Upcoming Route Speculation - Chocolate Factory Hint

The Capitol Corridor route passes right by the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory in San Leandro. The Amtrak license is in hand. Go for it DTG!

 

Perhaps it will be an Antarctic Tractor Train Route?
Tractor Train Traverse system (youtube.com)

Plenty of P P P Penguins there

 

Sorry im laughing right now.... Its fun to see how everybody is in extase on a reaction from a clown thats fooling around.... *Popcorn Time*

And sorry if you have listen to what he said than you have heard he talks about a factory ahead the line.... So sorry but Lörrach is to far from Freiburg Basel.... Its the same as a "cheese place ahead the line" Utrecht Amsterdam.... Yeah its near by Gouda and Alkmaar in the Netherlands.... Hahaha Good luck guys i dind't let me fool

 

You have my utmost admiration.

 

Its got to be Slough (Mars factories are there)

 

No Metra license. Would be great, because Chicago area could provide an awesome route, but not in the cards.

 

Too far? It's five stations from Basel Badischer Bf (not SBB!) to Lörrach Hbf, just about 19 minutes... just please let me be "excited" a little

I mean S6 Basel - Zell i.W. would be all I need, skip Freiburg then cause I got it in TSC already.

 

So is the train that services them called the "Lindt Roller"?

 

I would expect to see a better class of car driving up to the chocolate factory in-game.

Something like a Ferrari Rocher?

 

It is with great regret that I must inform speculators that both the 85-year-old Blommer and 94-year-old Mars factories in Chicago are being shut down this year. Blommer will be closing at the end of May, and will be greatly missed as it makes their area of downtown smell like chocolate 24/7. Mars will be keeping their local world headquarters on Goose Island and has opened an R&D facility there as well.

However, the big Ferrara candy factory in Forest Park is served by a freight line, which also runs parallel to the CTA Blue Line for a little ways.

 

Now I have to wonder. "Lindt Trap" maybe?

 

Thought it was Mars until you said Dairy-Milk! Now I think we may be being wound-up like the 'highly desirable' comment

 

That's some next level trolling here

 

The Community should all give Matt 2-fingers for that outburst.







From a Kit Kat of course

 

Holy cacao! No way anyone gets s'more puns than that. We have found the unofficial chocolate pun Chomp '24!

 

We'll definitely get a new brand as real advertising in the game... Like Pringles

 

I’ve been hoping for the Harrisburg Line for a while now. I made a suggestion for it a long time ago, and it received a lot of interest so fingers crossed it’s on DTG’s radar.
Harrisburg to Reading is approximately 54 miles which is an achievable route length. And fast freight (50mph) with a chocolate factory and amusement park in the middle of the route is certainly unique and interesting.

 

I’ll second this, if it’s a UK route. I lived not far from it, but I can still smell the Kit Kats!

York to Scarborough, and/or Bridlington and Hull?

The factory is pretty close to a level crossing on the edge of the suburbs of York, so would be close enough to be modelled.

Northern or TPE. Can’t forget the EMR HST on a summer Saturday excursion, as it seems to get everywhere these days.

 

This is a real dilemma.

I won't speak for anyone else, but i guess the question for me is- what form does the copypasta take?

If it's taking some of the better locos in the game, and carefully repurposing them, with a lot of time and effort into mixing the audio to sound convincing, and as much attention as possible to making the exterior of the loco accurate....i'm ok with compromises in other places.

I know safety systems are off the table, and that is what it is. I've seen cab layouts mentioned as being tough to accurately recreate without operator access and that's a tough one because having blank or non- functioning screens becomes a real detriment to functionality on modern locos.

I know you've said a short-line probably isn't commerically viable, but what about making a deal whereby a short-line gives access to their equipment in exchange for promotion in the game, without it being the focus of the release?

E.g. R.J. Corman Lines interchanges with Norfolk Southern at Cresson, PA (which is represented in the HSC route). Could a deal be made where a company like RJC would allow access, and then you could use that reference material to alias the Class 1 trains you don't have access to?

RJC gets advertising/promotion for their lesser-known brand.

NS gets advertising/promotion for their more well-known brand, while doing absolutely nothing but collecting licensing fees.

Players get more operationally interesting routes, with interchange services, etc.

Seems like there's room for an arrangement of some sort.

Another option would be to license 3rd-party sounds/cabs with the understanding of a higher price point for the player. If the quality is good, maybe the demand would be there? Maybe if the BR101 is a success that would prove the market for a study-level US loco from a 3rd-party?

Anyway, i hope some sort of resolution presents itself. Appreciate you taking time to keep us in the loop.

 

A 91. ECML, a 91. Copy and paste locos on the next few routes if necessary to put time towards this, but ECML 91 and then all is good

 

Who were the most coopereative operators that you've worked with ?

 

That was certainly a marathon of a post. There should be a bounty for you if noone manages to beat it. It certanly made me snicker(s)

Perhaps all we need is a new double decker coach, that would certainly set some hearts a-twirl, I can think of certain trios on the forum that would join this club

 

I've suggested this 3 years ago you can click on my signature for Calder Valley Line. I wonder if they can add Schokolade fabrik Frey Kanton Aarau Suhl which is actually located on this main line Zürich Lenzburg Oftringen. You are going to need Eem923 Aem940s to deliver the Gbs boxcar with cocoa beans under Diesel power from the main line to the factory I mentioned.

 

Good point how about it's rival Frey Kanton Aarau Suhl alongside the Hauptstrecke Zürich Lenzburg Oftringen. Its freight locomotives Aem940 Eem923 can layer onto LZN
When I tasted that one against a Hershey bar 2 years ago Frey Kanton Aarau Switzerland > Dauphin County Pennsylvania Hershey bar.

 

Rewatching said section at 2:04:30 in the video, I would like to emphasize on three things about Lukas' statement, and I need to quote that in order to do so:
"There will be another entry to the chocolate factory war next year".

1. next year
If I remember correctly, it was said that a route would take from 6 months to 1 year to create (depending on the route length as one of the major factors). Maintalbahn has been said to have been required around 6 months to create. However, major parts of Aschaffenburg already were in the game with MSB before, where time was saved.

Facing the fact that we're in April 2024, "next year" is a lot of time in between. That means for me that the route is in its baby shoes on any silent dev computer out there (if it is created at all) yet. But if it is, the next point is interesting.

2. there will be
Which implies to me that the route is safe to come. There are no doubts about it, it's almost a proven fact. However, if this is the case and taking into account point Nr 1. how can there be such a confidence behind this statement? Is it a long and complex route, which takes some decent amount of time to create?

And what about licenses? If licenses wouldn't already be in the bag, you probably wouldn't say that, would you? But this again would speak for a remaster of a route, where every license is already obtained ages ago.

3. another entry
Another entry would exactly negate and speak against a remaster like Rapid Transit, because we already have it. Unless the chocolate factory gets a face lift or is build correctly for the first time, which is unlikely.

So IMHO we're looking for a new and quite a long route, which needs a decent amount of time to create that it only can be released next year and therefore is not a 6 month-ish thing like Maintalbahn, so that it could be released at the end of this year.

 

Understand. But let's take stock of our assets: we have a holocaust cloak, a wheelbarrow... Oh, wait, wrong story. We have a widely praised ES44C4, sounds and all. We have a Norfolk Southern license. We have a (presumably accurate) NS ES44 cab courtesy of SHG. And we have the proper Amtrak rolling stock, even the cab car. In fact, I believe the PTC system used on the Keystone Corridor is ACS/ACSES. That, to me, seems like enough of a base from which a Harrisburg route could be launched.

 

The NS Harrisburg Line always seemed like a great candidate for a train sim route. So many good references on Youtube, all double tracked with good traffic, and interesting industrys like the Hershey factory!

It’s a shame, because the sounds are really no issue for PC players since we have access to aftermarket mods. But I won’t beat a dead horse, and will hobble back to the good ol’ train sim classic

 

BR Class 47 47628 was painted in a Mars Celebrations livery a decade or so back along with some matching stock.
Put that out as a dlc at the regular price and the community would soon get their snickers in a twist...
http://bescotplus.co.uk/trains/47627_Hamstead

 

Interesting indeed however for the developers they would want to make it more interesting Hollandstrecke Duisburg/Bochum Amsterdam Centraal remember your Uhqrs tanker train Factory will need to deal with HRR S-Bahn and Nederlandse Spoorwegen Sprinter Amsterdam Centraal Arnhem. Arnhem Duisburg Hbf DB Baureihe 1429 tri voltage. Making it extra challenging although you do get rewarded for it.

 

I think there might be a little confusion here with naming.

The Keystone Corridor is the electrified, primarily Amtrak route from Harrisburg east to Philadelphia. While it would be an interesting route in itself, it only has a tiny amount of freight and is probably too long based on current TSW projects. DTG is also missing the SEPTA license for the commuter portion from Thorndale to Philly.

The route pertaining to the Hershey chocolate factory goes northeast from Harrisburg-Reading and is only freight and not electrified, and much shorter (appx 50 miles)

Otherwise your suggestion makes sense to me. Not sure what NS runs on there tbh, probably some older units mixed in with newer stuff.

 

It good to have Matt contributing to the thread.

k#9534 The Mars factory in Slough is near the GWE so perhaps DTG have plans to update the line now part of the Elizabeth Line. I personally would like to see the Thames Branch lines added to GWE as commented on in another recent thread!

 

No no no! DTG has many times confirmed that GWE doesn't get any updates. Reason... The system how its build doesn't exist anymore so changes to the route are impossible!

 

Yes I know that and agree, but they could one day reproduce it as a new route. Not likely at present I know.

 

But theres a major thing that we can do is redo the thing and make it go to places like Stratford random example but we just got to wait and see

 

I'd hardly call it visible, perhaps a fleeting glimpse of the roof behind the Uni buildings and Sainsbury's!!
I'll throw a fanciful curve ball in though, what about Nestle in Dalston on the Cumbria Coast line!!