I recently got Ruhr-Sieg Nord during railfest and I really enjoy this route. I was just curious if there are any other routes like it. I know Main Spessart Bahn is similar (I had it in tsw 2020 on xbox) but are there any other German routes that are good or like Ruhr-Sieg Nord?
I would buy msb for the layers for other German routes and if you want a varied route buy München to Augsburg. Alternatively naverkhr Dresden is a good alternative If you want loads of locos. Also Dresden to chemnitz is a good route if slow, diesel services take your fancy. Tldr: buy any German route apart from Hamburg to Lübeck
MSB for the layers RRO is good too! Over the last few weeks I've been addicted to Nahverkehr Dresden too!
They're all pretty decent in their own way to be fair bringing different things to the table. If you're in a position to build towards all German routes they start to stack on top of one another quite nicely.
Dresden to Chemnitz is now my favourite German route with the tilting train. Lovely scenery and enjoyable to drive. Lots of tutorials and scenarios to get involved with. Buy it. You will not be disappointed. It’s a Gem!!! This route made up for my disappointment over the West Cornwall Local and Dresden to Chemnitz is far better than WCL.
If you like RSN because it is a senic route and not a straight and flat racetrack, Dresden Chemnitz is really the way to go, the 612 is superb and you can drive an improoved version of the 143 there, which you should already be familiar with as you have RSN. MSB is also a great and more rural route, also it provides crucial RE Layers to most routes (although neither DCZ nor RSN) Riesa Dresden is a bit of both worlds (,,High" speed and slow and scenic), but the best thing for new players is that it comes with most rolling stock that can be used on the route, except for long distance services, but there the SKA 406 layers in, which everyone has. So if you want to get a bunch of new stock (185.5, 143,146,442,363) this is a great and busy route.
Riesa Dresden is my #1 Dresden Chemnitz is supergood scenic-like with an outstanding BR 612. Hauptstrecke Rhein Ruhr + BR 101 (&MSB for layers) is the superior combo. Hauptstrecke München Augsburg with BR 423 EMU (check for upcomming enhancement pack for SKA) All the others are fun too for me, Rapid Transit least of all here for some combos
Let's give Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr some love: a bit short, but a split-route network with interesting traffic- and lets you get the outstanding BR 101.
Solicitr beat me to the post with the 101. Standing in Dresden in the Riesa-Dresden Rush Hour route watching all the traffic going through is the best experience I have had in TSW it felt so alive constant action and large variety. To get that you need that route plus some of the layers from the others mentioned MSB and HRR+101 will be a great start plus you already have the ICE from Koln-Aachen. You should be able to get ICE+IC+Regional+S-Bahn+Freight+Shunting. its the most complete experience in TSW.
Only one I dont own is HMA, only one I wish I didnt own is RT. All the rest are really fun to drive . Even the BR187 is fun on mountainous route without AFB & LZB if you can ignore the horrible textureless engine room and sounds.
So I have got every German add on, because those and the Swiss ones are the only ones that interest me. Therefore, I spent 99% of my 230+ Gaming hours on those routes. Here is my top tier list of routes, from best to worst. Riesa-Dresden Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr Hamburg-Lübeck Dresden-Chemnitz Main-Spessart Bahn Ruhr-Sieg Nord Köln-Aachen München-Augsburg (not on consoles, it’s lame without the layers) Rhein-Ruhr Osten Rapid Transit For the Loco Add ons it’s: Br101 (unbelievably good) Br187 (love the loco, it has odd sounds tho) Vossloh G6 Br363 Br155 Br 182 (I like the MRCE from Hamburg, I don’t really use this one often) Br234 I hope I didn’t forget some haha Also: If you are playing on Epic games, many add ons have 60% off till 10.02.- go grab a bargain!
How exactly does Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr layer onto Dresden-Riesa? I mean how many extra services do you get and what do they do?
You get around 30 Br 101 IC services. Roughly half of those are full length runs and the rest are short runs between Dresden Hbf and Dresden Neustadt.
The only German route that I can honestly say I was disappointed with was RT. MSB is good, but its' real benefit comes in how much it adds to all of the other routes. I have all of the German routes, but Dresden-Chemnitz, Ruhr-Sieg Nord and Nahverkehr-Dresden are probably my favorites. The scenery and "feel" on those routes is just fantastic. I also agree with those who say that the Br101, Br363 and the G6 are must haves. I really like the Br155 as well, but it takes a little more work to master. At the end of the day, DTG probably does German routes better than anything else. So, except for RT, whatever else you choose is likely to keep you happy and playing for quite some time.
I have all but the last two German routes. They do seem to do a good job with German routes, especially with substitutions. I tend to collect German DLC for TSW and UK for Train Simulator. I now have all UK routes except the last one, so I guess things have changed. I like MSB a lot but Dresden seems to be more complete with traffic, variety, and substitutions.
And I wound up getting RT on sale just so I could buy the DB 182, which is quite a lot of fun, "similar to" the standard TRAXX but different to drive. OTOH, I haven't yet driven the 1442, not even the tutorial. However, I would give Hamburg-Lübeck a pass. Aside from the nice train station work, fairly dull.
Interesting how everyone hates RT, but I have a soft spot for that one. It was the first route I tried way back when I first got the game/sim. The experience was so different than what I had last used way back in the olden days of MSTS. Haven't played it in forever though.
I really dont understand the negativity around HHL, for me its a nice route which is enjoyable when I dont feel like a hard challenge but want to drive trains. But theres still a couple of points on east bound services where you need to be on your toes still when running HUDless and have PZB enabled, otherwise you will get a penalty break application. Perhaps it is boring if you have the HUD on IDK.
I agree! I really like HHL, I already liked it in TS Classic. The only thing that gives me headaches is a (realistic) Speed reduction from 160 km/h to 90 km/h right in front of Oldenburg (when you drive trains to Lübeck). I do know it is there, but I still think it’s a really annoying reduction there because of an old bridge- although it’s realistic… For RT: It also was my first route, but I never liked it that much, because of the few options to choose in case of rolling stock. With the Br143 added, I did like it a bit more, but personally I always had the feeling that Dostos are in the wrong place in S-Bahn services- a personal opinion haha
Be sure to expand that one with the BR 363. that's real oldie to do shunting work with. really blend in well with the route and the stock.
After looking at your guys' feedback and looking at what each route has to offer, I think the next route I'm going to buy is probably Tharandter Rampe and MSB as well. As for the next loco, it will most likely be the BR 363. I hope there's a steam sale soon so I can pick up these dlcs on the cheaper side. Thank you everyone for the feedback
