Stretching from Aschaffenburg to Gemünden, the Main-Spessart Bahn is a key railway corridor that has traversed countryside terrain since its opening in 1854, making it one of the oldest railways in Germany. The line is packed with freight throughout, providing an important through connection between Frankfurt and Munich, and sees plenty of passenger traffic climb through its rural, forested hills.

The original path through the Spessart hills involved a steep, winding path between Laufach and Heigenbrücken, which comes in at its maximum around 1:48 (2.1%), such a sudden climb has necessitated use of banking procedures for heavy freight trains for decades. Banking is where a service is assisted up an incline by being pushed by an extra locomotive, the extra horsepower allows for more weight to crest the climb and continue. The banker locomotive is stationed at the base of the climb and returns back down the slope after completing its push.

However, in order to alleviate this procedure, a new tunnel was opened in 2017 that shallows out the overall gradient and shortens the route – Heigenbrücken station also had to be moved to facilitate this modernisation, and the former route has been steadily ripped up ever since. However, the route in Train Sim World is set prior to the tunnel’s construction, meaning you’ll have to do battle with the untamed, original railway, complete with banker assistance on the rear.

Train Sim World: Main-Spessart Bahn brings to life freight and passenger traffic across the 52 km section between Aschaffenburg and Gemünden, complete with a duo of TRAXX locomotives; the DB BR 185.2 in DB Traffic Red ‘Railion’ livery, and DB BR 146.2 in DB Traffic Red livery. For passenger services, DB DoppelStockwagen (DoSto) vehicles, including the 766.2 DBpbzfa control car, in DB Traffic Red livery are included, and for freight, Habbiins 344, Laaers 560, Shimmns-u 708 and Zacns freight wagons feature.