mere three.

The Third Place Battle
Munich-Augsburg and Harlem Line sit in the Green spots, and look set for the knockouts.
Hamburg-Lubeck, East Coastway and Tees Valley Line are all in contention, but seem a bit too far off the mark.

PC is marked in a darker red as a 4th placed route.

The Knockouts
From the closing of Group Stage voting at roughly 12pm/1pm (UK Time), we go straight to the knockout rounds.

The inclusion of one American Route in the North American bracket of Round 2 leaves me inclined to throw the two third-places into the NA Bracket.
After round two, the draw is completely randomised*

Seeding and Draws
Round 2
Round 2 will have three brackets of 8;
Europe, Britain, and NA+3rd

Routes in the same group will be seeded apart.

Round 3
In Round 3 (12 Routes), it's floodgates opened, and completely random.

After round three, a direct bracket is used until the three-way final.

Draws
The R2 Draw will be conducted immediately after the closure of voting in the Group Stages.

R2's Draw will have the following phases:
1. Seeding
All Groups will be seeded in either Pot 1 or Pot 2. This ensures that two routes from the same group cannot clash. For the purposes, the two 3rd Place routes will be counted as having come from the same group.

This draw will be conducted now.

2. The main draw. Once the routes are locked in, we can decide what faces what! This will happen when voting closes.

I will do a post here showcasing the route matchups, and then launch the:

Voting
There will be a seperate thread for NA, Europe and UK again. This keeps the polls reasonably short and understandable.

Voting will run for 24 Hours, and this will remain the case for all rounds herein.

Voting polls will contain filler "Gaps" to make it clearer which routes are against which. It'll look something like this:
1 | Dresden-Riesa
1 | Blackpool Branches
.
2 | NEC Boston Sprinter

This makes sure that it doesn't look like, to run with the above example, Boston and Blackpool are up against each other.
If you hate both routes in a pairing, feel free to use the filler as a "meh" vote.
You can change your vote if you accidentally hit filler options. I recommend double-checking after voting.

Final Note:
The runtime of the next rounds of voting are half of this round's, so I would recommend following this thread to ensure you are informed as soon as the next round's voting is live.

Thank you.

 

To be transparent: The 3rd Places are already seeded Pot 1 in the NA Path.

Great Britain / UK
Pot 1: Group A, Group B
Pot 2: Group C, Group D

Europe
Pot 1: Group B, Group D
Pot 2: Group A, Group C

NA + 3rd
Pot 1: 3rd Places, Group C
Pot 2: Group A, Group B

Blackpool Branches and London Commuter avoid each other, but Southeastern Highspeed is still in the mix. The 3rd Places cannot meet any of the routes from the 'Group of Death', NA Group C**, so the only passenger route they could meet is Antelope Valley Line.

**Provided that Harlem/Peninsula Corridor qualify, the Draw would have been overriden anyway to seed them away from Group C. So, a convenient draw. Less hassle.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Good night or good day, whichever fits.

 

2 Hours to Go!
As things currently stand - and I doubt we'll see much movement in the final hours - the routes in Green go through, and the red don't.
Shout-out to Peninsula Corridor for coming 4th, but still managing to perform better than ECML/KWG!
Also, to EDN for finishing above most 4th places and some 3rd places, despite finishing 5th in UK-C.

Here's the very tall table of all routes, 46/48 hours in:

 

Very surprised RSN is getting knocked out during the initial stages. Also telling Glossop scored no goals and Rapid Transit, the Cameroon or Ecuador of the contest.

Fantastic stuff and looking forward to the next stage.

 

Definitely some surprises on there, such as Glossop with few votes.

It’s worth keeping in mind I suppose that this doesn’t represent bad routes as such, just what is more popular.

I wonder if DTG would be up for releasing some stats of most played on their end, to see what the contrast looks like.

 

It would be interesting to see the correlation between most played routes and this poll. I suspect the most played and owned routes will have a large advantage compared to the quality of the route. I would also like to see the statistics for most played route compared to the number of people who owns the route.

 

No movement in the last hour and a half, apart from Blackpool gaining one extra vote.

The threads are already drafted up and ready to fire at 13:45. The draw is done, and there are some interesting clashes.

Arosa, Rapid Transit and Isle of Wight still sit on zero. Rough. At least LIRR managed to lift itself off bottom (and leapfrog Cane Creek in the points table)

Midland Mainline is about 15 ahead of Great Western Express. In a group up against BML, I imagine the votes for MML/GWE will be from much the same group. Has the title of "best HST route" moved to the Midlands?

30-40 minutes left on the groups, depending on which poll.

 

At the end of the Group Stage vote, no changes since my last update - Blackpool branches over the 110 mark, ending up on 111.

Third place stays as it was; Peninsula Corridor got itself up to 19 votes but stays behind Harlem on 20.

An amazing performance from Peninsula Corridor, far and away the best of the 4th placed routes. California's hopes now lie with Antelope Valley Line.

Voting Threads
EUROPE: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-wc-round-2-europe-pathway.77155/
BRITAIN: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-wc-round-2-british-pathway.77157/
NA + 3rd: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-wc-round-2-north-america-3rd-place-pathway.77156/

Open until roughly the same time tomorrow (apart from the UK vote, that closes an hour early so I can stagger the results a bit)

Enjoy.

 

That's the one that struck me first also, as it's a popularly recommended route in the forums. Same with Tees Valley, for that matter.

One can't help wondering whether TSW2 Penn Corridor's promised fixes actually being released way back when might have gotten it more goodwill and thus more momentum here.

 

I feel like Peninsula Corridor got a favour from the group it was in.
NEC Boston was far and away the winner, and LIRR was drifting away at the bottom.

New York - Trenton has had it's fair share of issues, and Harlem Line is an amputated version of the real Harlem Line. Peninsula Corridor is an okay route, with the aforementioned Preservation updates.

62 votes were split between those three, roughly a third each, which appears to me as the reason that PC performed so well, for a 4th placed route.

Swap PC with Antelope and it would have got through quite easily, I'd imagine.

 

These results seem to support my contention that DTG reached a peak at the time of Rush Hour: Dresen-Riesa, London-Brighton and NEC Boston all runaway group champs, and 3-4-5 overall.

The surprisingly good showing of the problem-plagued Trenton and (to me) meh Harlem suggests that these forums have a large number of New Yorkers.....

 

No argument there.

Begs the question: what happened to set the ball rolling downhill after those 3 routes?

 

For me at least, the issue with RSN at this point is the rolling stock. The route itself is fantastic, as is the 363 with the shunting layer. But all of the locos and cars/coaches that come with the route are just horribly outdated at this point.

 

While true, any of the DB stable can sub in now, including much improved versions of the 143 and 185, not to mention the 155, Vectron, G6 etc.

The real problem for RSN here was an unfortunate group draw.

 

This version of the table includes all routes during and after Rush Hour, excluding third parties. While the three sit 2-4, Antelope is only one vote off of NEC Boston, Dresden-Chemnitz only ten behind Antelope. Most notably, though, only seven DTG routes got <20 Votes.

Maintalbahn and Spirit of Steam are considered quite poor, so nothing to look into there.
Sherman Hill was up against Cajon Pass - a very direct competitor - and Antelope Valley.

I suspect that SMH lost out more because it was seen as a lesser route than Cajon Pass, as opposed to being on a par with Spirit of Steam.

Kassel-Wurzburg is considered a bit of a snoozefest because of the long periods of doing nothing, and it's competitor was the polar opposite - Dresden-Riesa, the 'Route of Everything'.

Bremen was in the same group, but with it's most direct rival being DRA, it didn't stand a chance. No ICE Opportunities to try and steal the KWG votes away.

East Coast Mainline was hammered by the much more complete SEHS. The only parts of direct comparison are the Highspeed segments, which can be relatively boring on both - but SEHS has plenty going on in the CML section, which gave it a strong platform.

Finally, Glossop Line is a short route, one train. I don't think it's really considered bad, per se, just very shallow.

Whilst these are the routes you'd expect near the bottom, the bulk of the DTG routes are near the top.
Not that this poll is a metric of quality.

 

I don't think this is that surprising - Glossop was a misfire on DTG's part IMO. The gameplay is broadly similar to BCC (which released less than a year earlier), with the same rolling stock. Very little in the way of variation between runs, the triangle at the country end is frustratingly slow to navigate, and there's little scope for freight or railtours.

Had the scope of the route included a Sprinter and the route to Rose Hill Marple I think it would have been a lot more worthwhile and varied. As it stands, it has very limited longevity IMO.

Notable as well that all of the other routes that polled that badly are all older routes with many acknowledged issues, whereas the scope of Glossop was just too limited.

 

It’s not to say it doesn’t have its issues, I didn’t vote for it either, but the scenery is decent, it’s a modern line in Manchester & the only Northern train. Ticks a few boxes for people I would have thought.

 

4 Hours in...
⅙th of the way through round two, and already we have some running away!

Battle of Dresden (EU1)
The two Dresden routes clash, but it appears that DRA is on top, leading by 31 to 6!

Der Klassiker (EU2)
The Battle of Mint and Green is leaning towards TSG's Niddertalbahn, currently leading Linke Rheinstrecke by a margin of 16. Tighter than Dresden, can LR comeback?

Group Winners keep on winning! (UK)
Three of the four UK Group Winners are bulldozing their way through R2 so far.
SEHS leads NTP by 36 to 9
BML leads ECML by 36 to 6, and
Blackpool leads BCC by 38 to 3!

Still tight between MML and PFR, Midland Mainline holds the edge.

NE > SW
NEC Boston is currently hammering Cajon Pass, at a vote of 22 to just 1!

All other NA+3rd Groups are still very tight, though. Only SPG holds a lead for the Freight team.

 

I think Glossop's group did most of the decision making, really.

I half expected that it would been pushing on the TSW2020 routes for those reasons you listed, but ECW is a strong one, and MML/BML dominated the votes.
I think the main shock in this group, for me at least, is GWE.

 

True, all of that. Now, if only the upgraded freight cars could replace RSN’s outdated ones as well…

 

Yeah anything with BML against it will have a tough fight.

I’m not entirely surprised that MML outdid GWE, gameplay wise they’re the same (short, have freight, HST & DMU services) but MML is more feature rich & looks better. I think the HST from MML has the more popular engine too so that sways it quite abit, and whilst the 166 has been upgraded to a good standard, I think the 158 is just a more popular unit.

Overall the only thing GWE has going for it now is that it features Paddington. I wouldn’t of thought it is enough to sway the vote.

 

Could also be that Cajon came with TSW3 while Sherman Hill was a DLC route

 

It's all over in the British Pathway!
Midland Mainline (52-38, v PFR),
Southeastern HS (73-23, v NTP),
Brighton Mainline (74-20, v ECML) and
Blackpool Branches (83-7, v BCC) all progress.

NA and Europe close at roughly 14:00.
The draw is already done, with room to substitute any route that performs a dramatic comeback in.

 

Round Three
All in together now, with a bracket format which will end up with one winner in each, before the three paths meet in the final.

Path A
Dresden-Riesa v Köln-Aachen
Sand Patch Grade v Harlem Line

DRA vs SKA in a TSW2 German shootout, whilst the only all-American tie puts SPG up against Harlem. Can US Freight's last hope continue?

Path B
Blackpool Branches v Munich-Augsburg
Main Spessart Bahn v Midland Mainline

Britain v Germany. Blackpool takes on Bavarian Intercity, while it's the German hills against the flats of the Midlands.
Path C
NEC Boston-Providence v Southeastern Highspeed
Niddertalbahn v Brighton Mainline

The fabled BML v SEHS is very much on, if NEC Boston and Niddertalbahn fall to the side.

R3 Thread: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-wc-round-3.77180/

 

This knockout bracket format with the groups in the beginning is very interesting. There are some routes left in the running which would have ended up in the bottom half of any percentage voting.

 

The Results are in from Round 4!
It's a phenomenal round for UK routes, taking Four of the Six remaining spots, losing none in the process!

Germany has just one, with Dresden-Riesa taking fine care of Köln-Aachen, MSB lost to Midland Mainline in a relatively tight battle, and Blackpool Branches left no doubt about Munich-Augsburg's elimination.

The US was guaranteed to have one, as both of it's remaining routes came together. Harlem Line narrowly loses to Sand Patch Grade.

In the American side of the TSW WC, Freight wins, despite an awful group stage and R2. (NEC Boston was knocked out by SEHS)

Full Results
Path A
Dresden-Riesa - 57
Köln-Aachen - 12

Sand Patch Grade - 36
Harlem Line - 31

Dresden-Riesa and Sand Patch Grade meet in the Semi-Final.

Path B
Blackpool Branches - 64
Munich-Augsburg - 9

Main Spessart Bahn - 30
Midland Mainline - 42

It's the first of two all-British clashes, Blackpool v Midland Mainline, here in Path B.

Path C
NEC Boston-Providence - 10
Southeastern Highspeed - 64

Niddertalbahn - 28
Brighton Mainline - 48

The fabled, long-awaited, historic battle of the Electrostars is finally here: Southeastern Highspeed vs Brighton Mainline!

Final - Guarantees
We already know alot about the Final, due to the way the draw and R2/3 have played out.

Germany and the US will have the chance to make it, but only one can.
The other two spots will be British.
One UK Diesel route, and one UK, Third Rail, Electric route.

Only Sand Patch Grade stands as a primarily freight route (although, no such thing really exists in UK/EU TSW), the rest are Passenger dominated.

Round 4: Voting
As usual, it's a new thread for Round 4:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-round-4-semi-finals.77218/

Same rule(s) applies.

 

Don't look away yet!
We may be close to discovering the ultimate route - but we haven't a clue about the ultimate train!

Currently I'm gathering a list of every train and working out how to split them. This'll be fun.

So, yes, the TSW World Cup isn't nearly over! It's first competition is- almost.

 

158 vs 142 should be interesting (don’t you dare put them against each other early on).

 

Notably, the semi-finalists have the following in common:



- They've all got branch lines
- They've all got at least two locos, sometimes three or many more including DLC
- They've all got a variety of service patterns

This leads me to ask why DTG keep putting out single loco DLC with little in the way of variety? Glossop, Maintalbahn, the forthcoming Goblin line?

I'm ok with the shorter routes in principle but only if they're building up to something bigger (eg. Goblin to get the 710 in-game ahead of another, longer route that will use it as a layer, eg. WCML South) and this is reflected in the price.

 

I suspect the UK performance here may have something to do with TSW's heavily British player base.

 

I suspect Blackpool will be the undisputed champion