When I drive freight at 75 miles in West Coast Main Line, I understand why I dislike US freight. They are all slow as hell!!!!!! Scenery also boring, except Tehachapi. Are there high-speed US freight routes?
Are you asking are there actual places where US freight reaches higher speed (answer is yes), or is there a route in TSW where US freight reaches higher speed (answer is also yes, see CJP Barstow-Victorville).
The thing is that the most interesting part of US freight are the mountain passes. Having trains so heavy and long navigating mountains is a thing kinda unique to US and Canada. And if you think the scenery in those passes is boring, then the high speed parts would be even worse. Becasue US is quite sprasly populated (36 people/km2 vs 281 people/km2 in the UK). So the high speed parts are more often big stretches of literally nothing, just flat land.
Sherman Hill is probably what you’re looking for, but as per the above, there’s not much going on with the scenery. It’s just the reality of how different railways work.
I wouldn't call Sherman Hill anything 'fast'. Uphill the trains don't have the power to reach line speed, and downhill it's generally advised to keep speed below 30mph or your dynamic brakes won't be able to provice enough braking force. I've heard Horseshoe Curve has a decent speed for a US freight route, although I don't own the route myself. Not sure why one would be looking for a US high speed freight route though. You either like the challenge of crossing mountainous terrain on a heavy (but slow) train, or you like speed, in which case you're probably better off with passenger trains. Freight and speed just don't mix very well, and even European freight trains are on a slow side when compared to European passenger trains.
Something tells me that OP isn’t looking for realism (come on, high speed freight). I’ve managed SMH a few times at line speed, you just need to find the right consists, but IMO it’s one of the faster ones (admittedly I don’t have HSC).
There was a high speed freight route done on TS Classic - can't remember name, maybe the hiline? but it's virtually a straight line from end to end, 75mph freight running, and IMHO one of the most "is it over yet" experiences i'd ever done I think I ran that route once for a preview stream and that's it. Marias Pass also speeds up once you get down the mountain for the run over the plains to Shelby - but again... after the thrill of the descent, it's just a high speed snooze while you wait for the odd tree to go past and Shelby to eventually arrive. Give me a slow difficult run down a mountain any day, personally - but hey each to our own Matt.
Oakville is probably the fastest TSW freight route in North America (albeit not US based). Flat and short, if you feel like doing something "meaningful" in 20 minutes.
Why is US freight so slow? Ship rolls downhill fast, as they say, and it’s your job to make sure it doesn’t turn into a high speed train. Because it definitely can if you lose control. The enjoyment comes from being the force that’s defying gravity. That 100 car consist wants to go downhill fast. It will if you let it. The fun is working the different brake systems in unison to fight gravity.
Mid section might be 'fast', but the first and last few miles in the yards has a slow speed limit. And as you said, not a long run either. EDIT: If fast freight is the niche you're looking for, I guess German routes are your best bet. The US aren't known for their fast trains.
Have a single line track out to Rockford (you played it in streaming on TSC-the IC&E now owned by CP from South Elgin), you could include the other two competitors and it is single line and interesting! Because it would include UP and the other Canadian operator I would be willing to pay £55 for it. Crossing (US term meet) other trains is so much fun and a challenge! Its why I bought the Munchen-Garmisch-Partenkirchen railway! Because double track is so boring all the time... https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=950260383 It's also why I enjoyed the Stevens Pass route too. Yes mountain passes can be very slow but challenging too. CSX Sand Patch has about 10 miles I think where you are going at about 50mph? But double track is boring.... Another one was Western Pacific Feather River Canyon. I loved that one. I guess the Aurora Racetrack is great (I hate to admit it lol) but please include a 25 mile extension west of it. Or just do the railroad to Rockford.... When I saw some of the clips on youtube I think this kind of railroading is sorely missing from TSW. You could even just use CSX locomotives (from Sand Patch) for the route if you wanted to focus on route development. It seems to have hills judging by the high notch settings in that video.
I'm confused. Are we still talking about TSW (considering we're in the TSW forums) or is OP looking for recommendations for TSC DLC?
Actually, CJP could be considered to be sorta fast US freight route, because if i'm not mistaken, in real life intermodal and autorack train allowed to run up to 70 mph from Victorville to Barstow (and vice versa). This isn't applicable to manifest and/or any other bulk train, they're limited to 55 mph on the same stretch of track.
Freight in TSC doesn't simulate well. TSW wins at this. I'm just curious what would it be like to drive long freight at high speed? German freight is not bad, but mostly it seems to be "giveaway", not as professional as US.
As a real world driver it is very enjoyable. High speed freight is great. Bulk low speed freight is satisfying too. Passenger ops is not so great.
For the US, the consists are usually several miles long and probably like several hundred thousand tons. Well if you got a filled consist miles long, it becomes extremely heavy. Considering several us freight routes go through and around mountains, hills and curves and lots of gradients, going fast would result in nothing but a disaster. You would lose control and derail. If it was flat terrain, then you can go fast. However on downhill gradients, you don't want to do that.
This video might give you a perspective. I see some medium speed running. If you like try searching youtube for high speed freight maybe new mexico arizona? Flagstaff out there it gets to 70MPH to victorville and heading towards Chicago on the mainline (BNSF?).....
BNSF Southern Transcon across NM & AZ would be a great addition to TSW. The scenery, the terrain, and legendary RR town.
US freight runs on tracks owned by freight companies, so they don't have to work around passenger trains (which is one of the reasons US passenger trains are less than ideal, to put it nicely). German freight companies, however, need to operate on tracks they do not own, which means their trains need to fit in a tight schedule of passenger services. Nothing unprofessional about these trains, but they're designed to overcome different challenge than in the US.
In game there isn't much, but as someone else mentioned, the BNSF Southern Transcon would be one of the fastest lines in the US. Back in the Santa Fe Era, the line saw probably the fastest freight train in the US, the Super C, which was a high speed/priority TOFC/COFC train between Los Angeles and Chicago. Alas, overtime shippers deemed the extra costs not worth it for a 40hr delivery, and it was eventually Discontinued in 1976. In the 2nd of the 2 tests, the train averaged about 63 miles per hour in 34.5hrs.
Actually, the freight companies are required by law to give priority to passenger trains. In practice is a different story, however, hence ongoing legal battles.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I love US freight. The beauty of slow US freight is, it's suppose to be slow. Why does everything have to move fast? No overhead wires, 100 plus wagons, going up and down mountains throughout the US, I mean she is amazing in just those facts. Weather is also a huge factor that US freight has to overcome due to traction. Appreciate US freight for what she is. Big, beautiful and unapologetic. She ain't no skinny girl moving 100 miles per hour.
From the outside American rail freight seems to be the most slapdash and unprofessional out of any Western country.
I'm not sure what basis you have for claiming that. North America and Europe are very different beasts when it comes to rail freight. For a start, the US alone does 5x the ton-miles of the whole of the EU. Then again, the maximum length of a train in Europe is usually 750m (though there have been experiments with 1500m trains to check whether they 'break' signalling blocks) or 2,500 feet, which is less than a quarter the length of a long freight train in the US (and the individual wagons making up the train are significantly heavier too, because the US has a bigger loading gauge).
Well, phrased that way I suppose it's a true statement, but the "known for" is a misapprehension. There are lots of US freight runs at 75+ (120 km/h +), especially in the Midwest, which is actually faster than freight is allowed to run in Germany- but as has been said, they would make for pretty dull TSW routes
It could be the fact that PSR has cause US freight to be not the great system as it could of been. Stupidly long trains, reduced crews and maintence. etc....
A statement so ignorant one almost suspects malice. Europeans are children playing with toys by comparison. I'll grant you passenger rail, but the US wrote the book on freight.
Well, there's plenty of criticism that the extreme length of freight trains ( up to 3 miles ) increases the risks of derailments, safety and crew stress, so much so that some Class1 roads are rethinking the whole idea, maybe backing away from some elements of PSR.
Also, when trains are so long that they can't even fit into sidings or are parked across road crossings, that's a problem.....
The fastest freight train in the game can be put together with unfortunately a non US locomotive. Frist you need a place with a manual yard. Place a bunch of geman or UK freight trains get rid of there locos Next place a TGV pull off one of it's power cars Hook it up to the freight wagons. And your ready to burn up the rails with a very fast freight train.
American rail workers are killed on the job at six times the rate of their British counterparts. American railroads have a nonexistent safety culture and ineffective regulators.
Ah, I only know US freight rail by the routes made in TSC and TSW. If all of these 75+mph routes are left out on purpose, I guess I'm misinformed. Thanks for correcting me.
These 'children toys' are probably still the most efficient way to do freight in the European landscape. Mile-long freight trains like in the US would simply not work in Europe. Judging by TSC/TSW DLC, especially freight trains in Germany seem pretty advanced, with several safety features, running on tracks that have an advanced signalling system and mostly electrified. As for TSC/TSW, although US freight trains come with unique challenges, I find operating German freight trains at least as challenging, especially since you're sharing the tracks with so many other trains.
BNSF Cajon Pass has 75 MpH stretches, and certain trains are permitted to run at up to 70 MpH: https://fobnr.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/CALIFORNIALOSANGELES-03-032608.pdf note this is a 15 years old employee timetable, perhaps nowadays with the dominance of more sophisticated locomotives and track re-alignments there might be more high speed tracks and trains this is a critical transport artery so the operating, train make-up, motive power requirements and braking demands are very detailed and complicated UP's Sherman Hill is also available in the game and also has high track speeds
US freight moves slow so you can admire the beauty and appreciate how she can be miles long, tons of weight, up and down some of steepest terrains in the country, and still get the goods to their objective. Amazing. Most delicious meals take a long time to cook. Slow can be good.
Whoa whoa whoa since when this thread transforming from discussing high-speed US freigth run to become Country A has less worker fatalities per year than the Country B. Cmon guys.
American freight trains tends to be really long and heavy I don’t see the point of high speed freight ( by high speed I suppose speed above 150 kph ). And because of its huge length brakes tends to take much more times to applies so that’ll be dangerous if it was running at a significant high speed. I’m doing a small off topic but I don’t see the point of high speed freight trains, I’m my country we used to have one running at 200 kph but on the LGV at night and because of the numerous maintenance during closing times at the end you’ll end up saving just 15 minutes and because of the high speed the convoy was limited to 9 wagons so that was not a good idea.
Plenty of criticism originating with the unions, whose interest of course is $$$. If they can succeed in splitting trains into three or four trains, that's three or four times as many dues-paying crew.
Uh-huh. And the UK moves only 9 billion ton-miles per year. The US moves 1.4 trillion. Which makes the US rail accident rate a mere 4% of Britain's. Unsurprising, considering how 1950s British freight rail operations are, from safety systems to signage to the use of manual couplers to a bloodyminded reliance on fallible human memory.
You are a fool if you think complaints about long trains solely originate from union leaders, or even just rail employees. The thing is, you have to prove that accidents per ton-miles makes sense as a measure of safety, which I don't think it does. Yes, because it's not like most American railroads lacked safety systems until very recently, or had large chunks of track unsignalled, or still to this day send 80mph trains over unsignalled level crossings...
And why, pray, shouldn't the railroad workers, through their unions, have a say in the running of their industry. Teachers do, doctors do, journalists do, even solicitors do, bless their pointy little heads.
