Road Map Train Sim World Roadmap - March 2023

Well, in answer to the US fans saying they always get the mucky end of the stick I’d like to point out that the Germans are only getting a stripe in the loco bundle. A stripe. Maybe even two stripes.

I’ve been reading about Rail Operation Group after the leaked file names suggested it would be one of their locos but I wouldn’t have guessed it would be Class 37. As for the SD70 for Cajon Pass, that’s a good one. I was wondering what might fill all the gaps left in the timetable, so very happy there’s new freight cars too. All good stuff for a bundle, including the German stripes.

 

The trainbow livery on the ice 3 seems interesting but lazy at the same time. I remember seeing one on the creators club but it got taken down I believe. If DTG charge players for a stripe than frankly that would be a cash grab in of itself

 

I see the Amtrak cab car is still being referred to as an Amfleet? JD, please see my postings in the Mega Feedback thread. The cab car is a Metroliner Cab Car, it's not an Amfleet. Amfleets were derived from the Metroliners.

Also, nothing on the Acela trainsets facing the wrong direction?

 

Dellner adaptor couplings? DTG you are my heroes , finally!

 

So, gonna pick apart the BNSF SD70ACe.

So the article states its been reworked to match a BNSF spec, but from the 1 preview shot, I can tell its still a "Thundercab" model with no ISO cab, so this model only really represents BNSF 9330 to 9399 (Or about 69 out of 640 BNSF SD70ACe's) Only thing we don't know is if the cab lights were reworked so that they are nose mounted, instead of cab mounted. (Only about 30 BNSF Thundercabs have roof mounted lights)

BNSF 8554 with an ISO cab.


BNSF 9350 with nose headlight, no ISO cab


BNSF 9370, No ISO cab, roof mounted headlight (Similar to the UP model)


As far as the rolling stock is concerned, glad to see the Centerbeam return. Article states at least multiple colors, but we only see the Faux TTX car in the shot, hopefully we also get a nice brown BNSF one, maybe even an old green one with BN markings as well...

The 89ft flat car....ehh a bit outdated for modern TOFC, I just hope that it has PROPER US trailers on it, not the garbage Euro ones that SHG had on HSC...... Also a 89ft flatcar cant fit 2 modern 53ft trailers on it, so I assume the trailers are gonna be older 40ft or 45ft. way out of era for Cajon......Unless of course you guys do something like a 53ft trailer mixed with 28ft pups. or a lone 53ft on one car and 2 or 3 28fts on another......

 

So excited for the ROG/Europhoenix 37, can't wait to drag Electrostars around the UK

 

The loco pack feels like a mixed bag. The class 37/7 seems cool, but charging players for two slightly different stripes on the BR 403 and 401 seems, ehm, lazy.

I've also got mixed feelings about some of the Koblenz-Mainz info. The BR 110 on freight just is wrong, as is the ICE 1 layer. Also the PIS is a bit of a dissapointment, I hope it will come one day. Looking forward to hearing more in the preview stream.

Niddertalbahn seems to be amazing though. It really looks promising, with high quality and detail, and content that gives us a nice break from what we have in-game right now.

 

It does look like unrealistic layers are again a feature, which means you either don't buy the route, buy the route and put up with them or buy the route and have to uninstall the add-on from which the layers emminate.

I like the looks of the Koblenz to Mainz route but Niddertalbahn is certainly looking more enticing to me out of the two. The scenery looks great on both I will say.

The loco bundle is okay, the class 37 would be a nice addition for SEHS. It depends on the price of it.

Interesting to read the progress on the new third party developers.

 

Who was hoping for a BNSF C44-9W instead of the BNSF SD70ACe? Defo me.
(If BNSF C44-9W was coming, H2 would be perfect for it!)

 

Niddertalbahn is certainly looking like the highlight of the offerings from this roadmap. The 365 services look exciting in addition to the 628 and I'll definitely be picking this up on release.

Disappointed about no PIS on Linke Rheinstrecke - sorry but shouldn't be happening now. I understand the reasons why it's been taken out (and why the launch won't be delayed for it) but ultimately the failure to launch with era-appropriate PIS is a failure of project management to ensure that all of the critical features were on track for delivery. The same goes for Spirit of Steam (although that frankly has a lot of issues, very few of which were ever addressed).

 

Niddertalbahn remains the most exciting thing on the roadmap for me- seems like it could be amazing.

Agree with missing PIS on Linke being really bad- more poor project management from DTG.

The new loco DLC is a little underwhelming IMO- the BNSF SD70ACE is cool and the new pride liveries too, but the ROG Class 37/7 is a weird one since we very recently got the RHTT- just kinda disappointed it's not the Class 700 tbh- again, maybe a project management issue with release cadence.

 

DTG JD The Pride ICE is the 403 022. It appears as 402 022 in the article.

Unless you are leaking a new 402 unit

 

The class 158 for mml looks nice

 

EDIT: Now it works.

Original post: Ahem, sorry, but using Firefox or Edge all I can see is a blue background when clicking the link in the first post..

 

I also had the same thought.

Nevertheless I am looking forward especially to the Niddertalbahn and the Linke Rheinstrecke.

 

Very disappointed of DTG‘s German releases…
110 on cargo? Why not do a BR140 on that? The 110 is only a repaint of the Bremen 110.
Why no DRA 363 on that route which would fit optical.
No PIS on the platforms? Sounds really poor.
And the new loco bundle? Two only stripe-repaints? Really? But hey, it’s rainbow and the people will buy it. Sorry DTG, you have done better german work before.
Even your small third party studio did a much better job with creating the 365 which is familiar with the existing 363.
I was very excited as the LFR was announced but the 103 is the only thing left of this excitement, rest is more and more disappointing

 

All in all a very cool roadmap in my opinion. I’ve wanted the SD70ace for Cajon Pass from the start, and even if it’s “only” new stripes, I’m liking the added colour on KWG. The 37/7 will once again make SEHS even more interesting. Thumbs up from me.

 

You know saying over promise under delivery

 

Just a couple of thoughts on some of the key notes here:

• Linke Rheinstrecke looks promising, despite some keys issues such as no period PIS. Also, while I'm not too bothered by a BR 110 on freight, I couldn't think that there was a missed opportunity to include the DB BR 155 in a period livery here too.
• I wasn't soo sure of how Niddertalbahn looked in the clip shown off in the summit, but with these images, this could genuinely be one of the best looking TSW routes out there. Plus the addition of a BR 365 and ES50 wagons is a nice surprise.
• Finally go our first images of the WCL Steam Railtour and I don't know how to feel about it right now (Nice having two livery variants of the Jubilee, but they seem a bit too pristine) but I still think this is more worthwhile than the UP Heritage Livery Collection that we just got.
• With the Loco Add-On Bundle 2, I have the following:

1. Europhoenix Class 37 could be a lot of fun, depending on what it actually adds to the route.
2. The BNSF SD70ACe looks like it could actually add a lot more than what it seems like on paper, going by the fact that it also adds the Centerbeam Flat and an 89ft Flat Car.
3. I Don't mind the Railbow ICE 3 and Green-Stripped ICE 1, but I also feel like they could have easily just be added a free update to Kassel-Würzburg (Like what we had with the heritage liveried ACS-64 on Boston-Providence).

One last note, but I'm going to put it behind spoiler tags so not to reveal anything

Spoiler

You know this rumour Preston-Blackpool route? Could this actually be from one of the new third-party developers (Just Trains or Alan Thompson, just a thought going by what they say about them in the article.

 

While the BNSF SD70ACe by itself is not that interesting, it's still nice to be able to get some more variety to the route, especially with the new freight cars. So this might be something I will be interested in. The rainbow striped ICE sounds like a joke, to be honest. How does a simple recolored stripe qualify as a loco add-on? In comparison, Cajon Pass at least gets a new locomotive for the route (even if reused from another route) and SEHS gets an entirely newly built locomotive... Hmm, wonder who is the favorite child? lol

The screenshots of the work in prograss routes do look like, especially interested in the Niddertalbahn, it looks very nice! It was a surprise to read that it will feature the BR 365. Was a bit worried at first that we will have once again a third variant of the same locomotive again, but then it read that it is changed to make it a bit more fitting for the 90s, so that's cool.

Mainz - Koblenz also looks pretty nice, but people here keep saying here that some layers aren't quite realistic, which might be a bit of a turn off. Instead of using the BR 110 for freight, why not include the already exsisting BR 155 or something? Would've made much more sense and as far as I know, it would be fitting for the era.

And would have liked more info on the work of Union Workshop, but that one line was still less than nothing, so I am happy, lol.

Overall not a bad article, and it's nice to see the New York - Trenton patch notes, but sadly still nothing about an improved timetable...

 

I like the look of the WCL rail tour with the updated Jubilee (AWS, Speedo etc) and the 37 on sehs adds a really interesting dyanmic.

Nice to see that ATS and JT are making progress as well. Excited to see what they'll bring to the table!

 

They not going to improve the NY-T timetable I mean look at the question u put up "I wonder who is their favorite child"?? This roadmap already has the answer lol

 

110 on freight is blasphemy. (Another argument why it was a mistake not to develop a 218 for Hamburg). But the ICE1 was in service by 1997 and did use the LRS, since the SKF hadn't been built yet.

 

Once again - Br 103 with that underframe skirt... in 1997... is NOT accurate. But with 110.3 on freight I guess the skirt is least of our problems...

Also, please don't tell me the rainbow stripe and the green stripe will cost the same as the rest. TWO... STRIPES... And the ICE3 will still have those 2nd class doors in 1st class like it did at the beginning of TSW2. I guess Germany is slowly joining the US in bad DLC camp.

 

I know, but the version of the ICE 1 we have in game just feels to modern and different for me. I do get that opinions might differ on that though. It's not a dealbreaker though, as it's only two services.

 

Say what??????? And how, pray tell, are they going to draw power? Tesla's Magic Broadcast Elecricity?

 

A little further down it is clarified that they layer in as AI (presumably at termini on electrified platforms).

 

I think 2-3 stations on the route where you meet other lines were electrified even back then.

 

Likely from overhead lines, as per design.
It's AI services only, so likely they will just be present on the main line in Bad Vilbel to add some authenticity for that station.

 

Um, no. It was the Intercity livery (pre-Produktfarben); the TEE was ended in 1987.

 

whilst the extra liveries packs is interesting to see what they bring, it does pose a question on wether they intentionally go through CC to remove anything similar specifically ahead of release…

Their is of course the question of value in these packs considerably more than other dlcs, if they did the pride southern class 377 it makes the DB 403 look considerably better value, but then amount of details in the recent liveries on the SD70 put them both down…

 

Apparently the 155 is in an unrealistic condition for the era, so they have include the ICE, in an unrealistic condition for the era, instead!

 

Niddertalbahn is the shining star of the show. Man, it looks amazing!

 

It is a bit of a headscratcher. An ICE 1 with modern PIS displays, in the newest livery, and with LED headlights? It’ll make the route busier, sure, but I really don’t like this compromise. It’ll look completely out of place.

 

I have to agree that the ICE shouldn’t be included,

the route isn’t running on a sole loco so theirs not a desperate priority to busy the route

theirs a push for era appropriation which one such example specifically its modern passenger interior seems wrong

 

It's great to get some new liveries for the ICE Trains, but I'm a litte sad, that we won't get a new ICE train to the route

 

It's two services.

You can make the point you make, fine, but... It's two services. It's not going to be butting in left, right, and centre being out of place. It'll be there for a bit, then gone, you can just avoid the times it is timetabled if it is that bad. For people who like a surprise every now and again, and who, whilst playing a game in which they pretend to be a train driver, can extend their imagination a tiny bit further to see a slightly anachronistic ICE1 pass by twice a day, it's worth doing.

I'd rather have the variety it brings, I have not made it my business to go look at era appropriate pictures to validate which livery or interior the train should have, so as far as I am concerned, it's a 90s train on a 90s route.

 

for me I would have to say the fact that it’s 2 services proves theirs less reason for it to be their , if they’re was more appropriate services I’d be more inclined to agree with you more, on the basis of make it worth braking the appropriation.

Edit: the fact that it also doesn’t have much impact on The timetable with 2 services (I’m guessing one in each direction), the scernario planner instead seems more appropriate should those wish to use the ICE1 on this route or operate another service passing said ICE1

 

No worse than a 110 pulling freight

 

Again and again the same countries. It gets boring.

 

(I don’t know the real life reasons on the differences with the 110 on freight, and what’s changed with the 155)

but I would add I support both being implemented as to me they don’t seem entirely off and that their seems to be no completely appropriate stock for freight their is effectively zero trains for freight, therefore allowing the 110 and 155 seems acceptable rather than no freight.

just my thoughts on this

I don’t know what’s with the 143 also on this route but that to me seems rather acceptable also, not 100% sure about this though

 

The 158 is looking sweet and the 37/7 will be interesting to have on SEHS: only if I could be dragging the Electrostars to scrap rather than for refurb.

 

If I had sighed any longer or louder after reading this roadmap, you’d have thought I was literally deflating. I’ll stop there.

 

Why should this be wrong?

 

Could you specify, I said a number of things were wrong