something i was wondering recently, what do players think is the best tsw edition in terms of the core routes and locos on offer? this is not accounting for blurry textures, crashing etc, just the content provided
Really depends on when we're judging them- as of when they released, or playing it right now in 2026? For example, TSW2020 gives you four routes, which was amazing at the time, but only GWE is currently up to modern standards if you want to drive on them. Otoh, those routes provide a LOT of layers in more recent releases. Cajon Pass is the only US Freight route seeing new content released for it, and you need SEHS to get the most out of Medway Valley. TSW3 probably gets my vote in fact. I never play the TSW4 routes, or TSW2 really (Sandpatch very occasionally). TSW5 is in the mix, and TSW6 isn't too bad either, though Dresden is basically recycled.
TSW3 was great for SEHS, but the other routes weren’t anything special IMO. TSW4 was a good all rounder, ECML looks abit bland on the surface, but it’s one of those routes you’ll drive back & forth a few times & before you know it you’ve spent hours on it. AVL is a decent run too though I find it’s not a route you can play regularly due to the slower speeds and length. Voralberg is great, it’s only real letdown is the bland overall rolling stock & TT IMO. Pretty sure TSW4 also gets Dresden-Riesa updated to TOD4 for free, which is a good route (not sure if that was time limited though). TSW5 is on the face of it more well rounded but has caveats, WCMLS requires some serious layering to become what it should be, as a core package what you get is really watered down. No 390, no 710 & limited freight options. FTF is something that sounds amazing but I genuinely find the route itself quite bland, also it needs so many layers to make Frankfurt come close to mirroring reality & even then it isn’t really there. Excluding the airport & other major city stations that are within the route also takes a lot out of it. Bernardino is basically a better version of AVL, however it has the same effect as AVL & thus I don’t spend much time with it as just one there & back run would take half your daylight hours. TSW6 is probably up there with TSW4 for being a great all rounder on every front & doesn’t really suffer the same issue TSW5 did with needing so many layers just to get a decent TT. That being said by this point I was pretty tired of the German routes being practically the same thing over & over, so it being a rehash of an older route that we’d seen twice before didn’t help. Of course when you add back in all the technical issues you can throw all that out of the window & safely say the last sense of stability consoles had was TSW4, but that one had the unfortunate issue it’s major launch feature (suspension) being delayed until TSW5 was announced, which frankly is embarrassing.
TSW3 - I was bored of SEHS by then and the extension didn’t really add much for me but it is a quality route. It’s the other two routes that mean it gets my vote. They both had excellent trains and were relatively bug free at launch. They both remained favourite routes of mine for a long time. High speed ICE 1 on a long route and slow US freight with the best of the US locos meant I spent far too many hours glued to my PS5 in the first six months of TSW3’s time. KWG also has long freight runs but the timetable makes zero sense and has many issues but the ICE timetable is fine. It’s the same runs over and over again but both the ICE trains are great to drive and I have never become bored of it.
In terms of the routes, probably TSW5 or 6. TSW2020's routes are good but - at least now - show their age, GWE aside. TSW2 is fine but Bakerloo and SPG are a bit of a drag for me - and the latter was reused. TSW3 gets an honourable mention for SEHS and Cajon, but SKW isn't as appealing to me. TSW4 is a better offering, but Vorarlberg is far from my favourite. TSW5 is a good all-rounder and TSW6 seems similar - although I've only just bought that so I can't yet comment. In terms of locos - I think if you're coming in as a newcomer then TSW5/6 for the sheer number of trains you get with the German routes and, if you're an existing player, the variety within the UK routes.
