Sd75i

Discussion in 'Loco Suggestions & Proposals' started by Cyclone, Dec 17, 2020.

  1. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Let's be honest. The SD75 (properly known as the SD75M) was not a very popular locomotive in the industry. The only reason I know this is because I researched it looking for replacements for some Workshop scenarios, and found none. This led me to Wikipedia, where I found the only non-BNSF models belong to Canadian National (25 to be exact).

    This led me to the SD75I. This was a relatively more successful variant of the locomotive, with 207 in total manufactured. BNSF did claim 26 of them. However, CN bought 175 of them. 6 more went to Ontario Northland. All remain in service save two that were wrecked.

    My suggestion is simple. Let's have the CN SD75I created to give that option for those not able to acquire the BNSF SD75. For a bonus touch, add the Ontario Northland set of 6. Naturally, we cannot touch the BNSF one, but anyone who really wants it can create the skin themselves and make it for free so that DTG is not involved with it. This train can either go with my Toronto route idea (perhaps the Ontario Northland model can be positioned in scenarios coming from Sudbury or other northern areas, while others can be utilized elsewhere - and don't track to Sudbury, that's about 3 hours north, but maybe as far as Parry Sound) or it can be offered as a stadalone DLC. If we include both skins, the separate loco DLC would probably not be feasible given it would not be used in Alberta, most likely.

    Picture: [​IMG]

    More information: http://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/SD75_Series
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2020
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  2. steammaster4449

    steammaster4449 Well-Known Member

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    Ooh ooh ooh!!
    That classic car is bloody NICE, just like this entire suggestion. I'd certainly like to see an SD75i in Train Sim.

    Edit: OOH OOH!! That's a Chevy Bel-Air!!!
    I may or may not be a classic car guy as well as a railfan.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2020
  3. jedi247

    jedi247 Well-Known Member

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    The CN SD75Is are a fantastic idea for the new CN routes released recently. I really would rather have the BNSF version though. A BNSF SD75 pack could include both BNSF and ATSF SD75Ms in Warbonnet livery and BNSF SD75Is in Warbonnet and H3 liveries.
     
  4. Average_Joe57

    Average_Joe57 Active Member

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    This would be a welcome addition, great idea.
     
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  5. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    It also cannot be acquired internationally. It will not happen. CN has a better chance than BNSF because it can be sold globally. Also, there is already an SD75 pack for BNSF. I'd love to tell you more about that, but it's regionally blocked from viewing in the store, unlike others I can look at but not purchase.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2020
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  6. JGRudnick

    JGRudnick Well-Known Member

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  7. Mich

    Mich Well-Known Member

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    They're aware, but as they note it's only available in the US, so can't buy it internationally, thus the point would be to offer the CN version to get around this.
    There's a really good set of CN paints available available at Railworks America & Train Sim Corner if I remember correctly, would highly recommend.
     
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  8. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Of course, that doesn't help those of us who live in Canada. I mean, sure, there is probably a way for me to still use it legally, but it would not be within my own copy of the game. The idea is that everyone can obtain it legally. It's better to skin BNSF on top of other locos, not skin other locos on top of BNSF.
     
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  9. Mich

    Mich Well-Known Member

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    I understand, that's why my reply was directed to JGRudnick.
    If it was more modern it very well might've but keep in mind this was made before the international BNSF issues were a factor for DTG.
     
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  10. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    I know this. I'm sure they did not themselves make anything BNSF since. I just wish I could get some of them for Workshop stuff. Realism out the window, I suppose.
     
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  11. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    So I did some further research.

    Railworks America has the SD75I in CN livery. There's only one problem. Take a wild guess what that is.

    I asked an owner of the BNSF model to send me the manual for it and took a peek. Since this is not available internationally, I upload it here. Notice on page 6, inside the cab. Take a wild guess what is not labeled. Also, guess which four page guide pertaining to how that item works is not included. If you need a hint, look at Sherman Hill, Feather River Canyon, and Donner Pass. I also checked a gameplay video for the BNSF train and noticed the feature in question not activate on the opening animation, confirming it's not there.

    So here's what I'm suggesting to DTG, and I'll stop being ambiguous:
    1. Obtain the rights to the CN skin.
    2. Update the train to have the air braking functionality of today's standard models.
    3. Make any updates to the cab pertaining to operation and any new features that are now workable via previously unusable controls.
    4. New product is completed to satisfy this request. I'll be happy to beta test it over the mountains, too! Or even in a Workshop scenario that uses the old model, I can swap it in.
    This doesn't seem like it would take too much effort to get done. So let's get it done? Pretty please? Travel By Train would be a good choice for this one, if DTG does not do it personally.
     

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    Last edited: Jan 30, 2021
  12. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Let's add some more recent sightings to back this proposal.

    - On March 6 of this year, CN SD75I #5705 was spotted and photographed in Bancroft, Michigan, 21 miles away (as the crow flies, 26 by car) from Flint, Michigan, a proposed terminus for a U.S. end of a route featuring the St. Clair Tunnel between Sarnia and Port Huron.
    - A day earlier, #5632 was seen up in Armstrong, Ontario. #5638 was there in February, as was #5679.
    - #5777 found its way to Battle Creek, Michigan on February 16, 2021. It was in Montreal, Quebec five days later.
    - #5720 was around Minneapolis looking for love on Valentine's Day, and found a camera capturing it.
    - #5751 was in both Catskull and Coxsackie, New York, on March 1. It could be theoretically possible for it to make a freight run on the NEC near New York, which gives it some scenario potential.
    - Among these images is only one BNSF entry. That was a week ago today, #281. The overabundance of CN pictures shows that the BNSF SD75 was probably not the best choice for that model, and the CN model would be more recognized at this time.

    I have in the past supported this train being paired with Toronto, Ontario. However, given the recent pictures in the area between Flint and Sarnia, I'm going back to putting it on a line with the St. Clair Tunnel as an international freight train for that route. A U.S. option can also be added. Since Flint to London is too long (over 200 miles), this can be split into two halves and with the same origin points for Sarnia and Port Huron, allowing for a route merge.

    To supplement Sarnia, Ontario, being featured in these ideas, I looked up the story of CNR engine #6069. You can find that story here in the Sarnia Journal, found via Google Search. That engine is on permanent display in Centennial Park, Sarnia. If I wanted to, I could go get pictures of it myself. The train is not kept on the track, but next to it. The track to the freight dock is still there, just not used to my knowledge.

    EDIT: I have learned that CN SW1200s scuttled to the docks along Front Street in the early 1990s and this was once a very busy area, with a tripled track in front of the building that was at the time the Sarnia Observer (they are nearby now, but the old entrance is now a different business). Supposedly, the track, after singling, ran all the way to what is now the Point Edward Charity Casino. The track currently doubles after passing "Betty" (CNR 6909 on display) and now ends at the dock, and apparently there was some use of some sort in the 2010s. So if the route is dated to 1990, not only does that give us the original St. Clair Tunnel instead of the replacement one that now operates, but we have more CN train options that ran back then. The SD75 would fit today in the current tunnel. So two route options exist for the area, and perhaps the Sarnia side would be best dated back to the 90s (for Kellogg's freight from London, Ontario and the Point Edward stub with the SW1200s) while the Port Huron side to Flint (or, if made super long, all the way to Battle Creek, but this is excessive for this project) is dated to today, and route mergers can simply merge them using the respective tunnels and have two merges, one for present-day (new tunnel) and one for the 90s (St. Clair Tunnel). Present-day removes the track in the St. Clair Tunnel and only runs through the new tunnel.

    Here are some of the recent SD75 pictures. I feature here the ones from Bancroft, Armstrong, and Battle Creek.

    EDIT: Images seem to have culled themselves from the post suddenly. I will link them. Here is Bancroft, Armstrong, and Battle Creek.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
  13. JGRudnick

    JGRudnick Well-Known Member

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    1) They probably did a BNSF model as there weren't any Canadian routes to run a CN version on.
    2) BNSF has sold nearly all of their SD75's to leasing companies.
     
  14. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Regarding point 2, that makes sense then. They'd have other liveries or be rarely used then? Regardless, it means the CN one is the main one, so it just adds more fuel to this (moreso because CN bought way more of them).

    Regarding point 1, yes, the first Canadian route was CMP in 2014. BNSF SD75 Loco, per SteamDB (since I can't view on Steam directly), came out May 10, 2012. So that's logical and I figured it was related due to its age, and even that pack I know uses Cajon Pass (I acquired the manual). We do have a good excuse for the CN one now, though, with several existing routes and a good one to consider adding. That said, the images gallery does have sightings in Illinois (likely the same Michigan route), Mississippi, Alabama (this one is a cool picture, BTW), and Georgia all from this year, and I have not yet seen one in western Canada (likely because CP territory, though CP has a yard in Toronto and I'm sure CN has a yard somewhere in Vancouver). So it could have been placed on any American route and still fit in. I'm just glad it wasn't bundled with the BNSF one as it would be forever unavailable.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
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  15. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    Let's get more SD75I pictures to keep this idea alive. Sadly, the search function is so archaic I'm not finding the newest pictures very easily, I need to figure that out.

    On May 18, 2020, from Kitchener, Ontario, #5790 was taken by Emmett Liddell: [​IMG]

    Matthew Tozier got this one of #5778 on August 7, 2021:
    [​IMG]

    And from Chicago, Illinois, right in the realm of The Racetrack, Seth Lakin took a shot of #5782 on July 14, 2021:
    [​IMG]

    Two of those bolster once again my Toronto idea and having the SD75I included with such a route, if done. The third shows it has use outside of Ontario, and I've seen shots in New York, suggesting it could possibly be found on the NEC as well.
     
  16. hayward.john48

    hayward.john48 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully the SD75 will be released in its BNSF and SF forms now the licensing thing is sorted and then the repaint on RWA can be utilised.
     
  17. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    The BNSF form is already released. The world will have access sooner or later. The CN one is the one I am attempting to propose, and I'd prefer there not be a BNSF entry - in the same pack, at least - just in case this happens again.
     
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