Clinchfield Very Enjoyable

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by Jpantera, Apr 8, 2021.

  1. Jpantera

    Jpantera Well-Known Member

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    So I took a pre order earlier today as I rarely go for day 1 purchases unless its BR style stuff.

    I had ran the TS2021 route once before but it didnt hold my attention for long.

    Having seen the pre release media for this it looked pretty good and thats the case after running a South to North service.

    It certainly looks good when driving along and the F7 is an interesting loco to drive with its Brake controller setting when going down hill.

    Branch lines every where to explore and lots of service modes around these.

    Its hard to put my finger on exactly why I have enjoyed it so much with it not being my area of interest. I grew up in the 80s watching American made TV such as the Fall Guy and the A team though so maybe the retro styling appeals!

    I cant really fault it although the Tunnel/Camera issue could do with some attention.

    Great work from the DTG team who put this together, the bar is set now!!

    J

    PS We need a Peak Forest 1980s route now to do something similar for UK enthusiasts. I am off to the suggestion section to write that up!!
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
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  2. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    I looked at this route admirably. I really like what I see, just reluctant to buy a route that tops out at 30mph.

    Torn about this one..
     
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  3. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Also see my thread about poor sound.
     
  4. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    I've got about six hours in this DLC now and while I've found some interesting issues and had to pare back my engine.ini settings to keep a decent frame rate (they were pretty heavy before) I'm enjoying it. I love the sound of the F7 and have driven the Australian equivalent while on a cab ride (VR S Class) and I have to say its not too bad on the reality front. Not enough power, not enough dynamics and the brakes aren't amazing. Pretty much perfect there is a reason the F7 and everything like it hit the scrap heap when newer technology followed them. That said I'm enjoying the F7 sound - mostly - the engine is great, the roar when you're outside is admirable. The horn is, well monotone - drivers tend not to just yank the cord and open the valve full, they finesse to bring the horn up to full depth then drop it off again - this horn is just blaaaaaat all or nothing. The only real complaints I've got sound wise is the wind screen wipers are way too loud - they're really annoying.
     
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  5. LeadCatcher

    LeadCatcher Well-Known Member

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    Trust me, with the route’s profile, the weight of the consists, you will never notice the speed, What a GREAT scenario the “Limited Power” is. It is fantastic how loading coal hoppers on a 2.5 % grade with increasing weight affects braking and power settings.. Absolutely brilliant if you are into train handling.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
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  6. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely agree. I completed it yesterday afternoon and was sweating all the way through. Especially when my train was almost running away as I was not careful enough in keeping the speed in check! This might just be my favourite scenario in TSW to date :D
     
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  7. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    So true. This is my new favorite now. Heavy Metal RIP :)
     
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  8. Cotax

    Cotax Well-Known Member

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    Can i ask you, why is the speed limit problem? If you want to drive faster - then just drive faster? I don't always stick to speedlimits, sometimes i feel the need to drive faster and i do. Ok, maybe then i don't get the gold medal, but who cares? Or is there something other that i am missing?
     
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  9. LeadCatcher

    LeadCatcher Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like you have fun, which is great. Many, though, like to treat this as a simulation and drive as close to prototypical procedures as possible so a slow freight would not be as satisfactory as a high speed passenger line.

    So are you missing anything... not really, just people approach the simulation differently which is fine. For me, speeding would not be a fun activity since I like prototypical procedures. For others, using the “Off Tracks” mode and putting an ICE on the Clinchfield would be a hoot. Isn’t choice great??
     
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  10. Lamplight

    Lamplight Well-Known Member

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    Since I‘ve read some doubts like yours, chieflongshin, let me say that LeadCatcher is absolutely right. You‘re so focused on keeping your train in check that you barely notice the speed. In addition, there are a lot of tight curves and narrow valleys on CRR. When I was doing 30 mph on the Florida Perishable train, it felt like a race car in those curves :D
     
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  11. appledates#4945

    appledates#4945 Well-Known Member

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    DTG have done this era of USA freight railroading proud!
     
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  12. Neumann Ludwig

    Neumann Ludwig New Member

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    Thanks dtg for this route, great job. Please, make a route like Western Lines of Scotland for tsw to enjoy the great countryside and old time, with steam loco or / and diesel locos.
    and please a wordshop for the scenarios to share.
     
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  13. zawal.belili

    zawal.belili Guest

    man, I skated like crazy on the uphill until the train came down !!!
    I just didn't pick up enough speed before going up, it's great.
    The free service mode is great, all the scenarios are great.
    My favorite route has been SPG so far, Clinchfield is 10X better, DTG you did a great job thank you very much.

    There is so much to do and the detail provided is sumptuous, a must have for sure and for a long time.

    Maybe the Can Creeks will be just as good ....
     
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  14. chieflongshin

    chieflongshin Well-Known Member

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    It's not a deal breaker for me and Its really interesting seeing everyone's thoughts above. I know its not a high speed route, was just something that Matt said on a stream that caught my ear. I shall read on in interest and still prefer this to arosa. Appreciate your views.
     
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  15. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Well it's a bit shame, that's for sure. I mean I bet it would be fun to trash the F7 around at higher speeds. Did they even ran on Sand Patch or on the Peninsula Corridor? If so, those have higher speed limits, some custom scenario with a custom paintjob might be fun with them.
     
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  16. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully we will get a layer in SPG for them.

    A couple of other musings after a bit more driving...
    1. It is so dark at night you cannot see what you are doing - some of the timetable runs start at night and you can't even see how many locos are on your train, to set the MU switch in the leading cab.
    2. There is almost no inertia. Rolling down a 0.1% (1 in 1000) grade I was having to use light dynamics to keep the train in check, whereas I would have expected to be in light power.
    3. The distance counter seems off. takes longer than 2 mins to run 1 mile.
     
  17. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Believe me, you'll be kept plenty busy. Gravity is a bigger challenge than speed
     
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  18. appledates#4945

    appledates#4945 Well-Known Member

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    The “Limited power” scenario might just be the best scenario in any route. It requires paying close attention and requires skill. Loading coal on a 2.5 grade makes the weight system stand out as your trying to keep to 3mph and every freight car you load the more and more power you need. It’s been stellar so far, and I’m really enjoying seeing all the different lines and areas while winding through the woods.
     
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  19. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    That's possibly due to the fact that the distance shown is measured in a straight line, not actually following the track.

    At worst case you can get off and use your flashlight to count them, lol
     
  20. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    I had even more "fun" than most, because I let the fully-loaded complete consist get away from me and only (barely) stopped it after it had backed down over the entry switch to the runaround. And since there's no way in hell two F7s could pull that whole thing UP a 3% grade, I had to invent a new shunting routine to get everything sorted.

    AWESOME scenario
     
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  21. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    DTG really like round numbers, so when you go into the pause screen, if it says you have 33 pieces of rolling stock, that's almost certainly 30 cars and 3 engines.
     
  22. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    The Sand Patch ascent used to belong to the B&O in the old days, and the Washington to Chicago Capitol Limited ran over it. However, if I'm not mistaken the B&O used E-units, not Fs, on their passenger expresses.

    The Peninsula Corridor was Southern Pacific and represented the north end of their Coast Daylight service. Most famous for its iconic streamlined GS-class steam engines, but in later days they ran it with FP7s* as well as E-units and Alco PAs.

    *An FP7 was an F7 with a steam boiler, for passenger coach heating
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
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  23. Dinosbacsi

    Dinosbacsi Well-Known Member

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    Hmm. Apparently CSX also used to have F7s? I mean I didn't do much research, but did find pictures of CSX F7s.

    There is also this picture I found, for example. The SD40 included with the route is also the variant with the headlight on the top (opposed to the original HH CSX variant with the headlights on the nose), which would make it perfect for the Chessie System livery.
    [​IMG]
    With enough patience in the livery designer and scenario planner, fun things like this could be made on Sand Patch I suppose? I don't know how prototypical it would be, but it certainly would be fun I suppose.
     
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  24. jörgen Näslund

    jörgen Näslund Well-Known Member

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    Does anyone know how to banking locomotive end of train. I drove a train but the 2 engine back just went idle. Having F7
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
  25. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    CSX inherited several F7s and F9s when it was formed. All were quickly retired (by the late 80s they were wholly obsolete), but CSX kept one A-B pair running for special trains and to haul its "CEO train.", No, 116/117 in the pic above. They also own Clinchfield 800, which was retired and sat derelict for a long time, but which was restored to running condition a few years ago.

    The Chessie railroads (B&O, C&O, WM) had EMD road switchers with headlights in both positions, and with and without classification lights.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
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  26. JustWentSouth

    JustWentSouth Well-Known Member

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    I am very much looking forward to my first experience on the Clinchfield tonight.

    I’m also glad to see this thread. From what I have read here and seen on the streams, the route looks fantastic in terms of scenery. I’m also very impressed with what I’ve heard about the scenarios and services.

    However, if you look on the Steam site, the reviews are decidedly mixed at only 63%. If we want DTG to provide more content like the Clinchfield, we need to encourage it.

    So, if you have expressed appreciation for the route on this forum, but not done so on Steam, please post a review there.

    Support the Clinchfield so we can get more routes that are scenic and operationally complex. This will also encourage DLC and timetable packs built for Clinchfield.

    Thanks for considering!
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
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  27. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    Done!

    Scenarios - precision **
    Trail loco config - double check (ALWAYS)

    And the problems disappear \o/

    ** at the same time, you can leave the train in the right place, but also block the switch, preventing AI traffic,
    which blocks the next trigger, etc.
     
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  28. Neumann Ludwig

    Neumann Ludwig New Member

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    hi, when dovetail will patch tsw2 for the t key work properly.
    indeed we can not scroll the text, we must go through esc key.
     
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  29. JGRudnick

    JGRudnick Well-Known Member

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    Yes, CSX had a few F7s. They were used for a few years on high priority trains, most commonly the road-railer trains, like the one seen in your picture. CSX got these from the Seaboard System, who got them when the Clinchfield was merged with the L&N and Seaboard Coast Line.

    Some still exist today like the Potomic Eagle Scenic Railroad's F7A #8016 and the Durbin & Greenbriar Valley's F7 #67. Both of these are ex CSX, Ex CRR F7As
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2021
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  30. bartolomaeusz

    bartolomaeusz Well-Known Member

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    Wonderful beast .. my dad worked on C & O (CSX) in the Midwest (car repair) so I'm biased but this is really well done
     
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  31. bartolomaeusz

    bartolomaeusz Well-Known Member

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  32. bartolomaeusz

    bartolomaeusz Well-Known Member

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    Really a maturing of the DTG TSW2 product, I agree
     
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  33. Shaun123

    Shaun123 Well-Known Member

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    I don’t really understand this, on the one hand you have people complaining about lack of realism, detail on some routes, then on the other hand, just drive over the speed limit! Can’t have both!

    I will say, USA DLC, not for me, USA Freight DLC, definitely not for me. But this one certainly has grabbed my interest!
     
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  34. LeadCatcher

    LeadCatcher Well-Known Member

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    I let the loaded cars slide a bit too far down the siding and the last downhill car fouled the passing siding, knowing it would be a bear to re-spot the consist, pulled back up to the tippler then when down the main, crossed over and the connected to the loaded cars and headed, hoping no one say my improvised moves. :)
     
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  35. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    I wound up splitting the train, pulling half up and then down the other siding, reclaiming the back half and getting it off the switch, then going back to get the first half and reassembled the train, and finally did the runaround.

    (I did try to pull the whole thing up the hill at once. No. Bloody. Way.)
     
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  36. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    Hope you didn't exceed the speed limit as much as I did on the way down. It must have been a terrifying journey in real life :D

    ... Things went wrong very quickly /o\
     
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  37. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    That part went OK- max dynamics, plus regular train brake to drop the speed to 5 mph, lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually it flattened enough that the dynamics would hold it alone.

    I did learn that the less frightening way to do it is to slam the dynamics all the way up to 8 as soon as you get amps, then reduce them in stages IF they are slowing you down. On a downgrade, it's a lot easier to make a slow train faster than a fast train slower! Make sure it's under control first, then ease up.
     
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  38. breblimator

    breblimator Guest

    Instinctively I did everything like in AC or Dash 8. Unfortunately, the effect was quite different :D Was fun!
    ... And here it is really steep - great scenario. Amazed.
    ...... Now I'm riding the SD40. Less polished. But there is a vibe too.
     
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  39. wirewalker#4169

    wirewalker#4169 New Member

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    I cannot agree more the sense of satisfaction in completing Limited Power for me makes it probably the best scenario I have come across playing the the various TS platforms over many years. The route is a real credit to DTG and deserves praise for the obvious amount of thought and care that has been put into it. Its absolutely wonderful. There are no problems that a little thought and sometimes a bit of help from the community here cannot solve as far as I can see and this makes it just more interesting than having your hand held all the time. More of the same please DTG thank you for putting a smile on my face.
     
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  40. paul.pavlinovich

    paul.pavlinovich Well-Known Member

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    Distance counters are as the crow flies where as the train is following the landscape. This is a
    limitation with unreal engine which does not know about following a path to calculate distance.

    Oh and I've been in the vicinity of Clinchfield at night, once you're in those valleys its bloody dark, there is no bleed over from the "nearby" cities of light pollution. While it makes the night game harder its pretty real :).

    Paul
     
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  41. Reventloff

    Reventloff Well-Known Member

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    It’s the first time I made a preorder for the route either… and, man, it delivers! Some great challenges for a freight driver here just as I like. And F7 is a gem of a loco indeed, I love it! Low speed limit is not such an issue, more like additional challenge here, especially when you drive fully loaded train down the grade :D

    Of course, I was a bit worried purchasing the day 1 release route but have met no critical problems so far and all is running smooth, having much fun with it. Great job, thank you DTG!
     
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