Since it appears that we have more potential of having passenger train routes. I suggest that the Metra Milwaukee North District line from Chicago to Fox Lake Illinois should be added. It would seem like another great USA route for TSW5. This line has some good passenger train traffic ranging from Metra commuter trains to 3 different Amtrak trains, the Empire Builder, the Hiawatha, and the new Borealis train. There is also freight train traffic operated by CPKC. Before the days of CPKC, it was owned by Canadian Pacific. Line description: The Milwaukee North District line is a Metra commuter rail line that runs 49.7 miles from Chicago Union Station to Fox Lake Illinois. Metra is the primary user of the C&M Subdivision, with commuter services operating between Union Station and Fox Lake. As of June 3, 2024, the public timetable shows 54 trains (27 in each direction) operating on weekdays, with 16 trains running to and from Fox Lake, five running to and from Grayslake, one running to and from Libertyville, four running to and from Lake Forest, and one running to and from Deerfield. On the weekends, Metra operates a reduced schedule with nine trains operating between Union Station and Fox Lake, with an additional train on Saturday afternoons that short-turns at Lake Forest. This service is also supplemented by Amtrak who operates the Empire Builder, the Hiawatha, and the Borealis which operates along the line between Roundout and Chicago with a stop in Glenview. Before 1982, this line was operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). When the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt. The regional transportation Authority took over operation of the line. By 1984, the line passed to RTA's newly created Commuter Rail Division, which rebranded as Metra in 1985. Metra acquired the line from the Soo Line railroad in 1987. The Soo Line then ran freight trains on the line via trackage rights before its absorption into the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1990. In 2023, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern merged to create CPKC. The Milwaukee District North Line route and Metra's track ownership diverge from the Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis mainline at Rondout, Illinois and proceeds northwesterly toward Fox Lake. Until 1984, there was a stop in Rondout. The station building itself was demolished in the mid-1960s. The station was located at Rondout Junction, where the line crosses the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern tracks at a diamond junction. Before 1982, service ran as far north as Walworth, Wisconsin. Today this service is one of several Metra routes operated by Metra crews, but trains are dispatched under contract by the CPKC, which continues to hold trackage rights. The line from Union Station to Rondout is owned by CPKC, Metra owned the other half between Rondout and Fox Lake. Metra has conducted studies on extending line towards Richmond, Illinois along with constructing a secondary branch line on the CPKC line north to Wadsworth from Rondout. Back in the 1940’s and early 1950’s, trains regularly ran at or above 100 miles per hour. Eventually as time passed, stricter regulations put in place by railroad authorities limited speeds to 79 miles per hour. But plans that have been in place since 2010 have looked to upgrade the C&M subdivision in order to allow passenger trains to operate at 110 miles per hour. Currently, it takes 97 minutes to get from Chicago to Fox Lake on commuter trains that stop at every single station. Here’s a list of locomotives that should be added. 1. Amtrak P42DC 2. Metra F40PH 3. CPKC ES44AC (they should be included in the new paint scheme that was introduced and the older Canadian Pacific livery that many engines still retain to this day.) An engine that should be included as separate DLC should be the Siemens SC-44 Charger and the ALC-42. Rolling stock should include Viewliner baggage cars, superliner cars( Superliner 1 and 2 cars should be included), horizon cars, amfleet cars, and Metra gallery bilevel coach cars. The cab cars are also included. Heres pictures and videos of the locomotives and route description for reference. A P42 in Phase V P42DC cab interior Metra F40PH F40PH cab interior. A Metra Bilevel Cab Car. This is a link to some of the route reference. https://images.app.goo.gl/ApCovPp4eYdixZYu5 https://schedules.metrarail.com/pdf/MD-N.pdf. In conclusion, this should be another decent USA route that has a decent mix of freight and passenger train traffic. Plus this is the golden opportunity to add more Amtrak stock. It’s time that we get some of Amtrak’s diesel locomotives added to Train Sim World. Plus this could be another good passenger train route as well. That’s all I need to say.
Im all for anything that adds a p42 to the game, but id even take metra electrics. visited chicago for the first time last year and saw some really cool things up close. Hopefully we could get one of these as well in either livery.
What about F59PHs, And SD70MACHs And F40PHM-3s? We should get F59PHs 94-99 SD70MACH 500-514, 515-523, F40PHM-3s 185-214,
The CP/CPKC ES44ACs, as well as an SD40-2, GP38-2, SD30C-ECO, GP20C-ECO, and/or SD70ACU would be great for CP/CPKC freight services. I would love to see this route set in the 1960s-80s with Milwaukee Road locomotives such as an EMD E8 or E9, FP45, or FM Erie-Built for passenger services and an SD45, F7 A-B-B-A set, GP35, GP9, FM H-10-44, H-12-44, H-16-44, etc. for freights.
