Route Length: ~104 km (64 miles) Rolling Stock: New - BR 246 Reused - Dostos (with new livery) Layers - Various electric trains in and around Hamburg Gameplay: Regional express, freight shunting to industrial parks, shunting at fish docks Scenery: Kohlbrandbrücke views in Hamburg, the historic timber-framed town of Stade, North Sea coastal atmosphere, Elbe river, giant container cranes, wind farms Licenses: Metronom (before 2019), DB (after 2019) Time Period: Modern Similar Add-ons: Hamburg - Lübeck (regional Northern Germany vibe) Great Western Express (high-speed diesel passenger action) Maintalbahn with BR 218 timetable (loco hauled services on an unelectrified German line) Why this route: This route fills a major gap in the German TSW collection - high-speed mainline diesel. Unlike slower single track branch lines like Niddertalbahn and Maintalbahn, this offers a faster experience with more double track sections, making the route feel busier. It also transitions from the unelectrified Cuxhaven - Stade section to the electrified Stade - Hamburg section, making the route appeal to both electric and diesel fans It would offer a more unique and interesting experience compared to most other lines out of Hamburg, and would be a welcome return to the city in TSW. At 104 km it is a decent sized route with 12 stations, making it long enough to be interesting while not long enough to make development impractical. It begins at Hamburg-Harburg and ends at the port town of Cuxhaven, bridging the gap between urban industrial areas of Hamburg and the scenic, lonely coastal stretches of Northern Germany.
I would definitely be in favor of that. Nothing against the BR 218 but TSW needs a modern German Diesel Locomotive too. I would prefer DB Red at first so that it can also be used on other routes later.
I suggest also including the class 474.3 or class 490.1 (both dual-voltage EMUs of the S-Bahn Hamburg) to cover the stopping services east of Stade and add plenty of operational interest with a system changeover onto the specialities of the Hamburg S-Bahn (1200V DC via side contact third-rail, "Sv" colour light signals and an unusual PZB mode) at Neugraben station. The Hamburg S-Bahn experience could then be improved even further by adding the tunnel until Harburg station which is about three kilometers and three stations worth of tunnel from the visible section.
