I wasn't quite sure where this would fit among the forum but I decided that this would be the best place for a thread like this. But anyways, as the title suggests, this is a place for people to rank the best and worst of Train Sim World in terms of the routes and loco add-ons that have come out over the last four years spanning two games and also a place to rank the upcoming add-ons listed on the roadmap from most anticipated to least anticipated. How it will work is that is that you will rank four lists which will cover four aspects of the game and what I want you to do is rank them from worst at the bottom to best at the top. These aspects include: The Routes: This includes all 20 routes that have come out over the last 4 years, including NEC: New York and if you had the chance to, both variations of Sand Patch Grade in TSW & TSW2 Loco Add-ons: Just like above, this includes the 15 loco add-ons that we have received including the GP40-2 & the SW1000R Even if you haven't got all the routes/loco add-ons, that's fine. You will only be asked to rank the routes/loco add-ons that you have personally got/played and if you also want to give a score out of 10 or give a grade next to each route, I will also be perfectly fine with that. Upcoming Routes & Loco Add-ons: Since we are at the end of 2020 and with the last add-on of the year just being released, I though we would also use this thread to rank the upcoming add-ons listed on the roadmap hopefully coming in 2021 from most anticipated at the top to least anticipated at the bottom. This will work in similar vain to the add-ons that are already out in which there will be two list for each, one for the 5 routes currently in production and another for 7 loco add-ons also in production plus the Great Western 1970s pack that is currently in planning. All four of these lists can be updated when new add-ons come out or when upcoming add-ons get added to the roadmap. Now to give you an idea on how this will work, I now rank my personal favourite routes/loco add-ons from worst to best and the upcoming routes/loco add-ons from most anticipated to least anticipated. This should hopefully be a guide on how this thread will work, but without further ado here are my lists. My Ranking (As of 09/03/2022): Routes (Best to Worst): 1. London Commuter (+New) 2. Hauptstrecke München – Augsburg (-1) 3. Nahverkehr Dresden (+New) 4. Great Western Express (-2) 5. Tharandter Rampe (+New) 6. Main Spessart Bahn (-3) 7. Northern Trans-Pennine (-3) 8. Peninsula Corridor (-3) 9. Ruhr-Sieg Nord (-3) 10. Sand Patch Grade (TSW2) (-3) 11. Rhein-Ruhr Osten (-) 12. East Coastway (-3) 13. Tees Valley Line (-5) 14. Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen (+1) 15. Cathcart Circle Line (+New) 16. Southeastern High Speed (-6) 17. Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr (-5) 18. Sherman Hill (+New) 19. Clinchfield Railroad (-6) 20. LGV Méditerranée (-5) 21. Boston Sprinter (+New) 22. Bakerloo Line (-6) 23. Long Island Rail Road (-6) 24. Rapid Transit (TSW2) (-6) 25. West Somerset Railway (-4) 26. Sand Patch Grade (TSW) (-6) 27. Hauptstrecke Hamburg – Lübeck (-7) 28. West Cornwall Local (+New) 29. Arosalinie (-6) 30. Canadian National Oakville Subdivision (-8) 31. Rapid Transit (TSW) (-7) 32. Cane Creek (+New) 33. Isle Of Wight (-8) 34. Northeast Corridor New York (-8) Loco Add-Ons (Best to Worst): 1. DB BR 101 (+5) 2. BR Heavy Freight Pack (-1) 3. DB BR 363 (-1) 4. DB G6 Diesel Shunter (+New) 5. Caltrain MP15DC Diesel Switcher (-2) =. Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet' (-2) 7. DB BR 182 (-1) 8. Southern BR Class 313 EMU (+New) 9. Southeastern BR Class 465 EMU (-2) 10. BR Class 31 (-2) =. BR Class 20 'Chopper' (-2) 12. Diesel Legends of the Great Western (+New) 13. CSX C40-8W (-2) 14. New Journeys Expansion (+New) 15. DB BR 155 (-3) 16. Rhb Anniversary Collection (+New) 17. DB BR 187 (With Sound Mod) (+New) 18. London Underground 1938 Stock EMU (+New) 19. BR Class 52 'Western' (-6) =. BR Class 33 (-6) 21. DB BR 204 (-6) 22. CSX GP40-2 (-6) 23. LIRR M3 EMU (-6) 24. Amtrak SW1000R (-6) 25. DB BR 187 (+New) *Tied Upcoming Routes (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated): 1. Liverpool – Crewe (+New) 2. Harlem Line (+New) 3. Horseshoe Curve (+New) 4. S-Bahn Zentralschweiz (+New) Upcoming Loco Add-Ons (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated): 1. DB BR 232 (-) 2. DB BR 420 (+3) This is been a long thread, but hopefully you've got a good idea on how this will work. This should hopefully be a fun thread and I look forward to see what you personally think are the best & worst routes/loco add-ons of TSW/TSW2.
Okay, here is my current list based on my experience over the last 15 months of TSW-ing... criteria being a mix of how enjoyable the route is to drive, how well it’s made and how interesting the content (yards, trains, services and scenarios etc.) is to me. East Coastway is so low in my list because it is the dullest route with the dullest train, even though it is well made. LIRR is dull, repetitive and badly made, even though the M7 is a good train. SPG is well made, has some of the best trains, and is really enjoyable, which is why it is at the top, and much to my surprise quickly became my favourite route. Routes (Best to Worst) Sand Patch Grade (TSW2) Ruhr-Sieg Nord Northern Trans-Pennine Tees Valley Line Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Isle Of Wight Great Western Express Peninsula Corridor Rhein-Ruhr Osten Main Spessart Bahn Bakerloo Line Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen Canadian National Oakville Subdivision East Coastway West Somerset Railway Rapid Transit Long Island Rail Road Northeast Corridor New York Don’t own the following... Sand Patch Grade (TSW) - N/A (PS4 player) Hauptstrecke München – Augsburg LGV Méditerranée Loco Add-Ons (Best to Worst) DB BR 155 BR Heavy Freight Pack BR Class 31 Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet' CSX C40-8W BR Class 33 Caltrain MP15DC Diesel Switcher BR Class 52 'Western' DB BR 182 BR Class 20 “Chopper” Don’t own the following... CSX GP40-2 DB BR 363 DB BR 204 LIRR M3 EMU Amtrak SW1000R Upcoming Routes (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated) Arosa Line Cane Creek Clinchfield Railroad Southeastern High Speed Hamburg – Lübeck Upcoming Loco Add-Ons (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated) Great Western 1970's Not really fussed about any of these yet... DB BR 101 DB BR 232 BR Class 313 EMU Vossloh G6 DB BR 420 BR Class 465 EMU DB BR 187 WonterRail Thanks for making this thread. Just a note about your numbering. When you have two routes that are equal 3rd the next one after them would be 5th, not 4th.
Thanks for the feedback on that, just edited it right now. Looking forward to hopefully seeing more lists soon.
Here is my list, first of all I want to say that this is completely personal, and doesn't want to be an objective list, but I want to give you a justification for my reasoning , so I will firstly put here what I consider important on a route: 1 - Train Driving and gameplay 2 - Close sorroundings and "correct localisation" 3 - medium speed with a good amount of stations (120/160 km/h ~ 80/100mph) 4 - ambientation (landscape/ambientation) 5 - variety and amount of traffic/adverse signals 6 - modern So now that you know the bias on this list I can rank my routes from worse to best, assuming you have all available layers for each route. 20 - West Somerset Railway 19 - Sand Patch Grade 18 - CN Oakville Sub 17 - NTP 16 - Tees Valley 15 - GWE 14 - NEC 13 - Peninsula Corridor 12 - BKL 11 - LIRR 10 - Rapid Transit (w/BR182) 9 -- LGV Méd 8 -- IoW 7 -- Rhein Ruhr Osten 6 -- East Coasway (IF they fix the 377's brakes) 5 -- SKA 4 -- HMA (IF you have all the layers) 3 -- Main Spessart Bahn 2 -- HRR -n.1 for pax = -- RSN (IF you have the BR363) -n.1 for freight I do not own/never tried them Had it for ~2 months with Game Pass on TSW2020 Since I own much less locos I will only rank what I own/want to own from worst to best -Baby Bullet -Dash 8 -M3 -BR363 and BR204 (should have more services!) -BR155 -BR182 In my wishlist waiting for a discount About upcoming content from best to worse: -SE HS -Class 313 -DB BR 420 (IF we can use it outside HMA) -DB BR 101 (IF it can be used on various german routes) -Ham/Lub - (IF the new 112 will be a substitution for the old 146/143 and the new 182 will be a substituion for the old 182 and the BR101's IC services) -DB G6 (IF it is a substituion for the 204 and 363 or gives us access to the Everlingsen Power Station) -Ludmilla (IF it can substitute all present freights and/or adds new services to various german routes) -Arosa Line
Great idea for a thread. From what I currently own, here's my list: Routes (Best to Worst) East Coastway Northern Transpennine Tees Valley Line Isle of Wight Great Western Express Bakerloo Line West Somerset Railway ECW is my favourite by far, as it has an excellent timetable which makes the route feel alive with plenty of AI services and the route as a whole is also very well built. I do own SKA, MSB, LLR and SPG as well but rarely play them so I do not have enough experience to judge them. Upcoming Routes (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated) South Eastern High Speed Arosa Line Hamburg - Lubeck Clinchfield Railroad Cane Creek Upcoming Loco Add-Ons (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated) Class 313 Class 465 1970s Western Region pack I can't really rate the other upcoming rolling stock as I don't know enough about them yet. You can probably see from these lists that I'm mostly interested in British DLC, but I am looking forward to seeing how the Arosa Line turns out and possibly purchasing it.
Heh, I'll join in for fun! Routes: 1. Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen - High speed ICE services - Utilizes plenty of trains from other routes - Great sounds (particularly regarding the Talent 2 and the ICE 3) 2. East Coastway - The BR Class 377 is incredibly fun to drive and is one of my favorite EMU's! Great sounds, especially going over neutral sections! Its also got variable adhesion. Has tons of controls to mess around with too! - A decent variety of services, including depot and ECS runs. Has short and longer services. - Despite the lighting, this route has some incredible scenery that feels appropriate for the setting - With upcoming BR Class 313, and PIS upgrades, ECW could possibly the most feature packed route in TSW, having nearly all the bells and whistles one could want. 3. Hauptstrecke München - Augsburg - Could EASILY be in first place, if only there were performance improvements and layers added back on consoles - The base route comes with a plethora of services (330+!), offering a ton of variety. You can go on S-Bahn services, RE services, or even ICE services, along with some freight! - BR 423 and BR 403 ICE 3 have great sounds - Good scenery 4. Great Western Express - A TSW classic! There's plenty to explore on this route, with a healthy amount of services too - Comes with three trains, each one unique and different - The BR Class 166 has incredible sounds on TSW2! 5. Long Island Rail Road - This one feels quite unique compared to other routes. It is one of the only two U.S. commuter rail lines available on TSW. - A good variety of services, given that there's over 5 terminals...but the route can still manage to feel a bit dead sometimes Honorable Mentions: Main Spessart Bahn - Great scenery, decent trains. Can feel a bit repetitive after a while. London Bakerloo Line - The only subway line in TSW. Could be fun for a while, but it does eventually become repetitive as well. Sand Patch Grade - The original TSW route! Plenty of fond memories with this one. Good ol' heavy American freight. Its fun, but a bit dated now, especially in terms of sound. Could often spend 90-120 minutes on a single service, which can honestly be tedious sometimes. Rapid Transit - An OK route, but the old Talent 2 leaves a lot to be desired. Haven't bothered with this route after a few runs North East Corridor - Poor scenery, 'meh' trains. I remember seeing floating buildings at some point. This route also has some incredible poor lighting. Safety systems are also bugged. Not a lot of good things to mention about this route Penninsula Corridor - Originally had lots of fun on this route. The selection of trains is interesting. However this route very much feels like an A to B run with not a whole lot of variety. Distant scenery is rather poor Tees Valley Line - This one was peculiar. Its got a good mix of passenger and freight services, with some variety. Its a good route for plenty of other folks, but I have fallen out of love for this route, since I've eventually discovered I didn't have much interest in older British Rail routes. Other (never played): Rhein Ruhr Osten Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr - (waiting on sale, only because of the DB BR 101) Ruhr Sieg Nord North Trans Pennine West Somerset Railway CN Oakville Subdivision Isle of Wight LGV Méditerranée - (waiting on sale) I don't own any loco packs at all, so I can't really comment on their ranking. Anticipated upcoming DLCs: 1. Southeastern High Speed - Seems like it'll provide a good amount of services, including high speed. Its an interesting route overall 2. BR Class 313 - To add variety on ECW. Its an older EMU, which will offer unique characteristics 3. Hamburg - Lubeck - Hoping this'll add layers to other routes for added variety. 4. DB BR 420 - Much like the Class 313 above, I'm hoping this'll add something new to their respective routes, and come with unique operating characteristics and quirks.
I guess I'll share my rankings as well. Some of the lower ranking routes might have less bad parts, but they are ranked lower due to personal preference. 1. Hauptstrecke Munchen - Augsburg The Good - Has some nice rolling stock with the BR 403 and BR 423 - Has some unique looking stations - Has a Good variety of services The Bad - Those services previously mentioned are unplayable on consoles - Incomplete Route - The performance on Consoles is absolutely trash - No Automated Announcements - No Interior Passenger Screens on the BR 423 2. East Coastway The Good - Some nice rolling stock with the Class 377/4 - Great representation of the south of the U.K. - It is a complete route (for the most part, trains CAN turn back at Eastbourne) The Bad - Some sounds are inaccurate - Not enough variety of services - No Automated Announcements 3. London Underground: Bakerloo Line The Good - A Subway Line - The route is finished The Bad - Speed Limits are triggered by the Back of the train instead of the front - No Automated Announcements - Inaccurate Sounds - Some Parts of the line are modeled incorrectly - Lighting does not behave properly/Some lights are missing 4. Long Island Rail Road The Good - An MTA Route - Set in NYC The Bad - Inaccurate Sounds - Safety System Bugs - Incorrect Modeling of most stations - Incomplete Route - No Destination Boards - No Automated Announcements 5. Schnellfarstrecke Koln-Aachen The Good - Good variety of services - Somewhat nice rolling stock (BR 406 and the Layered Rolling Stock) The Bad - Incomplete Route - Constant Crashing near Koln - S-Bahn Trains do not display the correct Destinations - No PIS - No Automated Announcements - S-Bahn is using the wrong Train (It's supposed to use the BR 423 instead of the BR 422) 6. Hauptstrecke Rhein Ruhr The Good - A Nice Variety of services - Nice rolling stock The Bad - Incomplete Route - No ICE Services - No PIS - No Automated Announcements 7. Rhein Ruhr Osten The Good - A nice isolated and quiet route - Nice scenery (Except for when entering Hagen... A whole SKYLINE is missing) The Bad - Not a big variety of services - The BR 422 starts to get tiring to drive after some time - Incomplete Route - Destination Boards do not display the correct destination on TSW 2 - No PIS - No Automated Announcements 8. Great Western Express The Good - Accurate Recreation of stations along the route - Nice Rolling Stock - Somewhat Accurate Sounds The Bad - Incomplete Route - Not enough variety of Rolling Stock and Services - Lacks PIS - Lacks Destination Boards - Lacks Automated Announcements 9. Isle Of Wight The Good - Heritage Rolling Stock - Peaceful Route - Somewhat Accurate Sounds - Complete Route - Opportunity for a Modernization update (Class 484's?) The Bad - Original Price was kinda high for such a short route - Performance Bugs at launch - Texture Quality was low at launch - Not enough stations (That's just the route choice though) 10. Northeastern Corridor The Good - Passenger and Freight Services - Route goes through NYC The Bad - Horrible Performance on Consoles - Safety System Bugs (I think... Either that or the ACSES/ATC just didn't like me) - Inaccurate Recreation of some parts of the route - Route was Way too short - No High-Speed Acela Express - Only 1 (2) type of rolling stock 11. Rapid Transit The Good - Lots of Stations within close proximity The Bad - No PIS - Older Version of the Talent 2 - Inaccurate Sounds - Incomplete Route I do not own the other routes in the Game
Best to worst: 1. Bakerloo line - good recreation of stock even if there is some clipping issues at pretty much every station somewhere 2. Schnellfarstrecke (however you spell it) - Good scenery in most places and you can see other services but not really enough trains to begin with 2. Great Western Express - Good trains, good sounds, pretty decent scenery, just lacks in length and a short Greenford branch 3. East Coastway - nice route length for me but needs more scenery in some places, often it's just fields 4. Rapid transit - has enough scenery to look alright but stations look a bit bland and I sometimes can't get the train to move 4. Hauptstrecke R-R - good trains with good acceleration but very short (tied with RT) 6. Sand Patch Grade (TSW2 - haven't owned the TSW2020 version) - Admittedly I haven't played it much but it's quite slow and doesn't appeal to me 7. LIRR - Only one train and I just don't really like the route
Lol, y'all be hating the LIRR! Hehe that is my favorite along with Oakville sub! I can't wait for the weird German Soviet train, that thing will be fun to paint in RZD colors!
This a fun thread, note that I am playing on PC and have all layers for German routes and of course personal preference counts for a bit as well Routes: 1) Hauptstrecke Munchen-Augsburg Included rolling stock is good, stations are well modelled and interesting, with all layers the timetable is busy and well-varied, includes PIS. 2) Ruhr-Sieg Nord Nice rolling stock included, with a good mix of Freight and Passenger, BR 155 and BR 363 add-ons make the timetable more interesting and I just personally enjoy the route scenery and station architecture. 3) Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen Similar route to Munchen-Augsburg with some nice rolling stock and if you have other DLC the timetable gets busy, however I find this to be more buggy and the route less interesting in general than Munchen-Augsburg. 4) Great Western Express The stock is well modelled and probably has the best sounds of any locos made for the game, and the route includes high speed and stopping passenger services and a few freight train services so has some nice variation. Only negative is that it needed to be a bit longer (to Didcot at least). 5) LGV Méditerranée The TGV Duplex is excellent to drive, and its really nice to setup and do the power change outside Marseille. I also don't think the route is as bad as some people say it is in terms of it looking "Mediterranean-ey". Unlike driving the ICE the TGV Duplex requires a fair bit more input to drive and keep to the limit with the rapidly changing gradients. 6) East Coastway Class 377 is nice and reasonably well modelled, apart from the braking issue, and the route is also recreated well. Lack of variation in services is an issue though. It's good that it includes the Seaford Branch but the main route not going to its terminus in Ore feels a bit weird. The freight train services are nice. This one might go up the list if the upcoming Class 313 is well made. 7) Bakerloo Line The stock especially is very well modelled and the route as well in general (though there are some clipping issues). Probably the most challenging route in terms of keeping to the timetable so definitely keeps me engaged when driving. Only problem with this route really is the lack of sounds and bad mixing of sounds. Also includes PIS which is good. 8) Rhein-Ruhr Osten The included stock is good, and although it is a bit of a short route it includes two actual terminals and it still feels busy (having all the layers probably helps here). Also the scenery is nice, especially the Schwebebahn around Wuppertal. 9) Sand Patch Grade The route is nice and scenic, but Cumberland Yard feels a bit empty. The included rolling stock isn't terrible, but the sounds aren't great either, though is definitely challenging to drive. 10) Northern Transpennine This one more comes down to personal preference than the routes, locos included. I just don't particularly enjoy this British Rail era, though they definitely recreated the stations and the feeling of this era well, and I like to drive the rapid services on the BR Class 45. 11) Main Spessart Bahn This one is also due to personal preference (I just don't particularly enjoy the route), and also the fact that it has been ported over extremely badly to TSW2. The one benefit of this is the amount of layers it adds to every other German route. 12) Rapid Transit The talent 2 included is not the most well modelled train in the game (its the old, worse version) and the route in general is just quite boring to drive on after a couple of runs. The Leipzig city tunnel and the stations in it are nice though. 13) LIRR The sounds and physics of the train are pretty bad, the route isn't well modelled and it kind of feels like I'm driving in a post-apocalyptic New York with the amount of life here. AI trains are non-existent, especially at busy stations like Jamaica. This is the only route to me that doesn't feel alive at all (though I understand other routes have these issues on console due to the layers and amount of passengers limitations). 14) Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Okay so the included rolling stock is good, but the route just feels laughably short, whenever I do a service it feels like I'm kidnapping a train for a short 20, maximum 30 minute run between Duisburg and Bochum. I guess I just don't understand why they chose this section of a route. I guess you could say it feels relatively busy, but so do many other routes like GWE, HMA, SKA - and they are long enough and include a proper terminal station to feel much more interesting and engaging. Also I find the lighting on this route to be horrendous where I'm constantly blinded by the bloom effects. In terms of loco DLC, I don't own that many but I'll do a quick ranking of the ones I have: 1) DB BR 155 - probably my favourite loco to drive in the game (the TSW2 port needs a bit of bug fixing though) 2) DB BR 363 - interesting shunting services 3) DB BR 182 - nice to drive and well modelled, just been badly ported over to TSW2, especially the sounds As for the stuff on the roadmap I'm most looking forward to... 1) Arosa line - I like Swiss routes and the included loco looks interesting Joint 2nd) Clinchfield Railroad and Cane Creek - the routes look interesting, and Clinchfield Railroad comes with an EMD F7 which is a nice loco. 3) Hamburg-Lubeck - Well I'm excited to see what it could do with layers and the route isn't the worst but it essentially just includes rolling stock we've already had. 4) Southeastern High-Speed - When I had this on TS Classic I got pretty bored with it quickly, and the part where you can drive the 375 is too short to get me interested, the 395 is cool though. I'm most looking forward though to two Loco DLC: the DB BR 101 (I'm really hoping it will included IC carriages + cab car, and it will add layers to multiple routes, not just Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr), and also the Class 313 for east coastway.
Returning to this thread just to update my personal ranking just to add or rearrange some positions as a lot of new add-ons have come out since I made the original ranking back in December. It can be found on the first post of this thread and if anyone wants to rank their favourite add-ons from worst to best but haven't done so yet, feel free to do so in the replies below, instructions are also on the first post. I'll probably come back every couple of months to update my personal ranking when new add-ons come out or when they get added to the roadmap, but when I do, I'll will be using these keys to show what has changed and what has stayed the same since last time: (-): This means the add-on has stayed in the same position since the last time I ranked the routes/loco add-ons. (+1): This means the add-on has moved up a few spots since the last time I ranked the routes/loco add-ons, this may be due to that route getting a loco add-on that has made that route more enjoyable. (-1): This means the add-on has gone down a few spots since the last time I ranked the routes/loco add-ons. This will mostly be down to a new add-on pushing it down a few spots (+New): This add-on is new this time round and wasn't out/wasn't on the roadmap the last time I ranked the routes/loco add-ons.
A little update, taking in account how much time I've spent on the routes last year, how many km I have driven and how often I come back to the route... Best Routes 1. (-) Nahverkehr Dresden 2. (7.) Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr 3. (2.) Hauptstrecke München Augsburg 4. (1.) Schnellfahrstrecke Köln Aachen 5. (3.) Main-Spessart-Bahn 6. (11.) Rhein-Ruhr-Osten 7. (12.) Hamburg-Lübeck 8. (6.) Ruhr-Sieg-Nord 9. (-) Boston Sprinter 10. (8.) East Coastway 11. (-) Southeastern High Speed 12. (9.) Arosalinie 13. (4.) Peninsula Corridor 14. (15.) Rapid Transit 15. (-) London Commuter 16. (14.) Great Western Express 17. (5.) LGV Mediterranee 18. (-) Tharandter Rampe 19. (13.) Sand Patch Grade 20. (16.) LIRR 21. (-) West Cornwall Local 22. (-) Oakville Subdivion 23. (10.) Clinchfield RR 24. (17.) Northern Trans Pennine 25. (-) Harlem Line 26. (18.) Bakerloo Line Best loco add-ons 1. (5.) DB BR 182 2. (1.) DB BR 101 3. (-) Class 465 4. (-) DB G6 5. (2.) MP 36 PH 6. (3.) DB BR 155 7. (-) DB BR 363 8. (4.) DB BR 204 9. (-) DB BR 187 Expansion Packs 1. New Journeys: SKA 2. RhB Anniversary Pack 3. New Journeys: Sand Patch Grade 4. New Journeys: Bakerloo Line Upcoming Routes Will buy it: 1. S-Bahn Zentralschweiz Maybe out of curiosity 2. Spirit of Steam Never ever: 3. Horseshoe Curve Upcoming Locos 1. DB BR 232 2. DB BR 420
Gee, I can't resist a good ranking! I'm somewhat new to TSW, but I've got plenty of gameplay of the routes I currently have to be confident enough with ranking them. (Don't have any loco add-ons yet, sadly) 1. Sand Patch Grade I can always enjoy a long and heavy freight train, so a nice CSX service is my favorite choice when I have a few hours. I like the variety of services, as I can either pick one of those wonderfully long and heavy freight trains with an AC4400CW or SD40-2, or a nice and simple switching service with the GP38-2. I also appreciate the choice of either the YN3b or YN2 liveries. Growing up seeing a lot of long American freight trains makes Sand Patch Grade very special to me. 2. East Coastway UK passenger trains have fascinated me ever since I started learning a bit about them, and my favorites have been the Electrostars. Since East Coastway is a good length route (most runs being 30-40 mins) with Class 377s, it's my absolute favorite UK route in the game. I also appreciate the quick freight runs with the Class 66, they're nice and simple. So East Coastway is my top pick when I want something casual. 3. Main Spessart Bahn I don't know why, but there's something about Main Spessart Bahn that makes it my favorite German route. Perhaps it's because I like the included locomotives, and I love the scenery. Timetable has a good variety of passenger services, and a whole lot of freight services. I just like the route because I get to go fast and stop a few times. 4. Peninsula Corridor This route is the closest to home for me, sitting on the West Coast. I enjoy American commuter trains, so having Caltrain is very nice. Having Union Pacific is also incredible, even just 9 services makes me happy because it's Union Pacific . I wanted this to become my favorite route, but passenger services don't feel too varied, as the route is mainly a straight line. Manually lapped brakes on the F40 are enjoyable to learn, but they definitely aren't my favorite. I'm sure passenger services would be a lot better with the MP36. But hey, I can't complain too much, I love driving a California commuter train. 5. CN Oakville Subdivision I can't tell if this route is this high on the list for North American bias, or if I actually enjoy the route. It can be pretty boring, as most of the timetable is filled with 60 mph runs between Oakville and Aldershot. But screw it, it's a Canadian freight route. The few switching services that do exist can be good fun, and this is probably in my top 3 favorite routes in terms of scenarios. I can even enjoy the Oakville-Aldershot runs, as those are harmless, only taking about half an hour. The GP9rm is a very nice locomotive, and paired with the GP38-2, makes for a nice selection of trains. 6. Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr While nothing too special, this route has been very enjoyable ever since I got Main Spessart Bahn. There are so many trains driving around at all times, so I always enjoy doing an S-Bahn or RE service and seeing all of the trains passing by me. The BR 422 and 425 are neat EMUs, and they are a very nice inclusion in the route. So yeah, nothing special, but I can appreciate the business. 7. Long Island Railroad The LIRR is perfect for when I want a decently long American passenger service. Taking less than an hour, I can always enjoy a service to Ronkonkoma or Hempstead. While I wish the route was a lot busier, I still enjoy driving to busy looking places such as Penn Station and Jamaica. The M7 is also very enjoyable to drive, with a nice little cozy cab with a bunch of buttons and switches in it. But the lack of traffic and a not very fun to use safety system, it's not as high as I'd like it to be. Still a bit higher than I expected it to be before I got TSW. 8. Isle of Wight This is a comfort route. No busy traffic or strict timetables (ignore the fact that IOW has a strict timetable), just a half hour of sitting in a little train that toots its whistle and stops at a few stations. The Class 483 is a great train to drive, as it's nothing too difficult to drive, but at least I still have to focus a bit to manage my speed. My main issues with the route are the somewhat strict timetable from Sandown-Shanklin, and the lack of depot trains. Come on, what's a route with only 4 depot services? Although it does have seagulls at Ryde Pier Head, so I will forgive Rivet Games and give them all of my money. 9. Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen Oh hey, the ICE route! This route, like HRR, was pretty boring before I got MSB. But I do have it now, and it feels a bit busier, yay! My favorite part of the route is the RE services with the Talent 2, it drives so much better than the Dostos. The ICE is also nice, but it doesn't have too many services, and Koln-Aachen runs can be a bit boring, as the train basically drives itself. But I do like the fast train, so there's that. 10. Bakerloo Line This is another good length route for me, as services are either 30 or 50 minutes. The 72 Stock is a very nice train to drive as well, and I really like trains with good brakes. The services do feel a bit boring after a while, since there's just a bunch of start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. Bakerloo is a very nice route, it's just that I like these other routes more than it. 11. Great Western Express This is another route that isn't bad at all, I just have a lot of better options. I love driving the HST, as even in a normal A to B run, I have to manage my speed a bunch. The Class 166 is good fun, with normal commuter services that I enjoy a lot. Although the Class 166 services on the high speed line aren't as fun. The freight services are nothing special either, you just... drive. But it's good fun when I remember to scroll to the bottom of my list of routes. 12. Ruhr Sieg Nord My favorite thing about German routes is the fact that I get to go fast. Ruhr Sieg Nord doesn't let me do that, so it's not as exciting for me. The locomotives are just eh. The BR 185 is on MSB, and I don't really like driving the BR 143, because automatic AFB makes it a lot less exciting. But the freight services are nice, and I can enjoy a good passenger service to Hagen every now and then. 13. Northern Trans-Pennine BR Blue locomotives are great. It's so nice to depart a station and hear the roar of the Class 45 and 47. The Class 101 is fine. While I can drive it fine, it's not that fun to drive. Also, full length 101 services are very long, and I dislike overly long commuter services. Ignore the fact that I put Peninsula Corridor so high (bias, folks, BIAS). While the locomotives are very fun to drive, I don't really enjoy passenger services with them. Perhaps I'll love this route if I get the BR Heavy Freight Pack... 14. Rapid Transit Hey, remember 2 sentences ago when I said I dislike overly long commuter services? Here's Rapid Transit, providing a 2017 timetable full of 90 minute S-Bahn runs. The 2021 timetable isn't that much more enjoyable to me, as now the services don't feel complete. Also, the route has very weird looking lighting, and the Talent 2 is very quiet from the cab. Not a fun driving experience for me. Current Routes 1. Clinchfield Railroad 2. LGV Mediterrenne 3. Southeastern High Speed 4. Rhein-Ruhr Osten 5. Hauptstrecke Hamburg-Lubeck 6. Hauptstrecke Munchen-Augsburg 7. Tees Valley Line 8. West Somerset Railway Current Loco Add-ons (for routes I have) 1. MP36PH-3C 2. MP15DC 3. BR Heavy Freight Pack 4. DB BR 101 5. DB BR 363 6. C40-8W 7. M3 8. DB BR 155 9. DB BR 204 10. Diesel Legends of the Great Western 11. DB BR 182 Upcoming Routes 1. Cane Creek 2. NEC: Boston-Providence 3. Brighton Mainline 4. Cathcart Circle Line 5. Bahnstrecke Riesa-Dresden 6. West Cornwall Local Upcoming Loco Add-ons 1. BR Class 313 2. DB BR 187 3. Standard 1938 Tube Stock 4. G6 5. DB BR 420 6. DB BR 232 Thank you WonterRail for letting me waste a bunch of my time
From what I own it's this: Routes 1) Southeastern High-Speed I hardly use the High-speed Section, mostly in Kent with the class 465 & 375, however the Kent Section has a feel that I don't quite get with the others, it feels like a true commuter line. 2) East Coastway: Similar reasons to SEHS. Can't wait for the 313 3) Great Western Express: As old as it may be it is still wonderful. Plus the HST is in there so I can't complain 4) Köln - Aachen: ICE 5) Rapid Transit: Since the recent update I've played this route quite a lot. And the Talent 2 is always nice. 6) Northern Transpennine: Nice route... 7) Bakerloo Line: I like the stop-start nature as well as the length (time-wise) to do a journey. A lot of Questionable Parts however. 8) LGV: I like this one. It's as low as it is as I don't really use it all that much. Shame it's only 3 Stations. 8) Isle Of Wight: I like the 483 and the short and calm feel of this route, however the flaws of it drag it to 8th. 9) CSX: Don't use it. Locos: A bit of an unfair contest as I only own the Class 465 Upcoming: Glasgow Cathcart Circle West Cornwall Riesa-Dresden & Brighton Mainline NEC Cane Creek Upcoming Locos: I'm only really interested in the Class 313 in all honesty.
HRR with all layers & 101 | best HMA with all layers CRR RNS with 155 & 363 HHL SPG SKA RRO MSB BL TVL NTP GWE PC RT -------------- BR 101| best Dash-8 BR 363 BR 182 Heavy Freight Pack BR 204 -------------- upcoming -------------- BRD | best CC -------------- BR 232 | best BR 187
from what i have Locomotives from best to worst 1)GP40-2,SD40-2 2)GP38-2, MP15DC, SW1000r 3)AC4400CW , BR Class 66 4)DB BR204 , F40PH , MP36PH-3C, GP9 5)BR Class 52, BR Class 37, BR Class 166, M7 5)BR Class 47,BR Class40, BR Class 377 6)BR 363, ACS-64,DBBR101, DB BR143 7) BR Class 08 8)DB BR185 Routes from best to worst 1)Peninsula corridor 2)Clinchfield railroad , NEC 3)Ruhr Sieg Nord, Main-Spessart Bahn, Tees valley line 4)Sand patch grade , great western express, west somerset railway 5)Oakville subdivision, LLR 6)northern trans pennine 7)east coastway 8)rapid transit
I rate them from favourites to least favourites, but tbh i dont use some locos very much to have a decent opinion of them. Locos: Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet' BR Class 465 EMU DB BR 101 LIRR M3 BR Class 52 BR Class 33 DB BR 363 Routes: Long Island Railroad London Bakerloo Line Peninsula Corridor Southeastern Highspeed East Coastway Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Köln-Aachen Great Western Express LGV Mediterranee Northern Trans-Pennine* Ruhr-Sieg Nord Arosalinie** Sand Patch Grade West Somerset Railway *: NTP isnt one of my favourites, but i love the locos being usable in most British maps, they are very often a very nice change from the modern machines that run them. **: Honestly i havent run this route very much yet, so my opinion on it will probably change.
Routes (Best to Worst) Sand Patch Grade (TSW2) Rhein-Ruhr Osten Tees Valley Line Ruhr-Sieg Nord West Somerset Railway Northern Trans-Pennine Clinchfield Hauptstrecke München – Augsburg Great Western Express Main Spessart Bahn Long Island Railroad Arosa Linie Loco Add-Ons (Best to Worst) DB BR 155 BR363 BR Heavy Freight Pack BR Class 31 BR Class 20 “Chopper” Upcoming Routes (Most Anticipated to Least Anticipated) Cane Creek I do not try be exhaustive and my opinion may have changed the next five minutes.
That I own in order of best to worst: 1/2 HRR 2/1 SEHS 3 ECW 4 SKA 5 HMA 6 GWE 7 NTP 8 RT 9 LIRR 10 RSN 11 TVL 12 MSB 13 SPG 14 IOW 15 WSR 16 NEC locos: 1 Class 465 2 HFP 3 363 4 20 5 31/33 6 182 I like passenger routes and trains so I’ll be getting them eventually
I'm bumping this topic because I'm curious how you would rank these in September. Very curious how the Rush Hour DLC ranks in these lists
My list has very much changed: {Key: ★ = New, ↑ = Moved Up, ↓ = Moved Down} Today it's (★) 1) Cathcart Circle Line Very accurate to real life, 314 is perfect. Could do with Dresden's Night Lighting and the SPT Livery for the 314. (-) 2) East Coastway A wonderful route, and will become even better with the 313, I'm sure. Hopefully BML will be a step forward for Southern's Network in TSW. (★) = ) Riesa - Dresden Whilst I personally don't own it (and won't for a while) Dresden has very much impressed me. It's really high quality from what I've been able to see, and I look forward to getting my hands on it. (-) 3) Great Western Express Whilst this still one of my favourite routes, I think - personally - Cathcart and East Coastway are better, and Dresden just deserves to be here. (↓2) 4) Southeastern High-speed Formerly my 2nd place, SEHS has very much so fallen out of favour for me. Especially as HS1 - the main selling point for the route - was worse than the TS Version - much older. (↑1) 5) Northern Transpennine I have - since getting the route - become more and more a fan of it. My only - proper (IOW doesn't count) - BR-era Route as well. (★) 6) NEC: Boston - Providence I'll need to try it first. (↓2) = ) Köln - Aachen The ICE and Talent are both fun to drive, however I hardly bother with this route. Don't know why, just don't. (↓2) 7) Rapid Transit I enjoy RT more than I did, partly because I have become softer towards German content, however NTP comes above it. (-) 8) LGV I enjoy driving this route, however it is as low as it is because the scenery really is dire in places. (-) 9) Isle of Wight It could - most certainly - be better. The fact the line isn't even correct (i.e. the way the track goes) is concerning, to say the least. Also, all trains NSE in a Modern-build of the route? Come on, Rivet. I do like driving it, however, don't get me wrong. (↓3) 10) Bakerloo Line Bakerloo is decent, however, I always run straight out of patience a few stops through the Underground Section. Modelling in places is, well, technically, awful. Not bad, and good to see the Shard and Wembley back on Last Gen 11) Sand Patch Grade Sorry, no. Locos: Same as before. Only own the 465. Upcoming: Brighton Mainline West Cornwall Local (150!) Sherman Hill and Horseshoe Curve routes.
20 - West Somerset Railway ---------- Hamburg - Lubeck 19 - Sand Patch Grade 18 - CN Oakville Sub 17 - NTP 16 - Tees Valley 15 - GWE 14 - NEC 13 - Peninsula Corridor 12 - BKL 11 - LIRR ---------- Cane Creek ---------- Clinchfield 10 - Rapid Transit (w/BR182) 9 -- LGV Méd 8 -- IoW ---------- RH NEC 7 -- Rhein Ruhr Osten 6 -- East Coasway (IF they fix the 377's brakes 5 -- SKA ---------- Glasgow Cathcart Circle 4 -- HMA (IF you have all the layers) 3 -- Main Spessart Bahn 2 -- HRR n.1for pax ‐-------- Riesa Dresden = -- RSN (IF you have the BR363) -n.1 for freight 1 ---------- SEHS
Updating this as of March 22, 2022: (n: New since the last time i revised this post, in September) Route DLCs: London Commuter (n) Harlem Line (n) Cathcart Circle Line Long Island Railroad Tharandter Rampe (n) Nahverkehr Dresden Southeastern Highspeed East Coastway London Bakerloo Line Peninsula Corridor Boston Sprinter Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Köln-Aachen Northern Trans-Pennine Great Western Express Ruhr-Sieg Nord Arosalinie Tees Valley Line LGV Mediterranee West Somerset Railway Sand Patch Grade Loco DLCs (note: most of these are ranked in order of how much i use them, i consider most if not all to be at least decently well made): BR Class 313 EMU (EC/LC) BR Class 465 EMU (SEHS) Caltrain MP36PH "Baby Bullet" (PC) DB BR 101 (German routes) LIRR M3 (LIRR) 1938 Tube Stock (LBL) BR Class 33 (WSR/Railtours) BR Class 31 (TVL/Railtours) Heavy Freight Pack (NTP/Railtours) BR Class 52 (WSR/Railtours/DLGW) BR Class 20 (TVL/Railtours) DB BR 155 (German routes) DB BR 363 (German routes) Caltrain MP15DC (PC)
For me, from best: 1. Cathcart Circle - very enjoyable route to drive, with nice scenery. 2. Hauptstrecke Rhein Ruhr - Plenty of variety and looks nice. 3. Ruhr Seig Nord - Slow paced but not boring, I think it's really pretty. 4. Tees Valley Line - OK, I'm from the area but I do like to drive the freight runs on this every now and then. 5. Rapid Transit, considering its age, I think this route holds up very well, and is nicely modelled, the new timetable is nice but I feel it really needs the 182 to unleash both timetables' potential. 6. Main Spessart Bahn - Nice, busy freight timetable, quite fun with the Spessartrampe, although distant scenery looks very 2D and strange. It's bumped up by the fact it's a layer on so many routes. 7. Rhein Ruhr Osten - Nice route to drive, the scenery is really nice, but with head sway it's particularly poor due to the trackwork having tight turns and sharp gradient changes. 8. Reisa - Dresden - Lovely route, would've been 1 or 2 if it ran at more than about 20fps. 9. Munich Augsburg - Again, doesn't run as well as the other routes, but I can't help but feel it's a little empty at times, despite all the layers? 10. Southeastern High Speed - Nice timetable, let down by some slightly dodgy scenery in places. 11. East Coastway - Nice scenery but gets boring pretty quickly. 12. Great Western Express - While it looks really nice and I loved it when it first came out, the trains and route is starting to show its age, sadly. 13. Northern Trans-Pennine - Doesn't really have the "spark" for me, don't particularly enjoy it. 14. West Somerset Railway - this is actually my only TSW DLC purchase I regret. I find it too slow and just plain boring. 15. Boston Sprinter - not downloaded it, no interest. 16. Sand Patch Grade - same.
Note I haven't yet encountered a route that I don't enjoy, so none of these I think are repulsively bad. However I do get a bit bored with the bottom 2 on the list. I also have a not so great machine, so performance may very slightly factor into some of these rankings. Also the only loco DLC I own is the class 465, so assume that all route reviews except SEHS are based on the experience without any loco DLC. 1. Sand Patch Grade I live in the U.S and love U.S freight, and I really enjoy this route. the scenery is cool, as it's mountainous and the towns really provide that U.S mountain town feel, and going through the horseshoe curve at Mance and past the post office is one of my favorite parts of the route. It's one of the longest routes in the game (and probably takes the longest to drive), and I wish there were a more routes with this much length. The scenarios are also pretty good imo, and the narration is really nice. While a lot of things aren't prototypical which may bother someone who's really into U.S freight, as someone who enjoys it somewhat casually, this is overall my favorite route so far. (Also note a lot of stuff isn't explained in the tutorials, one of the most notable being how to properly set up multiple unit operation, which is extremely helpful if not necessary for one of the scenarios.) 2. London Commuter A reasonably lengthy route between two major hubs. A rarity in TSW 2. This route is extremely busy, and on the majority of the route you'll constantly see traffic. The electrostars are fun to drive with good sounds and there's a decent variety between the frequent stopping commuter services and the Gatwick express services. The scenery is pretty nice, with Clayton tunnel definitely being a highlight. Overall, this route is just fantastic, and certainly one of the bests routes currently available. The only downside is a lot of areas cause a pretty low frame rate. 3. East Coastway Sometimes I just want to jump into a shorter service for a quick and casual run, and this route suites that need perfectly. It's a joy to drive, with nicely paced commuter services and some fun freight services. Scenery for the route is very nice, though sometimes the lighting feels like is has a bit too much bloom. While it's a shorter route and lacks variety in rolling stock (at least without the class 313, which I don't have), I always have a lot of fun with this route and it remains one of my favorites. 4. Nahverkehr Dresden Another really great route from rush hour. This route features gorgeous scenery with a new night time lighting system, and some of the most variety that you'll find in the game. This route has commuter, express, freight and shunting services, and even some ICE services (though not really high speed since there's no PZB). It also comes with a very scenic branch line that adds even more variety to the services. This route is a playground and I really wish I had some more layers for it. The only downsides are lower fps in some areas of the route, and lack of new rolling stock. 5. Northern Trans-Pennine I've barely played this route (only 2 services), so this isn't a very concrete ranking. However from what I've played so far, this route is really great. I love the old diesel locos and the general feel of the route. It also seems to have a surprisingly busy-ish timetable. The major downside I've deduced so far is that there are some places where the scenery ends not far from the track, leaving a very visible vast expanse of nothing, which slightly dampens the otherwise beautiful scenery. 6. Southeastern High Speed A really cool route but with a few notable cons. I really like the rolling stock, especially the javelin and the class 465. Across the map services with the Javelin and slower paced runs on the commuter side of the route offer a lot of enjoyment, and the commuter side of the route has some nice scenery. It's generally a pretty nice route to play. However the scenery on the high speed side of the route has some inaccuracies, and the sounds are not that great (aside from the 465). I also kinda wish there was a bit of an expansion for the commuter side of the route. Since there's no branch lines, it's not very replay able for me in a single session. Especially since it's the only route with drive able class 465 services, and you can only drive it on half of the route since the other half is the high speed section. Despite the cons, I still recommend the route if you already have ECW and LC. 7. Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr I already liked this route before getting MSB, but once I got the layers for MSB it made it even better. It's kinda like a mini Riesa-Dresden, and it's just a solid route that's enjoyable to play. Scenery for the route is really nice, and part of the route splits into 2 lines which adds some variety. It's like East Coastway in a sense that's it's a shorter route that I enjoy hopping onto for some more casual services. 8. Main-Spessart Bahn I haven't played this route that much yet so it could definitely drop later and it feels a bit weird to put this over Schellfahrstrecke, as that seems like the objectively better route. However the few services I've played have been really fun and I've generally enjoyed it more than Koln-Aachen as of late. It has nice mountainous scenery (aside from a few bits with bare looking hills and forests sparsely populated with trees), and I like the feel of the route. It also has a pretty busy freight timetable, which is nice to see since I enjoy freight. While is it a very enjoyable route to drive, the sounds are pretty poor, and the PZB seems a bit iffy at times, which I could definitely see causing me to not like the route as much. Also apparently one of the tutorials is bugged, but I haven't played the tutorials and therefore haven't encountered that yet. 9. Boston Sprinter Being an American player, I was really excited for this route and it was one of the biggest reasons I got the season pass. However while I wouldn't say it was a disappointment, it does fall short of the other rush hour routes for me. In addition to some issues with the route, I don't enjoy driving the F40 that much, and that's the majority of the services for the route. It's also lacking some of the things that really define this route in real life, such as the Acela and the Bi level MBTA trains, and the route just doesn't feel quite complete without them. Perhaps the F40 services would be a lot more entertaining with some bi-level coaches and Acelas flying by. There are also many problems with the scenery of the route. Despite these downsides, I'm a big fan of the northeast corridor, and I find the ACS-64 services extremely enjoyable to drive, so that keeps this route away from the bottom of the list. I also like that it includes a small branch line, as those are some of my favorite F40 services. 10. Great Western Express Overall a very solid route. The route being a bit outdated doesn't really bother me that much because it means we get to drive the HST. The class 166 is also a nice train, and the route features express, commuter and freight services, offering pretty good variety. The only gripe I have is that most of the route is a straight line, and the scenery is a little bit boring for me. It's a solid and well rounded route, but not quite among my very favorites. 11. Long Island Railroad This is really pretty much tied with 12 for me. The urban scenery is nice and different from a lot of other routes in the game. The M7 is a fun loco to drive, and there are a lot of branches which creates some variety in the services. I'd potentially rank it a spot or two higher with the M3 addon, as one of my main dislikes of the route is lack of variety of the rolling stock. The route also lacks a lot of traffic and feels a bit dead, and a lot time is spent driving in never ending straight lines. 12. SchnellFahrstrecke-Koln I feel like I'm under ranking this quite a bit, but I just don't quite enjoy this route as much as the ones above, and it's gotten a little bit stale. While the MSB layers made it a bit better, the route still feels very dead the majority of the time, and I rarely see traffic. The talent 2 services are a bit mundane and a large part of the route is just driving them in a straight line at 160 kmh for several minutes. I do however enjoy hopping on every now and then to get a high speed fix with the ICE services. 13. Peninsula Corridor I don't dislike any route I've played so far. However with these bottom 2, I find myself getting bored and checking the schedule to see how many stops are left, thinking "yea I've had enough of this". As I mentioned earlier, I'm not the biggest fan of driving the F40, and here we have an endless feeling commuter line full of F40 services. The scenery also isn't great for me. There are a lot of copy pasted buildings that look European, and it often fails to capture the dense urban setting where the line is located. If I had the locomotives DLC, I feel like this route could go several spots higher, as I do actually enjoy longer routes. However without them, the few Union Pacific freight services are the only thing keeping it from the bottom of the list. 14. London Underground Bakerloo Line Again, not a bad route, but I do get bored of it when doing the longer services. Much of the route is really nicely modeled and you can really appreciate the work that went into it. However I think underground lines are simply not my cup of tea. Class 465 This is the only loco DLC I own, and overall I do recommend it, as it's nicely modeled with good sounds and adds a lot to SEHS. However unless you're like me and you like this loco in particular or want to invest in making SEHS a better experience, some of the other loco DLCS are probably slightly better in value. As mentioned earlier, it only has services on one route, and it's only drivable on half of that route.
Been a while since I've check this thread out, but I thought I might as well come back and update my list and add the new routes/loco add-ons that have come out since I last updated it (which was nearly 10 months ago). You can find out right at the top of page on the very first post of this thread. By the way, It's great to have seen everyone's ranking so far and I am hoping at some point in the future to take all the ranking lists on this thread and combine them into an overall community ranking to find out what this thread ranks as the best TSW/TSW2 route/loco add-on is. But more on that once I've actually gotten round to doing that.
Updating my original post with the addition of Harlem and Tharandter Rampe, in addition to London Commuter which wasnt released when i posted that in September. I also added my ranking of loco DLCs
After 2 years of playing on PS4 slim,(about 110 level in TSW, currently 130lvl TSW2) here is my opinion: 1. - 3. Best ones (can not decide which one is better): Ruhr Sieg Nord Main Spessart Bahn Northern Trans Pennine (with BR Freight pack) On all of these i love beautiful scenery, good performance and nice combination of freight and passenger services. Nicely created Journeys. 4. Tees Valley Line Nice journey, good combination with passenger and freight even shunting operations. I just dont like scenery in industry areas, in some places it s really empty, also other trains really missing here and in big train yards. 5. Rhein Ruhr Osten Interesting route, nice scenery, 422 really pleasant to operate. I just found passenger journey a bit boring, still driving up and down. RE services really missing in journey. 6. East coast way Nice country side, 377 fun to operate. Freight could be better, just one short section. 7. Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen Could be one of the best, but serious performance issues and sound issues on my PS4 slim. ICE3 is nice and fun to ride. Again nice journey with different types of services. 8. Bakerloo Line Its metro, something new, nice journeys. But yes most of the time driving in the dark underground. Overground part is nice but missing trains on tracks following metro line. And most of the time empty stations seems weird in mass transport system. 9. Rapid Transit Pleasant to operate train, really lot of stations, true "stopping" train experience. But low quality scenery and too long route, mostly straight tracks 10. Long island railroad Similar to RT, but also lot of bugs on TSW2 11. Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Bought just because it was super cheap. I like short services, when i have just little time, this is right route. But boring scenery, just tons of tracks, mostly empty, maybe more AI traffic will make it better. 12. Arosaline I was super excited about this, but its kind boring unfinished and buggy. Very bad distant scenery, passengers can not enter train except of first and last station, trains almost empty. Still same service "up and down", lot of them unfinishable because of bugged red lights. But train is really interesting to operate expecialy down the hill. 13. Sand patch grade Nice scenery and i really enjoyed switching operations. But for me its just too long, without stopping and uphill its like watching video without any interaction for most of the time. 14. Great Western Express Interesting to try HST, but then HST is very boring just move, 30 minutes of nothing and stop. Networked turbo is better but all is ruined by strange lighting and low quality scenery. Also missing more passengers. 15. Peninsula Corridor Too long and scenery is boring. Nothing in distances. Maybe I just do not like american routes 16. West Somerset Railway Nice countryside, nice jobs to collect, but slow speed make this extremely frustrating to drive. It takes eternity to drive just 5miles between stations. Class09 really struggles to pull train. 17. NEC: NewYork Playable only on old TSW, but i never play it much. Missed journey mode and scenery was in poor quality Want to buy list: Spirit of the steam -> Deffinitely want to try steam engines ! Southeastern highspeed -> Class 395 looks awesome Clinchfield Railroad -> Just low the country and F7 Cathcart Circle Line -> Looks like a nice commuter route with short services Tharandter Rampe -> Interested inBR 612 and i just love German rural regions
Level 70 in TSW2 Best Riesa-Dresden and Brighton Main Line feature heavy rush hour traffic Rural Third Rail East Coastway mix of semi-fast and slow freight locals on Seaford Branch. Best DLC locomotive add-on Class 313 adds a unique style of play on the East Coast way. Worst Cajon Pass and Sand Patch Grade Heavy freight and you must use Dynamic Independent and Automatic Brakes to maximise your decent speed
As of June 7th 2022 Level 364 Not in any particular order as I feel I just can’t simply put one above another at all times (at this moment I would put London Commuter at number 1 followed by Spirit of steam due to recent high liking of playing them and Cane Creek Last due to not playing it) My Rating of routes with one positive and one negative (this may not be the case for each route as it’s hard not to expand on a single positive and negative without including more things that create a better bigger picture of that one thing) Not including due to lack of ownership: Arosa/Harlem/Horseshoe reason currently; Arosa - Scenery put me off picking up what should be a scenic route Harlem - trying to not go overboard and get routes I won’t put a grand amount of time in at this point horseshoe - same reason as Harlem Sand Patch Grade Pos - I have a particular liking for the scenery on this route, it always seems to be quite unique compared to other routes Neg - Too slow of a speed, I find it difficult to concentrate and stick to playing this route and it gives of a sense of a chore because of this Clinchfield Pos - i find the F7 the most enjoyable American freight loco to use in TSW to this day Neg - I would have to go for the times to complete services are a bit too long at times, seems a bit slow Cane Creek Pos - Did a great job on this route for rock scenery Neg - not completed a single service on this route yet as I find it too long and slow like sand patch Boston Sprinter Pos - going to have to state 2 for this as I will regret not mentioning the other, first is welcome back ACS-64 my old TSW 1 trusty friend, and second i like the idea of travelling between 2 major cities across 2states with some in between in the middle of it Neg - Seems like it lacks something, that I can’t think what it is Sherman Hill Pos - great speeds for freight at last Neg - can be quite lengthy to put time into this route Bakerloo line Pos - each station always seems different to each other Neg - bit too long of a service with too many stops Isle of Wight Pos - pleasant and relaxing route to spend time in Neg - can get too repetitive a bit too quick to go back and forth on it, added with its short length Schnellfahrstreke Pos - ICE services Neg - quite basic without layers Haupstreke Munchen Augsburg Pos - got this route to spend more time with ICE layers Neg - quite basic without layers, especially at munchen HBf Tharander rampe Pos - Scenic route to use the Tilt system Neg - bit lengthy and slowish without Afb type systems for the 612 LIRR Pos - choices of goes and end points Neg - Needs some more services running together Peninsula Corridor Pos - I like where this route is set and it’s length is good Neg - it’s the kinda route that strikes me as needing to have similar type track, rolling stock and stopping patterns to NEC but doesnt East Coastway Pos - variety of traffic and variety of what you want to do Neg - wish it had more variety on express services haupstreke Rhein Rhur Pos - Speeds and Service variety with layers Neg - quite a bit too short of a route when using anything other than S-Bahn Canadian Oakville SubDivision Pos - A new country and new company Neg - quite harsh thought but I find it not very interesting, it’s services aren’t very new, it’s more than likely if you can do it on this route you can on others so just use the others which you prefer more London Commuter Pos - Lots of services resulting in busy Ai on a route if good length and interesting destinations Neg - The most prominent available operating stock (377/387) doesn’t have much variety between each other Riesa Dresden Pos - Variety of busy services and Destinations would also like to give praise to the work put in on the Meissen branch Neg - I’m bitter over the loss of Flughafen that I planned to spend time going back and forth on when I wasn’t using the mainline Rhur sieg nord Pos - A route that offers lots of variety potential Neg - Would enjoy it to have higher speed limits at times Spirit of Steam Pos - Scenic of steam across scenic and changing Scenery from city to fields to mainline Neg - Needs a busier timetable Great Western Express Pos - Service type variety (High Speed/Commuter/Freight) Neg - Scenery is showing it’s age and the route length can be short for anything other than an all stopping service Rapid Transit Pos - I have a liking to visit Leipzig because of the design of the underground stations Neg - needs express services not just stopping at all stops for an hour and a half TSW 2 overall Pos - A great console train simulator, a market that needed to be filled but never was until TSW, only wish it came out sooner Neg - quite a number of Great Features with bugs or a bug that drops the Great or functioning out of its title (I’ll add more to this soon)
Interesting idea, and surprisingly difficult. My list would look like this: Routes (Best to Worst): 1. Tharandter Rampe 2. Southeastern High Speed 3. Nahverkehr Dresden 4. London Commuter 5. Harlem Line 6. Ruhr-Sieg Nord 7. East Coastway 8. Tees Valley Line 9. Peninsula Corridor 10. Main Spessart Bahn 11. Clinchfield Railroad 12. Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen 13. Hauptstrecke München – Augsburg 14. Rhein-Ruhr Osten 15. Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr 16. Arosalinie 17. Northern Trans-Pennine 18. Hauptstrecke Hamburg – Lübeck 19. Bakerloo Line 20. Cathcart Circle Line 21. West Somerset Railway 22. Boston Sprinter 23. Isle Of Wight 24. Long Island Rail Road 25. Northeast Corridor New York 26. Great Western Express 27. Sand Patch Grade 28. Rapid Transit S-Bahn Zentralschweiz (very likely) Liverpool – Crewe Sherman Hill West Cornwall Local (not really) LGV Méditerranée (I don't think so) Canadian National Oakville Subdivision Horseshoe Curve Cane Creek Loco Add-Ons (Best to Worst): 1. Southeastern BR Class 465 EMU 2. DB BR 101 3. Southern BR Class 313 EMU 4. DB BR 155 5. BR Class 31 6. BR Class 20 'Chopper' 7. BR Heavy Freight Pack 8. BR Class 33 9. DB BR 363 10. Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet' 11. Caltrain MP15DC Diesel Switcher 12. New Journeys Expansion 13. Diesel Legends of the Great Western 14. LIRR M3 EMU 15. DB BR 204 16. DB BR 182 17. BR Class 52 'Western' 18. CSX GP40-2 Not owned, listed in order of likeliness of future purchase: DB G6 Diesel Shunter (very likely) Rhb Anniversary Collection (maybe on a discount) DB BR 187 (maybe once it's fixed) CSX C40-8W (the nope zone starts here) London Underground 1938 Stock EMU Amtrak SW1000R
Well, I don't see much point in trying to distinguish those DLCs bunched together in the peloton. But the leaders are, for me, Riesa-Dresden, Victoria-Brighton and Clinchfield, followed by Chemnitz, Sand Patch, NTP and TVL. The stragglers include Rapid Transit, LIRR, LGV and Oakville.
Actually a very good DLC since the patch- it even has a working airflow meter! The worst that can be said of it is that it's somewhat redundant alongside the AC4400.
Is this thread still in use, also for TSW3? Intro: BTW here's my ranking. I don't play TSW for long and bought the Rush hour edition last year with discount which was a pretty good deal. Also bought later the Tharanter Rampe DLC also in a sale. I did enjoy the game so I will probably buy more routes in the future, probably the TSW3 edition. But for now I will rank my short list. My ranking is based on the amount of stuff you get in the DLC (locomotives, route variation), the length of the route and amount of stations/yards and a little bit my own experience with it. Ranking: best to worst 1 Nahverkehr Dresden D-R GER 2 Tharandter Rampe D-C GER 3 London Commuter LV-B UK 4 Sand Patch Grade USA 5 Schnellfahrstrecke K-A GER 6 Boston Sprinter BS-P USA 7 Bakerloo line HW-EC UK The verdict: Nahverkehr and Tharandter are the ones which scored the highest and this is mosty due de amount of locomotives and route variation in comparison with other routes were you mostly get 2 locomotives. Also the length and amount of stations/yards is pretty good for these routes. It's really fun to operate these routes with PZB on. London Commuter was ok and has a great amount of stations. Con: the two locs (EMU's) are very much the same in appearance. Sand Patch is also al long route but do suffer from some bugs. It was also very annoying that there was no guide on using the DMU/DPU configuration. I got stuck on the hill because of this and it did cost me really a couple of hours (also because of restarting because I thought the scenario was broken) to figuring out how to get over the mountain. Schnellfahrstrecke and Boston Sprinter were ok. Also the last one suffered from some bugs, especially when saving. Bakerloo line is a short line but with many stations but can become a little bit repetitive with the same looking underground stations. The Mark 2 stock is one of the easiest operable units, so Bakerloo is perfect for newcomers in my opinion. Overall I do like this game but there're some annoying bugs. I really think DTG should added scenarios, but at least some guide or instruction in game for using the advanced safety systems like PZB, LZB. Also instructions on the special configurations of the DMU/DPU in Sand Patch. Posted: 29-09-22
Yes it is, feel free like you've already done there. I will be coming back to update my ranking at some point, but probably after the Loco Bundle has been released. But if anyone else wants to add a ranking here, or wants to updated there existing ones, then feel free. All instructions are on the first post of this thread.
I don't have many DLCs (Or in fact TSW3), but If I may... I hope I haven't broken any of the rules. ROUTES: London Commuter Bakerloo Line (Old timetable) South Eastern High Speed (TSW2) East Coastway Great Western Express Spirit of Steam Northern Trans-Pennine Naverkehr Dresden Schnellfahrstrecke Koln-Aachen Boston Sprinter Sand Patch Grade LOCOS: Class 313 Class 465 DBAG Class 423 Koln S-bahn CSX-s SD40 London Underground heritage 1972-stock UPCOMING/UNOWNED ROUTES South Eastern High Speed Extended Bakerloo Line (new timetable) Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Wurzburg Maybe West Cornwall Local... UPCOMING/UNOWNED LOCOS: Class 700 (It will come! It will! It just will! Just you wait - one day it'll be here.) BR Heavy Freight Pack Maybe the Rail Head Treatment Train That reminds me - the new loco pack can test out the whole de-coupled locos from route thingy. Oh if I haven't listed a route or loco then it is because I'm never going to get it - I'm just not interested.