Greetings everyone, If you remember me, I was the one who recommended NY to Trenton back in 2021, and I haven't made an appearance since, well, I feel like the American Routes that have been out recently just haven't been great. Anyways, here's my recommendations for 2 routes, hopefully both do get considered and maybe actually get made. Starting from the Windy City METRA BNSF Line: Chicago to Aurora (37.5 miles (60.4 km)) The BNSF line serves as Metra's busiest line, this line is operated by the BNSF railroad and is the busiest Railroad by Metra. As of 2022, the Metra Railroad has 90 trains (44 inbound, 47 outbound). The BNSF line can go back to as early as 1864, when it was built by the Chicago and Aurora railroad, which soon became the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad prior to merging with Burlington Northern. Burlington Northern ran passenger trains until the RTA created Metra. This route not only consists of Metra and BNSF trains, but also Amtrak trains, such as the California Zephyr, Southwest West Chief, and Illinois Zephyr / Carl Sandberg. I'll be going along the trains of which this route would use should Dovetail add it. Amtrak GE Genesis P42 An American icon, the P42 deserves a spot on the list no doubt. The P42 can be used for the long distance routes on the train with Sleeper Cars. The Player starts the journey or ending their journey at Chicago. The player would start the train in either Naperville or Union Station, and not make a stop between the two stations. It does seem kind of pointless to have these trains just have 1 stop, but long overdue that this beast of an engine, finally makes an appearance in TSW4, especially as their retirement soon draws near. Amtrak Siemens Charger SC-44 The younger brother of the ACS-64, the SC-44 has been in the Midwest States for some while. I feel this train should be in the route because it's already the norm in the Amtrak Midwest services, replacing the P42s and making them for the long distance routes. The player does make an additional stop between Naperville and Chicago, in LaGrange Road. If this locomotive cannot be included, then a full out P42 invasion can work (lol). The consist can consist of Siemens Venture Car and and Amfleet. Metra EMD F40PH/F40PHM-3 (DOVETAIL PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT ADD IN METX 210, PLEASE MAKE SURE THERE IS ANYWAY TO MAKE SURE THAT A F40PHM-3 DOES NOT HAVE THE NUMBER 210, THANK YOU) The F40PH and F40PHM-3's are a stable of Metra, as the F40PHM-3's are meant to resemble the F69PHAC. These locomotives have served proudly Metra for over 40 years and hopefully many more to come. There is variants of this Metra train, as maybe it could go express during rush hour or make full stops, serving Galley Cars. These trains can make the full run between Aurora and Chicago, without having to discontinue at Naperville, unlike Amtrak. These trains are outbound, meaning the F40's are leading the train for commuters leaving Chicago. Metra Nippon Sharyo Gallery Car Metra's Gallery Cars have been in existence since the 1950's in the days of Burlington Northern, If you've played the Caltrain route, you've probably remember these cars. As you would guess, the player would drive the cabs inbound towards the city. Not much to explain here as the Caltrain route makes the cars self explanatory. BNSF and Foreign Railroad Freight The Freight in this game can usually vary, I'm not a big expert of the scheduling of these trains but the locomotives from Cajon Pass can make a return back to this proposed route, and even have some features of Foreign Railroads (CSX, NS, CN, assuming you own the routes). One thing I beg dovetail is to at least add Industries in the game, to have us drop off freight cars and pick up cars before heading to the yard. Moving from the Windy City, to the east coast, It is the big Apple! Hudson Line: Grand Central to Poughkeepsie (74 mi (119 km)) When Dovetail came out with the Hudson line with Train Sim Classic, it was honestly disappointing not having the FULL Metro North Line. Anyways, the Hudson line goes back to the 1846, when the Hudson River Railroad wanted to connect Troy and Albany, to South towards New York City. The two sections were not fully linked until the 1850's and in 1864, Cornelius Vanderbilt brought the Hudson River Railroad after he brought the New York and Harlem Railroad (Today's Harlem Line), and had merged the two to create the New York Central Railroad. Electrification of the line would be added in 1906, for the anticipating Grand Central Terminal, towards Croton-Harmon. The NYCRR ran trains from Grand Central, towards LaSalle Station in Chicago until the late 60's where private railroads were struggling. On May 1, 1971, Amtrak was formed to help save the failing Pennslyvania and New York Central Railroads which had merged, before conrail taking over. Conrail managed service between Grand Central and Poughkeepsie while Amtrak continued beyond Poughkeepsie. In 1983, the MTA soon took over Conrail's job in the Hudson Valley, which still operates today. Metro North M7A and M3A Dovetail has already perfected these two trains well in the Harlem line, as importing them to the route would be great. The Player would drive between Grand Central, and Croton Harmon with these two trains. Metro North and Amtrak P32AC-DM The P32AC-DM for both Amtrak and Metro North were intended to replace the aging FL-9's in the 1990s, and are a unique locomotive that can switch between 3rd Power and Diesel. The Player would drive these trains outbound for Metro-North (leaving Grand Central) and would be express from 125 till Tarrytown, before skipping a couple of more stops until arriving at Croton and being fully local until Poughkeepsie. If the Hudson Line is gonna be added, the only proper way is at least making it go all the way to Poughkeepsie for these trains. The Amtrak trains can consist of 5 Amfleets, 4 coaches and one unique cafe/business car design, I would also hope to see the addition of Viewliners and Amfleet II's for the Lake Shore Limited and Maple Leaf. Metro North Shoreliner CabCars The Metro North Shoreliners are unique with their own variation, the player can expect to drive the shoreliners inbound towards New York, doing what the P32 did, but in reverse. Not much to say about these cars, but I hope the Shoreliner II gets an opportunity to shine if possible. NOTES: The Hudson is such a scenic route, especially in the fall, I might be pushing it and ask for CSX trains to be across the river as AI, but both the Metra and the Hudson route have great potential, I just hope they can be achieved. That will be all folks, hope you enjoyed my recommendation. Please do upvote if you love the recommendation! (All images shown in this thread are not mine, credit goes to the owners)
To add on, I did not consider an extension towards Albany because I feel it is not realistic, however if it is possible, I'd like to see it happen. I also couldn't show the Shoreliner III cab photo but you can use the TSC one as an example. I would like either or route to be added, but both routes would be great!
Ditto on the Chargers. As for BNSF, I'd love to see one or two all-new BNSF diesels on the BNSF/Metra line in addition to the Cajon Pass ES44C4 and SD40-2. -My ideas: -ET44C4 -C44-9W -SD70MAC -SD60M/SD60M-3 -SD75M/SD75I -AC4400CW -GP60/GP60M-3 (maybe the GP60Bs) -GP50/GP25 Rebuild -GP39-2/GP39-3 (rebuilt GP30 and GP35 units that are ex-BN/GN/CB&Q) -GP38-2 -GP28-2/M/P (rebuilt ex-GN/CB&Q/NP/BN GP7s/GP9s/GP18s) -Genset Switcher -B40-8W Then the route needs some new freight rolling stock including new autoracks, steel coil cars, cement hoppers, coal gondolas/hoppers, grain hoppers, etc in BNSF livery (as well as UP, CSX, and NS liveries).
