Hi all, I'm starting to think about freight trains for my DRA timetable in a bit more detail. I've got some ideas for improvements over the default timetable already, but I'd like to hear what y'all think as well. What are your ideas and wishes for better freight trains, on German routes in general, and Dresden--Riesa specifically? (Or things you liked on other German routes that "vanilla" DRA doesn't have!) Do please try and limit this to things that are achievable in a timetable, using the content that is already in the game, and within the constraints of the Dresden--Riesa route. I'm looking for things like "I'd like the timetable to include freights that turn off at Coswig towards Dresden-Friedrichstadt too" and not "I want to run local freight on a branch line with a class 218" (as much as I agree with that). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Some sorts of local freight with 363 ! Like something going from Meißen to Dresden or vice versa ! It's really something that is not present originaly that I find super nice
I wish I could do that, but sadly there isn't a portal beyond Meißen... I am planning to make the Nünchritz chemical works runs more interesting and add local freight/shunting in Coswig though!
Track 2 is the one the S-Bahn uses. I might be able to hide one out of sight on the through track beyond the station? No promises though, I'll need to try to see if it works.
Something that would help many players, when it comes to PZB would be the ability to see on the popup screen what PZB mode one should choose and Vmax of that train. Rather than guessing, maybe then we won't get as many complainers getting tripped down the bank on MSB doing 120 with a loaded coal train! Until that is fixed, more advanced runs isn't necessary IMO
Your comment in the original post of "I'd like the timetable to include freights that turn off at Coswig towards Dresden-Friedrichstadt" is something I would like to see, alongside AI freight using the avoiding line which also heads that way too
German freight mainly consists of 600-700 meter long containertrains, cartrains or 200-300 meter long tankertrains. That´s what one should be seeing 80-90% of time as AI trains. mixed or local freight is getting less and less.
100% agree, I'm planning to add that information to the service descriptions so you'll be able to see this straight from the main menu. That'll help when you're trying to decide on what service to play as well. More varied paths (especially in Riesa and Coswig stations, and through Dresden) and train consists (within reason -- most of the trains Dresden sees are unit trains, but I'd like a bit more variation in weight and length) are on my list. Is there anything else you're looking for? Yes, that's a really important one to me as well. AI trains from junctions and portals that are unused in the original timetable are 100% going to be a thing. I'll also do playable trains to/from other locations than Dresden Hbf. Before implementing the freight trains, I'll do a few trainspotting sessions in the Elbe Valley so the mix of trains can be a bit more accurate than in the DTG timetable. DTG also massively overestimated how many Habbiins unit trains Dresden gets :')
totally.... you don´t really see them much. The "standard" german freight train is a mixture of containers/tanktainer between 600m and 700m in length and 18-22 Waggons. That´s what you will mainly encounter train spotting.
The 363 doesn't run local freight. This isn't just a question of horsepower, but regulation- ever since the 26x series was re-numbered 36x, that signified its redesignation as a Kleinlok "small locomotive", which is operated by personnel without an engineer's license- but only within yard limits. The 204 does run some local freight, though.
How about the use of marshalling yards where possible. Starting off with RRO RSN these share Rbf Hagen Vorhalle followed by Nahverkehr Dresden Rbf Dresden Friedrichstadt. Lastly the cross border Germany to Austria Hauptstrecke Rosenheim Salzburg ÖBB Vbf Salzburg Gnigl. The yard in Salzburg is worked by an electric loco the 1163
Yes it does. Very rarely these days, but occasionally it still happens. A Kleinlok may be operated by "Kleinlokführer", but it doesn't need to be. And if you've got a proper driver in it, it can absolutely leave a station and go anywhere it likes. The driver is potentially confined to station limits, not the loco. Well it's not possible on DRA since Dresden-Friedrichstadt isn't included in TSW. Most of the freight trains are unit trains that are just passing through anyway.
I believe most of my wishes have already been discussed in here. Mainly more information about the train you are going to take over and more variety. However, here are some thoughts I had in addition: - In addition to the variation, maybe a train that needs to switch loco at Röderau (or Altstadt), in order to be able to drop some waggons off in Niederau or somewhere else. Maybe use the industrial sidings at Radebeul ost (could be in preparation for an upcomming working site over night, or similar). Use Neustadt Gbf and Altstadt. - Close a track over night for works (could be a seasonal thing), where you then pick up waggons you have placed somewhere over the day. All other trains need to be routed around this and actually use the opposite track in timetable mode. - In most timetables in TSW, when picking up some fright waggons, you simply couple up to them and leave within minutes. Obviously this is not how it works irl. Mabe you could split this in parts. Make the coupling one service, wait 30mins and make the actual driving off a second service. It would allow people like me to make proper preparations for your train (even though brake tests are not yet a thing of TSW, setting up brakes and making your calulations is). - in addition to the last point, maybe you could release a spreasheet or similar along with your timetable, giving further additional informations about your trains, like individual waggon weights. This may be relevant if you drive a mixed consist and need to know what setting to put your "Laswechsel" in, as an example. However, I dont want to make it more complicated then it needs to be and I assume not many people would request this feature anyway
I don't think Niederau is used for anything (other than as a 143 graveyard) these days, sadly. That's a fun idea! Taking a 363 out there over the S-Bahn tracks... Love it! Both will see a few trains, yes! I'm afraid that can't be seasonal, but it's still a great idea! Good point. While we're at it, trains probably shouldn't immediately be picked up by a new driver at Riesa either... well, some will, but some will sit around for a few hours too. I'll be making a timetable spreadsheet anyways for my own use because the freight trains will be split over quite a few layers. No promises but I'll see how much other useful info I can put in there!
Why not a PbZ with a couple of 143s at the end and a couple n-Wagen at the front. In order to drop the 143s off at Niederau you need to switch sides at Röderau. The n-Wagen you drive all the way to Altstadt. The idea was only based on the fact that you do get those moves from time to time, if you need to have a train in a certain order. Agreed, it would not be something you see often, but it would still be fun I am curious, why cant that be a seasonal thing? I assume as you would have to build all other trains as a seasonal thing as well in this time period? Maybe the working site only takes some hours, not a whole day, though. Its something we have never seen in TSW before, as far as I know, at least not in a timetable. Sounds good. Again, very specific request, no problem if it is too much work and cant be done! Definately looking forward to the timetable as it is
You mean go Riesa - Röderau - Niederau? I see. Would be cool, but for some reason theres a "you have reached the end of the map" thing that kicks you out to the main menu on the track between Riesa and Röderau, so I can only have AI trains on that track. The problem is that TSW lets you drive seasonal trains any month of the year from the main menu. Usually that just means that there might be two Flying Scotsmen at once on the ECML, but in this case you'd be able to put a train that takes the left track somewhere into a normal month and break everything. But as a non-seasonal thing late at night, that could totally work. It wouldn't bother any of the complicated passenger trains there, and people would actually have a reason to play a 1 AM freight train for a change
Sad but true! Did not think about this. I am using a boundary remover mod and it works in free roam. It would be the only way to make this work at Röderau. But I do understand that you dont want to make a mod mandatory to be able to play all of the available services. Ok, makes sense. Basically you can only add stuff seasonally, but not remove, as otherwise you may brake stuff when this train is picked in another month, right? Still a shame, though. The set-up I had in mind starts at 9pm. The north-east track between Niederau and Priestewitz gets closed, which means that also late communter trains would need to use to opposite plattform at those two stations when moving west. One could add an AI class66 with some Falns183s on the closed track, moving with a speed of 5kph from Priestwitz to Niederau and visa versa, simply to have at least some action on that track... The possibilities are obviously quite large with such a set-up
I'm thinking of it the other way round: the timetable has to work with every single train enabled, and I can then turn some of them off for different season. But yeah, the main takeaway is that you can't replace one train with another seasonally. I don't think I want to involve passenger trains... for now. But after release, I'd love to just make a copy of the whole timetable and do something like that with it!
Thank you for telling me about that however in the case of the Salzburg route it's possible if they extend it to Vbf Salzburg Gnigl. But then there is a problem it's a hump yard the game isn't set up for it.
