I know Amtrak is very much wanted in TSW2, but I'm curious as to which routes and locomotives you would like to see.
I am not familiar with th US but is there another train operators apart of Amtrak and CSX? So why always those 2? Variety? [Explanation needed with basic US railway info]
There is some of it. CSX and AMTRAK are among the more recognizable ones for sure, but not only the two. UPDATE e.g. http://www.acwr.com/economic-development/rail-maps PS Besides, in the USA, the tracks are private and exclusive (in a sense) - on the routes used by BNSF in the west, it is late to look for railway company trains from the east coast, such as the CSX. ... When it comes to diversity in the context of TOP brands - there is certainly a problem with licensing in the case of BNSF, which is a pity. Coming back to the topic - AMTRAK, oh yeah
The short answer is yes they're are other operators besides Amtrak and CSX. Operators in the US usually deal exclusively in Freight or Passenger service. With few exceptions none do both. (BNSF operates some passenger lines but the locos and train sets aren't owned by BNSF nor do they carry BNSF branding) Freight: Class I railroads are the largest and most well known rail freight operators in the U.S. There are currently seven class I railroads operating in the U.S. Those are BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe), Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad. Currently in TSW we have CSX and Union Pacific, but there is a Canadian National route coming soon! After Class I railroads there are Class II railroads, also known as regional railroads. In 2004 there were 20 Class II railroads operating in the US. After Class II railroads is Class III railroads, also known as Short Lines. There are tons of short lines in the U.S! There are hundreds of short line railroads in the U.S. everything from Walt Disney World Railroad, to Tacoma Rail. Passenger: Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation is the largest passenger rail operator in the United States. Its a quasi-public corporation that's partially funded by state and federal subsidies, its run as a for-profit organization but all the companies issued and outstanding stock is owned by the US Government. Amtrak is the only passenger rail service in the US to offer long haul passenger routes, and they also operate regional inter-city trains, as well short haul passenger services. Amtrak has a presence in 46 out of the 48 contiguous United States. But Amtrak isn't the ONLY passenger rail service in the US. Many states Departments of Transportation own and or operate commuter trains or light rail trains through the states major cities. For example Washington States department of transportation has the "Sounder" commuter train that runs the greater Seattle area, which is actually operated by BNSF. Pretty much every major city will have some regional commuter rail service that's run by the state. I hope that offered more instite into US railroads.
A new Amtrak route is something I hope to see in TSW 2, We had a route with NEC but since that is not coming over we need a new Amtrak route. Maybe Washington D.C to Newark Penn with Acela Express and ACS-64 or AEM-7 local stoppers. Maybe a California Zephyr route (with old-school mail cars). or the Empire Builder route. Overall Amtrak has popular routes, I would expect some more to release later on with DTG or third-party developers in TSW 2. I do look forward in the coming months to see a Amtrak route in the TSW 2 roadmap, only time will tell however.
This post is a little off topic but, who else would like to see a NJ Transit route with various rolling stock come to TSW 2 I would definitely. The NJ route would feature local stopping services, Amtrak trains roaring down the express tracks, limited express services and some CSX freight moves. Since NJ Transit does share a portion of trackage with Amtrak it would be a great addition.
To make it clear Amtrak is NOT coming to TSW2 as in preserved collection and future add-ons such as routes and locos, No future plans are being made to add it due to Licensing being possibly revoked by Amtrak. If Amtrak was going to be added to TSW 2 in the Preservation Collection it would have been on the Roadmap by now.
I'm not so sure that it's just about the license. Matt gave other reasons in one of the streams. Where did you get this information from?
In the most recent Roadmap livestream two days ago Sam said specifically that they had NOT lost the Amtrak license. NEC wasn't brought forward to TSW2 due to technical issues that would require them to basically rebuild the route and trains from scratch. It was not related to licensing.
Heres the live stream from the 15th where Sam talks about the Amtrak license. I set the time stamp to right before they talk about it. Unless dasmith1 has a better source than this i think its safe to say he's incorrect.
NEC isn't being brought over, correct, but they do still have the license and I'm sure they will make new Amtrak content.
Its only those 2 right now due to the game being so new, as well as being alot harder for 3rd partys to make content, if you take a look at Train Simulator, all of the following railroads are represented in one way or another.... Freight: Union Pacific BNSF CSX Norfolk Southern Canadian Pacific Canadian National Southern Pacific Denver Rio Grande Western Clinchfield Railroad Seaboard System Seaboard Coast Line Chessie System Baltimore & Ohio New Haven Pennsylvanian Railroad New York Central Western Pacific Colorado Southern Central Pacific Burlington Northern Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Boston & Maine AT&N SP&S NKP Southern Milwalkee Road Chcago Northwestern Rock Island Great Northern Alaska Railroad Sacramento Northern Passenger: Amtrak Amtrak Surfliner Metrolink (No License) Coaster (No License) Metra (No License) New Jersey Transit Tri Rail (No license) Metro North Cal Train
I hope they’ll do metro north someday soon didn’t they mentioned that they’ll love to see metro north on train sim world 2 someday.
One general Amtrak recommendation that annoys me is then people recommend making P42s for a route where they only run once or twice a day. I get that people have a lot of interest in Amtrak ops, but personally I don't want so much time spent on something unique like the P42 or Charger only for it to be used on one or two services. I'd much rather see them included with routes like the Keystone Corridor or some other Amtrak focused route where they're relatively common. Then you could considering add extra services to other routes like Sand Patch as a bonus, similar to how the charter service on East Coastway works.
If that was the case they wouldn't have NEC for the original TSW, or routes like Hudson or Miami for TS Classic available. There's zero reason at this point to think that they don't have the license.
I think the license is based off the game. Not the developer because we may have seen more Amtrak judging by its popularly
I want a Genesis P42DC, SC44 Charger, ALC-42 Charger, and B32-8WH. Amtrak Surfliner, Cascades, and California trains, plus a few long distance trains would be my choices. I really want to see Amtrak's NEC remade or updated and added to TSW2. The route needs Amtrak's new ASC-64 electrics, the Avelia Liberty, and/or the Acela Express. Freight services on the NEC could be included, too, with a CSX ET44AH or ST70AH (SD70ACe-T4) and Genset Switcher.
Honestly I prefer the P42 but we could go back in time to F40PH or have routes with P42 and F59PHI as motive power
While Niagra Fall is too far for a TSW2 route, I can see DTG porting over the Hudson Line from Train Simulator 20XX. Per line info, the Amtrak Line is about 40 Miles from New York Penn, while the MTA line is 34ish miles from New York Central. Rolling Stock could be the P32AC-DM, MTA M7a, and a CSX loco for local freight duties (GP40-2 maybe for a comeback)
Niagara Falls to Albany is 200 miles! That is too long for TSW. I live not too far outside Buffalo, so I definitely want to see a section of the Amtrak Empire Corridor/CSX Water Level Route.
Well im fan of the MBTA, NJT, SEPTA, Amtrak MARC And the MTA. I post the mbta with the subway, commuter, and Amtrak service on tsw 2. check the boston dovtail live for tsw 2 because i the boston Trains in tsw 2.
So is there still a chance that a different Amtrak will come to TSW2? I was looking forward to the route from the previous game, but if that’s impossible, then oh well.
Maybe Acela from Washington to Baltimore/Philadelphia would be good and a reasonable length route? I don't think they've done that part of Acela either (I could be wrong and it might have been done somewhere in TS classic). There are also many freight routes which see Amtrak over them a few times a week, for example the CSX new river subdivision has the Amtrak Cardinal a few times a week which stops at stations on either end of it (+1 in the middle).
I think that was a route featured in TS Classic. But nevertheless adding this to TSW 2 would make my day. Since we lost NEC: New Rochelle to Newark Int from TSW 2020. I think another Amtrak route is bound. Amtrak is a famous American railroad and because DTG has licensing from them no doubt another route may come in the future. This new route would fit TSW 2 specs. But once again this is only a proposal. Nothing has been confirmed nor seen on the roadmap yet. Only time will tell.
With today's announcement for the NEC between DC and Baltimore for TS2021, I think this route has a better chance of being ported over to TSW 2 and being the 1st Amtrak route for it within the next year or 2. Especially since its only about 40ish so miles and features some nice high speed running sections. Only con i see is that there are no freight services for the route (If any even run on that line).
Something I find worth noting's that the SW1000R I believe is mainly used in Washington DC, I wonder if that might've had a hand in picking that section?
