Just for the sake of discussion, say you could merge exisiting routes that already have a connecting station in TSW to make one bigger route, what would be your ideal larger routes? I'll post back with my preferred options later but to start you off, here's a few ideas to mull over... A Just Train's super route merging Blackpool Branches, WCMLoS and the upcoming Preston-Crewe route. Merging Southern Highspeed with the new Medway route. Edinburgh-Glasgow and Fife Circle (which already can be done for PC users on a mod) Merging the London to Brighton route with East Coastway. Or perhaps a West Midlands combo of Cross City and Birmingham Crewe? Or a Manchester one where Hadfield and MAC become one? But not just the UK, how about a super Frankfurt route featuring the S-Bahn and Fulda routes merged into one. And while I'm not into US routes, I'm sure there's a few that could form a bigger route. Doesn't matter if it's routes by different parties, or whether memory would be an issue, this is purely for fun. The only rules I'd say is it needs to be routes already out or announced, and it needs to be around the same era. So you wouldn't be able to say merge the Liverpool to Crewe steam route to the more modern Crewe-based routes. So, fire away, what would be your ideal merged routes, and why?
It's a shame we don't have the branch between Wivelsfield and Lewes in one of the two routes, it would have been a nice merged route with services from London Victoria - Eastbourne
Edinburgh - Glasgow onto Fife Circle Blackpool - Preston merged with Preston - Carlisle. Harlem Line merged with Stamford.
Even though it unfortunately involves several routes, the WCML would have monstrous potential. But if I have to limit myself to two routes, WCML South + Trent Valley is pretty good for long-distance driving enthusiasts.
A Just Trains style makeover to the Trans Pennine route, with a proper timetable, merged with their Preston to Carlisle route. Thinking more about it, maybe merging Trans Pennine with Blackpool Branches would be a better idea as you would then be able to complete the journey from Blackpool to Manchester Victoria and the resulting route would not be as enormous. Potential for Blackpool illuminations traffic from the Manchester area and Yorkshire as well.
Merging commuter lines like Harlem with any other route doesn't make much sense. The only logical mergers would be on the NEC, which would require some more segments to be built between Providence and Stamford or between Trenton and Washington DC. Currently, a merged route between Trenton and Stamford also doesn't make much real life sense.
I'd want to merge stuff where you can carry accross the same services from one to the the other. Crewe to Preston (when it releases) and Preston to Carlisle is the big one that comes to mind. London Commuter and East Coastway if that gap is filled in, as well as Euston to Milton Keynes and then Trent Valley when that releases would also work.
S-Bahn Leipzig and Leipzig Dresden would be a good merge. By adding the short section between MDR and Engelsdorf, and combining the underground Leipzig Hbf with the main terminus, you could have lover S4 services to Wurzen, and more mainline services to Bitterfeld and Dessau. The former route desperately needs a remaster anyway: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/rapid-transit-remastered.94978/
Oh... Oh! I'm not going to hold back then: - WCML : Euston/Birmingham-Crewe + BCC route (and maybe for PC via mod like Preston Carliste 2019 : Euston - Carliste) It's a shame MAC doesn't go to Crewe, we could have had Euston - Manchester - Goblin + Mildmay - In Germany : Kassel Würzburg + Franckurt Fulda + S Bahn Franckfurt (+ MSB yeah in KW route , in off map you have Lohr station and IA trains who are going there so theoretically, a merger is possible + Maintalbahn)
The ones I think would be most interesting are: UK Southeasterm High Speed + Medway Valley Line + Suffragette Line + Mildmay Line SEHS + Mildmay would allow walking from Stratford International to Stratford, and using Silo Curve to go from HS1 onto the westbound North London Line via Camden Road SEHS + Suffragette Line would allow freight services from Ripple Lane along HS1 (with a class 92) West Coast Main Line South + Bakerloo Line Merge point at the entrance to the Bakerloo tunnels Bakerloo Line would need to be upgraded to TOD4 Birmingham Cross-City + WCML Trent Valley Merge point at Lichfield Trent Valley Brighton Main Line + East Coastway Merge point at Brighton BML would need to be upgraded to TOD4 Germany Maintalbahn + Main Spessart Bahn + Kassel Wurzburg Merge points at Aschaffenburg and Lohr MSB would need to be upgraded to TOD4 Leipzig Dresden + Rapid Transit Merge point at Leipzig Rapid Transit would need to be upgraded to TOD4 Rhein-Niers-Bahn + Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Merge point at Duisburg HRR would need to be upgraded to TOD4 Ruhr-Sieg Nord + Rhein-Ruhr Osten Merge point at Hagen Both should be upgraded to TOD4
I'm praying for someone to merge routes, Trent Valley and WCMLS after it's released if it someone is able to figure out a timetable that'd be frickin' fantastic it's something I've always wanted to do on TSW. Just to get them non-stop runs on the Avanti services would be fantastic!!! Not just that, but doing a full run in the 350 is something I'm super excited to play if it's possible. So Ultimately; WCMLS & Trent Valley Then; WCMLS & Bakerloo would be great as well. Followed by SEHS & Medway valley Line Goblin and Mildmay line also (Maybe dreams can come true lol )
Since we have so much WCML routes in the game, having the ability to drive from Euston to MK, MK Crewe and finally Crewe to Birmingham would be like having all my birthdays rolled into one. Goblin and Mildway is another one I’d like to see.
Leaving aside the historical Periods in which the Routes are set, imagine driving a train from Koblenz via Mainz/Wiesbaden - Frankfurt - Hanau and Fulda to Kassel. With a little extra Work, you could even include the Main-Spessart Bahn and Maintalbahn.
All the JT routes could be merged into one SUPER route seeing as they’re all linked to a station on another JT route. If TSW did support merging in official releases, merging all of those great BR routes would be the single, coolest thing for TSW ever! Another good shout would be AABS’ WCML routes, I wouldn’t include WCML South as the route is not up to AABS’ standards from a route building perspective. There’d be a jarring line where Trent Valley ends and WCML South starts!
If you would extend MSB to Hanau and Würzburg on either end (as it is in real life), you would come full circle with that one
The obvious choice is a JT (North) WCML including Shap, Blackpool and the forthcoming bit to Crewe. Once Trent Valley is out, ditto for the southern sections so, while the Northampton Loop and Rugby to New Street would be missing, you could run all the way from Euston to Crewe. It wouldn’t make much sense to merge the southern and northern sections though due to era conflict (though not saying I wouldn’t mind a Euston to Carlisle mega drive) and SoS of necessity remains standalone. One that’s often occurred to me, is that Bakerloo Line should be merged into the WCMLS as it makes no sense to be able to drive a short section on the latter, starting or giving up at QP. For Germany all the Ruhr based routes should be extended where necessary and merged, same with all the routes in and out of Dresden. US, obvious one is to merge the two Metrolink lines plus Cajon, then maybe infill with Tehachapi (oh look, Run 8 comes to TSW!).
Having the Southwest Chief on Cajon and San Bernardino would be a nice addition, with fully modelled passenger stations on CJP.
My first choice would be a super route of JT's Blackpool Branches, WCMLoS and Preston-Crewe. Passenger runs would be amazing, freight would need a few hours of my time and with tonnes of shunting acts and DMU services all over the map when you fancied something shorter.
Pretty much all the NEC routes Trenton merged with Stamford Trenton merged with the M&E line Stamford-Harlem Line Boston to providence with Worcester line
I feel like this is the only good way to refresh the Bakerloo line if they did so in the future. Or at least my own preferred way as it’d feel more open and connected
?? Why? I can't think of a reason to make such a trip. Or a timetable that exists for it. Or a train that runs on it. If you really need to go from White Plains to Stamford, change at Penn. As I said above, the only logical mergers would be segments of the NEC, once it's filled in between Boston and Philly or DC. Again, why?. No-one makes such a journey. If they did, change at South. Some of these " mergers " are just silly and pointless and have no real life equivalents. If they don't exist in reality, they're meaningless. Merging two or more commuter lines or main routes with commuter lines is just fanciful. Ever heard of changing trains? Now that would be a useful feature. ( Route hopping is not it though. Nor is " beaming" yourself from one track to another DTG- style ).
I agree for all the issues b2b had, their route building is stellar and I wish they would touch up the WCML from London to MK but that’s probably extremely unlikely
Agreed, its why I dont understand why people want to merge Antelope Valley, San Bernardino, and Cajon Pass together, there is no train that runs on all 3 lines in 1 go, no Metrolink, no Amtrak, no freight trains period.
for that to work consoles would need the full pc timetable otherwise a merge would include basically nothing on FFF, but since dtg seem adamant they can’t fix the game and give everyone the same timetable it’s very unlikely s bahn would be merged with anything if merging becomes a thing
I'd have the Brighton Main Line (Updated with Class 700s) joined to East Coastway with the addition of the line from Lewes to Wivelsfield so you can do a full drive to either Brighton or Eastbourne from Victoria. Though I understand the BML is a rather fragile beast and needs a lot of work for an update, let alone a route merge and some additional track.
We’d need the tunnels section to make adding the sbahn work on a combined timetable or we’d be doing 2 parts and having to jump the gap
Annoying that in Frankfurt-Fulda there's a tunnel section - I think - around Offenbach which the rails and some signals are in (and you can not only drive in free roam, but stay on a train as a passenger). I don't know why they didn't scenerise it as it would have made some services longer as there must 3 S-Bahn stations in that section before it reappears next to the main line.
We need AABS to do a remaster of WCML South, then make the missing link to Birmingham and the Northampton loop, merge that, B2C and Trent Valley and we have a definitive halfish of the WCML.
I would merge the NY-Stamford route and LIRR commuter with NY-Trenton as they all connect to NY-Penn Station Or merge the Harlem line with NY-Stamford as they originate at Grand Central
All of the New York routes could be merged, that would be a mega-route. Imagine, driving from White Plains to Grand Central, back out to Stamford, take an Amtrak down to Penn Station, and then either head on the LIRR, NYT or Morristown routes. ECW + BML would be good if the connection was there at Lewes. Others I'd suggest: Mildmay Line, Suffragette Line, WCMLS, Bakerloo Line: The surface section of BKL is redundant thanks to WCMLS. Whilst they wouldn't bring that much, stock moves using the chord at willesden would be interesting. If the branch to Clapham Jcn ever comes to Mildmay, you could also fully simulate the Southern WCMLS services. WCMLS, WCMLTV, WCML Birmingham - Crewe and future WCML Milton Keynes - Birmingham + bonus if Manchester Airport is extended to Crewe That's the most modern WCML you'll get and it would be quite good. The only services which wouldn't be playable with a number of stops (if realistic), afaik, would be the Glasgow via Trent Valley services. There would also be potential for something like the North Wales Line to add to it as well ECW, BML, [Chatham Mainline], SEHS, MVL + bonus [Hastings Line] Requires a lot more work this one but with the highly-requested Chatham Mainline you could have a full run from Eastbourne to Faversham or Tonbridge via London without having to hop to St. Pancras. Bonus points for the Hastings Line, which would complement the 171 DLC, complete the Hastings/Ore 377 services at last and offer a connection at Ashford.
Regarding German routes: If it would be feasible performance-wise, I think merging Frankfurt-Fulda and S-Bahn Frankfurt makes the most sense. If the city tunnel were included, that is. Those two routes already have a very similar "feel" to them, are pretty close time-period-wise and the services, especially S-Bahn and to smaller extent ICE trains could benefit greatly from a merge What a beast of a route this would be Even better idea: Have this merged Frankfurt route set in an area when the 420 is the main S-Bahn vehicle, and the other traffic is dominated by 110, 111, 103, 140, 218 and 628... thinking early 90's here. Would make route hopping to Linke Rheinstrecke less jarring as well. Or even merge that one too? I need a new PC... Just dreamin' crazy things
As a slightly left field option. I'd would like the Bernina Line to Chur to be created (the track and AI traffic already exists, it needs the scenery to be made and finalised. The route can then be merged with the Tirano - Ospizio route to make the line complete.
When it comes out, I would love to merge all three modern WCML routes together Euston - Milton Keynes + Milton Keynes - Crewe when Trent Valley comes out then merge it with Birmingham - Crewe.
I originally wanted to write about connecting the ScotRail Trilogy. But then I looked at how far apart Glasgow Central and Queen Street are. On Foot, maybe 10 minutes, by train it's seems much longer.
