Hi every one just want to what you favourite era so it to know what users like when new routes been made + put a poll to see what they like
For me it’s especially the part between 2010-2020. In Germany and Switzerland it marks one of the big changes in rolling stock, having old locos and wagons being replaced or renewed, while new rolling stock gets introduced at the same time. The best years were 2014-2018, as after 2018 many old ones locos left due to the introduction of the Vectron. Nowadays many locos are almost completely gone and the “classics” on the rails have vanished or get their services stolen by other locos. But hey, that’s what time is all about! So smile that it happened
I'm mainly interested in modern era but have also the older era routes, this why i want the modern era version of older routes like TVL, NTP, BPO, PFR and WCMLOS, if we have the old era why not make the modern era version?
I’ll say this once (and I’ll probably say this again) but I was definitely born in the wrong decade. There something that fascinates me about the 80s - 90s, whether it’s because I grew up with technology from the era, cars, street-lighting, train liveries and the fact my first console was the original PlayStation. I can’t help but feel a strange nostalgia.
I agree, i was born in the 2000s but i am not interested in new trains (or anything for that matter) at all, but the time frame of 80s-90s is what i liked since... forever.
1986-1997 for me from those choices. An era of change for the UK rail network with run down locos and carriages being replaced by DMUs with some regions hanging on to their locos for years, plus the birth of sectorisation and then privatisation.
47-60 I like steam, I like diesel, I like electric. In that period you would find all of the above sharing there railways. Here in the south east.
I’d have to say 1970-1986 for the poll but also maybe extending a bit into the late 1980s and into the early 90s. Still lots of loco hauled passenger trains and EMUs and DMUs with comfortable seats around. That’s when I travelled the most on trains as well. The older trains are definitely more fun and rewarding to drive in TSW and although I do like some more modern trains the older ones will always win in a head to head comparison. With the more modern content in TSW, the UK stuff is actually the most boring to me. I like the familiarity of the locations and signalling but the trains are a bit dull. Give me those familiar places with an old BR loco and it’s a different matter, I’m as happy as a pig in… a sweet shop. I will drive anything though and therefore TSW has a lot of variety to offer.
GWR 1835 - 1948 British Railways 1948 - 1967 (Jan 1st '67 official introduction of BR Blue Era) British Rail 1967 - 1982 (sectorisation introduced)
1986 - 1997 for me... BR sectorisation (IC, NSE, RR), the transition of MK1 based units to the then newer designs of EMU/DMU, remnants of BR blue & grey, a very rich and interesting variety of stock. So yeah, thats my own personal favourite.
Well, these date ranges are specifically for the UK, but I chose '46-'60 because that's the closest to a mixture of steam and diesel in the US and the period when I first became fascinated by trains.
Like a child of the mid-90s, I take everything from 1990(6) to the current 2025 - but I don't mind from older years (70, 80) P.S. All of the above applies to all railways in the world - my interests are not limited to a couple of countries)
I’d say modern era in general but I do like historic routes as long as the atmosphere and “feel” is done right. Like the 70s-80s UK routes (both DTG and JT ones) do a great job of that. Clinchfield is in the 70s but really doesn’t have any 70s “feel” to it. Other than the rolling stock, you could drop a modern train onto Clinchfield and it totally would feel modern. Even some of the car/truck traffic are modern vehicle assets. I’d love to see a 60s-70s route set in the US where they made it feel like the 60s-70s with things like period specific scenery and billboards.
Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), 1970 - 1989: Routes: - Dresden - Bautzen - Görlitz - Dresden - Bischofswerda - Zittau - Dresden - Riesa - Leipzig (1989) - Cottbus - Wilhelm-Pieck-Stadt Guben - Eisenhüttenstadt - Frankfurt / Oder - Leipzig - Zeitz - Gera - Saalfeld - Cottbus - Senftenberg - Ruhland - Priestewitz - Dresden
My favourite era of railways is from 1803 to whatever date in the very far future that railways might go extinct.....
I think it’s a poll which might benefit from people being able to choose multiple options, in order to identify the common ground between people. Otherwise the risk is that it just ends up showing that peoples absolute favourite eras are very spread, which doesn’t help developers much. For me, anything pre-2000 is of interest (although of course for steam, they’d have to fix the physics). Also, I assume the last option should say 2020+ ?
It really needs to be asked, to what extent should the era's ability to fit in TSW without hassle should be factored in? In reality my favorite era if you could really give some proper time and effort would be US routes set during the 1950 to 59 time-frame. Very good selections of stock to make due to the fact steam and diesel co-existed. For a time on the UP there was a brief time period where Big Boy's and the massive 8500HP Gas Turbines existed alongside each other. I don't think they necessarily covered the same lines, but nonetheless a timetable with both the late UP steamers, early diesels like the F7 & GP9, and the full family of Turbine's, 8500's included wouldn't be completely insane. Would be similar to how WCML has a timetable that includes the Class 40, or how some have been wanting a APT DLC, a slight, but plausible enough deviation from reality. Alternatively could set it further back and you get a decent home for things like the TTT & 9000's, or the earlier series of Challenger's, and could still have the 4500HP turbines. That said such a route wouldn't work well for TSW, and not even just because of the issues with steam. Such a route to realize its full potential would actively need multiple DLC's made for it to actually flesh it out. Let's be honest. we know how DTG are, at best you get maybe one DLC in a blue moon for a route at this point. We'd probably just get a very iffy Big Boy as the included new loco, plus a reskinned F7, maybe get a equally iffy FEF with some passenger coaches as a DLC, if you're really lucky they might make a Challenger given how iconic 3985 is, but even that's pushing it. I'd seriously doubt DTG would even consider doing any of turbines or early steamers, and even something like a UP GP9 would likely only exist if DTG had done it for a prior route. And the problem is very true of pretty much any routes in the transition era, every railroad had their own types on hand. Work on the Big Boy doesn't necessarily make it easier to do a Y6b or Allegheny, based on some of what Smokebox said even the Challenger isn't all that similar despite the surface level similarities. Nor does the FEF make a N&W J Class or a SP GS4 any more feasible. The variety among different railroads is what the transition era (and even the pure steam era) so interesting, but also makes it complete hell to make from a software development stand point. If we're accounting for plausibility then frankly BR Blue or modern DB are easily the best eras, and I can't really see that changing anytime soon. Multiple well made routes in both. unlike US & Modern UK tons of standardized equipment that can be used on multiple routes without looking out of place, and the added bonus that no right or other content production issues are likely to rear their ugly head. 90's DB could get there in time, but as well made as the TSG content is thus far I think it's safety to say it hasn't hit critical mass quite yet. Thus far all the routes feel isolated from each other with limited layering, and don't have all that great of service variety.
I'm into pretty much anything from BR Blue to the modern day really. I like steam locos too, but I just have no real interest in them or any real desire to drive them in the simulator. Nothing against those who do like steam, it's just not my cup of tea personally.
The problem with steam, to some extent, is balancing the difficulty. Obviously as done initially in TSW just way off the mark and no challenge at all. On the other hand I really struggled with some of the “expert” steamers in TSC such as Bossman for the UK, the NZ ones where you had to manage the cylinder oil feed or the Big Boy - even with the assists on. I also get the impression that Simugraph isn’t really up to coping with all the variables a simulation of steam traction entails.
Interesting. So 84% of those who voted want post-steam 1970, with the majority pre-2000s. So if you make something in that 3 decades it's pretty much the "sweet spot. Then again this is the forum so I'm guessing if you asked outside of the forum it'd be more skewed towards even more modern stuff. Still, pretty solid support for the 1970-2000 timeframe. It kinda makes sense with the age of people. Folks tend to gravitate to what they "know" growing up and that would be when much of the player base was growing up.
Love modern era stuff. 2000 to present. But I also have been digging the time capsules from just trains that are wcmlos and Blackpool. The 87, Pacer and everything else is just so thrilling to drive.
Starting to like the late 90s early 2000's routes alot more. With the mid to late 80s being a close second.
Modern era or the period between the 90’s to 2010. I like era’s that I can relate to and I’m accustomed to IRL. Though the just trains BR stuff is really cool too. That’s where I make an exception when it comes to older locos and routes.
The 1800s always holds a place in my heart, because that was when railways started and became widespread throughout. My life would be different otherwise. But I'd have to say modern is my favourite. It's the one I'm most familiar with, although I do like the more "interesting" times (basically anything pre-2010).
