I have a proposal for a new U.S. freight route which I think could bring a lot back to the TSW series. I'm well aware that there's a pretty much 0 chance Dovetail will just grab my idea and run with it but I figured for the heck of it I might as well type it up. The Location: The route would be set in Wisconsin, which has terrain consisting of a lot of farmland, lush fields, and patches thick forests, as well as plenty of lakes and rivers. The weather in this area ranges from pleasant, cloudless days to violent thunderstorms and freezing blizzards, all of which could easily be emulated by TSW's existing weather system. The Track: The route is operated by Canadian National, which has only been featured in one other route thus far. Neenah and Stevens Point are both home to rather large and busy yards, with switchers working round-the-clock. The track in between these two cities is also very busy; occasionally there are are only 15-20 minute intervals between trains. The route is mostly single-track, with passing sidings every few miles, which of course means meet-ups. The track speeds are fast and would be a great change of pace compared to some of the other U.S. Freight Routes. Lots of local rail-served industry lines the track, especially around Waupaca and at the ends of the route. Waupaca specifically is visited each day by a CN local which makes deliveries to several local industries, including the Waupaca Foundry. You can actually view part of this area on the Virtual Railfan Youtube Channel as they have a camera posted there. The Trains / Variety In Services: Mainline freight is fast but may also have to wait briefly on sidings for others to pass. Some services could be split into two parts if the wait is long or just to add some shorter mainline services so you don't have to drive the entire length of the route all the time. Mainline freight often has set-outs and pick-ups at the yards, which isn't something we've seen much of in TSW. As mentioned before, there is a local that departs daily from Neenah yard to serve industries near Waupaca. There are a few other industries on the route which CN delivers to, as well as plenty of locations near the major yards. the plethora of industry means we could see the return of loading and unloading services, and that delivery/local services could involve multiple pick-ups and drop-offs. The motive power used on this route consists of the ES44AC and SD70ACe (and variants) as well as the GP-38 and SD-40, and occasionally something odd like a GP9rm. All of these locomotives are already in various DLC and would only require the developers to make a few modification to their exterior and interior for them to be included. (Even if its more likely for them to be layers or DLC) The rolling stock for this route also already exists. The only thing that would need to be created from scratch is some gondolas. This route could technically use every single piece of U.S. Freight rolling stock in the game if the developers felt like it (minus autoracks, which I've never seen pass through before), and while that's unlikely I'm allowed to dream. Why This is a Good Idea: This route's scenery is varied and not like any other TSW route at the time of posting, but could mostly be created with existing assets (with the exception of some areas like the foundry and the yards). This would hopefully allow the developers extra time to focus on other areas of the DLC like the timetable and scenarios and detailing the route,. The train models already exist and just need updating. This would, again, hopefully mean the developers have extra time to focus on other areas of the DLC. The experiences the route offers are varied and aren't just driving from one end to the other. Some of these services haven't been featured either in a long time or at all in U.S. DLC. Most of the route is rather easy to reach and document by car. Both yards have roads which run their entire length and the track mostly follows the freeway. I'm pretty sure the route is a bit shorter than what DTG usually makes. This would, again, hopefully go toward quality over quantity. New Things This Route Could Bring: Defect detectors! There are a handful scattered throughout the route and they probably wouldn't be too complex to emulate with TTS. Proper high speed freight. I haven't played TSW in awhile but I do own all of the US freight DLC minus the Norfolk Southern route, and if I remember correctly there isn't a whole lot of it other than a small part of sand patch grade and some parts of antelope valley. Actually using the extra industry track. And that's pretty much the whole of it. I'll update the post if I forgot anything.
A CN SD75I or SD75ACC, AC44C6M, ET44AC, and/or C44-9W would be great to see. More US freight routes are needed in game.
