Hey I need help deciding which US freight route to get. I’m thinking either Clinchfield or Horseshoe Curve. Which do you recommend?
Depends on what you like. Clinchfield is older with the f7 and sd40. You get services on the branchlines and the mainline. Scenery wise, it is really dense but monotonous cuz you just see trees everywhere. Runs can get challenging depending on where you are on the route. There are some issues. For example, there is no banking comm and there are services with trailing locos. So you can't go up a hill unless you use the rear camera to control the trailing locos manually. And there's a couple services where you have to speed to not get caught in a red light. Horseshoe curve is modern and more colorful in terms of scenery. You can go fast if you want. The south fork branch is really slow though at 10 mph. The included gevo isn't terrible to drive but it does have not great sounds and the braking mechanics/physics are off. There's a lot more services than clinchfield. I personally enjoy horseshoe curve better cuz it looks better and there's more to do. At the end of the day, you choose what you want.
CRR is quiet single track but amazing experience. So called turns are local-like coal trains ops in sequence, including maneuevers. Definetly a must for US freight lovers. The "biggest" (small) issue with CRR is incomplete scenery and night lighting. Some scenarios are pitch black. Still, one of my favorites DLCs.
If you already have Cajon Pass then you have the best one. If not, that’s the one to get, along with the Santa Fe F7 loco. Clinchfield is better than Horseshoe Curve because it works better. Some services can’t be completed but it’s much better overall. The AC loco on Horseshoe has terrible dynamic brake behaviour and is the worst sounding train in TSW.
The best US freight route in TSW is still Sand Patch Grade, even though it's close to 5 years old. If you own TSW2, you already have it. Cajon Pass is a very close second and Horseshoe Curve is also pretty good. Clinchfield is fine, as long as you don't drive at night. I always recommend Oakville Sub, mainly because it comes with the GP9RM, still the best loco in the game, in my humble opinion. If you're on PC, the Steam sale is coming up and might allow you to get 2 or 3 of them.
Er, no you don't. You have it if you own TSW2020 or TSW2. If you only own TSW3, you have to buy it as a separate DLC.
Cajon Pass is fantastic, but mine had sound bugs which ruined it. I had to get a sound mod to fix it and now it's my favorite! Sand Patch Grade is also really nice. While not the most popular, probably due to the slow speeds, Cane Creek is absolutely beautiful and I still have no problem recommending it.
Cane Creek is good if you don't mind slow but the scenery is fantastic, I agree that Sandpatch stlll gives a good drive, just a shame that so many of the Journey scenarios have you switching up and down the yard rather than running the main line. Oakville is quite appealing and most of the scenarios and runs are fairly short. Clinchfield as mentioned is nice for a bit of retro but the SD40's have issues with sound (it can drop out when you go to exterior view and back in the cab) and although scenic(ish) most of the route is in a heavily wooded valley with no distant views. Cajon is okay. I only just bought HSC, seems okay not really played it that much as very similar to Sandpatch. Sherman Hill is boring. Needs GTEL's or something to liven it up. The Steam sale should land in about a week so worth waiting to see what offers there are - you might pick up 2 or 3 routes for the regular price of one.
