Unfortunately freight only routes do not sell as well as passenger routes. That's why you aren't seeing many lately. At least they are trying to add more freight to the mixed routes, and we will get the hauling mode. For sure freight has seen better days in TSW, but has seen worse too.
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't freight much bigger than passenger railways in the US? I think the problem, as Inkar says, is that freight routes don't sell as much as passenger stuff
Yes, DTG has strongly indicated that North American freight-only routes are a non-starter. As suggested, I also see the new hauling mode as sort of a bone to throw to those interested. Of course, a lot will depend on the implementation, and then if said mode even works at all. So far details are light but it's early days so we'll see.
I understand that DTG wants to focus on what sells more (who wouldn't) but IMHO it is a mistake to not do any of the not so popular stuff like heavy freight in years. Just by doing one every couple years would feel like a blow of fresh air. If they just keep doing the same stuff over and over again people will eventually get bored of it. You can take the dostos as an example, and dont even get me started on the class 66.
Yes, I think "freight mode" is a way to get the freight players to buy the passenger routes without having to actually put freight into the routes natively. And yes, freight is MUCH bigger in the US by volume than passenger, but most of the audience for TSW isn't even from the US and are European passenger fans. As I've said, I'll have to see how it's implemented. If it's anything like other DTG features, it'll be the low hanging simplistic fruit of A-B trips and no more complicated shunting/pathing. I'm not sure it'll generate a lot of sales, but it's... more than nothing I guess.
We definately need more USA freight .The Santa fe and GP60m paks were a start for Cajon pass .would like to see more locomotive freight car DLC s to add more variety in routes maybe new timetables sand patch remaster and clinchfield remaster to CSX freight..We also have the upcoming SP Hayden branch from H.I.S with copper ore smelters should be lots of switching unloading etc in it...hopefully in future we will get more freight routes but ppl need to soupport what we get or wont happen we need some more 3rd party developers that could do freight ..DTG need to cater to What USA customers want not what the UK Eourpe player base wants for future USA routes we want more freight the need to listen to what US players want and we want more freight and decent quality then maybe wallets would open ..
I would like to see more data on who buys what and from where, etc. However there's zero chance of that so we can only guess and go by hints from DTG comments. However, third parties will be doing their own thing anyway. I have been supporting HIS for example even if it's not amazing, it shows some support for US freight. The Southern Ore route looks promising. We'll see.
Same here i bought the Santa Fe pak day one yes it was released in a not too good state but after the cmplaints they did fix it make it better..i just dont set expectations too high on anything ..i usually buy anything us related especially us freight day one even if not the greatest ..but again any party that does tackle us freight needs to focous on quality and not relese half baked stuff ..
we could also use somemore freight in existing routes to start ..How about adding a freight time table to NY Trenton there lots of local freight and yards spurs that could be opened up for switching etc.. Antellope valley has lots of spurs that could be opened up for freight switching..would like to see more classic USA stuff like Burlington northern Chessie system Conrail etc older locomotives GE Alco s GP9 emd .etc
I think it's fair to say that the new freight system is DTG's way of achieving what you are describing. In fact, if done properly, we might even say that this mode can bring a lot of new gameplay to other routes that had little or no freight to begin with, including BPE, LIRR, NYT, MTN, and AVL. Of course, the implementation has to be meaningful, without tons of bugs or issues. So I can see what they are trying to achieve and I also appreciate the idea. Whether or not DTG can actually pull this off in a way that is useful and not broken is another matter.
Nate's right. It's a way to "theoretically" expand the freight on older routes too, while doing the minimum of work because instead of putting a whole timetable in they just have to put "Randomizee Start point X" and "End point Y." I know it's not "easy as that" but compared to a whole timetable and all the additions and tweaking that takes, just adding a few start and stop points and letting the computer randomize them is a LOT less work to program. Once you have the basic template, it's just a matter of changing the start/stop points for each map. Now it's not a full scenario or a timetable or anything like that, yes that's fair. It is also "saving work" and relegating freight to 2nd fiddle. And yes it's probably a money grab to try to get freight players to buy more stuff they'd pass on otherwise. Those are all true. HOWEVER, how many of us DO have those routes anyway sitting around unused? And being "randomized" COULD add some variety, especially if there is some randomization of cargo AND randomization of sidings. It's not the same as building a train, but if it's not "start in the mainline and end in the mainline" and they USE sidings.... well that's something at least. More than nothing.
I watched the august tsw7 roadmap yesterday ..from what i took the new freight hauler mode will only be on the tsw7 core routes at first . Matt said he wants to get player feed back also before they tweek or add more to it he said he has ideas to add more things maybe later but wants feed back after tsw7 releases,,i hop older routes will get it added later ..also i want to see more on how it works etc .The tri rail stream is next wed the 2nd hope they show freight hauler mode on it
It’s a great shame as this year I had hoped the keynote release would be one of the more famous freight routes. Instead, we got Tri Rail which looks nice but the driving experience will be very similar to SF Corridor IMHO. Apart from the questionable issues of access, DTG’s biggest obstacle is the fact that Run 8 and to a lesser extent TSC and residual MSTS in Open Rails still dominate the North American freight scene. Particularly Run 8 with its Industry feature and powerful dispatcher, but which also gives the player the option to take over and signal trains themselves. The gameplay in Run 8 does serve some purpose as you can keep up a constant flow of traffic in and out of the industry spurs, form up outgoing manifests from the locals either in a yard or over one of the humps and send them off route to a destination. The new Freight Hauler in all honesty looks like being a very basic imitation of that. And the scenarios in TSW for switching tend to be pointless move it from A to B with no contingent end purpose. However Run 8 is slightly let down by its ancient graphics and the infamous awful e-commerce system. Plus PC only, of course. As I’ve said on other threads, I really hoped this year we would see something like the Moffat Road or Kicking Horse Pass in Canada. But once again we get another dose of commuter rail (when the commuter rail many of us want to see is New York Subway, another area where DTG seem unable or unwilling to work around the obstacles).
If anything pure freight right now in USA, I'd gladly take Mojave Subdivision / Tehachapi Pass any time, if not shortly after release, then after bugs are fixed. I really loved driving on the route first in Trainz (was it there since 2006?) and I was really happy to finally see it also in TSC years later. In TSW additionally to driving and yard switching, I'd probably enjoy some walking around the loop and watching the same train passing on top and bottom of the loop.
Because pulling multi-ton trains at meager speeds (20-30 miles per hour) for an hour and a half or 2 is not a pleasure for everyone)
Which is why previously I’ve also suggested part of the former Missouri Pacific Line from St Louis to Kansas City. Or the BN Funnel from Sandpoint to Spokane.
At this point I've given up on ever seeing a new US freight only route from DTG, not even a Clinchfield remastered route (Or any old freight route) ever. And I cant really blame them too much, US routes are already on the lower end of the player base and US freight is even lower on the pole. They don't sell to the masses, especially if they are mostly mountain grades. So they just get regulated to local stuff that runs along side passenger routes these days. Really only HIS would be the only contender, but they haven't released their 1st branch line route yet.
We want new freight routes but DTG can’t even get the bell and horns right on their “redesigned” locomotives. They think US freight relies on strictly sd40-2…
