I've had my eye on this route for a while and since it's 50% off on the PlayStation store I've been thinking if it's worth a buy. I went back through the feedback thread to see what other people thought back when it was first shown off and I'm still not sure. Is the route better than when it was when it released?
Can’t speak for how it’ll be on TSW4, but I got it on TSW3 and I’ve really liked it so far! Very lovely route where you’ll see the river for the majority of the run. The BR 103 is a wonderful locomotive to drive, and the timetable is filled with plenty of intercity and regional trains. Some problems I have with the route however: - PZB/signalling doesn’t seem to acknowledge when you have to slow down until you’re basically (or already) at the reduced speed? Like if you have to switch tracks and the speed limit for such is 60 km/h, you won’t have to acknowledge PZB until you’re at a signal immediately before the switch. I mean it happens sometimes but for the most part you’ll have to find these reduced speed limits on the HUD. - Stuttering. My experience on PS5 has included a fair amount of very noticeable stutters, so expect to be frozen for a second every now and then. Uhhh but I’ve loved driving on the route though. The included trains are great, the timetable is great, the scenery is great. In my opinion the best route of the year besides those two incredible works known as the Niddertalbahn and Blackpool Branches. Obviously it’s a significant step down from those two but it’s pretty good I’d say!
Its totally worth in tsw3, not tested in tsw 4. Beautiful route, a lot of traffic and a rather good timetable. I noticed if the player is diverted from the line into a loop or yard, if the stopping or end destination has the usual HP0, you will have the VR2 / HP2 which is "langsamfahrt". So the problem seems to be if the yard / loop has a red shunting signal at the end, you pass a Vr1, then you get surprised by a HP0 with Sh1, which would lead you with 90kmh into the Bingen Yard. 1) 2) 3) Surprise!!
If you drive Hudless, the solution would be to go for the km markers and slow down at your destination, not just "trust" the signals blindly
Absolutely worth it. The vintage rolling stock is fantastic and the scenery is lovely. There are some signalling issues, a visual problem with the PZB indicators on the 103, the blended braking on the 110 is not entirely correct and the AI cab cars have some trouble with their headlights. Still, fully recommend the route.
I am also thinking about getting it for the vintage rolling stock (love the look of the N-wagens with the cab car). And with a mod the 155 can also be used on the route, which would be good fun, because I love the 155. Last time I checked videos of the route, it had quite weird reflective terrain when it rained - the ground basically looked like water. Has that been fixed by now? The snow effect also seemed quite weird, where during snowing the terrain and the tracks had snow appearing on completely different rates, so the tracks were completely white while the terrain was not yet. Can anyone comment on these things? How is the overall scenery quality of the route?
That’s fixed, I think. I’d say it’s quite good. The LIDAR data payed off. Now, I haven’t checked each and every house along the route, but I think the feel of the areas was captured rather nicely. I’ve been to Bingen quite a few times in real life and it looks very good, same with Koblenz. The only real bummer is that the track on the right side of the Rhine is non-existant.
Thanks. I assume the snow build up is still bugged, because this video seems to be from just a few weeks ago and it looks like this during snowfall. It only slowly builds up on the tracks afterwards. But even once the tracks are covered, they still don't look right. Not neccessarily a dealbreaker, since I don't drive much in snow anyway. But I have been playing SEHS recently and it looks just fine on that route. So quite bummed then to see routes released after SEHS looking like this...
I can give it a thumbs up, of the German Routes which I'm not crazy about, it's one of the better ones.
It’s a nice route, I picked it up on XSX, it’s a scenic drive and tap changers are pretty easy to use with quite a cruise control functionality about it despite no AFB, I also like the N-wagon cab car originally from Bremen, so a longer route with that is a nice bonus. On the negative side it’s quite the stuttery route and I’ve heard about but haven’t noticed myself PZB issues.
I also noticed that snow too white issue on Blackpool branches, not sure why they would want to use 2 different colour snow texture colours, snow is naturally only one colour.
It's absolutely worth it. One of Germany's most scenic routes. And it features the iconic BR 103, at its time the world's most powerful electric loco and an absolute beauty, well represented here.
The stuttering issues are a bit worrying, because I don't have the best hardware. But might give it a try. One more question, does the route have proper end-to-end services, like ones that actually terminate at the end points of the route? I prefer those ones instead the usual ones where your service ends, the AI takes over and drives off the map. I assume not for the IC services, but maybe with the cab car? Can you finish one service, change ends and drive another service back?
I was toying with getting this or Tramsim Vienna in the sale. At the moment gone with the latter which is quite good fun but I might pick up the Rhine or maybe in the Xmas sale. Still a bit conflicted as to whether the 103 is a clone of the 110 from Bremen in terms of sound and physics.
Yes, you can. Driving into Mainz and then change ends for the next cab car service back to Koblenz. Another gem are the regional BR 628 services inflowing from some branch lines. If you have NID, that is. There´re quite a few freight runs as well with nice PZB action. Although the BR 110 isn´t exactly appropriate for these. I would recommend the route if you´re prepared for some severe stutters always at the same spots. But that´s a TSW feature already ... Your other question, this has been fixed ----> ( Solved ) Lfr Severely Flooded After 7th Of June Patch?
It's not exactly a clone in terms of copy&paste&done. IRL those two locos are quite similar in what they are and how they work. I spent 2 weeks into SimuGraph alone to make it a 103 from the copied 110. And that's only one aspect. There are lots differences functionally wise and also the sound differs, even if you might think it is the same, it is not the same. Yes, they are quite similiar to a casual player. That's what it is IRL.
Thanks for the info, my man. Sadly, I am quite on the fence with this one. Would love to get it for some retro action, also would be good to have once I buy Niddertalbahn in the future (so they layer into each other). And I do love the BR 155 from RSN and with a mod you can drive it on this route, which would be nice to increase variety and have more BR 155 action. The river scenery does look pretty good for TSW standards. But close trackside scenery seems to be pretty bad everywhere. Bland, empty terrain around and between the tracks in all yards and stations. The snowy track texture I mentioned above also looks so bad... And from videos there seem to be quite a few areas where the terrain is covered in grass everywhere, it appears on the tracks, on the roads, everywhere... So yeah, I'm not sure. It doesn't look bad, but there seem to be quite a few obvious quality issues and those always annoy the hell out of me.
In the end I looked at this, the two additional tram sets for Vienna, again at Rheinstrecke and bought… the trams. Vienna is quite growing on me even if it is more game than simulation.
I was thinking of buying that one too, but it has too few routes... and last time I checked, they added 71, but cut the best portion - when it goes beyond St.Marx and Simmering, and heads towards Zentralfriedhof and eventually Kaiserebersdorf, where it picks some nice speed ... no 5, 60 or other much cooler routes
personally I love the route, although I wish they did the full length like in TSC (where the Frankfurt portion is sometimes near unplayable cos of FPS)
Does anybody know here to find the pzb mode switch in the 110? Is there one? I don't fancy driving freight in pzb U
Thanks for all the informative comments! Got the route shortly before the sale ended and am really enjoying it so far. It’s a very specific vibe no other German route can achieve.
The BR 103 was basically the 110 Pro Max. Start with the E 10.12 design, then make everything bigger and beefier.
After lot of thinking I also got the route on the last day of the sale. I do find the trackside area scenery very dull and empty, performance can be quite bad at places (dropping from 40 FPS to below 20), also the small shadow draw distance is really obvious on the route with all the mountains around. But I do find it enjoyable, love the setting and the rolling stock included. With a few mods it is easy to introduce more color variety into the rolling stock lineup, also it's nice to have the BR 155 there with another mod and a retro reskin. Overall a route with pretty good potentail, but could use some more fixing and polish from the developers.
I wish the IR Waggons and the 155 would finally work in TSW4 as well...this is the best addition to this route and makes it feel more "complete". You should also install (if you have Niddertalbahn) the 628 VR variation, which brings some more life to the route. I still like it, very, very much and also see still lots of potential here. And I still hope for fixes of the signal bugs which are still their. Besiodes that it is one of my favorite routes.
A Br 140 is what’s sorely missing on LFR. That would give you an appropriate loco for both freight and some of the local services. That and IR coaches for the IRs. Recently read an interesting comment in that direction in an article about working on the 110/140 family by an actual engineer. He talked about the traction motors and said (loosely translated): “The motors for the 110 were the optimum for what conventional technology could achieve. The motors on the 103 pushed that design to the maximum, but the maximum is not the optimum.”
The 140 was THE ubiquitous electric loco for DB from the 50s through the 80s. Not having it is like having US routes without the SD40. -------------- There was an outstanding mod for LFR which subbed in very nice IR coaches on the IR services. Sadly, it doesn't work with TSW4.
True. It’s amazing just how successful and versatile the 140 was (or is for the few left in service today). It’s why I feel the 140 is really an unsung hero. The attention is often on the 110s and 150s as the elegantly quick and insanely powerful ones, respectively. But the 140s were the workhorses that were always available and could do anything in a pinch. Getting the 140 in TSW would be an excellent foundation for future vintage routes.
Well I was going to relent and get this yesterday evening but the sale had ended. However only three weeks or so to the Christmas sale so I will wait and grab it then.
got it at the start, loved it... mainly doing BR103 and ICE1 runs, too bad ICE1 doesnt have more services there... kinda too bad they didnt include the Frankfurt portion as in TS, but still a nice and long route with varied speeds, nice scenery... wouldnt mind even a bit of an expansion lol
I agree. The one hour IC services are great already, but sometimes I feel like it would be nice continuion on further.
there is Frankfurt - Koblenz in TSC, it is a great route, but atm I think DTG are kind of afraid to do Frankfurt Hbf and Flughafen and such... first part is slower, then you have like one or two LZB sections before going onto the track we see in TSW (although, that in TS is set in more modern period, as I believe the Flughafen station is quite new) any expansion would be nice tho cos it is an enjoyable route... and yes, it would be nice if we had more than one stop of IC stuff... like, actually crawling out of a major station, speeding up, stopping... etc
Frankfurt is also large and uses a lot of resources and dtg couldn't do it in tsw. It's like munchen that tanks performance. Every since lukas joined though, he wants to bring frankfurt into the game someday
And a 90s Frankfurt (Main) would miss a lot more rolling stock than the Mainz - Koblenz we got already does.
it tanks the performance even in TS (not more than 15-20 FPS until you get way out of the station lol)
Hi Lamplight I was actually just about to ask such question on the forum - what rolling stock is missing on that route, so, could you pls provide some more details if possible? I'm wondering what could be added in the future as a DLC for this route (or at lease considered by DTG to be added).
Well, it‘s quite a bit depending on what you define as missing. The bare essentials missing to my mind are: Br 140 for freight and local services. IR coaches for the IR trains already in the timetable. What’s needed to make the traffic feel more realistic: Br 120 for IC trains (according to the databanks, the ICs on LFR in 1997 were the 120’s job while the 103 only handled IRs regularly.) Br 141 for local services. What could be added to round things off: Br 150 for freight. Br 151 for freight. A member of the V160 family for the traffic between Mainz and Gau Algesheim (these weren’t hauled with electric locos as in TSW because the route leaving at Gau Algesheim isn’t actually electrified.) Proper m-Wagen consists for the few D-Züge. Br 213 (if memory serves) for AI traffic on the branch leaving at Boppard. Additional liveries for all rolling stock (the 90 were a wild mix of liveries with everything happening in Germany at the time. The single-livery trains in TSW are rather unusual.) I’m probably missing some stuff, but that should give you a rough idea As for what DTG could add as DLC, I’d imagine a 140 or 120+IR-coaches is most likely.
I can see a 140+freight (replacing the not impossible but very rare 110 freight consists). The 140 was THE ubiquitous DBB electric loco. The 120, not so likely, because it wasn't in service long enough in large enough numbers to be readily re-usable, always a consideration for DTG. --------------------- There was a brilliant mod for the TSW3 version which gave all the IR consists proper blue-striped IR liveries (of course, the 3D model was still that of the ICs- but, hey close enough). Sadly, like most mods TSW4 killed it.
Clearly the 140 is the loco missing in this root. For me it is the most needed loco for the German routes. (Most desired cannot choose between 218 and 232).
That’s why I put her in bare essentials. The 140 is essential for any vintage electrified line and 110s on freight shouldn’t be the norm going forward in TSW. In fact, 110s with cab cars aren’t the norm either given that the first ones started being equipped in 97. The extremely high reusability should help in DTGs’ considerations. I see what you mean but I think the high popularity might give the 120 a boost. That and the fact that the 120 would be an opportunity to bring in the IR/IC cab car, which might be on DTGs’ list after the 101 cab car outcry. Who knows. The 120 would certainly help LFR feel more like the 90s, but I think the 140 would add a lot more to the route. Be it as it may, the 140 is the way to go for me. Either as a DLC for LFR or as a layer from another vintage route.
Hi Lamplight Thanks a lot for your detailed answer along with references - it saved me time to look for it myself Well, it looks like there quite a lot of rolling stock that could be added. I hope for more german routes in that era, so we would get that rolling stock in the future, especially at least those you've mentioned as essential, so BR 140 and IR coaches + at least one, more accurate loco for freight. As the route itself and current rolling stock is great, I did not expect I would enjoy it so much and I'm in for more!
It's probably my favourite German route as it's so different, I prefer the vintage ones as they stand out and have more character. The scenery is very attractive throughout with castles all along the river, and it was the good old days where we got 2 locomotives.
