Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - San Jose Route

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by porawit, Jun 19, 2021.

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  1. porawit

    porawit Member

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    because I didn't buy The game is collectors edition I'm going to buy a route Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - San Jose Route

    I would like to know what are the pros and cons of this route

    And should I buy it?
     
  2. wxtr7

    wxtr7 Well-Known Member

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    Penn Corridor is a really nice US passenger route, I'd recommend it.
    It's primarily as US passenger route. There's a variety of stopping patterns identified by service number. The 300 numbered services are your baby bullet services, that stop at ~4-5 stations along the route so you spend more time around the top speed (79mph) - and if you eventually pick up the MP36PH, it will sub in to these services too. The 100 numbered services are local, and you stop at every station. And the 200 services are essentially a mixture, a few stops followed by every station, or vice versa. There are quite a few stations (can't remember how many) so it's not a short route, baby bullet take about an hour, 200 services ~1hr15min, 100 services ~1.5+hrs. These run in both directions, southbound with the locomotive, northbound with the cab car. There's also a few depot runs, and the CEMOF depot/maintenance facility is really nicely modeled.
    And unfortunately, this route, at least in my experience, is really prone to the 'save bug' so it's best not to save and do it all in one go.

    The F40PH is overall nicely done, but the manually lapped brakes take some getting used to, especially because they're blended with the dynamics. The horn/window bug exists, the headlights are stupidly weak, and there's a few other minor bugs.
    If you get the MP36, its a good locomotive, but is more bugged. It, however, has self lapping brakes and may be easier to drive and adds some variety to the service pattern. It comes with it's own coaches and cab car.

    Signalling is implemented well, and there's a great guide to help you learn all the signal combinations:
    https://signals.jovet.net/rules/Caltrain Signal Rules.pdf

    On the freight side:
    There's not much, it's mostly a couple unloading services and hauling cars between the two "freight yards". You only get the GP38 which is super buggy, but not unplayable. It's not quite the same as the CSX, and does feature a different horn prototypical for UP.

    MP15 DLC:
    You can also get the MP15 switcher for the route to do some switching stuff around the CEMOF depot, and adds an extra essentially double length train service. Though beware, this does cause at least one of the services to be un-completable b/c the long train blocks a path into San Francisco.

    That's a general overview, there's various other bugs among the Technical Reports forum, some of which are immersion breaking, but generally not unplayable.

    And just a note: Adam's team hasn't gotten to this route yet as it was delayed by the rush hour/core update, so bugs and improvements may get fixed in the fall when they resume normal operations (it was next up).
     
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  3. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    Let me start out that I am biased towards this route since I grew up in Redwood City and rode Caltrain almost everyday in high school to get home.

    I do believe that this route is worth getting. There are so many different kinds of services that you can run on this route with the nice mix of freight and passenger opportunities. With that being said, I don't think the freight runs on this route are anything to write home about and I don't really enjoy driving the Gp38 on this route all too much.

    As mentioned before, there's a lot of variation in terms of what stations you will stop at as even the baby bullet trains switch what stations they stop at (similar number ending trains I.E. 360 and 370 tend to stop at the same stations). I think if you were to get this route, getting the MP36PH would be an essential. Although it doesn't add any new services, it does add a nice change in driving the change as it handles quite differently from the F40PH, especially when it comes to braking.

    As far as the sounds go, the F40PH, MP36PH and their respective cab cars are all pretty good. The bells and horns on them are almost perfect to how they sound in real life. The MP15DC on the other hand doesn't sound as great and I honestly don't feel like it contributes a whole lot to the route.

    My biggest issue with this route is that occasionally it will get really bright, even if you are doing a service at 0030 in the morning. Although it is really only noticeable at two or three spots on the route, it still annoys the heck out of me.

    Overall, I would say this is one of the best US routes in the game. The overall distance and service variety to me, make this route a great bang for buck.
     
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  4. hyperlord

    hyperlord Well-Known Member

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    I'd like to add that the achievements are cat-related ;-)
    Purrfect
     
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  5. cloudyskies21

    cloudyskies21 Well-Known Member

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    100% get the route, one of the best DTG has ever released.

    Pros: - Nearly 50 miles long.
    - Lots of DLC available.
    - Perhaps the best timetable a route has - can be extremely busy in rush hour and nice variety of long/short services.
    - A big train depot at San Jose, impressive to see all the trains parked up.
    - Some added freight services (no DLC required)
    - Nice looking Californian scenery.

    Cons: - Route has a lot of straight track.
    - Towards SF, can be a pain if you don't like driving a cab car with limited visibility.
     
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  6. Louis-MTA NYCTA

    Louis-MTA NYCTA Well-Known Member

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    Peninsula Corridor was released in summer 2019 as a standalone and as the digital deluxe for the predecessor TSW 1 game.
    The route itself was regarded as one of the longest passenger routes at the time it was built for TSW. It has since been bumped down. When bought with all DLC for the route it really feels almost complete. Of all the U.S or mostly any route, Peninsula Corridor feels the most complete in terms of: services, variety and enjoyment in my opinion and has been praised for that. The details of the route are some of the best and still holds up to this day. The dev team actually went to California to document Caltrain and it's cool operations. It's overall a great U.S route in my opinion, it might even be the best U.S route with LIRR and the old NEC: New York behind it. However some downsides are: The route tends to stutter A LOT on older generations of hardware and in general needs a big overhaul, the colors tend to be way over saturated and feels very weird and bright while driving. Some other minor issues as well, not mentioned. Just to say, Peninsula Corridor is in well need of modernisation and an overhaul to fit the current TSW 2 needs.

    Should you buy it?
    I say YES
    , it feels very nice, trains offer great replayability (except the GP38-2 of which can only travel 50MPH on the route whereas the MP15DC can travel at line speed 79MPH) It is one route I have played since it was released, clocking over 24 hours on it and counting. It is also one of the very few routes you can achieve 20,000+ driver/AP points on in one session or service, There are many stations and when doing a local service it can take up to 1 hour and 30 min, which is realistic and great which express services take at least 1 hour usually.

    Note: Treat Peninsula Corridor as a "time capsule". In real life the same trains that can be operated in TSW 1/2 are being scrapped, replaced and retired VERY soon this year/next year. It's all part of electrifying the route in real life. Some of the equipment used on Peninsula Corridor date back to the early 1970s.

    ~Felt it was important to note: I am biased towards U.S routes (I'm American, what can you expect)
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
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  7. Jannerdunk

    Jannerdunk Well-Known Member

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    I am not sure if its DTG's attempt to simulate a heat haze or mist, but I find the lighting and general look of the route to be very washed out (even by DTG standards) as if the whole white balance is out, to the point I find it hurts my eyes if I play if for long periods
     
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  8. hyperlord

    hyperlord Well-Known Member

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    Jannerdunk Adam commented on this in the last stream, the preserved crew worked/works on this and the mist was mentioned. Can't remember if it'll be changed - they want to simulate heat/hot air. Maybe they implemented something that'll be introduced with Cane Creek (which should have a visual effect since it's a desert scenery)
     
  9. Louis-MTA NYCTA

    Louis-MTA NYCTA Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully it look great!
    I can understand why Peninsula Corridor had issues with the white balance and the colors being washed out due to that, since it was the first route this was implemented in.
     
  10. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    Which would be fine for summer, but the Bay Area gets quite cool indeed in winter and spring. People visiting from Los Angeles report frostbite....
     
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  11. Quentin

    Quentin Well-Known Member

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    "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." (attributed, dubiously, to Mark Twain.)
     
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  12. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    All good points above.

    Apologies if i didn't see it, but I'd also recommend it for the signalling system, which includes speed control signals, all of which make driving without the HUD doable (but still challenging) for people like me who have trouble seeing the trackside speed signs lol.
     
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  13. bagotmatt

    bagotmatt New Member

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    The Peninsula Corridor actually only implements speed control signals for a small portion of their route. You should notice in between Santa Clara and Lawrence stations a board that indicates the change. South of that board is where speed control signals should be implemented so in all honestly it would not make a huge difference overall. I am going off of memory here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong.
     
  14. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    I don't think the reference was to digital speed signals, but the classic color-position speed signals.
     
  15. Disintegration7

    Disintegration7 Well-Known Member

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    Yes, that's what i meant- sorry for any confusion.
     
  16. tloic16

    tloic16 New Member

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    Péninsule : Itinéraire San Francisco - San José "a bug another side train is coming" you look good pictures need repair updates..
     

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  17. tloic16

    tloic16 New Member

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    tsw 2020 or tsw2 Also
     
  18. DTG Natster

    DTG Natster Producer Staff Member

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    Please see forum rules regarding thread bumping.
     
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