Well, the route from Asheville, NC to Spartanburg, SC is about 60 miles, so it's within TSW range. Of course, the tracks are largely gone now, but, if set in the '50's and '60s or' 70s, the F7, SD40 and SD40-2 are already in the game. Interesting but rather fanciful thought. ( If they did this let's hope they wouldn't forget to put in the banking com )
Milepost Simulations did Canadian Mountain Passes Yellow Head Pass and Canadian National Peace River High Iron have done Hanover Subdivision, B&O Mountain Subdivision and Saluda Grade
On a vintage route? Locotrol debuted on the Southern in, IIRC, 1965. (It happens that Asheville-Spartanburg was a Southern route, and that license presumably comes under Norfolk Southern, vide the heritage livery on HSC). However, in those early installations it was operated from its own console by a separate crewman.
Yes, I think we're all well aware that " banking com " is just a fictional feature to get around the absence of communication between personnel in the game. But just like on CRR, it's necessary to move some of the heavier trains up and down the grades, unless you can come up with a way to populate every loco with a sentient driver holding a hand-held radio.
Ok, how do we get Milepost to make the leap to TSW I would love to see the Kicking Horse Pass (CP Laggan Sub) come to TSW now that we can get high quality mountains.
He has 1 more TSC route left before potentially making the move to TSW So you can't expect a route from him for at least 2 to 3 years.
They are currently working on there last route for TS and then they might make the jump to TSW at some point
Well, I've very much enjoyed HIS' routes like Hanover and Mountain Subdivision, so if Dovetail aren't able to step up to the plate with US freight/fallen flag routes, I'll take HIS. It really is the locos that are the Achilles' heel with HIS routes. And to be fair, that's an issue with a lot of other otherwise good TSC routes as well, I feel. It would be great seeing the Mountain Subdivision or a similar Chessie-era route because you would be seeing colorful consists with B&O, C&O, Western Maryland and of course, Chessie liveries, both locos and wagons. Would make up for the lack of fallen flags so far in TSW!
I'll second that, now they have these wonderful new mountain textures in TSW, the Canadian Rockies, or the Colorado Rockies for that matter, are screaming out for a route. I also note that although CN have a route CP do not, which seems a bit remiss. CN Oakville wasn't exactly a scenic route so something in the mountains would be nice. I think it's high time DTG contacted Milepost Simulations with a letter of invitation to join the TSW family.
As Rohr said, I really like pickup/drop offs. It's not about the length of the route, it's about the variety and scenery. Also not sure how hard a "randomizer" would be to implement to represent the irregular nature branch line operations. We do have something a bit akin to it in the "quick play" which just selects a run at random from your library, but something you could filter maybe? No clue how you'd do that in scenario creator to keep things "fresh" but it'd boost replayability.
I think TSW is a test of everyone’s taste. If the mileage of U.S. freight routes developed is too short, everyone will criticize it. When the United States' passenger routes developed over a long period of time without the support of cargo routes, everyone felt that it was not perfect. When a 40-mile U.S. cargo route emerged, everyone was excited. Of course, when this mileage is the same as the passenger route mileage, will everyone naturally accept it? At present, I think with the development level of DTG, we only hope that a 200-mile freight route will appear every year. My requirements are not high.
I don't think it's the length as a measure... it's what's ON the route that matters (both in scenery and usable content.) There's lots of empty track across the middle of the US that is just "zoomed" over in cargo and passenger (AMTRAK) routes with no stops that could be "long" but wouldn't be very fulfilling to drive. There's a lot that goes into a route, so I can see why shorter passenger routes are preferred by developers (and a lot of players)...less to create. I actually don't need LONGER routes, just more.... connected routes. More loops, more branches, more industry and stations reused in different combinations. The routes with multiple paths and using the same rails to reach many different destinations are more interesting to me and reuse much of the same content more efficiently. A LONG, linear route with few stops or sidings on the other hand still requires all that work to create the rails, sidings and distant scenery, but you only use it once and then it's gone.... appreciated even less because with long maps you need higher speed to keep the transit times reasonable. East Coast Mainline and Cajon Pass are examples of LONG routes that don't offer a lot of variation. They're just.... long. But is there much to do on them? On the other hand, a short route like West Somerset has a lot more scenery and animation on the routes, and Southeastern High Speed has a LOT of variation on the line, multiple routes, etc. For me, Oakville does a really good job of packing a lot into a relatively small space. There's a wide variety of stuff to do, there's an industrial loop with lots of different stops, there's shunting/ loading/ unloading...the only big thing lacking is passenger service. There are stations THERE for it, but there's nothing on the timetable even though it's there irl. I think there's local commuter content (GO transit I think?), Canadian national and even AMTRAK has a route through there that could be added on very simply. I know you can always add your own scenarios, but as I said before that seems like a PRIME place for a DLC pack, adding the locos (we already have in game even) and some timetable, much as they did with the cargo packs to the MML, GWE and SEHS. The map is there, it's good, lots of scenery, lots of locations already built, there's lots to do.... and it'll sell even better if it's expanded on by DLCs. It doesn't even have to be 100% "accurate" if they can't get licensing, etc. Make it something SIMILAR then. We have the MP36 in game, we have the F40, rebrand them in some spurious name for a fictional commuter line and throw in a few timetables. For most TSW fans I think that'd be close enough. The line isn't "long" (24 miles), but it's POPULATED. This is what I was bringing up before. Why build all those commuter stations if they're NOT supported in a timetable in the route itself? That's a lot of work by the developers for something you don't even use in the main cargo-focused game. You're driving right BY them, and compared to developing a whole route throwing a few timetables in seems simple (since even I can make a simple scenario in the scenario editor and I'm not bragging about any skill there!) TSW has so much possibility.... but it's just not capitalized on in many cases. People in the community create timetables and scenarios all the time on their own. Packaging a few with the routes however as DLCs (or released as bonus with TOD4 upgrades) would generate some revenue and interest in even less popular routes. I don't know a single person who talks about Oakville for example but I love it and think it's easily in the top 20% of routes...imagine if it was released WITH a commuter timetable from the get-go?
I do think route variety makes all the difference. MML, for example, is basically a triple-ended Y-shaped route; so also is Blackpool. Now, the number of possible end-to-end service patterns equals n(n-1), where n is the number of endpoints. For an A-B route like Goblin and so many others that's just 2 (2*(2-1)=2), out and back, but for MML and BPO it's 6 (3*(3-1)=6). More variety! This applies in spades to Long Island. Not quite so much ECW or Riesa-Dresden, because there are no services between Eastbourne and Seaford, or Meißen and Riesa, but at least there are still 4 service paths.
Makes me wonder why the most suggested and popular US freight routes are A-B point routes thru mountain passes, with little to no local industries at all along the line......
Because they are famous, have impressive landscapes and it needs the full power to challenge the mountain pass. But sure Bayley Yard Nebraska would be very nice too. But with the performance problems of TSW it will probably never happen.
"Recommended" or "popular"? A lot of people go to the Grand Canyon once... but keep going every year? I will admit I "cut my teeth" on Canyon since it was free with TSW and it was freight, but after awhile you realize it's just a long, slow slog without much variety. It's more just that bragging rights of "been there, did it."
By Canyon I presume you mean Cajon? It works better in Run 8 where it’s part of a larger network, once you buy all the component parts of course!
i think especially for US content it s time to turn back the clock, We pretty much have most of the modern freight locomotives except the GE ET44AH on the passenger side F125 and it not a popular selling model , Amtrak has embraced the Seimens Charger to replace the P42 s as well as some other commuter rail agencys , there is still a large gap in semi modern and classic locos we need SD70 m s of various. Models SD60 s B40 8 W C40 8 older power like GP 9 SD9 GP30 GP35 GP40 GP40 2 older GE C30 7 B36 7 B23 7 and the GE U series of similar models classic RR skins people love the heritage units so old classic RR skins would prob be loved also some older classic freight cars.
I mean "Grand Canyon" as in the national park. You go on holiday... see it...then go somewhere else next year. That's kind of how Cajon Pass and others feel after the novelty wears off. "I went up a big hill. Whew that was fun. Ok I'm done." There needs to be something to keep you returning and doing different things or it's just a novelty one-off which is a waste of development resources. Again, as with Oakville I KNOW there are passenger routes like AMTRAK going through there and there are OTHER freight besides intermodals that go through there. There are areas where more COULD be added to the CJP line. But...they don't. Speaking of Run 8, I don't have that to know how that works, but "connecting pieces" got me wondering how the San Bernadino will fit in, giving us all the trackage from Palmdale to LA to San Bernadino to Barstow. Now granted that'd be a LOT for one run (even if it were possible to connect them) but it's just kinda... neat I guess that you could at least in your mind "run" the whole longer route in 3 pieces. I've seen on the forums that interchangeability isn't a thing in TSW and never will be... which is sad because SO many lines connect (LBC and ECW, MSB and Maintalbahn, etc)
Well the several sections of Run 8 conjoin to give a network which runs from Fresno in the north and LA in the west out east as far as Seligman and includes both Tehachapi and Cajon Passes. If you are missing a couple of pieces you can still use the sections you have that are joined together and any that aren't joined on as a standalone sub. It did take a few years and there are still a few gaps notably Soledad Canyon and a bit more of south LA and the scenery is kind of sub MSTS standards, but the concept does work.
Good advice. I'll have to look into it. I haven't gotten into TSC yet. Still cutting teeth on TSW before getting into another money sink... I mean fun sim =-)
