Simulation · Minimal Logistik · Rail and combined transport
Kornwestheim · intermodal terminal and marshalling yard
A freight station and combined-transport terminal as a walkable model: gantry cranes between train and truck, a marshalling yard that re-forms freight trains, and car trains for export.
Real are the location, terrain and buildings (open elevation data, OpenStreetMap) and the site profile figures. Volumes, rhythms and vehicle numbers are model assumptions, processes accelerated. With your data, the model also shows crane lifts per hour, trains per destination and trucks per slot.
An intermodal terminal with marshalling yard as a running model: Kornwestheim north of Stuttgart is a freight station and combined-transport terminal handling about 175,000 loading units a year and 200 to 400 trucks a day. Gantry cranes lift containers and swap bodies between train and truck, often car parts for the plants around Stuttgart.
Next door in the marshalling yard, freight trains are split up and re-formed by destination: mixed wagons for car parts, chemicals, steel and building materials, plus car trains with new cars for export. The supply chain to Bremerhaven is put together here – two decks, up to ten new cars per wagon, about 700 km north. In the model, 81 % of the volume is industrial goods and 76 % travels by road. A rail strike stops terminal and marshalling yard at once; snow and weak industry show immediately at cranes, tracks and gate.
Real are the location, terrain and buildings, taken from open elevation data and OpenStreetMap, and the figures in the site profile, taken from public information. Daily volumes, rhythms and vehicle numbers are model assumptions in the right order of magnitude; processes run accelerated. This page is for terminal and rail operations, planning, logistics companies, local authorities and economic development, chambers, schools and universities.
A train in the terminal (riding along, key F)
- 01
arriving
- 02
being loaded
- 03
departing
What is shown – why – for whom
| Ce qui est montré | Pourquoi | Pour qui |
|---|---|---|
| Intermodal terminal: gantry cranes between train and truck, about 175,000 units a year | PourquoiShows the switch between rail and road. | Pour quiTerminal operations, teaching |
| Marshalling yard: freight trains split up and re-formed by destination | PourquoiExplains single wagonload traffic. | Pour quiRail operations, universities |
| Truck gate with swap bodies from the region | PourquoiShows the first and last leg by road. | Pour quiLogistics companies, local authorities |
| Car trains with new cars for export | PourquoiLink the plants with the seaport. | Pour quiEconomic development, chambers |
| Supply chain ‘New cars → Bremerhaven’ | PourquoiShows about 700 km of rail to the mouth of the Weser. | Pour quiPublic relations, exhibitions |
| Rail strike, snow and ice | PourquoiShow what hits the hub. | Pour quiPlanning, associations |
Facilities and areas in the model
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Kornwestheim intermodal terminal
Combined transport: about 175,000 loading units a year, 200 to 400 trucks a day. Gantry cranes lift containers and swap bodies between train and truck.
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Marshalling yard
Freight trains are split up here and re-formed by destination – mixed wagons for car parts, chemicals, steel and building materials.
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Truck gate
Trucks bring swap bodies from the region, often car parts for the plants around Stuttgart.
Processes in the model
A train in the terminal (riding along, key F)
- 01arriving
- 02being loaded
- 03departing
A truck at the gate (riding along, key F)
- 01driving to the gate
- 02check-in at the gate
- 03driving to the loading point
- 04being loaded
- 05leaving
Supply chain ‘New cars → Bremerhaven’ (passes through this site)
- 01A new car from a plant near Stuttgart is bound for overseas
- 02Kornwestheim: car trains are assembled in the marshalling yard – two decks, up to ten new cars per wagon
- 03North by rail: about 700 km to the mouth of the Weser
- 04Bremerhaven: car trains roll into the port – for exports around 80 % of new cars arrive by rail (terminal figure)
- 05Car park: the car waits for its ship. The fill level follows the node’s stock (model)
- 06Up the stern ramp onto the car carrier – bound for overseas. The chain is an example (model)
Try the scenario ‘Rail strike’
- 01tap it in the deck
- 02vehicles, yards and traffic-light rings at the site react at once
- 03time 4× shows how it develops
- 04‘Back to today’
How an intermodal terminal can use the model
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Operations and planning
Industrial output acts on 66 % of the volume here. If it weakens, cranes, tracks and gate show it at once; a rail strike stops terminal and marshalling yard together.
Pour quiTerminal operations, rail operations, planning
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Onboarding and training
Ride along with key F: a train arrives, is loaded and departs; a truck drives from the gate to the loading point. One line says what is happening.
Pour quiNew staff, rail and logistics trainees
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Local authorities and economic development
Car parts for the plants around Stuttgart, new cars for export: the model shows how closely the region depends on this rail hub.
Pour quiLocal authorities, economic development, chambers
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Schools, universities, museums
What happens in a combined-transport terminal, and how is a freight train re-formed? Both run side by side – also as a demo without anyone at the controls.
Pour quiSchools, universities, museums and exhibitions
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Public communication
The ‘Rail strike’ scenario shows at four times the speed how freight trains stand still and stocks pile up – and one tap brings back today.
Pour quiPublic relations, associations
What you can change
Controls
- Economy: How much is produced and traded overall. Acts on all flows of Kornwestheim.
- Consumer demand: Container goods and food for retail. Weight here about 34 % of the volume.
- Industrial output: Raw materials, steel, parts, chemicals. Weight here about 66 % of the volume.
- Transport cost / tolls: Expensive roads shift freight to rail and water. Here 76 % of the volume goes by road.
- Season: Spring: more building materials and seed, raw materials +8 %, food +5 %. Autumn: harvest (food +18 %), Christmas run-up (containers +8 %), first heating oil deliveries. Winter: heating oil and Christmas trade, less road capacity.
Disruptions
- Disruption: Motorway: One lane remains, the detour loads the neighbouring routes.
- Disruption: Rail strike (hits this site hardest): Freight trains stand still, trucks and ships take over part, stocks pile up.
- Extreme weather: Snow and ice (hits this site hardest): Bottlenecks overloaded, canals partly frozen.
What the model gives an intermodal terminal
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01
Two rail worlds in one place
Terminal and marshalling yard run side by side: loading units change mode, wagons change trains.
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02
Industry made visible
Car parts, chemicals, steel and building materials appear as mixed wagons. The industrial output control shows how much the hub depends on them.
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03
Disruptions without damage
Rail strike, snow and ice hit this site hardest. Trigger them, then return to today.
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04
Site and map in one model
Throughput, stock and utilisation are the same figures as on the Germany map, shown with live values in the site profile.
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05
For visits and big screens
Runs in the browser and on large projections, with a demo that starts without anyone at the controls.
Your terminal as a model
Would you like to see your cranes, tracks or train formation like this? Write or call us and we'll work out which train, loading unit and truck data the model needs. The password is available on request.
cube4tec.de/spiele/minimal-logistik/
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Minimal Logistik: Kornwestheim · KV-Terminal und Rangierbahnhof
Basis and limits
Real are the location, terrain and buildings of Kornwestheim (open elevation data and OpenStreetMap) and the figures in the site profile, taken from public information. Daily volumes, rhythms and vehicle numbers are model assumptions in the right order of magnitude; processes run accelerated.
Public sources the model is based on:
- OpenStreetMap contributors: map data (ODbL 1.0)
- OpenFreeMap / OpenMapTiles: vector tiles
- Terrain Tiles, AWS Open Data (Terrarium)
- Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan: project dossier Kornwestheim terminal
- Press: major works at the Kornwestheim terminal (2025)
- Federal Statistical Office: freight transport by mode
- German Environment Agency: freight emission data 2024 (g CO₂e per tonne-kilometre)
More places in the model
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Munich · Riem transhipment station
The transhipment station in the east of Munich as a walkable model: container trains from Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Italy, gantry cranes between train, yard and truck, and the A94 next door.
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Lehrte · MegaHub
A train-to-train transfer facility as a walkable model: six tracks of 720 m each, three gantry cranes, driverless transporters – and freight trains regrouped without shunting.
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Bremerhaven · car terminal and river quay
Bremerhaven as a walkable model: almost five kilometres of river quay for the largest container ships, straddle carriers, car trains and parking for about 95,000 vehicles at the mouth of the Weser.
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Großbeeren · freight village Berlin South
The freight village on the Berlin ring as a walkable model: distribution centres for retail and food, an intermodal terminal for goods from Hamburg, and the expressway the capital’s supply depends on.
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Germany · freight flows and nodes
All of Germany as a map of blocks: 27 nodes, 55 freight flows as bands of light, eleven bottlenecks with traffic lights. Controls, seasons, disruptions and ten scenarios change every flow at once, compared with today.
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Hamburg · Container Terminal Altenwerder
An automated container terminal as a walkable model: up to 14 container gantries, driverless transport vehicles, the block yard, a rail station for trains up to 740 m and the truck gate.
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Wilhelmshaven · JadeWeserPort and LNG terminal
Germany’s only deep-water port as a walkable model: the container quay on the Jade with straddle carriers and rail, plus the floating LNG terminal, a tank farm and the crude-oil pipeline to the refineries.
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Duisburg · logport I (Rheinhausen)
A trimodal inland port on the Rhine as a walkable model: Rhine barges with sea containers from Rotterdam, gantries and yard, trains to the south, Eastern Europe and Asia, trucks into the region.
Real are the location, terrain and buildings (open elevation data, OpenStreetMap) and the site profile figures. Volumes, rhythms and vehicle numbers are model assumptions, processes accelerated. With your data, the model also shows crane lifts per hour, trains per destination and trucks per slot.