Hi Adam, the first thing is that Content Manager should not be failing to download from the DLS. Do you have the latest TS09 upgrade installed? What version number is your TS09?
Secondly, what are you interested in? UK, US, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia? There are many good routes and sessions on the DLS that were built in earlier versions of Trainz, but with a little encouragement they can be persuaded to run in TS09 native mode. They will all run in compatibility mode if you have a machine with plenty of horsepower.
Also, there are more and more TS09 routes added every month, so if you can get CM to work, you shouldn't have a problem finding something you like. - you can always delete it if you don't like it.
Cheers