Steam locomotives are very interesting to drive, but driving the same 2 locomotives is becoming repetitive. Some german/american Steam Locomotives would be very interesting.
Nice that someone also noticed that there are still no German or American steam locomotives in TSW. Everything that concerns steam is currently too UK-heavy. It's probably also because many 3rd parties from the UK have just released their content or are about to do so. I don't really miss old historical routes like SOS, but rail tour trips with steam locomotives, like on LFR, NID or DCZ. Meanwhile you can do rail tours with steam locomotives on almost every UK route, there are always the same basic models as in SOS, but overall it's more variety. I've been begging for a steam locomotive (like on the poster in the Training Center) since the end of last year, but there's still silence in the woods. Meanwhile the collectable poster at NID has kindled new hope again. BTW: the RailSim developers seem to have heard me and have already published great screenshots of their Ty2 or BR52!
I’m really surprised we haven’t seen a “big” UP loco for Sherman Hill with an excursion layer on Cane Creek. Steam traction arrived in TSW with a huge fanfare and is now died down to a whimper. PF is only really giving us one new loco, the other two are recycled. That said, until they can get steam physics sorted properly on the relatively simple UK locos, maybe it’s for the best.
These are called the big boy & Challenger these are 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration. Both are seen in TSC but not TSW
Agreed. Much as I'd like to see it, I can't imagine DTG building a complex loco like a Challenger for TSW at this juncture. There are many more manageable American locos, but currently nowhere to run them.
...to draw the attention for this thread! I also agree that a colossus like Big Boy is currently still too complex to implement as simply as in TSC. That's why every physics update for the UK steam locomotives certainly helps to get a little closer to the goal.
Just a note - the Big Boy is a 4-8-8-4 as you've indicated, but the Challenger class was a 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement. It would be neat to see some big North American steam. There were a lot of interesting Mallet-type wheel arrangements floating around the US (and the world). The 4-6-6-4 found a home on a number of railroads across the US, not just the Union Pacific which opens up some cool other opportunities. I'm particularly partial the the Southern Pacific cab forward classes - such unique looking beasts!
Okay then and for these locomotives they should be played differently than a British and German steam locomotive. For a German 2-10-0 DR Baureihe 52.80 Tharandter Rampe you would play it something like Frisco 1630 and UK 9F which younger people call Murdoch from Thomas and Friends. Same way as how you call a Battle of Britain steam locomotive Rebecca
Pedantry alert: The Mallet design was compound- high-pressure cylinder exhaust fed into a low-pressure cylinder (e.g. the Norfolk & Western Y6). But the Big Boy and Challenger weren't: they were articulated single-expansion engines (basically two locomotives sharing a hinged frame). The problem with the Mallet, and why US builders abandoned the idea after the 1920s*, was that the LP cylinder simply couldn't get any bigger and remain within loading gauge. *Except for the Eastern coal railroads, which favored grunt over speed
Pedantry most welcome! I didn't realize Mallet specifically referred to the high pressure - low pressure cylinder pairing. Thanks for the correction and the insight! I always found the triplex engines that some eastern roads trialed fascinating. They were really just a blip on the radar, but they'd be a really interesting addition if we ever had some eastern coal hauling modeled.
I can only imagine how bad US steam would be given how other US releases have been in the past. Only way I want to see them in TSW, is if DTG 1st fixes their steam physics 1st, then see if Mike Rennie (Smokebox) is willing to cooperate with DTG for a TSW US steam release (Which I don't think it will happen, as I don't think he has any interest in TSW, plus he still develops models for TSC, such as his upcoming 0-6-0)
I really don’t want DTG to release any steam locomotives no matter if it’s German or American unless they improve steam system on the game because for now it’s not really enjoyable and I feel like SOS is and will remains a beta version of steam with no significant changes. I won’t say no to some Big Boy on the future that would be awesome to ride it
He'll probably be able to share some reference material and sounds but I don't see him really making anything. Well first he has to learn how to use unreal engine which is lots of work for just 1 person. I don't see him making a dlc on his own due to being a solo developer and tsw to be a lot of work and requiring a whole team.
If and when DTG decide to do a non-UK steam route, which I suspect would not be until after they have released the manual firing update and associated improvements, I would think the first would a German route and hopefully set in the 1950s or 1960s alongside other steam. A likely first locomotive could be the DRB Class 52 2-10-0 due their widespread use and sheer amount of them that were produced (over 7000). Ultimately I would really want to see an American route set in ~ 1946-1950, which would be about when steam reached its zenith in America before the rapid phasing out and scrapping of many prominent steam classes by most railroads in the early-to-mid 50s. I'd love to see something like a Pennsylvania Railroad or New York Central route. A Pennsylvania Railroad route with a K4s 4-6-2 and I1s 2-10-0 might be a good starting point, both of which are considerably larger than any steam loco than ran in Europe, except for a few Soviet classes. Speaking of which, a Soviet steam route would also be fantastic, IS20 2-8-4s, P36 4-8-4s, E class 0-10-0s (nearly 11000 built) and so on, although very unlikely. I'm glad that DTG so far have chosen to do period routes set in an era when steam was still active and hope this continues.
