Introduction Hi, welcome to my first post in a series I'm calling "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 railway fan 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 Ruhr-Sieg Nord. I believe the route is set between 2005 and 2010, so there are unfortunately some differences between what I am looking at and what is realistic for that time period. Here is a map of the route as represented in game, numbered with each location that I will be highlighting. Industries Location 1 Starting in the west of the route, at Hagen, there are a few sidings serving Deutsche Edelstahlwerke. The northern ones enter buildings to facilitate the handling of coiled steel and the others are used for loading scrap wagons. There is also a small run-around loop that permits a shunter to swap ends of its consist. Players could bring wagons to and from the main yard to the north. Location 2 Heading north of the Hauptbahnhof, another large freight exchange yard diverges to the left (Let's not bite off more than we can chew!). On the right is a seemingly disused goods shed. There's not much opportunity for players here unless the other big yard was modelled, which is unreasonable. Location 3 Further along, there is one of DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung's wagon maintenance facilities, situated in a long shed with several tracks. On the Rhein-Ruhr Osten route, which also represents this location, the G6 has a service collecting refurbished Sggmrss wagons from this area. Players could rearrange wagons that require work and those that have received it, especially inside the huge shed. Location 4 On the other side of Hagen's large freight yard, there are a few workshops belonging to VIAS Rail (Abellio?) where the company's passenger rolling stock is maintained. There's not much opportunity for players here, given this stock is not represented in the game as it is too modern for the time period, although older stuff could work. Location 5 There are also a few sidings used by DB Fahrwegdienste, which is an organisation dealing with track construction, repairs, and vegetation management. Players could run construction and railhead treatment trains to and from here.
Location 6 Neuhaus Lagerhaus and DB Cargo are logistics companies with warehouses here. Trains come in with steel and paper rolls for transhipment to trucks. Players could shunt Habbiins and Shimms between here and the exchange yards to the south. Location 7 Moving northeast to Boele, Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper has a large plant that receives logs and seemingly some chemicals. Players can currently shunt Roos wagons, but tankers could also be worked here, as well as Habbiins for the finished product. Location 8 WESTFA ENERGY (a natural gas company) and Bötzel Schrottgrosshandel & Logistik (a scrap metal merchant) have sidings here. It appears tanker wagons (like Zacns) are unloaded for filling smaller gas bottles, and new Eas wagons or similar could be used for hauling away scrap, both of which would be moved to and from the nearby exchange yard by players. Location 9 C. D. Wälzholz makes steel products and has rail-served facilities on both sides of the tracks. Players could shunt Shimms into the large halls and back to the freight sidings. Location 10 Further along, there is another C. D. Wälzholz site. Players could shunt Shimms into the large halls and back to the freight sidings at Boele.
Location 11 Andernach & Bleck take in steel to produce machined mechanical components. Players could move Shimms in and out, and maybe containers. Location 12 Rheinkalk Eifel Sauerland is a large cement manufacturer. Players can currently shunt Uacns here in a complex which was demolished around 2018. Today there is still a wagon loading point attached to the main building. Location 13 BILSTEIN is yet another steel manufacturer. Players could shunt Shimms, Kijils and Eas wagons for coil and scrap dispatchment. Location 14 ThyssenKrupp has a very big factory for steel production at Hohenlimburg. On a reduced version of this site, players can currently shunt Shimms to a storage yard to the east but using the full area including warehouses would be even more engaging. Location 15 Next to Letmathe Bahnhof, there is a transhipment and storage siding belonging to Transport Logistik. It deals with various steel products and scrap. Players could shunt Shimms, Kijils and Eas wagons here.
Location 16 Moving quite a way along the line, the Elverlingsen power station has a few sidings, and coal unloading equipment. Players could bring trains of Falns from Werdohl and reverse into the facility from the mainline. In-game, there is no overheard line equipment, but it does exist in reality, making the site more flexible. Location 17 Fahrner is a logistics company, and here they warehouse palleted and boxed goods. Players could shunt container wagons around. This site appears disused now but appears to have been operational during the time period of the route. Location 18 Novelis is company that works with aluminium to make beverage cans, and parts for cars and planes. Players could shunt Shimms and Kijils here, to and from the exchange yard in Plettenberg. Location 19 On the other side of Plettenberg, there are some sidings used by Märkische Eisenbahngesellschaft, which is a logistics company with transhipment capability here. They deal with new and old metal, so players could use Shimms or a new flat wagon for longer lengths of steel, plus Eas for junk. Location 20 Moving all the way down to Finnentrop, there is a ThyssenKrupp galvanisation plant. Players could shunt wagons in and out the buildings and back to the freight exchange yard to the north for onward transportation. Conclusion I hope this was interesting. Please feel free to add to this and let me know what I've got wrong. Thanks for reading!
Excellent Idea and some will require new locomotives. For these locations matching rolling stock are DB Baureihe 294/261 Zagkks Natural Gas Tanker LPG Zags. The Abellio NRW Hagen it's owned by VIAS but the Filrts there the DB BR1428/1429 are operated by Deutsche Bahn. The Main yard for RSN is actually Hagen Vorhalle where it has a Hump with Retarders like Barstow to reassemble RSN freight trains to become RRO
Thank you for your extra information. The little shunters probably aren't very necessary in-game, a 363/204 could be used. I didn't even notice Vorhalle over there! I suppose we do have the Flirts in-game now, but would they fit the time period? I'm not sure if my 2005-2010 estimation is even right.
Regarding Vorhalle it's off map to the north of Hagen Hbf heading towards HRR Bochum-Dortmund section via Witten. Besides the 363/204 the G6 can work too. When it comes to how Hagen Vorhalle Works 363/204 G6 run the hump like SD40-2 Barstow Cajon Pass due to the Hump having Retarders equipped.
Honestly, I would love this. I know this might not fit in as the BR 187 was focused for Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen but I would love if we could use it's "Last-Mile Mode" for Shunting duties and picking up wagons on non-electrified places of the track here! Would definitely be a good selling point for the BR 187 and give lots of love for the beautiful route that is Ruhr-Sieg Nord
Ooh, using the 187, that's actually such a good idea. With TSW3's decoupling of loco DLCs from routes, it's very feasible.
The 232 was intended to work on this route of course, and we have seen before that loco DLCs have opened up new areas of routes ... like the 204 allowing use of the Aschaffenburg docks and Lohr freight branch and the G6 visiting the sidings at Hagen-Heubing and Hagen-Haspe. So fingers crossed!
