It’s time to top up the fuel tank and fire up the engine – Maintalbahn: Aschaffenburg – Miltenberg with the DB BR 642 DMU is Out Now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2566220/Train_Sim_World_4_Maintalbahn_Aschaffenburg__Miltenberg_Route_AddOn/
The Route
Take to the countryside through the northwestern reaches of the Bavaria state and the Franken region, where a proud sense of local identity is found. Though players of our previous route, Main-Spessart Bahn, might be familiar with Aschaffenburg, the station and area have been entirely remade for this route Add-on, with signalling and track being reworked to bring the area up to the standards of Train Sim World 4.
Services wind along the Main Valley as far as Miltenberg when many of the real-world passenger services end, as do the local freight trains serving the industry in the area. This single-track lines spread over 37km, with various passing places, features 14 stations each with their own details as well as other features between them. Additional track at Aschaffenburg Port takes the total length of the route up to 41km and it is here where those completing the Mastery Challenges will be able to see a ship launch!
Units and Locomotives
Being introduced to Train Sim World as part of this route is the DB BR 642 DMU, seen across a number of lines throughout Germany operating commuter lines in its 2-car formation, innovative low floor and large windows allowing the scenery to shine through for passengers.
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Though not the most powerful DMU in the world, this widespread unit offers some additional diesel traction to use in Free Roam on other German routes and allows for the likes of refuelling to take place as part of both Scenarios and the service timetable. The model represents the DMU in a great amount of detail, with sounds sourced as a result of both Lukas’ in-person recording trip and from others with relevant material.
The DB BR 363 shunting locomotive in blue livery adds yet more diesel action to the route, hauling DB Habbiins and Roos-t Wagons. Operating across the full length of the route, but in stages, this locomotive serves the local industry on the line, giving way to passenger trains in passing loops throughout the day to keep the timetable moving to time. With appearances in other Train Sim World routes, the DB BR 363 also brings some familiar traction to the route for players.
Services, layers and gameplay
Though some real-world services pass through Miltenberg and continue onwards to elsewhere on the network such as Wertheim, others terminate at Miltenberg, before heading back to Aschaffenburg. The RB 88 service is roughly hourly and calls at most if not all stations whereas the RE 87 is a semi-fast run, stopping at less stations. There are also shorter shuttles between Aschaffenburg and Aschaffenburg South, and depot/shunt manoeuvres at either end of the line, including refuelling services using the facilities at Aschaffenburg.
The BR 363 shunts freight wagons and delivers them to and from Aschaffenburg port, as well as a couple of main line runs, split into parts as a result of the single-track necessitating waits for paths, similar to how freight services operate on Niddertalbahn. These main line runs cover the whole route, ending at Miltenberg.
Players with other German Train Sim World routes will no doubt want to make use of the DB BR 642 in Free Roam and take it to other familiar haunts for the DMU, or beyond! Though Niddertalbahn in-game may be set in the early 1990s, these units have been in operation along the route in more recent times, offering an alternative rural, single-track route to take the DB BR 642 along. Similarly those with Dresden - Riesa (since upgraded for Train Sim World 4 players) may wish to Free Roam the 642 in and around the Dresden area.
The DB BR 642 also substitutes into services on the Tharandter Rampe: Dresden – Chemnitz route Add-on.
Players with Niddertalbahn and Train Sim World 4 will have received the updated red DB livery for the Class 628.2 and this version of the older DMU class will substitute into all of Maintalbahn’s playable 642 services. The DB BR 612 from Tharandter Rampe is also available to operate in place of the 642 services.
There’ll also be substitutions with the red liveried DB BR 363 into the freight services for those that own the separate locomotive Add-on as well as the DB G6 Diesel Shunter loco Add-on.
At Aschaffenburg, there’ll be a series of AI layers from other German Train Sim World routes, including:
- Bremen - Oldenburg: DB BR 425
- Kassel - Würzburg: DB BR 401 ICE 1
- S-Bahn Vorarlberg: DB BR 185
- Railpool BR 193 Vectron
- Dresden - Riesa: Zacns Wagons
- Main-Spessart Bahn: DB BR 146 and Doppelstock
Unlike electrified routes, the concept of refuelling is a consideration in both the timetable and in Scenarios. Extra runs to refuel are implemented into the service timetable and a specific Scenario ‘Running on Vapors’ will place the player in a predicament whereby they’ll need to make it to the next station with enough fuel remaining... a new feature in Train Sim World!
The standard route maps and first aid kits will appear as collectibles along the route, as well as Insect Hotels which can be seen at various stations in the real-world route, allowing local wildlife to thrive in an otherwise human environment.
Train Sim World 4: Maintalbahn: Aschaffenburg – Miltenberg route Add-on is available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Epic Games Store, and Steam for £24.99/€29.99/$29.99.
If you missed the Railfan TV team last week, you can still head over to Twitch and YouTube for a bi-lingual preview of Train Sim World 4: Maintalbahn: Aschaffenburg – Miltenberg. English and German parts of the livestream are timestamped in the description, including questions asked by you, the Community, from the Forum’s Q&A thread.
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Find out more about Train Sim World 4 by following @trainsimworld on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok.
