...there are still so many questions about TSW3 and in general, that most think mainly about the pre-order bonus and only a few go into the new routes and trains. So a couple of thoughts about the ICE1, which wrote history. In the early 90s Germany became the third nation, after Japan and France, which established a high speed rail network and the ICE1 was the draft horse and figurehead of this era. It's a long high speed train, including two driving heads and twelf middle cars, one of them serves as a board restaurant. The ICE1 was also involved in the world's worst train accident involving a high-speed train in 1998. Due to a broken wheel tire, the first middle car derailed at full speed and misaligned a switch near a bridge at Eschede, so that all the following middle cars were pushed together in a zigzag pattern and the bridge collapsed. 101 people lost their lives that day. As a result, the safety concept for high-speed trains was fundamentally revised, starting with the wheels and ending with the removal of switches near bridges or bottlenecks. An ICE1 was even provided during the Queen's state visit to Germany in 1992, although the route to Dresden had not yet been prepared for an ICE at the time. So a BR232 had the honor of transferring the Queen's ICE on the non-electrified sections. Also worth mentioning is the North America Tour in 1993. It led through 25 major cities in the USA and Canada. For two months, an adapted eight-car ICE1 was even in scheduled use on the North East Corridor between Washington D.C. and New York City. In the end, however, Siemens lost to Alstom and Bombardier and nowadays the Acela Express is in use. Finally in 1998, Siemens and Alstom joined forces to put together a Eurotrain, consisting of ICE2 driving heads and TGV Duplex middle cars, which was intended for export to Taiwan. Unfortunately, the deal fell through and it stayed with the attempt. In its meanwhile 30 years of service, there have already been two redesigns of the interior and the number of middle cars has been reduced from twelf to nine. With further modernization, the ICE1 fleet should remain in use until 2030. As always made a little picture collection of unique photos and places of action.
If only it was possible to create our own consist and swipe the Duplex power car with the ICE1 to make an almost perfect Eurotrain:
Nice and what SFS Kassel Wurzburg can give is a DB BR401 with Amtrak Logo as alt paint job for NEC Philly NY Penn 1990s. That's how Railfans remember it here in the US
Sparmi, I can understand your excitement about having the ICE1 in TSW3. Still, I always associate this train to Eschede, just can´t help it. (I know you mentioned it in your first post) As an R&D engineer (not trains), me and my colleagues, studied this classic use case thoroughly. How NOT to develop things and apply them afterwards. Classic case also for the swiss cheese theory for accident investigation. BTW: I know that this accident triggered a lot of changes, but news to me was "the removal of switches near bridges or bottlenecks." It certainly makes sense, but would it always be possible?
...nicely done! I agree a coupling editor would be a great bonus tool, but I guess this requires a lot of adjustment work.
...of course the first ICE generation remains something special. But the new ICE4 looks pretty good and uses the same powercar drive concept as the ICE3, but has a lower top speed of only 265 km/h. ...still much faster than my own car!
While I have heard about this, do you know the reasoning for it? It seems weird to cut capacities when Germany works extensively on promoting rail traveling.
I think Eschede was almost the size of a plane crash in terms of the number of victims. Thanks to a detailed analysis of how the accident happened, high-speed traffic should be safer today. The picture of the accident always leaves me with a horrible impression too. According to a detailed TV docu that I saw about it and the changed security concept of the DB AG in 1998, switches and crossovers in front of bridges and tunnels should be avoided in future new lines and existing ones were dismantled or relocated far away. Finally, something to get our mind off things...
...since 2017, the ICE4 trains have gradually replaced the ICE1 trains on their regular routes. As a result, the converted, shortened trains can be used in new areas of tourist traffic as sprinters and relief trains. I think DB will procure enough new trains to cover all the missing capacities.
