Why Ruhr-sieg Nord Is Still Such A Special Route - And Why Tsw Needs More Routes Like This

Without doubt Ruhr-Sieg Nord (RSN) still remains one of the best routes ever created in TSW - even more impressive considering it was released back in 2018 (seriously, where does the time go? ).

For many newer members of the TSW community, many may never have even played this, so are wondering what's so special about RSN? Well, there are plenty of factors, let's discuss some of them.



For such an old TSW route, personally I think a majority of the scenery (with exception of the long-distance scenery, which doesn't look the best and is one major flaw with RSN - as with all very old DLC) really does well to promote both the atmosphere of a gritty industrial setting intertwined with the picturesque small towns/villages along the route.

In my opinion, the strength of RSN though comes from its timetable, although I recommend you'd need the 363 loco DLC for the most complete experience, as I'll explain below.

What makes this route so special is the amount of freight which are simply not just your standard A-to-B services - which seem to be the majority with most newer routes nowadays, sadly - but actually the plethora of shunting, pick-up/drop-off etc and the fact whoever created the timetable seemed to put a lot of time, thought, effort and detail into it.



The additional shunting services provided with the 363 loco DLC are among the best in TSW, from shunting log to cement and steel wagons are just awesome and provide hours of fun - and really adds to that gritty industrial atmosphere of RSN. What I love about these services in particular - and timetable mode in TSW in general - is the route does feel alive with the continuous hustle and bustle of frequent passing passenger and freight services.

Then there's the passenger timetable. There's even some nice variety with a mix of semi-fast and all-stop services - plus not forgetting that rather unique one-car dosto shuttle service to Iserlohn! While, obviously a major flaw of such an old route is the fact that Hagen Hbf remains mostly empty and completely devoid of any AI traffic, the rest of the route is so good I can look past this.



RSN is also very interesting to drive, while it's not the fastest route (top speed just 120km/h) although with frequent stretches of 70-100km/h through the twisty sections and constant speed changes and it's only around 60km in length, it still doesn't ever get boring - interesting routes like this is why I look forward to the likes of Semmeringbahn.

Finally, RSN has perhaps the most coolest Mastery reward!


Honestly, there's not too much that could make this route better apart from the obvious things such as being updated to TOD 4, improving distance scenery and, of course, adding AI traffic at Hagen.

TSW needs more routes like RSN which provide an interesting experience with a plethora of passenger and freight/shunting services (which are not just always A-to-B) across an exciting route. On the subject of early TSW routes, it's no coincidence that many players still also love the likes of Tees Valley and Sand Patch!

 

I agree 100%

This and several other posts show that RSN still stands up in really good manner, especially given its age. The overall perception of this route here in the Forum is truly positive.

I really like how RSN is, never had the feeling that there is something missing. Great atmosphere and a lots of stuff to do. With Freeroam, even Everlingsen Powerplant is reachable.

I also agree on the possible updates for this route, Tod4 would actually doing the trick for me without the need of any other update tbh.

I love RSN, it was my second Route for TSW and i still love to drive there. It also reminds me of my home area, Thuringia.

It also has the coolest (imo) Mastery Reward with the explorable Finnentrop Signal Box.

Yeah, its everything right with RSN

 

It was my first extra map I bought on sale after a friend told me about tsw. To this day I still find it my favorite map and I even got it on tsc towards siegen as well. This is one of the few routes I would argue doesn’t even need an extension or preservation crew look. But to get one for it would be more than amazing.

 

If you are interested in "good" timetables, you might have a look into bremen - oldenburg. What looks first like a standard a to b, was surprizing me the more i played. All kind of services (ic, ice, regional, s bahn, freight, depot runs, loco only runs, empty passenger stock runs, shunting... etc.

Well this can be spotted from the menu too, but thats not the point. Looking at freight: some are straight run, some get looped, some get looped on a different location, some you start light loco to couple a freight consist, some are 3 part and needs a portion of patience, or ypu take a heavy train to oldenburg and stable the locos of the double traction, And so on...

Even in passenger services there is a huge variety. Some regional services tasking you to couple a light 110 to a consist, drive empty to oldenburg to perform a turnaround and go as passenger service back to bremen.

Havent seen a dlc use all the available tracks and loops in such a variering way as in bro to make it interesting. The 24h timetable feels alive entirely.

Whoever created this tt, huge compliment, even if the route isnt the longest, the player get addicted just by all the variety. Also excellent a.i around bremen.

 

Excellent route! One, if not the best German TSW route. At least as far as the general gaming experience is concerned. You reminded me when I started with this game. It was 2018! In addition to the three main routes (SPG, GWE and Rapid Transit) there were: Oakville sub, RRO, Peninsula Corridor, TVL, WSR, NTP, LIRR, NEC:NY and this RSN. I have to admit that it's these German maps that stand the test of time best, in TSW! Only Rapid Transit and RRO show some of their obsolescence. All other routes age quickly. Especially the British and American ones.

 

The only drawback with RSN is that it should have fully emulated the TSC (old Rail Simulator) route and gone all the way from Hagen to Siegen. Would be nice if some day it was remade to provide the full run.

 

That's right OldVern. But at the time you couldn't go far with the lengths !
The longest was, if I remember correctly, Peninsula Corridor.

 

Indeed, it was very much a prototype within TSW but now everyone at DTG has their feet under the table, so to speak, a makeover and extension (more likely a complete rebuild) would be nice some day.

 

It would certainly be appropriate to update RSN to TOD4 standards, with new lights, improved background scenery and redone textures. And of course an update to the rolling stock.
RSN, RRO e MSB. I hate Rapid Transit, so I'll skip over that...

 

Rapid Transit would be okay if they fixed the almost silent train sounds and I believe the PZB is also broken. But it's so old, I fear not only has it spun off the DTG Flywheel, it's left the Solar System as regards any chance of upgrades.

 

Very nice post, I fully agree! Booted up the route again last Thursday to show it to a friend who considered getting it during the PS sale (he did end up buying it!), and was very pleased how well the scenery and timetable aged! Considering getting the original red BR 363 to take full advantage of these unique freight moves.

 

Thanks pal, you got me to go back to RSN and do some shunting with 363, this route is aging quite well and has still a lot of fun to give!

 

Indeed, it's almost a rarity how RSN being such an old TSW route still stands the test of time and the quality really stands out. MSB is a great comparison as a fellow German route which came out at a similar time, but seems to have aged very badly; although saying that, MSB does still have a very decent timetable which is still rather impressive for its age too.

Out of interest, on TSC how long does the rest of the journey take between Finnetrop and Siegen?

I do actually have Bremen-Oldenburg already - and I certainly agree that Joe did a fantastic job with the timetable, it's one of the most detailed and unique that's for sure. Even the amount and variety of AI traffic at Bremen Hbf is impressive alone. However, saying that, I don't play Bremen-Oldenburg as much nowadays because the route in my opinion is rather short and linear, but I still enjoy nonetheless - and as you've recommended it, I might play the route again soon.

Much agreed. RRO is probably my least played German route as it's rather short and empty. RT on the contrary I still play regularly despite it being heavily outdated - I enjoy the services with the 182 and 143 in particular.

 

Much agreed, it would be great to go all the way to Siegen - I assume the remainder of the route is rather similar i.e. following the heavily forested valley? As I've never played TSC, I never realised that version of the route went the entire way.

I'm one of those who still plays RT on a regular basis, however I pretty much only use the 182/143/dosto and agree that the near-silent Talent 2 is not fun at all. Regarding PZB, I don't seen to encounter many problems with it on this route nowadays.

Many thanks! Yes, the 363 is an absolute must for RSN. It's quite interesting, but the estimated times for how long each shunting service should take seems to be incorrect. For example, a couple of these stated around 30 minutes to complete, however it took me around an hour on average although I'm not complaining as I've had many fun hours of gameplay.

No problem, glad to hear!

 

it adds another 44 km to the already 62 km route. so remembering it's about the same speeds it should add 30 ish more minutes. also a decent freight yard near siegen as well making it less weird to spawn in on the middle of finnentrop.

 

It’s so long since I played the TSC version, I can’t recall.

However I did a run on TSW RSN yesterday evening and with the Jetwash lighting and environment mod now bedded in and working well, it looks really great. Very zen and relaxing taking a freight over the full length of the line.

 

Agree with most of the comments.
For me the 3 best German routes are NID, BRO and RSN, not necessarily in that order.

NID is great, but only branch line.

BRO has all the services you can possibly desire, two great hauptbanhof and best combination IMHO of locomotive and cab car (normally I do always back and forth).

RSN, great but not too many services. But among them, the best shunting of the game by far (so yes, BR363 is a must).

 

Yet it still up on for sale on Steam for 30 (!) Euros on Steam

 

Funnily enough I booted this up for the first time just last week, and have been enjoying it ever since.

 

Love it, RSN is still my go to route, along with MSB and HMA, for those 423 runs. The only thing I don't like are the old freight cars with non functioning brake handles, but I haven't had any issues with the brakes locking up on them either unlike the newer ones so you get some and you lose some

 

I just love all the German routes, period. its expensive (unless you get them in sales) but once you have them, the power of that DLC really shines with all the layers, great timetables and a genuine love by the creators for German routes.

 

Interesting, thanks.

I would be interested to see a screenshot with the lighting and environment mod to see how good it looks - unfortunately I'm on Xbox so stuck with as is.

Absolutely! Thankfully consistency regarding German routes has mostly been kept to a great standard over the years. As with all the valid reasons you stated, the addition of PZB is another reason too why such routes are also so interesting and a challenge. Honestly, it's the reason why in TSW nowadays I mostly play just German/European routes - with exception of the excellent BML and SEHS, of course. I just can't get too excited for many new UK routes now when they seem to frequently have either empty large stations and/or just one or two locos, not to mention every modern freight loco is the same 66 etc.

 

That is what the route is in dire need of, I feel. Don't get me wrong, RSN is amazing - especially for its time - but the rolling stock prevents me from playing it often. It's not so bad for passenger stock since you can just use DRA's 143, but the unrealistic freight wagon physics are a real downer. Perhaps I should give free roam a go to have more up-to-date freight stock...

 

On the subject of extensions for RSN, I'd love to see the short, single-track branch line to Iserlohn. According to some quick research, it's only 5.4km/3.3 miles from Letmathe (currently where the services are playable too in game) with one station in-between being Iserlohn Dechenhohle. Considering Iserlohn is a small terminus station and only a short distance, I'm surprised DTG never included this initially; to be fair there is only a limited number of RB56 services to/from Hagen but it would still offer just a bit more gameplay.

 

Played RSN over the weekend due to this thread, and yeah, it really is amazing! Such great scenery for an older route too, at least the up close stuff.

 

The RSN railway line is very nice. When using the free mode, the large number of railway sidings can be used. What always bothered me about this railway is the empty Hagen hbf station. Bringing freight wagons with coal to the power plant.

 

I consider RZN one of the best TSW routes. More than any other, it deserves more love and attention from the developer (new sky, lighting, vegetation, schedule, etc.). Its extension to Siegen with a cargo park in Kreuztal (how much you can do there) can change the gameplay to a fantastic level (total length 106 km, extension only 45 km). And a diversion to Olpe - how great it would be (only this is a dream). Such a remaster of the route would make it the best German route in TSW. I really hope that DTG will hear my prayers and such a day will come.
And if you imagine that over time a BR232 from TSG, a new Flirt and an old electric freight locomotive (for example BR140) will appear on the route - Wow!! Surely such an idea cannot be considered promising and beneficial for DTG?

 

Love this route, It's still one of my most used routes as there's a vibe in it that no other gives.
It truly gives me that Black Forest industrial theme, and the second it starts raining I just feel cozy in the cab of my train.

I also think, the scenery is pretty good.. though I do have some criticism about Finnentrop it's mostly because I have seen finnentrop in real life so obviously inaccuracies would stick out like a sore thumb...

However, as far as the trains go, the route feels very much alive with the sidings and all, always fun to see the shunter loco do its own thing while I rush by.

 

RSN is still one of my favorite routes as well. Lots of variety, passengers services with nice distance between stations, full length freight runs, shunting services in and around the industries. And it is the route where I succesfully learned PZB, so I'll always have fond memories.

Now if only DTG could finally, finally fix the Trunk Service scenario. How long has this been broken now? Years?

 

When I clicked on this thread, it did strike me that an extremely similar thread about RSN exists from a few years ago.
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...-best-routes-3-years-after-its-release.47661/
No coincidence, I'd argue. RSN seems to hold a special place in many peoples' hearts.

 

Great job! An extremely fun night of shunting logs with the 363 on RSN was what convinced me that maybe shunting wasn't so boring after all. Loved having to fit in between all the traffic when crossing the mainline.

 

Thanks for that! It's a great route and timetable despite its age! On that point - the waggons that came with the 363 DLC were never (correct me if i am wrong) reused on a layer on any other route. Do you think for the next german route you can ask the person who does the timetable to put them in somewhere? Even if it's just scenery on a siding? That would be awesome, because the waggons are pretty cool, but underused in TSW

 

Excellent work by Matt and the team at DTG, it’s a stunning route. Locomotive, wagons and Scenery all excellent.

 

Always liked watching the traffic on the mainline whilst operating the 363 doing shunting, including how the signals have priories to get the 363 to cross between the traffic.

 

Certainly well deserved - you can definitely feel these services were crafted with a lot of passion, dedication and attention to detail. And that's even more impressive when considering previously I've not been the biggest fan of shunting services in general, however since I've started replaying Ruhr-sieg Nord recently (as the whole point of this thread), it just surprised me how enjoyable these 363 timetable services are; thus, I've now nearly completed all these specific services in the last week or so in one go.

Another older TSW route which is still among my favourites and the MP15 loco DLC was really a fantastic choice gameplay-wise.

Indeed, RSN is a very special and much-loved route and hope one day it gets a very well-deserved update.

You're welcome, Matt.

 

I often ride the RSN in free mode. I mostly assemble short handling trains that supply local railway sidings. I try to keep my handling trains from holding up passenger trains. It was fun to figure out how to move the coal cars to the power station without delaying the passenger trains.

 

It's an amazing timetable I loved as soon as I got the route. even though it was the first DLC I bought. I regret nothing. completed all the 363 services and nearly the entire yourney of freight and passenger. To see the iserlohn branch and extension to Siegen like it is in TSC would be more than amazing. Just TOD4 would be enough for me to be honest. and maybe some freight to the power station. RSN with it's loco dlc really makes a complete route and I wonder why the newer DLC are only one loco with occasionally some layers.

Since RSN I really got into TSW but I still come back to it often because it is my favorite route. every new route released I always wonder first if next to the new rolling stock there is a 363 or 204 timetable. and for my Salzburg - Rosenheim realistic timetable rework I am taking RSN's timetable as a big inspiration. Freilassing needs to have the yard action it deserves. My lack of research and knowing how DTG gets their freight timetable train numbers does make it more difficult sadly.

 

good to know. saves me some confusion. thanks. I was wondering what the letters like EZK and stuff mean in front of the services. they don't seem to correlate with the transferred goods. nor the type of service. are those made up too or is there a system for it? for my timetable I'll look into the system used already, even if it is made up. It looks real enough so that works for me.

 

That's on Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Zuggattungen

(Actually, after checking, the only source the Wikipedia article cites for the freight train section is a 2002 (!) Internet Archive Capture of a train enthusiast's private website that doesn't cite any sources itself, so if might not be accurate and is definitely outdated.)

 

ah thanks. even if outdated it's better than nothing.

 

I was digging into this topic to better understand priorities for Stellwerksim, and there is actually an updated version of that site for timetable 2018/19. And it is also the best resource I was able to find.. https://www.bahnseite.de/purespace/zugg19.html

 

The Route need a Extension to Siegen as Upgrade as well

 

Thanks Noir. I got into stellwerksim because of the post you made about wiener neustadt. This list looks very complete and I'll use that and some research on semmering since I saw new ones on their freight too

 

I like MSB too but noticed the distant scenery doesn’t hold up as well.

 

One big advantage German routes have over everyone else is the single national operator allowing overlays with much variety of rolling stock as most of the trains can run on any map. Having said that it’s also a minus that every railway in Germany virtually looks the same.
My idea of a perfect route is SEHS with a multitude of rolling stock companies and liveries. Except the freight is always behind a 66. Come on DTG give Blighty a bit of love on that note.

 

There are many non-DB operators in Germany these days. It's a shortcut that DTG take by backdating pretty much every German route to a time when DB ran everything.

As an example, Dresden in real life sees DB, Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn, Trilex, Flixtrain, České Dráhy, and European Sleeper trains, and that's just in passenger service! There are even more freight operators. The ones seen most frequently are ITL/Captrain and Metrans, but there are many others.

So yeah, the DB license is obviously essential to making German stuff, but I do wish we'd get something different every once in a while...

 

I do wonder why DTG don't do this more for US routes, considering their refusal to do anything PTC related. Do a backdated route from 2005 for example and you'd have a solid reason behind not modeling it, not just making excuses for it. A number of routes wouldn't even be that different, vast majority of what's in service now was in service back in the 2000's. Plus you'd actually have freedom to model some slightly older GE's and EMD's that aren't common these days. Go back just a little bit more and we could even get fallen flags like the ATSF & SP added in for more variety.

 

I was waiting for someone to say this. Germany is definitely not DB only and going past dresden to other parts of the country you get RRX, ALEX and it’s sub operators, ÖBB IC and NJ trains, and way more international and national trains really coloring the railscene in more than red. Not sure how licensing is going but ÖBB just bought go ahead I think. Would love to see at least the NJ/EN liveries on coaches and hopefully some more different companies and colors on the railways.