Niddertalbahn: Bad Vilbel-stockheim Feedback Thread

That would make banking operations virtually impossible, as the manned banker engine would have an emergency brake application at every signal, unless 2000 Hz magnets only become active when the whole train has passed a signal, but nothing seems to indicate that.

 

No, there are so-called Störschalter for Sifa and PZB to disable them in case of malfuntion, which is usually what's used ingame as Sifa/PZB toggle. Of course they always need to be turned on in regular service (bar a few exceptions such as, for example, shuting work for more than 30 minutes), but if there's a technical defect they can be disabled by the driver after obtaining the required permissions and the train may then continue at a maximum speed of 50 km/h.

EDIT:

Yes, PZB will be turned off on coupled bank engines and uncoupled bank engines if required by the loco's operational manual.

 

Even if you keep under the speed limit all time, and get 500 points at every stop point, you still 10 points away from gold medal

 

Made a test, the 628 can be towed without problems, its fun (Leaking transmission, so preparing the 628 for towing back to stockheim):

 

One of my favourite screen shots from the past week:

 

The SIFA Not in all cases

 

PZB ist disabled If the driver's cab at the loco ist Not active, but the switches are activated

 

I understand that, but when a locomotive is banking (as used to be the case on for example the Spessartrampe), the rear banking locomotive is manned, with an active cab.

 

Ah yes thats right and because of this you can only drve 50kmh

 

In timetable mode, when running in 628 from Heldenbergen-Windecken towards Bad Vilbel, Hp2 is displayed when leaving Heldenbergen-Windecken station, but after going under the main line, the max allowed speed in HUD changes from 40 kmph to 50 kmph for no noticeable reason. The max speed again changes to 60 kmph when passing one of the bridges before Windecken stop, also without any noticeable reason. Why is that so?

 

Probably also worth pointing out that the instruction text in the scenarios could use a grammar pass, eg "youre" or "lets"

 

Also, I love this little loco:

 

Finally, a passenger service!
and yet, when I got to the Hochschule, no-one wanted to get on or off...

 

I remember taking an ICE 3 down there with off the rails a few years back. It’s a cool branch for sure, hope it gets utilized if/when MSB receives an updated timetable.

 

The 204 uses it

 

Not a major issue, but when walking along the line (great fun, please do it!) level crossings are closed far to soon. No train anywhere nearby. It may be a core game issue. My understanding is that signals will trigger them. Of course, this is not correct, there should be independent triggers to activate level crossings.

 

Yep, spotted a "then" that should've been a "than".
So I love the route but it turns out it wasn't exactly the relaxing, comfortable ride I'd imagined as you really gotta lean on it and brush up against that speed limit to keep to schedule.

 

Come on, it’s the 90s! If the train arrives 10 minutes late, nobody questions it. Timetables are just a “suggestion” after all

I honestly don’t always go right to the limit of the speed limit and can still decently keep to the timetable. Gunning it out of the stations in notch 7 and not braking too early is the recipe for speed.

 

The timetables are tight, but still manageable (perhaps with a little practice). If I max out the speeds and accelerate quickly, I'm always there earlier than required.

 

Still trying to master the 628’s braking curve; the brakes are “grabby” but not all that strong

___________________
Nothing's perfect, not even NTB

 

But there are such NICE touches! Look at the texturing on this mechanical shunt signal:


The old-school station clocks- those were a bit of a nostalgia trigger for me:


An unending parade of handmade building assets


Even a rustbucket car!

 

I‘m having so much fun on this route. An absolute gem! Loving it!

 

The route looks lovely but I'll pass for now until additional passenger trains can be used on it. I'd love to see another DMU from the same era and loco hauled passenger cars as well.

 

Can somebody deny/confirm this?:
Did the timetable with the 365 and after arriving in Bad Vilbel you wait about 10 mins. I shut off the engine but I couldn't for the life of me get it back on again. Fuel pump was on and the "power" switch too. Holding down the engine start switch didn't do anything at all for me..

 

(PS4)

I was able to shut the engine off.

The reverser has to be in the forward position (dont know if backwards would work aswell) then pulling the engine switch into the ON position and then OFF position. This did the trick for me.

To turn the engine back on, the reverser has to he in forward position again. At least with that it worked for me.

 

Was the control button (the one that activates the side of desk you wanna drive from) activated?


maybe that'll help as I'm not completely sure how i did it on the 365 tbh. But i definitely has her shut off and was able to start her again.

 

You're waiting a really long time then. It would need a whole rebuild to run another dmu because it would require the route to be set in a new time period based on wikipedia (642 ran in 2012). Lots of things changed on the route between 1992 and current day so it's no longer the same. There were loco hauled services with the 218 during the 1990s, but that is far from release since the plan for tsg is to release the 420, 232 and all other dtg projects the team gets pulled into before making the 218. The 245 which runs modern day isn't appropriate in 1992

 

The Mastery is very nice, the Harvester can be seen in many places along the track

 

Absolutely, a very nice choice!
Not sure if this is affected by the mastery, or maybe also the time of the year, but I was able to see hay bales in certain areas near the harvesters which certainly weren’t there before. Did a funny thing with a friend of mine where we played the same service simultaneously and live streamed the result. The scenery differences were really noticeable since he doesn’t have the mastery yet.

 

In the early 90s, the only trains that ran the NTB were 218s pulling n-Wagen at rush hour, and 628s the rest of the time. The 628s replaced the old VT 95 DMUs, but those were gone by the early 80s.

 

Had another drive last night before bedtime and it really is a lovely, lovely route. Perfect way to unwind and relax after a long day. The slow pace grows on you but with the frequent stops and detailed scenery you don’t get bored, unlike trundling along WSR. You could almost be playing a different game, helped by the fact TSG seem to have avoided the worst of TSW3 new lighting effects.

As I already said, we need more routes like this in TSW, for all the regions supported.

And yes, Niddertalbahn definitely needs a 218 and Silberlinge stock ASAP as an enjoyment enhancement pack. That would be a Day One purchase too.

 

Then you'll have to wait a long time, which would be a shame given the great route - in my opinion.

The only other useful vehicle for the Niddertalbahn around 1990 is the BR218. TSG is “planning” this, but it will take even longer to develop and the locomotive is unlikely to be installed before the end of 2024 (estimated).

 

Funny thing just happened. Left the brakes off at a station, went for a walk and then noticed the train was moving, with the doors closing, and they wouldn’t open! It was going around 3.5 kmh so I decided to stand in front of it (to make it stop like Spider-Man, right) and I actually clipped through the train and entered it again, so I could take control once more haha

 

Ctrl-0 also puts you back in the cab instantly.

 

Hear, hear. That would be an amazingly popular add-on.

 

If there is one quibble I had with this route is how harsh the brakes are. You can stop the train at the station with the minimum application.
The problem is when you need a little braking, to compensate for a slight descending slope, and you end up losing 15kph from a short "minimum application".
Would love to hear other people's opinion on this.

 

I have to agree with this, particularly when descending the occasional >1%/10 Mil gradients on the route when you just want a very slight application to tame the speed.

 

In every train in TSW I use minimum application, step 1 braking to stop all the time. For the 628 I have found that a good braking technique is to use minimum application, then go to 19%, and then return to minimum for a smooth stop. Harsh braking is required on some routes with the more modern brakes but I like to keep things nice and smooth for my passengers so always use the least braking force I can and still keep to the schedule.

Just give a quick squirt with the brakes and you don’t lose so much speed. Then speed back up if you slow down too much. When descending a slope, starting off with a bit of room for the train to accelerate by gravity and fewer brake applications will be needed.

The old trains with these braking characteristics are so much more rewarding to drive.

 

I am able to reduce the speed by only 3-5kph. The way I do it, move the brake lever into minimum for a very short time, quickly moving it back to the Off position, which will hold the reduced pressure in the cylinders and you will reduce speeds very slowly. Ideal for a descending slope.

 

Exactly. Moving the lever to OFF will freeze the brake pressure at its current value, so it’s perfect for getting very small brake inputs. I often move it to minimum, then let it release a little bit, then put it into off. Perfect for constant gradients, of which the route has quite a few.

 

Exactly. It's very much like using manually-lapped brakes.

 

Yes, definitely as I did drive it before. Had the service where you chill for like 10 mins and I was like aight lets turn off the engine. Couldn't get it to start back up again tho

 

I'll check again tomorrow. Like i said im not quite sure how i did it. But it definitely worked for me somehow.

 

A quick question, I'm assuming seeing the 103 as AI when leaving Bad Vilbel is totally normal? Also, the 628 looks fab in Regio colors! Lastly, I just HAD to enjoy the route in modern comfort & style...

 

It's quite possible that I may have been a little incompetent too

 

I tried the Tree Hugging scenario again, now kept safety systems off and could complete it. You are probably right, when changing cab turn safety systems off and the reactivate them in the other cab. I still think this is a but, because safety systems are still active but you cannot see it in the HUD and you do not get any warning. The effect, an unexpected penalty brake and no way to recover is really a nasty issue.

 

Thanks for your feedback, I will revisit Steam Deck with a view to buying one. I had pre-ordered for launch but cancelled as it said it didn’t support TSW2. Cheers Shane

 

Well, after seeing lots of beautiful screenshots / videos and thanks to helpful comments of some members here, I will be buying this route very soon.
Maybe one day, someone will make the famous German Uerdingen railbus as dlc. It would perfectly compliment this stunningly beautiful route.

 

It needs RMV decals or RMV Bahnland Bayern decals to fit in. The correct Niddertalbahn 628 is current paint with RMV decals like a 420 Orange and Cream S6 Ray Barracks Friedberg which is ai at Bad Villbel

 

Don’t know when or if they ran there, but I’d sure love to get one.