Route Ammerseebahn (augsburg - Weilheim) In The 80's

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by AmityBlight, Jul 20, 2025 at 8:29 PM.

  1. AmityBlight

    AmityBlight Well-Known Member

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    It's been a while since I've posted a suggestion thread, but I thought this route might be worth it. It's rather close to where I live, and I quite like it. So much in fact, that I tried building it for TSW myself.
    And I failed. Spectacularly. :(
    Turns out I'm way too incompetent for stuff like this, and am currently lacking the time, patience and mindset to dig my heels in and get all of it sorted. So perhaps someone more skilled might take a shot at it? :)

    The Ammerseebahn (Lake Ammer Railway)
    German Wiki
    English Wiki
    [​IMG]

    Located in Southern Bavaria, the route connects to one we've already got: From Augsburg to Mering, it shares its tracks with the München - Augsburg route. Just after Mering station, it starts heading to the south on its own, through open rural landscape mostly following the valley of the small river Paar (the source of the Paar actually sits right next to the tracks, about 2 meters away from them, north of Kaltenberg). Passing Kaltenberg Castle, we head towards the focal point of the route, Geltendorf.
    At Geltendorf, it crosses the line from München to Buchloe, and passes the monastery of St. Ottilien shortly after. The monastery's history is actually closely intertwined with the route's, especially with Geltendorf station. The small station of St. Ottilien itself is the only station in Germany which solely serves a monastery, and not also a settlement of some sort, and is often said to be the prettiest station in Germany. :)
    From Schondorf to Dießen, the route closely follows the western shoreline of the Ammersee, connecting to the Ammersee Shipping Service at Utting, Riederau and Dießen as well. After passing through the Ammer marshlands and leaving Raisting, the route passes the Raisting Earth Station, Germany's first commercial satellite communication installation with its big antennae.
    After a journey of 70 km (counted from Augsburg) we arrive at the small town of Weilheim, which some may know for its picturesque town centre, while others remember it as the birthplace of German national football player Thomas Müller ;)

    Route infrastructure
    From Mering to Weilheim, the route is entirely single track. The northern half is electrified, while the part from Geltendorf to Weilheim is not. Not unlike Niddertalbahn, most of the route is equipped with good old mechanical signalling, while the hubs (Augsburg to Mering, Geltendorf, Weilheim) feature the standard light signals.
    Pretty much all of the station buildings have been built during the late 30's in a very quaint and homelike style, designed to fit the surrounding area and architecture. Although some of them were renovated in the 60's and 70's in a very mundane way... German Wiki has loads of pictures.
    Route speed varies between 100 and 90 km/h mostly, with some short slower areas.

    Era
    I'd argue that this route would work best if it took place in the early 80's. There was a lot of variety going on at the time! And thanks to TSG, we are now equipped with a good chunk of rolling stock to make it happen :)

    Traffic
    During this time period, there was quite a lot going on for such a small sort of route! This is one reason why I think it would be a perfect fit for TSW :D

    There was a wide variety of regional trains, which can be split into categories:
    -Most were travelling along the whole routes (some even continuing to Murnau, south of Weilheim). These trains usually consisted of BR 218 with n-Wagen and Umbauwagen, or BR 515/815 battery powered railcars. Sometimes there were also BR 628.0 DMU's, the predecessor of the BR 628.2 we already have ingame.
    -There were also some commuter services between Geltendorf and Weilheim. Those were mostly done by BR 211 and n-Wagen and/or Umbauwagen, or BR 515.
    -The commuter services in the north between Augsburg and Geltendorf were done mostly by either BR 140, 141 or 218, with n-Wagen and/or Umbauwagen.

    This small route also featured some fast and distant trains! In the late 80's, all the FD trains we get on Mittenwaldbahn took this route on their way to Garmisch (and back of course). For the non-electrified part between Geltendorf and Weilheim, a 218 was used to pull the train, with the 111 running along cold behind it. This could make for some interesting timetable action ;)
    Also, at times when there were problems on the Augsburg-München route, trains used to be rerouted via Geltendorf and on towards München from there.

    Regarding freight services, the northern half had some regular distant trains scheduled to take the route via Mering and Geltendorf to München (and back), instead of the direct route. Those trains seem to have been using mostly BR 140 and BR 194 at the time. Local freight was weak, but existed between Geltendorf and Walleshausen, Geltendorf and Egling, Geltendorf and Utting, Weilheim and Dießen. Agricultural stuff mostly, but also supply for some small-ish companies. These services were usually done by BR 365 or BR 211.

    Value for TSW
    Why do I want to see this in TSW? Well, it's basically the Niddertalbahn on steroids. :)
    It's got a similar feel to it, but is faster and twice as long. It features a very varying scenery along its run, and many points of interest to see. The timetable would be quite varied and offers a nice mix of electric and non-electric services, offering something for most kinds of players.
    Most of the necessary rolling stock is already ingame, and it would make a nice playground for the cream/blue 218 as well as the 194. The Umbauwagen and all the freight wagons we got so far of this era would really shine here.
    If this route would even be bundled with some new loco, I'd suggest adding the BR 515/815. It features prominently on most of the regional services and would add something fresh... we haven't had a battery powered railcar yet, much less one of this vintage.
    Getting the BR 140 would also be a selling point, considering it's quite a fan favourite and has been requested many times. But since it only features on the northern half of the route, I think the 515/815 is the better choice.


    Phew, sorry for the wall of text. So, what do you all think? I'm excited to hear some opinions :D
    By the way, if anyone wants to try their luck with this route, I could supply them with a load of information, like contemporary timetables (Kursbuch, Buchfahrpläne), information, books and pictures ;)
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2025 at 8:31 PM
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  2. Caravatt

    Caravatt Well-Known Member

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    Looks very interesting :)! Personally, I'd prefer a nice bunch of railcars/DMUs, including 515 and 628.0. V100s could also be added later! Those engines are legendary :love:!
    Hope to get my hands on this one someday (dreaming doesn't hurt anyone, right?)!
    PS. If you added more stock/places pics, you would have much more success with this, trust me!
    Great suggestion, anyway! :D
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2025 at 8:59 PM
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  3. 25262

    25262 Well-Known Member

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    I’d love to have 211s in the game.
     
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  4. AmityBlight

    AmityBlight Well-Known Member

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    Actually not adding pictures was a conscious decision, I didn't want to clutter it too much. :)
    Anyway, apart from its Wiki page, I can also recommend this thread and especially this site of course for some amazing images :D
    This site also contains some useful information and images. All of the links above are in German, mind you.

    Me too! 211s or 212s, or both. They could be of much use on future routes like this one :love:
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2025 at 6:21 AM
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