Edit: I'm putting this edit up top to let those who see this know to continue on down to see my continuation of the suggestion through the Milwaukee Road's FP45's. I'm aware that we already have the F45 in-game, with reskins available on various websites, but the FP45 IS a different animal that was originally built for different purposes, but that does mean one could take the current F45 model and use it as reference whilst making a new, high quality FP45 model, and have it available in the various liveries and configurations the FP45's have had throughout the years, from the Santa Fe to the Wisconsin Central, with and without gryralites, with and without simulated steam heat, and for what-if scenarios, have Amtrak liveries with both properly simulated steam heat and head end power plugs and cables and proper HEP simulation. Granted, this might be asking for a bit much, but hey, we've seen some pretty advanced things come out for Train Sim in recent years, so I think having something that's quite possibly around the level of Armstrong Powerhouse's Class 68 Enhancement Pack IS doable. Why, the majority of sounds could either be recorded directly from any of the operable FP45's in preservation or one could work with Searchlight Simulations to use their 20 cylinder EMD 645 sound pack as the majority of sounds for the locos, with any other needed sounds being added in. Now, in regards to the passenger cars, it'd be nice to have some Santa Fe passenger cars that the FP45's would've pulled in regular service, from RPO's and heavyweights all the way up to the hi-levels and transition cars they pulled on the El Capitan and Super Chief. Granted, the whole deal with BNSF being nitpicky about logos and all that jazz would end up being a problem, but one could negate this by leaving the models unbranded and all, but then that leaves the branding up to reskiners and there's most likely people out there who don't like dealing with installing reskins, but hey, their loss.
Why shoot, if one so desired to, they could make both as built steam heat equipped and Amtrak certified HEP equipped versions of the passenger cars with good quality interior views for the majority of them, whilst having head out views for the baggage cars.
I would love an ATSF FP45 pack with passenger cars. The El Capitan or a Full Dome could have some impressive views of the scenery. Milwaukee Road also had FP45s, which could easily be made for TS2021. If so, we'd need a MR route, a Hiawatha passenger consist, and a couple other 1960s-70s era diesels and some freight equipment. What I would really want is an ATSF FP45/F45 pack with an ATSF FP45 in Warbonnet livery, an F45 in Catwhisker and/or Blue/Yellow Warbonnet freight livery, and both freight and passenger cars.
We already have a chunk of the passenger cars used by the El Capitan within DTM's Amtrak SDP40F pack.
Oh hey you're right. Well hey, means there's no need for new models of those. The current models could definitely use some texture upgrades and perhaps some new interior views, but overall, pretty solid cars. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
The FP45 is one of my favorite passenger locomotives, and I often wonder why Amtrak didn't buy them and instead bought SDP40F's, as the '45's were so successful. I would love to be able to head the El Capitan or Super Chief with these at the helm, but I know I've said this before, BNSF licensing exists, so it probably won't happen. But who knows?
The SDP40Fs were designed specifically for Amtraks needs while the FP45 of which were just an SDP45 with a shell, made for both passenger and freight service. The 45-series was already known to be prone to mechanical issues (crankshaft failures due to the strain of a 20-cylinder prime mover). FP45s weren't that successful either, only have 14 produced.
Interesting. Though crankshaft failure is an issue, it's better than constant derailments due to harmonic vibration and uneven weight distribution. Maybe if there was an in between, the overall success of the series may have been better?
The SDP40F's were also designed to be quickly converted over to freight service upon the expected belly up of Amtrak, so they had the proper gearing for that, but as history shows, that wasn't the case and the SDP40F's quickly showed off their flaws.
EMD did fix the issues with the SD45s, so they (and also the FP45s and F45s) were very successful once the modifications were introduced. Also, I've seen videos and photos of ATSF's 4-8-4 #3751 heading an excursion train with 2 ATSF FP45s. The #3751 would be a fantastic engine to recreate the excursion.
Fun fact: Those are most likely photographs and videos of 3751's first excursion after her restoration. Back then, she had a Santa Fe 5 chime freight whistle instead of the Santa Fe long bell 6 chime everyone's used to her having nowadays. It was also a multi-day excursion that ran over both Cajon and Tehachapi Passes in both directions. And it would most certainly be fantastic to have a Santa Fe Northern DLC, consisting of the 3751 class along with the similarly designed 3765 class and the massive 2900's, which are the second most powerful 4-8-4's constructed. They're bested by the N&W J's by 5,013 pounds of tractive effort, but they ARE the largest and heaviest 4-8-4's and passenger steam locomotives ever constructed. I mean, 79,968 pounds of tractive effort DOES lend itself rather well to heavy crack passenger trains and long drag freights. ANYWAYS, one would have to try to navigate BNSF's oh so foolish licensing and branding policies to get the DLC available internationally and not just confined to the U.S.
Nice locomotive idea, steammaster4449, why do you like this locomotive and what scenarios would you use? Certainly looks a great railtour in the pictures.
Allo Jamie. I'd say my fondness of EMD's 20 cylinder locomotives, the 45 series and SD80MAC's respectively, as well as the overall look of the FP45 was what drew me in. Plus, the Santa Fe's Warbonnet paint scheme has always been a favorite among American railfans. Also, seeing as to how the FP45 was the last class of passenger loco bought by the railroads before the dawn of Amtrak, it's certainly got potential for numerous scenarios. Speaking of, included scenarios could be passenger scenarios for Santa Fe routes that are set back in the 60's and 70's, as well as freight scenarios set from '71 to the BNSF merger, due to the Santa Fe using them in hot shot intermodal service after Amtrak took over. One could also have some railtour, or excursion as they're know over here in the States, scenarios. If the routes exist, there IS the possibility for some museum based free roam scenarios on the Workshop. Edit: If the route gets made, there could be some Marketplace scenarios for this route: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...urfliner-san-luis-obispo-to-los-angeles.5164/ Edit 2: Corrected "...the last class of loco bought by the railroads..." to "...the last class of passenger loco bought by the railroads..."
Alright, so as to possibly inject some new life into this lil ol' thread of mine, and in the possibility of it being made, it getting a worldwide release, I'm going to suggest that instead of it being primarily a Santa Fe FP45 DLC, it instead be a Milwaukee Road FP45 DLC because the MILW was the other owner of EMD's FP45 series of locos. They initially used them in passenger services and had them in the Union Pacific's Armour Yellow livery due to a consolidation of passenger services between the two roads. Right before Amtrak's takeover, the Milwaukee placed their FP45's in freight service and put them into their normal freight paint scheme. Anyways, let's have some pictures of the Milwaukee's FP45's and the passenger and freight trains they pulled. Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of these photographs and videos, nor do I claim to. I'm putting these here to show what they looked like throughout their service lives. Another thing, please let me know if you are unable to get any photos to load up on the page and are only getting a small icon. I'll make another post with any photos that aren't loading for you. Another another thing, I've included a video of Milwaukee Road 261 from 2019 to show the kinda passenger cars the FP45's would've pulled back in the day, albeit in the Armour Yellow scheme and not the standard MILW orange and red. Also, please note that the tool car directly behind the 261 is her original tool car and that it's actually a rebuilt beaver-tail observation car. And that's enough for this post. Edit: Added that last photo.
It wouldn't be hard to avoid BNSF, just do what Raton Pass did, remove logos for international customers.
I'm aware but people prefer branded locos over unbranded so I'm playing, so to speak, according to that.
There's one major problem I see with the MILW version, where would it run? There are no MILW routes, and I don't believe any of the other routes would make sense either. That's not a issue with a ATSF version, if I understand correctly it could probably be put on either Pacific Surfliner or Raton Pass. Also rolling stock would be easier for a Santa Fe version, DTM made some good ATSF Hi-Levels that would be great for a passenger FP45 consist. And I'm pretty certain the intermodal stock included with Raton could be used for it in a more modern context.
I think at this point, it would be best if someone asked DTM if they would be interested in making an ATSF FP45 with both branded and unbranded models, as well as the Hi Levels (If they still have those models.)
I am in absolute agreement with you, FP45s would be a addition to TS 2021. Might I also suggest a collaboration with Searchlight Simulations, since they created an enhancement pack for the F45? Also, I certainly would not mind an unbranded model if means another Warbonnet makes it into TS. God bless and take care! treid09
Not only that, but we need a good SD75I in CN livery. Since the BNSF one is not available internationally. I wonder if Searchlight would do the F45 in BNSF or Santa Fe to start with? So many trains locked by this license that DTG cannot seem to expand.