Introduction Hi, welcome to another post in my series "Improving Lineside Industry". I'm going to be looking at various routes in Train Sim World and highlighting what we have, and what we could have, in regard to railways that serve the various industries along them. I find these to be very interesting, and I think maximizing opportunities for players to use them in TSW would greatly enhance our game. I've tried to limit any suggestions to what is just about already within the scope of the route, and might just need some extra modelling of scenery, and perhaps a few new wagons. It must be said that I haven't been a fan of railways for very long, and I'm from Australia, so I'd love for you to add your knowledge about these far-flung routes and correct anything I get wrong. I have speculated at times, as information can be hard to come by. (Some of the screenshots here of the in-game map are rather poor-looking as I couldn't do any better with their resolution when zoomed out. Some areas do not have 3D buildings on Google Maps so only some locations will have those images included.) Route In this post, I'll be looking at Hauptstrecke Rhein-Ruhr. I believe the route is set in 2020. Here is a map of the route as represented in game, numbered with each location that I will be highlighting. Industries Location 1 Beginning in the east of the route in north Mülheim an der Ruhr, EUROPIPE (comprising of several conglomerated companies which include Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech, MÜLHEIM PIPECOATINGS and Vallourec Deutschland) has an enormous site where they manufacture large steel tubes and pipes. Rolling mills, as well as bending, welding, coating and lining facilities exist in the massive, interconnected complex. The products are loaded onto trains using gantry cranes and mobile material handlers. Players could deliver Rmms wagons carrying steel plates, shunt them around the halls, then shunt and dispatch pipes loaded on Smnps wagons. Swarf could also be removed via Eas wagons. Location 2 Carl Herholz Verwaltungs in east Essen is a scrap metal business that disposes of material by train. It is sorted and loaded by material handler. Players could bring Eas wagons to and from the site.
Location 3 Between the railway stations of Essen-Eiberg and Wattenscheid-Höntrop, Amprion operates an electricity substation that is served by a rail spur. Players could deliver replacement transformers on Rs wagons. Location 4 Vereinigte Schotterwerke in Bochum is a company in the business of the recycling, processing, storage and handling of aggregates. They deal with gravel used for road and rail applications. Players could unload trains of Falns wagons with the site's unloading pit and conveyor system and reload them under the overhead loading tipple that straddles one of the sidings. Conclusion There are two industries northeast of Duisburg very close to the route represented in game, but due to the way the tracks are set out, much more work would need to be done to make it accessible (by modelling the line to Oberhausen and its yard to enable consists to change direction). Duisburg is the world's largest inland port and, like the rest of the Rhein-Ruhr area, is heavily industrialised. It's a shame this hasn't been represented more in game to the north, west and south of the city centre. I hope this was interesting. Please feel free to add to this and let me know what I've got wrong. Thanks for reading!
There are steel mills on the Duisburg end of this route however it requires the line to Utrecht Centraal via Zevenaar German side they use a different type of freight wagon the Faals Falrrs Iron Ore transporter. Remember the existing Falns snaps the coupler when loaded with Iron Ore. For the steel mill Services they need to be DB Baureihe 211/212 189 151 locos for Iron Ore delivery
I will probably come back to this post and add the industries around the eastern bank of the Rhine. I mentioned Oberhausen yard as that's how you would have to get to the smaller yard that serves both the RailMaint wagon works and the KTG locomotive works (coordinates 51.443256, 6.783024).