Out Now Scotrail Express: Edinburgh - Glasgow Out Now!

Does this look sturdy?

 

And that is a little used secondary branch line -- nothing like the main lines used for heavy freight... I am sure the same condition tracks can be found through out the world for such low usage branch lines.

 

Yes that is true but just 2 days ago CSX had a major derailment and NS had that really bad one on Palistine Ohio 2 weeks ago, both on mainlines.

It is a real problem here in North America all the frieght, which is 70% of trains that operate in North America, have all gone on major cost cutting procedures.

And the biggest cut backs have been to track maintenance and safety. It has been a major news topic for many years.

 

That's the issue I'm trying to talk about. Outside view its lit up but front inside its like no headlights are turned on

 

Well, you obviously know quite a bit about North American rail. What is your source material? I'd like to refer back to it. Sounds interesting.

 

I mean you can find news articles on it and stuff. But think about it, if safety really was a priority, there wouldn't be these derails happening back to back. If there were defects within the train itself, if safety was a concern, they would have been fixed promptly. If the track was really old and was causing derails, they would have fixed that promptly. But it hasn't. You hear the bosses say oh safety is #1 priority and that there's zero issues or that they are looking into it, improving it, etc but is that really true?

If you remember from some time ago bnsf made their attendance policy where workers were penalized for taking time off if they were sick, going on vacation, injured, etc. They were forced to work long hours and be on call no matter what. As a result, many workers ended up quitting. Would you consider that safe? That just increases the risk of accidents and burnout among workers. And if there's less employees, the remaining employees have to work twice as hard

https://apnews.com/article/business-aab7d3084a8d17d8d721d2cb750be323?ref=the-lever

 

Compare the miles of track and ton-miles of freight between North America and Europe. It's like observing that Germany has more auto crashes than Mongolia.

 

That's hardly a mainline. Or a Class 1 RR.

 

Then PM me in the future is you don't want other people to respond.

My source material are my credentials. I've been an engineer for 36 years with Canadian Pacific, recently retired, and I can tell you the tracks are not as maintained as they were 30 years ago.

It is getting better but thats because of all the crap the RR's have gotten in about 10 years ago. I believe it was just after the Lac Magnetic disaster the Canadian and US transport boards did a very intensive review and found that maintenance on the rails was about 5 years backlogged, among other safety issues with workload and maintrnance on the trains and cars themselves.

My first 16 years I had 18 derails. For my next 20 I had 42.

And most were due to a loose rail or crosstie. And over half were while on the US lines.

So that is where I am coming from.

And I digress, The main reason headlights are so bright in North America is because of all the level crossings and with the light so bright you can be sure that cars or people can see you coming. Since most track is not fenced people just wander and walk along the tracks all the time, but as for animals it kind of useless basically you can see what your about to hit.

But we are also instructed to watch for rail defects. And even run the lights full blast during the day

 

Class 3 branchline. But I've driven on a few branches like this working for CP.

 

Just a question I had but what's like the main reason for not maintaining the rails as much? Is it just due to cost cutting measures/they don't care or is it due to other factors such as it being a huge amount of work since us freight lines are really long/external factors that make it difficult to repair promptly? Is it just down to greed these days that these incidents keep happening? In other words, why do the operators do the things they do?

 

My overall opinion is greed, but the sheer amount of track is I'm sure a factor.

All these big companies have been buying up smaller companies and taking over their trackage. Which means they then have to maintain those as well.

And we all know once their is a merger usually layoffs follow. And the shortages are usually towards mechanic and the people who maintain the tracks.

So it gets backlogged and they can never seem to catch up.

Class 1 which are your mainlines of course take priority to maintain and really are quite kept up to date.

But Class 2 will get put off if they run out of time, and class 3's are nightmares and scary to drive, but they are usually really short branches around 20 to 30 kms.

Another reason I think that there is an issue is they are making trains heavier in order to cut down on trains. But this wears the track down quicker than it used to and I don't feel like they have compensated for this.

Even just yesterday congress is trying to pass a bill for more regulations for improved safety. And the CEO of NS is fighting against adding more regulations as are the congressmen who support the Railroad lobbyists. Which seems a little greedy when you just contaminated a big chunk of a town.

But it is just an opinion and not like a final answer. All I can say is even alot staff feel short changed by the Railroads.

 

Looks like rivets took a page out of dtg playbook and did there own version of eastcoastway railtour.but at least they put some extra effort into theres meaning rivets did.

 

The way Rivet updated the route is really a step forward. At least they have a steep learning curve and really try hard to keep up the quality. They still need to work on the sounds (not forgeting stuff like flange sounds or getting recording session on time).

But overall i really notice Rivet wants to improve. Im gonna buy the tour pack next tuesday.

 

OWaaawwwww it incredible lol

 

I notice there are at least a few areas on the map that look like yard track,so can this track be used for anything?

 

They still use spikes which is a VERY old and unsafe method by standards. Makes their railways look appalling in comparison to European standards. I understand the vastness of their railways but I mean come on, considering the amount of incidents it’s not good.
Americas main issue is having not a state owned railway system I.E. the track it self is owned by freight operators, instead of a National company owning it and leasing it to them, or a Nation wide company to operate trains and infrastructure (like British Rail).

I know that east coast America uses Clips and Flatbottom Rail but the majority of the rest of the country doesn’t.

 

Or that most car crashes in Europe are caused by Volkswagens.

 

Perish the thought!!

 

Are there any news on another patch to iron out the remaining issues from launch, as well as the ones caused by the first update?

 

Bump, but for the benefit of others and myself who might be considering it, is this route worth getting at the current (Xmas) sale discount price or best still avoided?

 

The scenery is actually pretty good and the timetable’s pretty representative of reality.

The downsides are that it’s only one loco (314 does one service, jubilee does one and 66 does one) so it can get a trifle dull, especially if you use the provided loco as it’s like driving looking through a post box.

Saying that, if you find a Scot rail HST to stick on it in free roam then you can see the scenery in it’s full splendour! Either that or some nice departmental runs in a 37

 

Thanks Phil. Thinking it will have to wait for a more substantial discount.

 

I do hate to say it as the potential is there but it's still best avoided.

 

Thanks for posting this. I was pondering the same thing myself, wanting to complete my UK collection. Can't decide whether $19.99 is a deep enough discount for what is essentially a one trick pony of a route.

Given the response I think I too will wait.

 

Yes I am still prevaricating as part of me feels it would be an excellent route to take a first stab at doing a timetable, but the thought of driving the low quality and generally horrible Class 385 with it's castle slit window makes me shudder. Do I need such cruel and unusual punishment?!

 

The 385 is pretty buggy. For example, driving it through a neutral section applies full braking momentarily, if you're driving it from the B cab. The sound quality is also very MSTS-reminiscent. These are things you can't fix by just writing a new timetable, unless you avoid the supplied traction entirely.

 

My idea was to do a retro diesel timetable, loco hauled though we really need a Class 27 in the game to be authentic.

 

I tend to have high standards for routes, but something is special about Edinburgh-Glasgow despite its flaws. Everything is very detailed, the atmosphere is great. I was in the area in August and loved the in-game recreation, much better than many of the fan favorite routes. Shame about the neutral section and wind screen rain bugs, but the former only happens for a few seconds per run, and the latter obviously only when you’re driving in rain. Most of the time, the experience feels well-rounded. The timetable is still quite busy, and there are a few different service types. I‘m not saying it’s the best route in the game, but I like it a lot.

 

A 27 would be lovely, but I remember ~1980 these services being topped and tailed by class 47/7s. A mod to remove the OHLE (as was done for GWE) would be great, too.

 

Yes the 47/7's worked with converted Mk2 brake vehicles on the other end when pushing (DBSO).

 

Great suggestion for Scotrail Express Legends pack with pairs of 27s and the later 47/DBSO formations. If Class 126 were also added, that would be so awesome. That would be a large proportion of the types that operated the route.