Introduction The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) is a mountain railway which operates in the South Western part of Switzerland, spanning across 3 cantons, Wallis, Uri and Graubünden with 144 km (89.5 miles) of track which is almost entirely linear only having a little branch to Göschenen which meets up with the old Gotthard Tunnel. The route I'm going to suggest will be located in the canton of Wallis between Zermatt (1608 m) to Fiesch (1049 m). Why this route? The cool thing about this that MGB operates on both adhesion and Abt assisted rack when going up steeper gradients. The rack on the rail looks like: I personally think that this would be a fairly cool mechanic to add to TSW 3. As the train has to slow down when it goes onto the rack and it has different speed. As well as this some of the stations on the route are stop on request, and would work similarly to Arosa Linie. Facts The route is roughly 65 km (40 miles) Zermatt is a big alpine town with a major ski resort, which is car-free You can't drive to Zermatt, you can either take a taxi or a shuttle train from Täsch There are 17 stations along the route The majority of the line is single track with passing loops, making sticking to the timetable vital Route Map Stations Zermatt Täsch Randa Herbriggen* St. Niklaus VS Kalpetran* Stalden-Saas Visp Eyholz* Brig Banhofplatz Bitsch* Mörel Betten Talstation Grengiols Lax Fiesch Feriendorf* Fiesch Stations in bold are major interchanges * - Stop on Request station Photos of the stations can be found in the following post Routes / Operations There would be 4 drivable routes with one I think needing to be AI RE 40 - Zermatt > Täsch (Zermatt Shuttle) RE 41 - Zermatt > Visp RE 42 - Zermatt > Fiesch RE 43 - Visp > Andermatt PE - Zermatt > Chur / St. Moritz (Glacier Express) All RE trains stop at all stations unless it needs to be requested to stop there PE only stops at Brig Bahnhoffplatz on the line I'm suggesting During the main part of the day: Between Zermatt and Visp there is a train every half hour, every other train continues onto Fiesch Between Visp and Fiesch there is a train every half hour, every other train continues onto Andermatt During the "off-part" of the day, it changes as some trains terminate at Brig Bahnhoffplatz etc. etc. RE 40 - Runs every 20 minutes between 6:35 to 21:55 there are some trains before and after and on Thursday Friday and Saturday nights the shuttle also runs. Timetables I'll give you links to the timetables below: Zermatt Shuttle Zermatt > Visp Brig > Fiesch - This one includes lots of services which aren't being suggested There is also freight between Zermatt and Visp but I think it may be a bit difficult to get and I'll explain why later when discussing rolling stock. Rolling Stock This is where most discussions take place, as different people like different eras, I personally am more a fan of modern trains instead of old trains. However, there's always the opportunity for additional trains etc. But I'm not against having push-pull trains, but the trains I'll be suggesting will be multiple units. ORION (ABeh 8/12) This train was put into service this year, and I really like the look of the outside of this train. Facts: They can run in double or triple traction meaning they can carry up to 990 passengers with 444 seats with 66 being first class. It got this name which is an abbreviation Optimaler Regionalzug Im Oeffentlichen Nahverkehr - Optimal Regional Train in Local Public Transport. With adhesion they have a max speed of 120 km/h and max rack speed up hill they have 35 km/h This train would be my first pick out off all the trains. BDSeh 4/8 This train would be the main train for the shuttle, as it's fitted with the necessary things the shuttle has. With adhesion they have a max speed of 80 km/h and max rack speed up hill they have 35 km/h Komet (ABDeh 4/8 and ABDeh 4/10) The difference between these trains are the amount of axels which is 8 and 10. With adhesion they have a max speed of 80 km/h and max rack speed up hill they have 40 km/h Glacier Express and freight require locos, those of which, I'm unable to precisely find on the internet. Closing Thoughts Personally, I really enjoy the Swiss Railway and I think that this would be a perfect route to add the new mechanic to the game of rack railway. And maybe one day the entirety of the MGB network can be added but I think that's a bit too much to ask in one suggestion.
Zermatt - The major terminus on the western point of the line, you can also go onto another train up to Gornergrat opposite this train station on the Gornergrat Bahn, the highest open air railway Täsch - Furthest point holidaymakers can take their car, they either have to take a taxi or the train Randa Herbriggen St. Niklaus VS Kalpetran Stalden-Saas - At this station, there is a gondala you can take up to Staldenreid and continue onto Gspon, as well as by bus, you can get up to Saas-Fee, Saas-Grund and Saas-Amagael. So it's a major point where you choose where you want to go. Visp - Here, standard gauge meets metre gauge, Visp is the major interchange for people who want to get up into the valley, here is where the MGB meets the Brig to Lausanne line. As well it's the first station you stop at when exiting the Lötschberg Base Tunnel when coming from the canton of Bern. This allows for passengers flying in from both Zürich and Geneva to get to Visp with ease. Eyholz - Personally I think this station looks like a bus stop or for trams but actually trains stop here. There is a barrier between the MGB and the mainline. Brig Banhofplatz - The end of the line when travelling within Switzerland when travelling on standard gauge, here is another major interchange as here you have access to the Lötschberger, and can go through the Simplon Base Tunnel to get to Domodossola, Italy Bitsch Mörel Betten Talstation Grengiols Lax Fiesch Feriendorf Fiesch
Locos you are looking for is the HGe4/4 II - the same model is also used by the Zentralbahn There is also the Deh 4/4 I and II Motor Luggage Vans currently in in use - these are being replaced by the Orion units
Excellent Idea Overall since you have Rack Railway and Adhesion on the same route. A portion of the Training Centre needs to be Abt Rack Equipped for this route or Riggenbach System. DLC loco can be the MGB Hge 4/4 II rack and adhesion locos. Oddly that can sub into Arosa Line due to both routes being 11kv 16.7-25hz and 1 m tracks.
I remember that paintbrushguy thought that this was the new route according to the hint that was posted just before the TSW3 release...
I didn’t think it was the MGB. There was an outside chance it was something on the RhB, but now we know the Central Europe route is the Vorarlberg Railway it’s game over for that too.
Even have a cab ride which was recently released, albeit it is the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Brig
The route is only dream.We have not rack simulation in TSW.How should DTG or Rivet or other Developer will this make???
Well, they also had the challenge to implement the unique tilt system of the DB BR 612 on the Tharandter Rampe DLC, which wasn't the easiest thing for them and they run a lot of trial and error with it. Why not try to take a challenge and implement more unique features/railways to the game?
To be totally honest, having a rack railway, or even part rack and part adhesion, is a major USP, Rivet have made both alpine routes in the past, but I do think if DTG decide to take on the task of designing the traction changer and modelling the physics that come with a rack traction running train, I believe the benefits would outweigh the cost as it's such a major USP in my opinion. As well as this it would open up a whole new set of routes, such as Interlaken Ost - Grindlewald/Lauterbrunen. On a side note, there is a completion of the route all the way to Fiesch, it does carry on to take the train to Andermatt, however, that section is not included in this route suggestion.
The old Visp station/depot were wonderfull. The depot(s) in Brig too, but the progress required "Glisergrund". https://www.matterhorngotthardbahn.ch/de/stories/bauprojekt-depot-glisergrund Over 10 years ago was feasible in RW/TSC.... With TSW4 I cannot say since they are not providind the info to setup custom rollingstocks... (Both screens from RW)
