As I have been playing Train Sim World, I am aware that there is a lack of Midwestern US routes. There are so many lines in this region that would be perfect to recreate, one of them being the ex Wabash Norfolk Southern St. Louis District. The main area that I would like to see stretches from St. Louis, MO to Wentzville, MO with a total of approximately 44 miles and also crosses the Missouri River in St. Charles, MO. The entire line is probably too long to make since it is around 148 miles long. The line is mostly single track with sidings in Wentzville, St. Charles, Berkeley, and St. Louis. The siding in St. Charles, however is not in use because it is equipped with a derail. The terrain is mostly smooth with a few inclines and declines near the suburbs. Traffic can be slow at times with an average of around 10 to 11 trains a day, but if you get lucky, you may catch 2 trains within a short period of time. The trains are mostly intermodal and autorack, especially since Wentzville has a GM plant where they assemble a lot of auto parts and cars. A few daily manifest trains pass through as well, along with an occasional grain train. There are also a couple local trains that move between Wentzville and St. Louis, and there is another local that works around St. Peters, MO, a city on the line that contains a few industries. A Trinity Products company sits right next to the main line a few miles east of St. Peters. This company uses the railroad to get their supplies to their customers. East of the Missouri River, there are quite a few industries that are also connected to the main line. These are located between Earth City, MO and Berkeley, MO. In Berkeley, there is a decent sized yard which is used for storing cars. Half of the tracks in the yard extend northward toward a plastics company and a tubular steel company and many more, also serviced by a local train. St. Louis is home to Norfolk Southern's Luther Yard, which serves as an intermodal hub and has a maintenance shop too. Many trains enter and leave the yard day and night. From here, the line continues to Branch Street Interlocking where it will connect with the T.R.R.A railroad (Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis). NS 2800 (SD75M) leads NS train 111 out of Wentzville, MO. NS 8103 Makes an appearance near O'Fallon, MO on NS train 239. An NS autorack train crosses the Wabash Bridge over the Missouri River in St. Charles, MO. Locomotives I wish I could add every locomotive on the NS roster, but that would be way too much. So I decided to propose these following locomotives: GE Dash 9-44CW These locomotives are very common on this line. They can be seen on the intermodal and auto trains, and even on the local auto part trains. In the Sand Patch Grade route for Train Sim World, the AC4400CW locomotive has two skins, I thought it would be cool to use the same idea but with Norfolk Southern paint schemes for the Dash 9. EMD SD70ACe The SD70ACe is also a commonly seen locomotive on the system. These 4,300 horsepower diesels are perfect for all of the heavy freight trains in this area. Many of the local auto trains can actually be seen with only this locomotive leading. It is pretty normal to see long trains with only one engine leading around the area as well. GE ES44AC The ES44AC, known as the "GEVO", is another engine you will more than likely see in real life here. They can be seen leading trains all around the area, from autorack to grain. Similar to the SD70ACe, you will see this locomotive leading by itself plenty of times. You may even see this engine as a DPU. EMD GP38-2 This is the primary locomotive for the trains which are mostly switching in the industries and yards as well. In a few of the sidings, there are locomotive restrictions which deny access to 6-axle engines. This is one reason why the GP38-2 is mostly seen on the switching jobs. The GP38-2 can also be seen in Wentzville sorting out rail cars for new trains. EMD SD60E This locomotive is a rebuild of the SD60 locomotive. It goes perfect with all of the types of freight on the line. It can lead a consist or it can be a DPU for a consist. This is also a typical engine to see leading by itself on any train, mostly an autorack train. Rolling Stock: For the most part, the rolling stock can be from the other US routes as long as they are repainted into NS paint. Some rolling stock examples include tank cars, box cars, covered hoppers, center beam cars, well cars, and autoracks. Additionally, there are some more cars that are also seen on the line that are not already in the game, such as: Auto Frame Car These rail cars are a common sight to see on autorack and intermodal trains, along with a few local trains. There is a location at the GM Plant in Wentzville where the auto frames are loaded onto these rail cars. Articulated Autoracks Autorack and intermodal trains will probably have these set of rail cars somewhere in their consist. They don't usually appear on locals, but they are almost guaranteed to show up in an auto train. Auto Parts Boxcar These are seen on mostly auto trains and the local auto transfer trains around Wentzville. Occasionally, Berkeley yard will have a few of them just sitting in the siding. Articulated Well Cars These well cars are extremely common on intermodal trains. In fact, most of the consist may be made up of these rail cars. These may occasionally pop up on an autorack train, but it is not likely. These cars will be perfect for the Luther Yard Intermodal Hub. Conclusion Overall, the St. Louis District has an infinite amount of activities for you to do. You can take care of switching jobs, drive some freight from one place to another, and more! This line will definitely keep you pulled into the action with all of the possibilities. Not only is the line important to the Midwest, it is also great for a future Train Sim World route.
Very interesting route proposal. Only difference I would make would be the engines. For me, a SD70ACC, ES44DC, SD60e, and gp38-2. A AC44C6M would be interesting to. I railfan on the s-line and for the most part see ES44DC, AC44C6M, dash 9, and SD70ACe. Though in my opinion I prefer the sd70acc and SD60e since they add variety.
You made a very good point with the variety. I chose the locomotives above because whenever I railfan on this line, those engines are what I see the most of.
That's typically what I see as well. Also, do you ever see a SD60e switching cars. Here if it's not a sd40-2 a SD60e is the other engine I see.
I actually do see a SD60e from time to time switching cars near Wentzville and also transferring autoracks to St. Louis. However, it is mostly the sd40-2 that does the switching too.
Kinda funny how two completely different places use the same engines. The odds of it being a sd40-2 and occasional SD60e out of many engines used to switch (gp40-2, gp38-2, eco units, etc) are rare.
Exactly, also I forgot that sometimes I even see a high hood gp38-2 pulling a few cars and switching. Do you see those engines near where you railfan at?
Can't say I have. Though I've a sd70, dash 9, dash 9 standard cab, and even a sd60. The standard cab was there right before they all got rebuilt, and the sd70 was there before they got stored for rebuilding. The best catch I've probably caught was Norfolk Southern 123 with 2 Union Pacific sd70m's, a dash 9, a mp15e, and a high hood gp38. That was one I've seen and that was about 2 1/2 years ago.
I don’t see as many high hood units as I used to, I do see some old power here and there. I saw an SD80mac leading with an awesome crew, a few ex Conrail C40-8Ws too. My best catch was recently in St. Louis. There were 2 BNSF engines with 3 Santa Fe warbonnets. That train was just behind another train with a warbonnet duo. Another one was NS 239 with an NS dash 9, PRLX ac6000cw, and an sd70acu.
I caught a prlx ac6000 trailing third. A dash 9 was leading and the Monongahela heritage unit trailing second. The crew was epic and gave a shave and a haircut 2 bit.
I also caught a sd80mac trailing behind the Wabash heritage unit. And caught NS 4000 early this morning.
Nice! I once went railfanning to catch ns 1800. I did not know I missed it but instead I unexpectedly caught ns 4004.
Have you caught 1800 yet? I've caught both and they both have nice horns but 1800's horn is 100% wicked.