Disclaimer: I am not trying to say that the current Northeast Corridor between these two cities is bad. But, I do think, the NEC could use a complete overhaul. Sorry Dovetail! Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to propose a rebuilding of the Northeast Corridor from New York Penn to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Why am I proposing this? Well, I think the route could use a more modern look. The existing Northeast Corridor from NYP to PHL is shall we say, bland at times. The route is great for Amtrak, and to some extent, NJ Transit, but needs an overhaul if you want my honest opinion. What I propose is a Northeast Corridor from Sunnyside Yard in Queens, to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. The signals should be ACSES and ATC compliant so we can run the ACS-64 or HHP-8 as intended for the route. So, from accurate speed limits, to accurate signal placement, we should have a variety of scenarios, and not just Amtrak. Here is just a sample of scenarios I have in mind. Scenario #1: Amtrak 92 to New York Description: Following a signal issue south of Baltimore, you're in charge of an already late Amtrak 92, the Northbound Silver Star. Traffic is busy, and hectic as you try to make up for lost time getting your passengers to New York Penn, before taking the consist to Sunnyside Yard for maintenance. Difficulty: Medium Scenario #2: NJ Transit 3918 to New York Description: It's another busy day on NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line. Starting off at the Morrisville Complex, you will head across the Delaware River to Trenton. After boarding there, you'll make local stops to Princeton Junction before expressing to Newark Penn and making an additional stop at Secaucus Junction before terminating at New York Penn where a service crew will take it to Sunnyside. Difficulty: Easy Scenario #3: Freight to Morrisville Description: Not everything on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is about passenger trains. There is some freight too. On this stormy morning, you are in charge of a Norfolk Southern local freight working from Frankford Junction in Philadelphia to Morrisville Yard. Since it's off-peak, commuter trains aren't as frequent, but still are, do your best to avoid tying them up as well as Amtrak and NJ Transit at Morrisville, so you can get into the freight yard without making a mess. Difficulty: Hard For content, we would have the Amtrak Siemens ACS-64, Acela Express, NJ Transit ALP-45DP, ALP-46 with Comet V's and Comet III's plus Mutlilevels. In lieu of SEPTA, we can use an unskinned version of the NJ Transit Arrow EMU car. For freight, the Norfolk Southern EMD GP38-2 or GP40-2 in standard NS, Horsehead or patched ex-Conrail livery. With an assortment of boxcars, tank cars, centerbeams, coil cars and so on. Maybe even throw in a old Conrail caboose for kicks. I don't know if this has been proposed before, but if it has, I apologize. I just feel as though it's time the NEC got a complete overhaul, and rebuilding to be more accurate to current day operation.
Only problem is that trains in the Philadelphia area are operated by SEPTA and SEPTA won't give DTG the license to use their brand in their routes
Don’t think that’s much concern being how they’ve represented Penn in TS1 all this time without the busiest commuter rail in the country, the Long Island Railroad... they’re literally almost all of the train traffic in Penn.
This is a great idea! The old one feels quite outdated, so a new NEC with the kind of detail seen on the NJCL would be amazing! Maybe even with a revamped AEM-7? The old one's model just seems off. I think it's a bit too wide, or the ditch lights aren't in the right place, but it feels off.
Metrolink and NCTD's Coaster did the same thing when RSC was developing the LA and San Diego Commuter Train DLCs for the Surfliner route, they could just make unbranded SEPTA equipment if this revamp ever happens
DTG did the same with the Metra train on Chicago-Aurora. I suppose most users will be fine with it, a train with no logos is better than no train at all.