The Tsw World Cup: See You In December!

OldVern NorthLondoner125 You both have valid points, but doesn't it just mean that people think these routes are better than others in their group? (Which in this case is valid, in my opinion). A different draw and they would have gotten far less votes.

They will soon be eliminated in the knockout phase anyway.

 

Interesting to see how the groups affect the overall score of some routes. The Bremen - Oldenburg route doing much better when not set with Dresden - Riesa for example. Another one I find interesting is that the votes between WCMLoS and Southeastern Highspeed are split as they are in the same group, while Blackpool Branches are in a relatively easy group. The American groups seem pretty straight forward, apart from the close race between old and new in group 1.

 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's over for Europe and Britain... So, let's take a look at the results. Just under 2 hours for North America!

Europe

All new competitors win, including Group E, where new beat old quite comfortably, with Bernina Line (Rivet's only progressing route) joined by Semmeringbahn.

In Group A, Linke Rheinstrecke narrowly beat Köln - Aachen to the 1st spot, giving it an advantage in the draw.

Group B saw Niddertalbahn comfortably winning with Salzburg - Rosenheim winning the battle for second place. In Group C, Ruhr Sieg Nord followed an impressive improvement from Bremen - Oldenburg into round two.

Group E saw a win, despite acollapse in votes, for Dresden - Riesa (and Dresden - Chemnitz) with Kinzigtalbahn following in at second place.

Britain


Group A saw Southeastern Highspeed emulate Dresden - Riesa's collapse, although it failed to win the group, with Just Trains' recent release, WCML Over Shap, taking the prize.

In B, London Commuter also saw a drop-off, with Midland Mainline progressing to the second round for the second year running. Birmingham Cross-City, which also got to Round Two, collapsed, not even breaking double digits!

Group C saw Suffragette Line take the cake with GWE and East Coastway following through. Isle of Wight, unlike last year, managed to score points.

Cathcart's remaster benefited it in Group D as it got through in second, chasing WCML South which got through on 54 - the joint-lowest for any UK Group Winner. ECML followed through in third place.

Group E saw the last one of last year's finalists, Blackpool Branches, canter through to the second round, not shedding many votes in the process. Tees Valley Line sneaks through on 13.

Third Places
Joining the group winners and runners up are East Coastway and East Coast Mainline.

Shame...
Unlike last year, when three routes (Rapid Transit, Isle of Wight and Arosa Linie) were together to console each other on their 0-vote performance, this year's Derailed Award goes to Luzern-Sursee, alone. Unlucky.

Now we wait...
We have about an hour and a half remaining in the US side.

Here's how things stand:
D. Green - Winner
L. Green - Runner-Up / US 5+6
Yellow - 3rd Place EU/UK
Red - Eliminated


In the meantime, let's do the draw...

 

Round Two
Let's take a look at this first.
I'm typing this live as I draw so the order may be strange. We'll start with the format.

Format
Round 2 involves 1v1 match-ups between 28 routes. These are Group Winners vs Group Runners Up.

Unlike last year, when the draw was done by country, this is nothing of the sort. It's instead drawn based on performance in the groups and nothing else. Beyond this round, we have no more seeding and it's an open draw.

Anyway, let's go.

Game 1:
US WINNER #2 [Currently Boston - Providence]
Vs
EAST COASTWAY

Game 2:
SEMMERINGBAHN
vs
CATHCART CIRCLE LINE

Certainly hard to call.
Game 3:
BLACKPOOL BRANCHES
Vs
BERNINA LINE

Well, goodbye Bernina I guess.
Game 4:
US WINNER #1 [Currently Sand Patch]
vs
TEES VALLEY LINE

Game 5:
SUFFRAGETTE (GOBLIN) LINE
Vs
US 5TH PLACE [Currently Clinchfield RR]

Game 6:
US WINNER #3 [Currently Cajon Pass]
Vs
US 6TH PLACE [Currently San Bernardino]

And there we have our first and only all-American, Cajon Pass Vs San Bernardino. Freight vs Passenger. San Bernardino Vs San Bernardino.

Game 7:
BRIGHTON MAIN LINE
Vs
KINZIGTALBAHN: FRANKFURT - FULDA

Ooft. Tie of the round, maybe?

Game 8:
NIDDERTALBAHN
vs
GREAT WESTERN EXPRESS*

*Drew Salzburg-Rosenheim here, but that came from the same group as Niddertalbahn.

Game 9:
BREMEN - OLDENBURG
vs
SALZBURG - ROSENHEIM

This could be interesting.

Game 10:
WCML OVER SHAP (Preston - Carlisle)
vs
EAST COAST MAINLINE*
I drew Southeastern Highspeed here, but this was in the same group as WCMLOS so it's just not happening.

Game 11:
LINKE RHEINSTRECKE
vs
SOUTHEASTERN HIGHSPEED

Game 12:
WEST COAST MAINLINE: SOUTH
vs
MIDLAND MAINLINE

An interesting one here... Could Midland Mainline do it against a divisive WCMLS?

Game 13:
DRESDEN - RIESA
vs
KÖLN - AACHEN

Another good one here with Köln up against Dresden. Pre-TSW3, probably the two best German routes?

Game 14:
US WINNER #4 [Currently LIRR COMMUTER]
vs
RUHR SIEG NORD


As soon as we have confirmation (soon!) from the US we'll start on Round 2.
The fun starts now!

 

^ As there's 28 routes, I'll have to split this into 2 polls. Games 1-7 will be in one thread, Games 8-14 will be in another. Apologies, I know it's not ideal.

 

When does round two take place?

 

Last one for now: I've realised I've listed MBTA Commuter as '32'. It's on 23, and as such is below San Bernardino Line (29), which will, currently, go through instead. Will amend the draw post to show this.

 

I'll fire it up tonight and run until about 20:00 UTC tomorrow.

 

We are LIVE for round Two!

Ties 1-7: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-24-25-round-2-section-1.87827/
Ties 8-14: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-24-25-round-2-section-2.87828/

Runs until 8pm (UK) tomorrow. Some good ties in there.

 

With 50 minutes to go, it's time to look forward to the 3rd Round!

We have 14 routes in 7 ties, so let's take a look.
Routes listed below outside of brackets are ones which I am calling to be winners. If they're caught then that'll change but I doubt it.

Tie 1
10 - WCML: OS vs 1 (Currently NEC: BP)
Tie 2
4 (Currently Tees Valley Line) vs 11 - Southeastern Highspeed

Tees Valley Line - the worst-performing of any route to get to round 2, is currently on-track for a big game against 2023 Finalist SEHS. Could a shock be on the cards for the Dark Horse of this tournament?
Tie 3
6 - San Bernardino Line vs 8 (Currently Niddertalbahn)

Niddertalbahn holds a decent advantage over Great Western Express which should allow it to take on the newly-released San Bernardino Line, one of only two (as things stand) American routes which survive.
Tie 4
5 - Suffragette Line/Goblin vs 2 - Cathcart Circle Line

The only tie which is absolutely safe to call puts the Suffragette Line up against Cathcart Circle Line in a commuter battle. Will the GOBLIN trump the newly-remastered Glasgow Suburban, or will Scotland's sole survivor last into the 4th Round?
Tie 5
13 - Dresden-Riesa vs 12 (Currently WCML South)

DRA against one of WCML South or Midland Mainline, with WCMLS leading 46 to 42 in that race. Will last year's finalist DRA manage to push itself once again?
Tie 6
9 (Currently Salzburg - Rosenheim) vs 14 (Currently Ruhr Sieg Nord)

As things stand it's a (sort-of) all-German battle here with Salzburg - Rosenheim of Bavaria/Austria taking on the Ruhr-Sieg region.
Tie 7
7 (Currently Brighton Main Line) vs 3 - Blackpool Branches

Finally, a clash between last year's Semi-Finalist and last year's champion. Their paths didn't cross last time, so it's hard to say how Blackpool will stand against this Rush Hour classic. (Note - just like last year, we're set for all three Rush Hour routes to make it to R3!)

 

Hopefully WCML South facing DRA should put an end to this nonsense of what it seems to be so far one of the most overrated routes in TSW.

 

Agreed, both ECML and the MML are routes I have known very well in real life and it stuns me how well made they both are. The small section of the WCCL I did know (though from a car, rather than the rails admittedly) is completely unrecognisable when I went past it in game sadly, assuming the game doesn't crash before I reach it. They blow it out of the water.

 

Round 3 is up and running. Some tasty ties and, I've figured out - a virtual guarantee of at least one British route in the final. The question is, what will it be?

Vote here! https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-24-25-round-3.87851/

 

Just under two hours to go, so let's get the Semi-Final draw done, so I don't forget this time.

Semi-Final
A reminder: The Semi-Final is contested by 6/7 routes remaining, with one - the best performer in R3 - getting a bye to the final.

In the draw, a route will be drawn as "reserve". This will substitute with the final-bound route, unless of course it is the final route, then Wheel of Names must know something I don't. Anyway, let's get this done:

Bold - Projected Winner (R3)

Tie 1
5. Dresden-Riesa or WCML South
vs
3. San Bernardino Line or Niddertalbahn

Tie 2
6. Salzburg - Rosenheim or Ruhr Sieg Nord
vs
7. Brighton Mainline or Blackpool Branches

Tie 3
2. Tees Valley Line or Southeastern Highspeed
vs
4. Suffragette Line or Cathcart Circle Line

Reserve
1. WCML Over Shap or NEC Boston - Providence


Race for Final Bye
1. WCML OS - 78
-----------------
2. SEHS - 74
3. BLACKPOOL BRANCHES - 73

Currently, WCML Over Shap will be our first finalist.

Based on current standings, we would be guaranteed two UK routes and one German route in the final, with a toss-up between UK/Austria+Germany in the middle.


This will be updated in the final hour with "final" results where routes are uncatchable. Basically all of them are but, you never know.

 

Semi Final time!

All ties called previously stayed true, so we're underway in the Semi-Final.

One all-German clash, one all-British, and one a mix between them. WCMLOS gets a pass to the final with 83 votes.

Go vote for your finalists!
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-24-25-round-4-semi-finals.87878/

 

While I have your attention...
Let's turn our eyes to the Loco World Cup, specifically the UK Section, shall we?

Here's the full list of all locos set to be featured as options. Some variants are included, such as the various 37 versions and the RHTT 66. I'll explain in some of these cases.
In all cases unless indicated, the most recent version is the intended version. I.e. BML 377 is what is meant rather than the much worse ECW 377.

Steam

• Fowler Class 4F
• Jubilee Class
• Stainer Class 8F
• Flying Scotsman

Diesel Locomotive

• Class 08/09
• Class 20
• Class 31
• Class 33
• Class 37 (TVL/WCL)
• Class 37/9 Rail Operations Group
• Class 40
• GWR Class 43 (MTU)
• EMT Class 43 (VP185)
• Class 45
• Class 47
• Class 52
• Class 66

Diesel Multiple Unit

• Class 101
• Class 142
• Class 150/2
• Class 158
• Class 166
• Class 170

Electric Locomotive

• Class 87

Electric Multiple Unit

• Class 313
• Class 314
• Class 323
• Class 350
• Class 375
• Class 377
• Class 380
• Class 385
• Class 387
• Class 390
• Class 395
• Class 465
• Class 700
• Class 710
• Class 801

Underground / Island Line Stock

• 1938 London Underground Stock
• 1972 London Underground Stock
• Class 483
• Class 484

That leaves a total of 43 Locos (more than one poll can fit, certainly)

I also may do a Preliminary round based on one of:
A) The route's performance in that side of the TSW WC, let the poor-performing routes kill each other off (with exception to routes which are generally poor but the locos are considered good)
OR
B) A short sweep-up round to decide on variants (e.g. which HST to go with).


When it comes to the list of EU/US locos I'll probably make errors, and I know the EU side will probably be more annoying with the numerous 143-like locos, variants of ICE3 (which in-game do the exact same thing) and so forth. I'll find a way

Edit: Preliminaries
The UK has 43 locos to begin with so we need to wipe some out...

Let's start with the similar groups:

Electrostars (3)
The 375, 377 and 387 will all go together to pick a winner.

Tube Stock / IoW Stock (4)
A bit cheap to throw these together but the 1972 Stock, 1938 Stock, Class 483 and Class 484 can all go together.

Class 37 (2)
We'll pick one of the 37s (either TVL/WCL or the ROG Version). The ROG is seperate because it does a completely different job to the standard 37.

Class 66 (2)
Likewise, we'll have a shootout between the 66 and RHTT 66.

Steam (4)
Steam isn't exactly held in a high regard so I'll take the chance to narrow this down to one as well.

HST (2)
The EMT version vs GWR version.

This cuts out 11, for a total of 32.

Now, I can't really pick any other justifiable Preliminaries so we'll run with a strange format for the UK (this Loco WC may be very confusing so stay with me)

The Group Stages will have 8 Groups of Four.

With 6 Preliminary Routes, 6 groups (a total of 24 routes) will be polled in the Group Stages.

The two Group Stage groups (A & B) which do not have a Preliminary route will run alongside the Preliminaries.

It's slightly awkward but I think this should work...

 

Missing the Class 87!

 

The potential champion, missing out ;-)

 

The Flying Scotsman ist missing too.

 

Added the 87 and FS, thanks folks.

 

There is also a case to be made for a preliminary for the Electrostars (375/377/387). I find it hard to spot the differences.

 

They're all different colours!

 

Yes, I will base my vote on which one has the ugliest color scheme and which one has the narrowest windshield.
With a bit of luck most of them will be eliminated in the first round.

 

Oh yeah, forgot about that ;-)
So, the blue one then?

 

That could be a good idea, actually.

Maybe do the same with 313/314, 08/09, and the 483 / 1938 Stock?

 

Sure, that would be a good idea.

 

Let's do this.

The Final is here.

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-world-cup-24-25-the-final-9-00-utc.87905/

 

Drumroll please...

It's all over for the 2024 TSW Route World Cup, and from the dozens of routes we had to start, only four stood.

Now, one takes home the crown.

4th Place: Blackpool Branches
The crown has been stolen! Blackpool Branches crashes below fellow 2023 finalists SEHS and DRA onto a mere 15 votes! The Crown is removed from the pacer, but... to where?

3rd Place: Dresden - Riesa
Consistency is key for Dresden - Riesa, which comes in third place once again, with 18 Votes. The sole German representative just sneaks ahead of Blackpool.

2nd Place: Southeastern Highspeed
Once again, consistency is key as Southeastern records a second successive second-place finish, on 23 votes. And that only leaves one route remaining...

Your 2024 Champion...



West Coast Mainline Over Shap:
Preston to Carlisle!

Wiping out the 2023 votes of all of the other finalists, WCMLOS swept to victory with an impressive 63 votes, 53% of all votes cast in the final! Just Trains once again earn the crown of Champion with yet another masterpiece and it's a deserved win yet again.


Thank you to everyone who joined in with this holiday season fun, and I hope you'll come back for the Loco World Cup in the future. I hope this was fun for you all again and at least this time we got through it without any bans / arguements

Take care, and a merry christmas to you all!

 

Well deserved. Look forward to the loco cup mate.

 

When will the loco cup start ?

 

I can't wait to see how Thomas does in next year's loco cup.

Congrats to WCMLOS and its team, and to trainsimplayer for successfully pulling off another tourney!

 

Thank you trainsimplayer for organizing this excellent tournament. Looking forward to the Train championship!

 

The LWC will start on the 27th and run into January

 

Thanks for doing this; it was fun.

 

America
Right, now onto the US.
America does have a decent number of Cab Cars so I'll be adding them (are they a Loco, no. Are they drivable, yes.)

Passenger Loco/Multiple Unit

• Amtrak ACS-64
• Amtrak Acela Express
• Caltrain F40PH-2CAT
• LIRR M3
• LIRR M7
• LIRR M9
• Metrolink F125
• Metrolink MP36PH-3C
• MBTA F40PH-3
• MBTA HSP46
• MNR M3A
• MNR M7A
• NJT ALP-46

Cab Cars

• Amtrak Metroliner
• Caltrain Bombardier Bi-Level CC
• Caltrain Nippon Sharyo Gallery CC
• MBTA CTC-3
• MBTA CTC-5
• Metrolink Rotem Bi-Level CC
• NJT Multi-Level CC

Freight Locomotive

• CSX/BNSF/UP SD40-2
• CSX/UP/NS/CN GP38-2
• CN GP9
• CSX/UP AC4400CW
• CRR/SF F7
• CRR SD40
• UP/BNSF SD70ACe
• NS ES44AC
• BNSF ES44C4

A little change:
I think with things like this I might go with selecting the best Cab Car as the US 'Preliminary' round to narrow down the numbers. Not sure anyone rates a Cab Car all that high but the shoe fits so they're on the list. This is mainly for the Dostos when it comes to Germany which are quite (in)famous in that side of TSW, but anyway, that's my list.

If I've missed anything let me know.

Edit: Preliminaries
Alright, America's list sits at 29 so we only have to lose four here. Absolutely fine by me.

Now, because I see these having no shot whatsoever of winning, we'll just have one big shootout between the Cab Cars with Two of them progressing.

That was easy.

 

New Journey's SD40. I think it's only a reskin of CRR's but maybe should be noted.
CN GP9?

 

There are 2 different Caltrain cabcars in TSW. Nippon Sharyo Gallery and Bombardier Bi-Level.

Also this list makes me sad - so little variety of american rolling stock in this game.

 

Europe - Locos
To finish off, here's the list of European locos.

I've also decided on the Preliminary Round entrants, and will go back and amend the NA/GB posts soon to reflect that

Anyway, here we go.


ELECTRIC LOCO
187

Austria

• ÖBB 4024
• [P] ÖBB 1116

France

• SNCF TGV Duplex

Germany

• DB BR 101 IC
• DB BR 103
• DB BR 110
• DB BR 112
• DB BR 114
• DB BR 143
• DB BR 146
• DB BR 155
• DB BR 182
• Dispolok BR 182
• MRCE ES 64 U2
• DB BR 185
• MRCE BR 185.5
• RP BR 185.6
• DB BR 187
• DB BR 204
• DB BR 218
• DB Vectron
• FlixTrain Vectron
• RP Vectron
• DB BR 422
• DB BR 423
• DB BR 425
• DB BR 442
• DB BR 612
• DB BR 628
• DB BR 642
• DB BR 650 (G6)
• DB BR 767.2 / 766.2 (Dostos)
• DB BR 1442 (S-Bahn MD)
• IC DB BR 101
• IC Cab Car
• ICE 1
• ICE 3
• ICE 3M
• ICE-T
• N-Wagen

Switzerland

• SBB RABe 523
• RhB Allegra
• RhB GE 4/4-II

Preliminaries
So, Europe has a lot of matching trains or those from similar classes.

From the above list (which no doubt is missing a few) we have 43 locos.

So, we can narrow this down.

Vectron (3)
- DB
- Flixtrain
- Railpool

ICEs (4)
- ICE 1
- ICE 3
- ICE 3M
- ICE-T

Talent 2s (2)
- DB BR 442
- S-Bahn MD BR 1442

Shunters (4)
- G6 (650)
- 204
- 363 / 365

TRAXX-es (3)
- DB 146
- DB 185
- Railpool 185
- MRCE 185

182s (4)
- DB BR 182
- Dispolok 182
- MRCE ES 64 U2
- ÖBB 1116

143 and co. (3)
- BR 112
- BR 114
- BR 143

After these preliminary votes, Europe will be left with 26 which, while much less - is still one over the limit.

So, we'll play the game...

The lowest-voted winner between the Preliminary votes will be eliminated...

Round 'One' will be an open draw between the 25 remaining routes as per the Route World Cup.

I'll figure out the US and Britain soon, will edit those posts and let you know here.

 

Hey trainsimplayer , we're the 28th already and i havent seen polls,do i miss something?

 

Perhaps some patience? It is Christmas after all.

 

Nothing to do with patience, just not to miss them by accident

 

Still trying to figure out what format works best. It's all a bit more messy than I thought.

Should have something figured out soon.

 

Take all the time you need. It is great fun, I can wait.

 

UK was the sticking point but, having came back to the thread and looking over to again I've had a light switch on, so now I just need to make sure polls work numbers-wise and we should be good to go.

 

UK Group Stage Draw
Starting the Group Draw with the UK (as that starts early) - Group A & B do not have Preliminary entries.

Group A

• Class 20
• Class 33
• Class 45
• Class 142 'Pacer'

Group B

• Class 08/09
• Class 87
• Class 158
• Class 313

Group C

• Class 40
• Class 52
• Class 323
• Class 390
• Preliminary 1

Group D

• Class 150
• Class 465
• Class 700
• Preliminary 2

Group E

• Class 31
• Class 350
• Class 801 'Azuma'
• Preliminary 3

Group F

• Class 101
• Class 380
• Class 395
• Preliminary 4

Group G

• Class 37
• Class 166
• Class 710
• Preliminary 5

Group H

• Class 170
• Class 314
• Class 385
• Preliminary 6

Note: Preliminary routes will be ranked 1-6 based on vote performance.

 

Here we go...

Britain Preliminaries + Group A/B:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...p-britain-preliminary-round-groups-a-b.88117/

Europe Preliminaries:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-loco-world-cup-europe-preliminary-round.88119/

US Preliminary:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/tsw-loco-world-cup-united-states-preliminary-round.88118/

 

Will the other groups appear in a different round? I.e. Group E with the 801 will be in a different thread to the current British loco thread?

EDIT: Nevermind, after having read your post again I think the answer is Yes

 

All systems are now a go! Thread links above. Have fun!