All Caltrain Content Being Removed On 27 February [update: Unbranded Version Coming 16/10/25]

Fanatics yes.
But you know how personal perspectives differ.
Just get any more than two old men in a room and ask them about the "old days" and they'll bicker for ages.
And there are a lot of railways out there who do historical stuff, especially diesel across the United States.
It's often down more to recreating the route I think not the stock.
Because while you can preserve a train, you don't preserve whole cities.
Much of that can't be simply taking a camera on a weekend trip to document.
It'd take a lot of research to document, down to the level that the "fanatics" on the forum would demand, including where signal boxes were, what color each house was from a black and white photograph, etc.
If people can argue over an actual train sitting in front of them, how much will they argue over an interpretation of buildings and track from grainy photographs?

 

DTG won’t be making things in an older period as a solution to licensing. Those older brands still require licensing and older content does not bring in enough money. They’ll be making some modern content elsewhere. That’s what brings in the big money not grandad’s trains.

 

Yes, and renewing the licence would’ve been the best all round option, but this is a half way house. Personally find all these licensing issues disappointing

 

Okay, tell that to the people who just did Pipestone or all the other historical routes in TSC. For starters the USGS has a massive topographic map collection going back to the last century and Perry Castaneda also has most US States well covered with topo maps. There’s libraries, both digital and real that show old time routes. I have a very nice coffee table book which was given to me by a former work colleague (now worth about £80) all about the Milwaukee Road.

It just needs a willingness to put the effort in, spend a bit of time and maybe money to gather information that’s not just sitting on Google Earth and Streetview,

And if all else fails, ad lib a bit. They managed it with SoS and PFR, not like there will be 100’s of people still vertical to go through and nitpick every detail!

 

Yeah I have a few discontinued items for tsc. They do remain in my library though.
I'm not sure about tsw on the other hand.

There's already some dlc missing, that I have purchased over the years, unless I install older versions of tsw. Of course this starts to take up space I don't have.

 

There will be.

 

Nevertheles, TSW is a very good Sim. Nothing is perfect-

 

Yes.

And is anyone else wondering how HIS can do things like game packs with new rolling stock and prospective new routes that DTG seems either unwilling or incapable of doing.

Frankly, I've never bought their excuses for not building new US content, even using existing catalog assets if they need to plus the information you describe.

 

What happens if you paid money for this DLC, do you get a refund? You buy a product, you expect to own it for a lifetime or have at least have the use of it.

 

It isn't taken away from you. It stays in your library, at least for TSC, TSW2000, TSW2, TSW3, TSW4 & TSW5.

 

Ok, so if you have to rebuild your hard drive or replace your console, you can still download it?

 

I guess this explains why we suddenly stopped hearing news about the planned Oakville Subdivision passenger layer (which would’ve used the Caltrain Baby Bullet add-on). These license extensions are probably often negotiated way in advance so you don’t risk a “gap” in the license. And when they realized they weren’t gonna be able to get a deal done, they stopped work on anything to do with the affected add-ons.

 

Yes. Just like the original Project Platform or other items withdrawn from TSC, once you own it the item remains in your library to download ad infinitum. Just entirely new purchases are no longer possible. Where it could hurt, is if DTG did a future route around SF (though that seems unlikely in the current hiatus) and had a Caltrain layer or AI, if you didn’t already own the items then you’d be stuffed. Though I expect withdrawal of the licence probably precludes DTG doing that anyway.

 

Still not in sale on PS store, next week maybe?

 

Potentially but it may not go on sale on PS at all. There may not have been time to set it up. This looks like it has all happened quite quickly.

 

Would be nice if, if there was no time for sales, they just gave away free keys for all the Caltrain DLC lol

 

Would certainly grab the TSC versions, which I don’t own at all. Looks like that now the only way to see Gilroy in a train sim, now.

 

help

 

Mmmmmh not surprised to be honest, it’s the same situation as the Virgin DLCs from TSC removed but because they ceased to exist as a TOC. Bis repetita here, I don’t think though it will cause an issue to be available for future iterations, if Caltrain ever come back it has to be the updated line electrified with Kiss double decker.

 

You're not "losing" the DLC in theory. You CAN keep TSW 4 or earlier installed on your computer to play it. A few people do. I still have TSW 4 installed. It just isn't updated to versions after that. It's like if you buy a Playstation 2 game and buy a Playstation 3. You still have that Playstation 2 and the game so just play it. But the SONY won't go back and make sure you can play the older game.
People who want a refund because they "can't play the DLC" don't have a case.
They can play it.
And they'd have to sue SONY for refunds on every playstation game prior to the PS 5, which would be silly.

 

Has anyone actually said that?

 

I don't know if anyone has actually asked DTG or Steam for a refund.
I don't work at either place.

 

Regardless, given the whole premise of compatible content with future iterations, it’s disappointing

 

Not generally too interested in NA content, but are the 2 loco DLCs worth getting? I’ve already got Peninsula Corridor but just missing the switcher and Baby Bullet.

 

if you put a lot of time into the route, then the baby bullet is definitely worth considering. it’s a nice change from the F40 and has some just A to B runs and some services where it stops at almost every station. I would only recommend the switcher if you like slower, shunting services. It’s a nice addition to the route, but you can complete most of, if not all, the services within a day or two.

 

They need to clarify the below statement.,
It states you still be able to play if you own it for your "current" version. That could mean future titles they can publish but not sell it.

. If you already own the add-ons above, or decide to purchase them before the February 27th deadline, you will not be impacted by the licence expiry and will be able to continue enjoying the official Caltrain branded content for the current version of Train Sim World that you are playing.

 

With the Festival of Rail sale, the Caltrain DLC is not included. The sale will probably take place after the Festival of Rail sale ends on the 13th.

Yes. They add quite a bit of variety to the route, and the MP15DC adds special double-length trains to the timetable.

 

I wonder what this means for the inevitable TSW6. Will they still be able to carry over the Caltrain content or will it end because it would technically be “new” content if they re-release it as a free TSW6 add on.

The sentence “for the current version you are playing” makes me think it will end after TSW5.

 

The three possibilities:

• DTG release new versions of the Caltrain DLC for TSW6, unlisted, so that existing owners can continue to use it but that can't be bought by those who didn't buy it for prior versions.
• DTG press ahead with releasing unbranded versions for TSW6. I would not expect these to be released for TSW5, to avoid a Train Simulator branding situation where duplicates of DLCs with different branding are present at the same time.
• New versions of the Caltrain DLC are not made, meaning that TSW6 will not have the DLC in any form.

While I would urge the community to wait and see, I think we should expect the latter. Luckily TS doesn't have this issue (and if DTG had listened to us, neither would TSW), but it is going to be an awkward situation in the future.

 

DTG Alex or DTG Harry Please can you share which of the above is the plan with us? Thanks

 

But you forgot the first part of that sentence.

you will not be impacted by the licence expiry and will be able to continue enjoying the official Caltrain branded content

Which makes me think they will just release an unlisted DLC for the next iteration.

 

Sad to see TSW lose a licence, but it gives me an opportunity to get the MP15DC which I never got around to getting (at least once it goes on sale). Peninsula Corridor was a bit of a hit and miss route for me...scenery-wise I think it fell short (even at the time of release), but especially now when compared to later US offerings

 

I don't see how they can possibly say what might happen in the future with an as-yet non-existent product! All they can say is the here and now.

 

DTG should know the terms of the licence and what it allows them to do.

Either, the licence being revoked means that the content can still be supported on future game iterations for existing customers only, or it means that it can no longer be supported on future game iterations for anyone, regardless of if they owned the DLC prior.

This kind of thing will have been part of the internal discussion with regard to compatible content, and therefore they should be able to share it with us. If they don't know, they could also reply that they don't know.

 

I'd like to think Dovetail and Caltrain would have some sort of agreement that allows Dovetail to create "new" versions of the Caltrain DLCs for future installments on the understanding that they are unavailable for purchase, in the same way that existing versions are.

 

I don’t think removing all the branding from the route would be a huge task. Remember when LNR withdrew their license and they removed all their branding (train + stations) from the WCML route within days? I guess they’re currently evaluating if/when they can make such an unbranded version happen for SFJ, preferably with some additional features (like TOD4) to make the development more worth it, so they can’t share concrete plans yet.

 

This is bad news as this could also happen to any licences. We could lose other dlcs. Makes one think twice about buying any more DlC's.

I for one don't want to move on the tsw6 and leave dlcs in the bin.

This did not happen TSC.

 

At that point the DLC hadn't been released yet. Peninsula Corridor and the other Caltrain DLCs have been out for years, so there isn't the profit incentive that WCML South had.

You're not losing any licenses. You will always be able to play the DLC in TSW1-5, and that won't change. The only question is whether you'll be able to in TSW6.

 

it will only no longer for sale after that date that is all

too bad it is not on a huge discount now for the people who do not own those dlc yet
Festival of Rail is a good opportunity for that

 

We barely have U.S routes as it is. This is a true killer lol. Though I understand, not DTGs fault.

 

Looks like the last Caltrain sale has begun on TSW, starting with Epic Store's Winter Sale at 80% off on all 3.
Sales - Epic Games Winter Sale Now On!

Feb. 12th marks the Playstation's Planet of the Discouts Sale also at 80% off on all 3.
Playstation Planet Of The Discounts Sale! (12th - 26th February 2025)

 

80% doesn’t seem crazy good for a final sale tbh. LGV was 90% off late last year for example. Kind of hoped the sales would be that level or better

 

80% off not a big enough discount? Now I’ve heard everything lol.

 

My reasons are:

1. We have no confirmation this will carry forwards unlisted to future TSW iterations - this is the main one
2. The content is old - released 2019/2020 - so not up to latest TSW standards
3. Generally in an everything must go fire sale (used more as an analogy here as keys aren’t limited), discounts are very high. In shops, I’ve even seen things for like 1p before
4. TSW Core is not very stable still so doesn’t make sense to put more money into DLC for it
5. Not really a fan of non-UK DLC

So I feel it’s reasonable for me to not deem the discount to be compelling enough for me to purchase it. Of course if these aren’t concerns for you you’re welcome to your opinion too, and I won’t say ‘lol’ about it.

 

This made me chuckle, 2019, check that's definitely old in game lifespans, 2029 tho, how can something be old if it's 4 years in the bleeding future.......

 

Oops lol, think that was meant to be 2020

 

All Caltrain content is on sale in PS store as of today. 80% discounts for the route DLC and both locos.

 

Where the hell is my face palm emoji?

80% is better than 50% off and way better than nothing at all. Geez talk about being ungrateful.

Hentis

 

Absolutely right. You can get the total pack for under 10 quid now, which is ridiculously low. For some people it's just never good enough.

 

Tbh given the last two, I suspect you wouldn't pick them up if they were free. I'm in the same boat, because I have absolutely no interest in it.