I think that it will be a great route in TSW especially the new rolling stock BR 140 and WiKo and it’s a era in where Dostos where not so present so it’s something else than most German routes.
Could be interesting, atleast some other rolling stock then dostos, but still DB stuff. I have to see more of the route for my final verdict, so for now I vote for Okay.
Route itself is 50/50, at this point TSW is overwhelmed with so many unconnected DB routes that offer a fairly standardised driving experience. Main selling point for many will be the classic DB BR140 electric loco but not sure if that absolutely justifies Day One and full price purchase. Maybe one for the Easter sales next year.
I agree, the fatigue is in full swing for me on German stuff. Something fresh such as the 140 is great, but it’s just more trackage that mushes into the same image.
I'm quite hopeful that this route will actually offer something meaningfully different to pretty much all the other German routes: some good freight operations. As we all know (and DTG themselves have acknowledged) little freight spurs and destinations always end up being the first thing that gets cut... ...but this time, all the freight spurs and yards along the line that I could find on OpenStreetMap are actually explicitly marked in the route map image that was shared! The red dots are passenger stations, but the gray ones are things like, among others: (Some of?) these freight spurs north of Heilbronn Hbf, a coal power plant at Walheim, and the big freight yard at Kornwestheim, of course! I'm getting the feeling that this route is specifically intended to not have the same problems on the freight side as nearly every other German route. It's a bit shorter, so they'll have the time to put in the freight destinations along the route properly, and with the yards at Kornwestheim and Heilbronn, there are end points that make sense from a freight perspective despite the slightly shorter length. It also comes with a much-requested vintage tap changer freight loco, and of course the 294 can layer into it... The passenger side isn't anything super different from what we already have to be fair, but that Wittenberger Cab Car is still going to be great. And don't forget the 420 - in that gorgeous gray and orange paint scheme - will get a timetable for this route too!
