It's been a while since my last route suggestion, so here we go I just came up with this idea and thought it might actually make a good addition to TSW's German route roster. The route English wiki German wiki (much more thorough) In total it's a single-track, non-electrified route about 43 km long and includes 14 stops, not counting the end points. In Gessertshausen, it connects to the route from Augsburg to Ulm, while in Türkheim Bahnhof in the south it meets up with the Buchloe - Memmingen line as well as the little branch from Türkheim Bahnhof towards the famed spa town of Bad Wörishofen. In the northern part from Gessertshausen to Markt Wald, it closely follows the Zusam and Neufnach rivers along its valleys through forested rural areas with several small-ish villages along the way. The mid part between Markt Wald and Ettringen passes a picturesque little lake near Schnerzhofen station and runs through a dense forest afterwards. This part of the route has been closed for all traffic in 1982, due to excessive decay because of years-long lack of maintenance. The southern part from Türkheim Bahnhof to Ettringen is pretty straightforward, passing the town of Türkheim in the west and heading in a straight line on flat ground towards Ettringen. In 1980, the route would have been in use in its entire length, and all station would be serviced. The route has lost its passenger services step by step during the 80's and early 90's, but is in the process of reactivation at least between Gessertshausen and Langenneufnach. Cargo services in the northern part held on a little longer, until the 2000's. In the south, cargo traffic between Türkheim Bahnhof and a paper mill in Ettringen still holds up to this day. The rolling stock At the time I envision this route to take place (1980), almost all of the passenger services on the route were being done by the battery-powered railcar BR 515, which would be a first for TSW as far as I know: These were made in the late 50's for use on smaller lines without a catenary and suburban commuter services around larger cities, mostly replacing even older battery railcars or smaller steam-powered trains. They saw use across Western Germany with hotspots in the Ruhrgebiet, around Limburg and in Southwest Bavaria. Their dependance on charging stations and low range of about 300km at average limited their spread. Being well-liked by passengers and personnel alike for their comfort (compared to the alternatives at the time) and reliability, they started to show their age during the 80's, but still saw use until the early to mid 90's. On the Staudenbahn, they were in use until 1988. Around 1980, cargo services on the Staudenbahn used a variety of diesel engines. The lighter ones used either the BR 365 or even the smaller BR 333. Since the 365 is already in the game thanks to the Niddertalbahn, it would be a natural fit for these kinds of services here as well! Heavier freight trains were mainly using the BR 290. This one was made in the mid 1960's for point-to-point cargo transfer and heavy shunting operations in larger hubs. It was and still is the mainstay for these kinds of services all across Germany. With the right liveries, it could layer into many of the already existing German routes, doing a wide variety of work there. Value of the route for TSW On first glance, the route is very similar to the Niddertalbahn. It's takes place in the past, runs through a rural area with small villages, is not electrified and allows a max speed of 60 km/h. What sets it apart from Niddertalbahn then, you might ask? Well, for one, the scenery is completely different. With large parts of the route running along the valley of the Neufnach river with its forested slopes, small villages, many hedges and shrubbery it feels quite idyllic and quaint. On a sidenote, this would also allow the creators to focus more on the details right alongside the route, since the viewing distance in many areas is not that high anyways. Another point is the heavier focus on cargo services here. Passenger traffic never was too impressive along this route, but there is a variety of freight to shunt and transport! In the northern part, there was lots of lumber transports going on, as well as a couple of small industries and agricultural buisnesses receiving and shipping goods, also a large wine merchant near Fischach. In the south, apart from a bunch of smaller industries in Türkheim, the main customer was (and still is) the paper mill in Ettringen. Overall, this route would offer a wide variety of different services to pick up, deliver and shunt cargo of all sorts. Much of it (if not all) could be done with already ingame existing wagon types. That's all I've got for today. Hit me
Madam, this proposal is intriguing! For me, anything set before 00' is a day one purchase! Rolling stock is also interesting. A nice route, perhaps as a filler one. I love BR blue-beige livery . PS. Could you tell me what kind of freight traffic would be present?
IDC where. I really want a Köf to be honest But that battery railcar looks pretty fun too. and although weird. I'd so free roam it on KWG for once. I think with such a short route. it would be possible to do a "diesel legends of" timetable with a modern and old timetable. I really like the old stuff seen on the pics. what runs there now?
- Ex-ÖBB 2143.21 (now SVG) for freight (especially timber wagons and hoppers). - NE81 railcar (I've also seen them tow freight trains!). However the route has virtually no passenger service now. Starting this year, restoration work should begin to make it operational again, with SVG. It would be nice to see the 515s, with a 365 or a 290!
ah interesting. if it's that deserted then I'd say a historically set route as suggested is better. maybe a modern one when it's actually operational again
As far as I know, in 1980 the freight services would include: -Timber deliveries from Reichertshofen, Walkertshofen and Fischach towards Gessertshausen, and empty timber wagons back. -Wine deliveries in 2- and 4-axle tank cars (that's some amount of wine!) between a company near Fischach and Gessertshausen. -Goods being shipped and received between the paper mill near Ettringen and Türkheim Bahnhof. -A daily mixed cargo train travelling along the whole route, delivering and picking up a variety of different wagons at the loading ramps of the various stations. This would also involve quite an amount of splitting the train and shunting around at times. Sounds all very entertaining to me Oh yeah, me too! Could also find some use on many of the other German routes, moving stuff around in the stations or serving some private connections. I've got a soft spot for those! Sadly I missed them being in daily use by a hairsbreadth... I'm born in 1985 and they were taken out of use here in 1988/89... Yes, the reactivation of the line from Gessertshausen to Langenneufnach has been long anticipated. If it bears fruit, perhaps more of the route can be reactivated in the future! At least most of the railbed and signalling is still in good shape, except for the part between Ettringen and Markt Wald. That's also the reason why I think this route in its entirety would work best in TSW if it's set in the past, before the north and south had been separated.
Oh and by the way, an interesting chapter of this route is that at the station of Gumpenweiler, a hospital train of the German Army has been stationed from the late 70's to the early 90's. When going on field excercises (which took place regularly, especially during the Cold War), it would be picked up by two BR 218 locomotives (one on each end) and moved towards the exercise place. This could make for some very interesting scenarios, although we would need a period-accurate 218 and some special n-Wagen decorated with red crosses and so on... just let me dream
very cool. sounds very interesting. I was born after 2000 so I haven't had any experience with old stock sadly. it's a shame DTG failed steam since I love driving them in Derail Valley. Niddertalbahn is also a great way to capture the old times. I'd love to see some more old routes. would add some cool railtours to modern routes too
Now I feel old... ancient actually That's one reason why I LOVE Niddertalbahn, since it gives me so much nostalgia. When I had my earliest contacts with trains in the early 90's, my home route had quite a similar style and feeling as the Niddertalbahn, and had been serviced by 628 and 218 with n-Wagen.
oops. I'm not far after though. 2001 yeah I recently got the mastery. and researching the branch lines of Salzburg - Rosenheim for timetables to put them in properly. Sadly it's difficult to find some. I did manage to find a steam railtour 2013 though that I sadly can't implement. and a 1939 timetable even I hope your suggestion of the branch lines on that route gets made one day. I'm already putting in the services so it wouldn't be much work to get it updated. I do think there needs to be more routes like this and a 218 reskin would work great for that. NID is great and Maintalbahn a bit less exiting. hope if theres a next german or austrian little diesel line it's great. I miss driving the 360 group of loco's already. a Köf would be fun ingame though.
Wouldn't get my hopes up on that one, sadly. Except maybe as a community project. I'd try it myself, but I got neither the skills nor the time for it As much as I would love to take a Köf on a shunting trip across a larger station, I think some heavier, more powerful stuff like the 290 is pretty much needed too. There are some freight services along various routes (Bremen - Oldenburg or Maintalbahn come to mind) where the 363 clearly is out of its depth.
agreed. the 204 and 363 really need a bigger brother. the G6 is not that much more powerful although fun to drive sometimes. the 218 can add some more mainline diesel freight though. interested to see it more. although it's a short route I expect it to be too specific and too much rolling stock to be made by DTG so fair enough.
Not necessarily. For the freight services, we already got an assortment of suitable rolling stock ingame. Granted, they would have to be repainted (Bundesbahn logos at least), but that's way less work than building something new from scratch. For locos, the ever-reliable 365 could be used for the light services while the heavy loads can be handled by a period-accurate 218. Again, this requires some work, but I bet it's still quicker than building a whole 290 and/or Köf. I admit, a requirement for these solutions to work is that the player actually HAS all the necessary DLC's to even get the freight cars, the 218 and the 365 But if it works out this way, the only one to be built completely from scratch would be the 515 then. That could be a dealbreaker, since only a few survived in their original configuration to this day, and it could be tricky to collect some authentic sounds.
I'm usually not the one to bump my own route suggestions just because, but this is an exception... Over the course of the last week, parts of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been hit by massive rainstorms, leading to widespread and catastrophic flooding along certain rivers. In Bavaria, the river Donau (Danube) and its tributaries have caused lots of damage already... and the situation is far from over, albeit there's light on the horizon. What's all this got to do with this route, you ask? Well, the rivers Schmutter (can be seen on the map in post 1 as the one leading to Fischach from the south and on beyond Gessertshausen) and the Neufnach (not on the map since it follows the route very closely from Markt Wald to Fischach, joining the Schmutter there) are some of said tributaries. They have wreaked havoc in the region and drenched the local villages, especially Fischach and the Gessertshausen area. Wild suggestion: If this route would be built as a DLC, part of the earnings from it could go to some local donation funds helping the victims of this flood. I know, building this route will take quite some time, but the same goes for repairing the flood damage. There are some governmental aid payments in place already... but considering the scale of the carnage, I doubt they'll suffice.
