I've suggested having scenic/luxury trains in TSW, and one I really want would be the Alaska Railroad. I believe the best route would be the Denali Star From Anchorage to Wasilla, with some services including wilderness express dome coaches at the end. This train is one I really want to ride in my lifetime. Alaska Railroad Denali Star Image Source: Wikimedia Commons Wilderness Express Dome Train Image Source: Alaska Tour and Travel
As long as we can get some freight scenarios as well, since Anchorage does have a decent sized yard and some industries that are served by the ARR. Locos would most likely be the GP38-2 or the GP40-2 and the SD70MAC (With and without HEP)
This route is high on my list of next purchases for TS1, if this were to be added to TSW2, that would be so awesome! The scenery is stunning, and it affords the opportunity to add the SD70MAC into the game.
Aside from the scenery, which speaks for itself, the thing I liked most about the TS version was the great selection of locos and especially the rolling stock. They would be terrific in TSW.
Having had the privileged opportunity of riding on the Denali Star from Fairbanks to Anchorage myself, this route would be an absolute dream come true. Without a doubt one of the most beautiful railroads in the US. It’s operations are quite interesting as well. Most of the railroad isn’t equipped with line side signals so the trains rely on Direct Traffic Control (DTC), basically the train dispatcher gives track authority directly to the train crew via radio transmission to enter a block. Here’s an awesome vid: That’s like 25,000+ horsepower
I've never been on the Denali Star, but I really want to ride it from Anchorage to Fairbanks in GoldStar Class.
I'll be with the Sales & Marketing manager for the Alaska Railroad next week if this is still of interest, I can see if there's a way they can agree to some licensing or whatnot that's required. We already have the Seward link, but we're missing the ARR passenger cars, Princess Rail (and McKinley Explorer) and the Wilderness Express cars.
Dont think Licensing is a problem, Trains and Drivers was able to make the Anchorage - Seward route for TSC. Only real issue is getting the correct passenger cars and freight stock modeled. Not to mention the addition of HEP to ARR's fleet of SD70MAC's.
