I'm curious if anyone has produced a list of all of the DLCs for TSW2 which have freight train services on the timetable? I'm not that interested in running passenger trains but I do enjoy running freight trains mixed in with passenger traffic. Such a list would allow me to better choose which DLCs I should consider buying next. (Of course I know that Clinchfield, Oakville & Cane Creek are freight DLCs.) If there isn't a list like this yet, which DLCs with freight would you recommend? Thanks!
If you like UK rail then Tees Valley Line is great for freight especially if you have the CL31 & CL20! Eastcoast Way gets you a Class 66 & there are a few runs there including an engineering train. Great Western Express has a few runs with the 66 (does this require ECW??)
Going by country, I'd recommend Clinchfield This one is a no-brainer. You get lovely F7s and a timetable unlike anything else offered in TSW with complex turns along the branchlines and mainline freight. Nahverkehr Dresden (Riesa - Dresden) This might seem counter-intuitive, but DRA is easily the best German freight DLC for now. The loco and car physics have seen a major overhaul, the consists themselves are as realistic as they've ever been, brake modes have been added, and the plethora of stopping passenger trains will keep you on your toes. If you're interested, this thread has all the information you need for driving these freight trains realistically. Tees Valley Loud diesel engines running through the remains of the industrial revolution in the English countryside - what's not to like? The timetable for Tees Valley may be the weakest of the bunch I suggest, but taking control of the old diesel engines with such scenery is a joy in itself. The Class 31 and 20 are also welcome additions and fill up the yards nicely. Edit: Corrected wrong loco class
I'd not really recommend any of those if you're in for the freight services. East Coastway only lets you drive the Class 66 for a few miles on the route, and I believe there's only a few services. There's a tiny bit of shunting/loading but it really isn't much. Great Western Express allows you to run the Class 66 almost end-to-end, but it's a pretty boring drive almost full throttle all the way. And while the scenarios uitilize the unloading feature, I don't recall seeing that in the timetable mode. ECW and GWE are mainly passenger focussed routes. You'd probably be even better off with NTP which offers more freight, albeit not too much. Especially with the BR Heavy Freight pack, NTP isn't that bad for some UK freight action. But Tees Valley is pretty much the only UK route that has it's focus on freight.
The Class 33 is for West Somerset and I haven't seen the loco on any other routes timetable mode. I think it's the Class 31 you're referring to?
Freight locos from German DLCs will layer themselves onto most other German routes. The BR 155 DLC for Ruhr-Sieg Nord will also layer onto other German routes including Dresden-Riesa. Check out the "Synergies" document (not my creation) in the link for an overview: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W5-ueaP4-UmdhZMKpdH0yTADmY4gNyMw_dRNi86G57o/edit#gid=0 So I would say: Watch one or more Ruhr-Sieg Nord streams on YouTube and get that if you like it plus, possibly, the BR 155 (an old East German beast), and then Dresden-Riesa.
The freight runs on Dresden to Riesa are very good as they take a slightly different route for some of the journey to the passenger stuff. There are also loads of them.
And one "messed up" my Talent 2 run from Großenhain to Dresden just now (it was a midday service). I was looking forward to doing 160 out of Coswig but got a yellow light, didn't brake fast enough and got a Zwangsbremsung, stopping me before the red. Then a freight train thundered by. When I got a green again, I decided to be mature and made an executive decision to drive only at 120 in order to stay well behind the freight train and not speed up and slow down all the time. Dresden-Riesa really has a lot of variation.... (The story ends when in my excitement about being such a great driver, I forgot to stop at Dresden-Mitte, since I drive without the HUD. When I glided to a perfect stop at Dresden Hbf and turned the HUD back on, it said that my next objective was behind me... Oops. Thank god the passengers are only virtual, or they would have been banging on my door baying for my blood.)
Check my sig for routes and locos. If you know your freight locos, you can find which routes will have freight timetables or at least scnearios.
Inspired by this thread, I've begun work on a list of switching/shunting activities included in TSW2 DLC. This is going to take a while, but I'm determined to complete it. Currently, I'm assembling data in a Microsoft Word file. Should I post its contents bit by bit or wait until the file is complete and post all of it at once?
That's great! Thanks! I'd suggest you put the bulk together and post that, updating as you have time. This way if you have something come up and cannot finish up right away, people could still benefit from your work. Either way would be good though.
The first few routes are now available, but no one seems to be even looking at them. I put them in the Creation Center section -- perhaps that is a mistake, but any other section seems too limited.
