Welcome to a very different suggestion from what I've doing lately. Although I've mostly been doing UK route suggestions as of late, but I thought this time, we would go international and suggested a route from the other side of the pond in the USA. But this isn't any ordinary US route suggestion, because I'm going to suggest a US High-speed route... that is not another section of the Northeast Corridor. Okay, saying it's a high speed route is a bit of a stretch because it's not that fast of a route (as in reaching the speeds of an Acela for example) but this route does allow to reach much higher speeds compared to the typical US route. Plus, this route brings us to an entirely new part of the US that hasn't yet been explored, passing through many small towns and generally being a much more remote route compared to the current roster of US routes in TSW. So without further ado, let's get into today's suggestion, which I have titled 'Route 66 Midwest Corridor', set on a section of Amtrak's Lincoln service between Joliet and Bloomington, the former destination located on the outskirts of Chicago. Background Now you better strap yourselves in here, because there's quite a backstory when it comes to how to came to this suggestion. The whole idea behind this suggestion was to find out if it would be possible to have US high-speed route in TSW that isn't just another section of the NEC, like I've already mentioned. Now as you could imagine, that's probably very difficult since the US doesn't have that much else when in regards to High-Speed rail. In fact, most high speed lines other there are currently under construction and won't be open for a long while yet. The most you could probably think of is the new Brightline in Florida, but even at that, I'm not entire convinced it's worth adapting that route just yet, even if it was just either sections that head either south of West Palm Beach (towards Miami) or north (towards Orlando International Airport) it would either barely be a high-speed route or it just take too long to complete the route end to end (and full-line run between West Plan Beach & Orlando Airport without any stops would take just over 2 hours). However, despite all of this, there is actually a part of the US that has a couple of lines that I feel would be perfect for adapting in TSW and could easily be seen as a high-speed route, even if it wouldn't technically be classed as one and this actually takes us to the Mid-Western part of America, an area that TSW hasn't actually gone to yet. You see, some Amtrak routes heading out of Chicago have recently been upgraded to support speeds of up to 110mph (177 kph), these lines are the Michigan Line (which hosts the Blue Water & Wolverine services) and part of the Lincoln Service between Chicago & St Louis, the later of which is the subject is this suggestion, mainly of the fact that it has slightly more passenger traffic running on it (even if it just 1 service in each direction). Now here where things get interesting. You see, when I first dreamed up this suggestion, I originally had it be the section between Bloomington & Springfield, two of the larger towns located along the Lincoln Service route and this suggestion very nearly turned out that way, I made the map for it, I already took screenshots of it to put into the main suggestion and I was in the process of getting ready to write it up... until a thought came into my mind. You see, while I was happy with the Bloomington-Springfield section, I also felt like something was missing, as it was pretty basic and there wasn't any other major features worth talking about aside from a few yards in and around the two ends point and at the midpoint in Lincoln City. While I did consider maybe extending the route at some point during that process, it wasn't until I looked on OpenRailwayMap and studied the route north of Bloomington towards Joliet that I thought “You know what? This route would work way better if it went North of Bloomington instead of South”, and despite having already made a map for a route that went a south of Bloomington, I thought that was a good enough excuse to scrap what I already did and redo the whole suggestion, with the route now heading in the direction of Chicago, stopping short at Joliet. …and after all of that, here is the final map that I was able to create. Map of the Whole Route Section out of Joliet Section around Braceville Section around Pontiac Section around Bloomington-Normal Want to see this map in full? All you have to do is simply click the link here. As you can see, it's quite a large route. In fact, the total length of all the track you see here is 98.4 miles (158.4 km), an almost 100 mile (161 km) route! Now the main end to end route is actually 87 miles (140 km), it just that the remaining 11.4 miles (18.4 km) is made up of various yards & industries location along the route. It is quite a sparse route however, with only 4 stations (Joliet, Dwight, Pontiac & Bloomington-Normal), but I was able to count 8 yard like locations, 5 located between Joliet & Dwight, 1 located on the outskirts of Pontiac & 2 located beyond the routes end point at Bloomington-Normal. To be honest, from going through the stats, the best way to describe this route, from just looking at it on paper is very long (the longest end-to-end US route if made) but very sparse, considering the lack of stations and other noteworthy landmarks, not to mention that scenery wise, it's basically flat as you'll mostly be driving through the farming plains of Illinois for most of the way. Not to mention that it's mainly a single tracked line with a few passing places at certain points. However, I don' think that means we have a dull route here, as I still believe this route has enough perks to make it intriguing. For starters, it might be long, but it's also quite fast. Like I've already mentioned, this route recently got upgraded to support speeds of up to 110 mph (177 kph), so for a typical passenger service here (which I do envision on including as available stock) it would usually take just over an hour to complete the route end-to-end. Of course, freight services do also run along here, so I would imagine that they would take longer to complete the route, but all of this does play into the kind of route I'm suggesting here. You see, when I look at the current crop of US route, I usually feel like they are either one of the following: A bustling commuter line (with some high-speed elements if it's an NEC adaptation). A long-distance freight route over rugged terrain. There might be a few that deviated from these categories (like TSW's only Canadian route, Oakville Subdivison), but that's I generally view the US route in general. Here though, this would be something different, as this route, despite it being mainly a freight line, would be more of a proper long-distance Amtrak route, with a high-speed element to it, something I feel is long overdue to come to TSW. Even for freight services, despite the route mainly climbing away from Joliet (as you head away from Chicago) It would like to believe the gradients here as nowhere near as steep as something like Sherman Hill or Cajon Pass, so you can really push a freight train to it's limit here, even if they can't actually reach the magic 110 mph speed. I should also mention that, as for actually taking the route to Chicago, I did think about it briefly, but I went against it, mainly because I want to focus on the higher-speed sections and that the route would just be too long by that point (an Amtrak service takes a further hour to get to Union Station). Speaking of freight, we have to talk about this routes biggest railway related landmark, the Union Pacific Global 4 Terminal, located just south of Joliet. This area is absolutely huge, covering 1.2 square miles (784 acres) and features an enormous intermodal terminal and even what appears to be a repair site for the UP locos up to the north of the facility. It's fair to say that this would be the hub for all freight services on this route and the majority of them would start and end at this point. I did notice another large facility a little further south of Global 4, but I'm not entirely sure that anything on this route would use it, as that's BNSF territory and this is a Union Pacific route. Along with that enormous facility, there are also lots of smaller yards dotted along the route. Some that could be used by services on this route and others that could be up from free roam, scenario or exploration purposes. Some of more noteworthy ones including one at the Nuclear Power Station at Braidwood, a large branch that's heads to a planned yard around Braceville, which at moment is just a spur of track (this area is included because, even if it doesn't go anywhere, any service coming to & from this section can start/end along this point), the Prairie Central Co-Op plant located just north of Pontiac, which also has a section of track that loops around a straight yard and a branch beyond the Bloomington-Normal end to it's yard and the Cargill Processing Plant, which by the way, were the only pieces of the original Bloomington-Springfield suggestion that survived, mainly again for the fact that the yard would be a great place to start/end freight services and the processing plant as somewhere for services/scenarios/free roam to take advantage of. But beyond those, one aspect that I really do admire is the fact that, despite it only featuring 4 stations, this route would pass through loads of small towns dotted along it's path. Some of these towns include, from north to south, Preston Heights, Elwood, Wilmington (which is also where the route crosses the Kankakee River), Braidwood (home of the aforementioned nuclear plant), Godley, Braceville (near the aforementioned section leading to the Inland Rail Park Spur), Gardner, Odell, Cayuga, Chenoa (home of one of two diamond crossings, the other located just north of Dwight), Lexington & Towanda. Even if some of these towns don't have stations or even any major rail yards, it could still be worth putting some spawn-in walking points in these towns, as some of them could have some landmarks that might be worth exploring in foot, such as storage towers, abandoned buildings and possibly some much more. But out of everything this route could offer, there is one aspect that really stand, one landmark that would really play into the overall theme of this route, and it isn't located in one specific area, but is rather that you would see along most of the route, and if you've seen the title of this suggestion, you will already know what this is. Yes, this route practically runs along part of the iconic Old Route 66, one of the USA's first major highways connecting Chicago with Los Angeles. I will admit that this isn't the most iconic section of the road (the most in terms of attractions close to the route is a themed shop in Gardner as well some old landmarks). But I could definitely see Route 66 being utilised in some way as part of this routes overall branding and theme. It could also be possible to make part of actual road fully accessible on foot, particularly the areas where it runs parallel with the route, allow to watch trains from the road as they roar passed on their way either south towards Bloomington or north towards Joliet (and on to Chicago). Now with that out the way, on to seeing what the route actually looks like in real life. Pictures of the route in real life Available Locos Despite the route end points vastly changing during the time I dreamed this suggestion up, the loco selection has mostly remained unchanged. Despite this route mainly being a freight route and obviously coming with freight stock, since Amtrak long-distance services run on it and it's a higher-speed route, it's only fitting that we put some passenger stock to headline this route. This I feel will hopefully make it far more intriguing than a typical US freight route, especially when you see what the passenger loco is... Amtrak Midwest Siemens SC-44 Charger Welcome to the true star of the show here, and one of the newest passenger locos currently operating in North America. First built in 2016 and entering service a year later, a total of 387 have since been built in 5 different variants, each tailored for their respective operator and the type of service they run. For our route, we have the SC-44 variant, operated by Amtrak Midwest, in which they have 33 of them in their fleet. Despite being a diesel loco, the design is actually shared with the Siemens Vectrons loco that can found in Europe and the Amtrak ACS-64 that can be found on the NEC (both loco that are already in TSW, I should mention). Power may vary depending on the variant, but each Charger is powered by a Cummins 16-cylinder QSK95 4-stroke high-speed engine, and in the case of the SC-44, can produce 4,400 bhp (3,300 kw). Even if this route has a maximum speed of 110 mph (177 kph), this loco can undoubtedly co faster, being able for reaching speeds of 125 mph (201 kph). This is definitely and loco that I would to see in TSW, regardless of what variant of represented (I think there's plenty of available variants that could work well in TSW), but in the case of this route, they would be handling the passenger side of this route, working with two pieces of coaching stock, which includes... Siemens Venture coaches in Amtrak Midwest livery. Amfleet I Cafe coach (which can be seen on some Lincoln Service trains). The services they would operate are mainly full-line passenger runs between Joliet & Bloomington, which would come to 8 services in total (4 in each direction), I do know there is 2 additional services that also run here, but more on that later. Those services consist of 6 Lincoln Services, and 2 joint Lincoln/Missouri River Runner services, which actually originated or are heading towards Kansas City. Union Pacific GE AC4400CW Onto the freight aspect of this route, we have a loco that we've seen a few times before, but has been given subtle modifications beyond it's Union Pacific livery. Put simply, this isn't quite the loco from Cane Creek. Apart from looking a little fresher, the main difference is the the front number plate is located on top of the cab, instead of on the front nose cone. But regardless, this loco would be handling the all of the major freight operations on this route, most of them originating or departing out of the Joliet Intermodal Terminal, and also starting/ending at the yard beyond Bloomington-Normal station. There might even be the possibility of some just running the whole line end-to-end without going to the Intermodal Terminal and even the chance that some might have to pull over at on of the many passing loops along this route, in order to wait for another freight service or even to let a faster Amtrak service past. Union Pacific EMD GP40-2 Of course, as this is a technically a US freight route, we need a switcher style loco to support the main freight loco, and since the likes of the GP38-2 & SD40-2 have been used countless times already, I thought we should use this chance to bring back a loco that hasn't been seen since TSW 2020, although in a different livery compared to last time. As well as the Union Pacific livery, this loco would also have various other visual modifications in order to make it more like the UP version, which would mainly be the arrangement of the front headlights, with the ones on top of the cab being moved to the front nose-cone. This loco would help bring switching services to the Joliet Terminal, as well as bringing some smaller services, serving some of the industries and yards located along the route. Both freight locos we've just talked about would make use of a large variety of freight wagons. All of them reused from other add-ons, as the passenger stock would take greater priority, but two of them would be modified for this route, which include... Maxi Stack IV (Now yellow instead of brown). Steel Coil Car (Brought back from the GP40-2 add-on, but now in UP livery). The remaining wagons would consist of the following: 3-Bay covered hopper (Same as the one from Sherman Hill) Tank Car (Same as standard) Box Car (The Yellow & Black one from Cajon Pass) Autorack (UP Logo variant from Sherman Hill/Cajon Pass) Centerbeam Flat Car (did come with the OG GP40-2 add-on, and since seen in routes such as Pen Corridor & Oakville Sub). As it is more of a freight route, that would be the dominant traffic here, even if it wouldn't bring that may more services due to the single-track nature of the route. Plus, it's predominantly intermodal traffic that you would see here, but manifest & grain trains have also been seen here as well, so that explains the additional variety of wagons also included here. Additional services from other routes This section would mainly be AI related, but there are still a few locations that would have additional services from layering to help enhance this route even further. The first area is around Joliet, which while we don't have any METRA content right now, you would see AI BNSF services from Cajon Pass around here, as both UP & BNSF run parallel around here as they come in and out of the general Chicago area. The other area you would see AI services is north of Dwight, as Norfolk Southern services from Horseshoe Curve would run along the Kankakee Branch and cross over the Diamond crossing just north of that town. Even if it's just a few that appear, it's still something worth looking out for while in the area. Also on the side note, every current piece of Union Pacific stock would be able to sub into the existing UP services here, which includes the current UP AC4400CW (from Cane Creek) & the SD70ACe (from Sherman Hill, as well as the heritage liveries) on the main bulk services, and both SD40-2 (from both Cane Creek & Sherman Hill) on the switching services. We could also maybe have the Pen Corridor GP38-2 here as well, but that's only we can find something for it do here, which could be as small as switching around the Joliet Intermodal Terminal.
Future Loco Add-Ons This admittedly was quite as tough as the route is quite remote and everything this route can offer has already be achieved through the possible stock this route could provide. But I was able to find a few possible options for loco add-ons that could come to this route after it has been released. One was definitely for sure as it adds that last little bit of passenger content in order to make this route fully completely, which will be our first point of call. Texas Eagle Pack This honestly is more of a suggestion for the P42DC, but I'm suggesting it this way because there are quite a few routes you could give this loco too already (Horseshoe Curve & Cajon Pass) so for the purpose of this route, instead of just focusing on the loco, this suggestion will focus on the train that it would pull, the Texas Eagle. So this pack would consist of the P42DC loco (regardless of whether it's already been introduced by this point) and a rake of Amtrak Superliner coaches in three variants (Coach, Diner-Lounge & Sleeper). This would end up adding the last two passenger services needed to complete that side of the route, which would consist of one full-line run in each direction (the 11:06 heading northbound & the 14:50 heading southbound). Funnily enough, each service would only makes one stop at Pontiac, but for some reason, the northbound run takes much longer than a typical passenger service would take (just over an hour & an half), which could possibly mean it gets held up at some point (there is a southbound Lincoln Service operating at that point) but I need to look into more before concluding why it takes longer for this service to head north. Union Pacific EMD GP60 You may think that is just simply a re badged GP38-2, but there's more to this loco than what meets the eye. While nowhere near as prominent as the GP38-2 with a total 380 built between 1985 & 1994 compared to the 2000+ of the GP38-2, it is a much more powerful loco. Powered by a 16-cylinder EMD 710G3A engine, producing 3800 hp, 1800 more than a GP38-2. These were the last new EMD 'Geeps' built as the focus would move towards more powerful six-axled locos, as well as tighting emissions standards. This loco would also bring a new wagon in the form of a much larger covered hopper, consisting of 4 bays instead of 3. While it would mainly sub into GP40-2 services, thanks to the new wagon, it would also add a few new services of it's own, mainly switching style services, undertaking various jobs in the various yards, sidings and other locations that can be found across the length of breath of this route. Conclusion When I went out to first make this suggestion, the goal was to suggest a US high-speed route that wasn't another NEC adaptation, and while this might seem like a US single-tracked freight route with passenger services running on it at high speeds through flat scenery, I think this route would perfectly accomplish that goal. We have a route mixes it's long length with it's fast pace nature, when talking about the passengers running on it. Even if the freight services would be slower due to them being much, much heavier, there are no major gradients to speak of, so it would again allow you to properly push a freight train to it's limits and see how fast you can go. Even with the scenic aspects, yes it's doesn't have any dramatic landscape, but you still have the charming towns to explore, along with various other small locations and landmarks, including the historic Route 66 running alongside the route, and the very large intermodal terminal at Joliet, which would also be greatly used in the routes timetable. But most of all, this route would bring us to a whole new part of the US in Illinois and more importantly, the midwest part of the US in general. Yes you could say that there are a lot of places in the US that haven't been represented yet, but I feel like that part in particular has a lot of great potential, and if a route like this does well, maybe it could open more opportunities for more midwestern US routes. It may seem at first like another US freight route with some passenger trains running on it, but by combine the best of a US freight experience with the thrill of racing through the open farmlands of Illinois, it helps produce a route that while familiar, but is still able to stand out on it's own terms to deliver an experience that hasn't really be seen in TSW so far. As always, if you have any ideas that you would like to see on this route, or you feel like there's something that can be done differently here, then feel free to let me know in the replies down below. That's all from me, and I'll see you all next time. Image Sources https://www.flickr.com/photos/137595561@N06/49816306346 https://www.transystems.com/our-projects/joliet-intermodal-terminal/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/eje665/36098216365/ https://www.railpictures.net/photo/577740/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/124756084@N08/51386021029 https://www.flickr.com/photos/lapstrake/6559942745 https://www.railpictures.net/photo/759280/ https://eu.pontiacdailyleader.com/s...utreach-continues-for-high-speed/32074591007/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/127850938@N05/50665157888 https://www.hsrail.org/blog/creating-the-new-normal-how-trains-transformed-one-midwestern-town/ https://www.facebook.com/railfanmag/photos/a.119470511074/10158656219036075/?type=3&locale=zh_CN https://www.railwayage.com/mechanical/locomotives/for-idot-new-siemens-ventures/ https://www.rtabern.com/loungecars/amtrak.html https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/133208101461753371/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/trainplanepro/4369549031 https://www.gbrx.com/railcars/maxi-stack-iv-car/ https://www.scaletrains.com/rivet-c...ty-42-coil-steel-car-union-pacific-run-2.html https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...-on-advantages-of-rail-travel-special-report/ https://www.deviantart.com/tno-794/art/Amtrak-Superliner-Coach-34084-762147330 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covered_hopper
