Hello everyone, I'm back at it once again with a good route suggestion. Now before we start. I'm fully aware that DTG isn't making any U.S freight content right now due to the obvious reasons. But if DTG gets lucky, then here's what I suggest they do. In my opinion the CSX River Sub would be a great freight route. The CSX River Sub is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. The line runs from the North Bergen Yard in Hudson County, New Jersey north to Ravena, New York, along the alignment of the West Shore Railroad, a former New York Central Railroad line. The River Subdivision (also known as the River Sub or River SD) is a major north–south rail corridor located between North Bergen, New Jersey and Ravena, New York, carries strictly freight trains and runs mostly along the shoreline or paralleling closely the west bank of the Hudson River. The River Subdivision is part of the CSX Albany Division, which in turn is part of CSX's Northern Region of Operations. The CSX designated subdivision code for the River Subdivision is "RI", with the River Subdivision falling under the "NI" dispatchers desk since March 8, 2009. It had been part of the "NJ" dispatchers desk until this date. Mileposts and locations along the River Subdivision are denoted by the CSX milepost prefix: "QR". Scenery along this route is very nice as there are multiple points of interest along the River Subdivision. Traffic on the River Subdivision consists mostly of long-distance trains composed of intermodal, TOFC (Trailer On Flat Car), unit and mixed commodity trains. Traffic density varies, but on weekdays one can expect to see 15 to 20 trains during daylight hours. Saturdays can provide 18-24 trains during the day; Sundays may only have 8-14 trains. One can expect to see 2-5 oil trains and 1-2 ethanol trains per day.(2015) Local trains delivering freight to businesses and industries located along the River Subdivision operate out of yards located at North Bergen, NJ; Kingston, NY and Selkirk, NY. Train symbols (prefixes) operating on this line are: B - unit: oil, ethanol G - unit: grain (very rarely) I - quality intermodal: I000 series UPS, I100 series intermodal. L - Local Train M - quality: M200 series auto carriers, M300 east/west mixed commodity, M400 north/south mixed commodity, and M700 trash S - Special payload X - extra On rare occasions, a Z prefix (foreign road train) may appear on this route: usually detour trains from the NYS&W. A vast majority of the intermodal traffic originating in the various ports in New Jersey, and destined for Chicago, IL and points west from that rail hub, travel north via the River Subdivision to Selkirk, NY, where they turn west. Rolling stock and locomotives should include the following. GE ES40DC EMD SD70AC EMD GP40-2 New container cars could also come with the route as well, these would be a great add-on. Spine cars CSX autorack. Seriously, I'm shocked that we only have UP branded autoracks, there needs to be CSX branded ones as well. Note: if possible, SD70AC unit 4568 "The Operation Lifesaver" unit could also be included, but if chances are that only the YN3 will suffice, the OLI scheme should be a seperate add-on. Now I know that in terms of distance, the full length route doesn't seem possible, if that's the case then I would see them doing the stretch between Kingston and North Bergen. That's all I need to say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Subdivision_(CSX_Transportation)
The Operation Lifesaver SD70AC is one loco that I want to see with CSX. Also, an ET44AH, ES44AH (including CSX Heritage Units), CSX F40PHs for their OCS Train (including the B&O unit), SD40-3, GP40-3, GP38-3, SD23T4/ET23DCM, ST70AH, SD80MAC, C40-8 Narrow Cab, and/or AC6000CW/ES46AH would be awesome to see.
I would be thrilled if they added the C40-8 to TSW, CSX put a good chunk of them back into service after they acquired Pan Am Railways in 2022. It would be nice to include a GE standard cab.
As cool as it would be, I don't see them doing the whole route. At their current aversion to greater than 50 track miles, there's no real logical place for them to bisect it either for an abridged version either. If they opt for the more scenic section, I could see them doing the portion of the route from Bergen to Kingston, but that's a stretch at 90 miles plus the sprawling complex and scenery in New Jersey. I'm also not sure how well consoles will handle the draw distance for scenery on the opposing bank of the Hudson. The more likely section I can see them doing would be something akin to Run8's Selkirk Terminal, possibly with the 40 mile stretch from Selkirk to Kingston. If they went this route I'd like to see the B&A and the Castleton Bridge modeled for local operations around Albany and Troy, and especially the local down to Hudson to make use of the street running to access the ADM plant.
One thing that needs to be done, it’s being able to serve the industries along the route and those around North Bergen NJ. If you don’t want to drive a mainline freight, you can drive a local freight switching customers.
In my opinion, the stretch between Kingston and North Bergen could be something that I would love to see them do.
Even a portion of that route would be a big progress for american freight fans in TSW, that have to wait for almost 3 years for a new american freight route.
