So, with some recent showings that DTG did visit the Amtrak yard in LA while on their research trip for Metrolink, I though it would make sense to speculate a route that features Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner's route. And for this I picked a short distance between LA and Oceanside, about 87 track miles. I did not want to suggest the full southern line from LA to San Diego due to route length, urban density, and current unknown of the Coaster License. And I didn't want to suggest the northern line due to low general traffic. Route Map (Orange Line) The route itself would stretch from LAUPT in Los Angeles to the town of Oceanside to the south, passing thru the urban sprawl of the LA area, before hugging the deteriorating coast line (Which has been causing issues lately) down past the open beaches and land of San Onofre, past the Marine base of Camp Pendleton into the town of Oceanside, where Metrolink's trains terminate. Traffic on this line includes Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak Southwest Chief, Metrolink's Orange Country Line, Metrolink's 91/Perris Valley Line, Metrolink's Inland Empire Line, and various BNSF freight. Station Stops All 15 stations on the line, A denotes a Surfliner stop, M denotes a Metrolink Stop. -Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal: (LAUPT) A/M -Commerce: M -Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs: M -Buena Park: M -Fullerton: A/M -Anaheim: A/M -Orange: M -Santa Ana: A/M -Tustin: M -Irvine: A/M -Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo: M -San Juan Capistrano: A/M -San Clemente: M -San Clemente Pier: A/M -Oceanside: A/M Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner has 8 stops along this part of the line, the current up to date timetable lists 19 services with an extra service at 9pm for select MLB games in San Diego. Amtrak's current roster for this line consists of Siemens SC-44 Chargers built with a rooftop spoiler, as to match the unique double decker Surfliner Cars that the service uses. The Surfliner Cars came in coach, cafe, business, and cab cars. Cab cars run towards LA while the loco leads to San Diego. Metrolink The main service of Metrolink that the line will feature is the Orange County Line, which trains that run the full line has stops at 14 of the 15 stops regularly with limited stops at Commerce. The line has 19 services, in which 10 of the 19 services run all the way to Oceanside, while the rest terminate at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. The other 2 lines that would be playable on this route is the 91/Perris Valley Line and the Inland Emprie Line. The 91/Perris Valley Line shares trackage on this route from LA to Fullerton, where it splits off. The line has a total of 12 services, with 4 stops on the line, it doesn't serve Commerce. The Inland Empire Line shares trackage with the OC line from Orange to Oceanside. It has 14 total services on the line, though only 4 run all the way to Oceanside, with most terminating at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. The line splits off north of the Orange station. Metrolink's stock is pretty much known at this point, the modern stuff is the EMD F125 and Rotem Cars, older equipment is the Mp36 and F59s and Bombardier Bi Levels. BNSF (Layered Playable Freight) BNSF is the major player in freight on this line, as the entire line is ex-ATSF trackage, though most of their traffic will only be seen between Redondo Junction near LA to Fullerton. BNSF has the large Hobart Yard in Commerce, which primarily handles intermodal traffic, a service yard is located just east of Hobart. BNSF also has 2 more yards in the area, Pico Rivera and La Mirada. BNSF also has the Daygo, the Barstow to/from San Diego daily manifest which would only be seen on the southern end of the route from Orange to Oceanside to/from SD. Hobart yard off to the right. Daygo in San Clemente Union Pacific (AI Only) So not a major player on the route, but Union Pacific has trackage near this route, since they are not directly on the route, these trains would be AI only to add to the traffic level at Redondo Junction. Union Pacific also have branch lines that cross over various points of the line, so some AI locals here would also add to the action of the area. Rolling Stock Siemens SC-44 Charger (Pacific Surfliner) The only loco PS has atm, as they sold their F59PHI's Surfliner cars (Cab, trailer etc...) Metrolink will depend on what DTG does with Antelope Valley, if a pack comes out with the MP36 and Bi-Levels, then no new Metrolink loco will come with the route, the F125 and Rotem cars would sub from Antelope Valley. No F59PH due to no more than 1 new loco per route trend. EDIT: With the Bi-Levels and MP36 coming with the San Bernadino line, Metrolink stock would just sub from there and AVL. BNSF stock would sub in from Cajon Pass, UP stock would sub in from Sherman Hill, Cane Creek, and Peninsula Corridor. Loco DLC: Amtrak's Long Distance Superliner Stock So we still dont have it, this route could have it as a loco DLC, as the stock can be used in Amtrak's yard for switching, LAUPT is the terminus for 3 of Amtrak's long distance trains, the Coast Starlight, the Sunset Limited, and the Southwest Chief, with the SWC having stops on the proposed route at Fullerton. Still unsure if DTG would make a GE P42 or Siemens ALC-42 for it..... Amtrak SWC in Fullerton It is also common for Superliners to end up on Surfliner trains. Conclusion To summarize, if this route comes to fruition, it could come with the following... -19 Pacfic Surfliner Services -45 Metrolink Services -xx playable BNSF Services -2 Amtrak Long Distance Services -xx playable yard services for Amtrak -xx AI only Union Pacific Services It would be the most trafficked US route on the west coast, though most of that action is between Redondo Junction and Fullerton.
BNSF needs at least a C44-9W, or ET44C4 for heavy freight trains and a GP60 (Spartan Cab with both H3 and ATSF/BNSF Blue/Yellow Patched) or GP60M(-3) (in both ATSF Warbonnet and H3 liveries) for local freights/yard duties. A B40-8W would also be awesome to see for yard/local duties. The new F125 from the new Antelope Valley Line would be awesome to run on this line. I really want the Chargers, though.
Most of the former F59PHI’s that were used on the Pacific Surfliner are still around today with Metra over in Chicago Illinois
Another Metrolink route that can layer to Antelope Valley Line which follows the 14 fwy over Newhall Pass and Acton Pass
I really think that the US route that is in development in the 6+ month section of the roadmap is a Surfliner route. It's really hard to say if it will be the north or south route as they both have significant pros and cons. I have a feeling DTG got both Metrolink and Surfliner on board at the same time and that is why they came out for a long time and gathered so much reference material. I suspect they have been working on the Surfliner stuff slowly in the background the whole time Antelope Valley has been in development and will get into full swing development once TSW4 is out. I think the US loco on the roadmap in the same section will be something to bolster the Surfliner route. Hopefully the P42DC with Superliner coaches. That would make more sense if it was the northern portion of the Surfline but could still be fun on the southern section, and regardless could layer onto Cajon Pass. I'm just hoping that the US loco on the roadmap is not the Metrolink MP36, I hope that would come with the Surfline route and F125 would sub in.
I especially like that operation lifesaver livery. I'm a sucker for Operation Lifesaver. It gives train character and spreads an important message.
Really hoping for this one. The coastal scenery is amazing. If the DTG audio team’s recent trip to LA is any indication, my guess is this is one of the upcoming US routes on the roadmap, and the US loco is the P42. But we shall see in 6+ months…
According to current estimates, this route may appear in next year's version. DTG has been used on development scales of 40+ miles, with 70-100 miles of routes appearing each summer. We need to wait for more talented players to develop U.S. ultra-long routes.
One thing I forgot, but Railstream.net has a livestream cam set up at Fullerton https://railstream.net/live-cameras/item/fullerton-guest Virtual Railfan also has a livestream cam setup at San Juan Capistrano, but its a premium only cam, and only available to members unless it gets selected as cam of the week. https://virtualrailfan.com/san-juan-capistrano/ Just in case if anyone who doesnt know what the line is like wants to see actual live action on it.
For Burbank Airport I hope they would add planes landing and taking off. For those who don't know the flight path is literally above the train station
Brilliant suggestion, nicely presented. scenery looks key to this route as well, I would be thoroughly impressed to see it done right.
Well I am a Coaster railfan and why not do the full route from San Luis Obisbo-LA-Oceanside-San Diego while having another major terminal for the Amtrak Surfliner, NCTD Coaster, and BNSF
Its just not feasible from the point of DTG, at least from what we've seen from them in the past. 1. They are limited on the max route length they will do for TSW, the full line is too long for them to do. 2. They already have issues with poor scenery with shorter routes, doing the full line would mean the whole route would probably look like crap. 3. We don't know if they can secure a NCTD license yet, Metrolink was a surprise, but I'm not betting on it.
This is the route that the majority had requested and should have been made to begin.with.Let’s hope the next west coast route is the Pacific surlier.
There honestly isn't a single US route I would want more than this. I think DTG did a really good job on Antelope Valley, and having the massively more Scenic route south of LA would be amazing.
Updated this after the announcement of the San Bernadino line, as that route would cover most of Metrolinks modern stock.
If DTG really want to produce & cover more southern California area, why don't they just do a proper Pacific Surfliner? This is just beyond me. DTG have a good relation with Amtrak & BNSF, i completely sure that this proposal 100% viable & doable.
Downloaded TSW4 on my xbox series X on gamepass yesterday. Been searching to find such a dedicated fan base has already been asking for the trolleys! I grew up in El Cajon. Those Trolleys could get you from home, to the beach, to SDSU, and so much more. I made a forum account JUST to show my support for this request. My understanding is that the full LA to Oceanside would be too big of a route? Why not just focus on the local trolley in city? There's plenty of stops and junctions. I think it would be a great little route for those who just want to ferry passengers around. I'm still having trouble figuring the game put, for all I know there are great passenger options. This just seems to resonate with me the most.
Coming from the SD area, I would absolutely love a trolley line too! But I'm sure DTG can handle a full Los Angeles to San Diego stretch, they've proven to do alright on the Peninsula Corridor and Antelope Valley lines. Plus, I know it was way back in TS Classic they made the full Pacific Surfliner route so hopefully they can make it again!
Peninsula Corridor is 47 miles and its scenery is pretty dated by TSW standards. Antelope Valley is 75 miles, and has a bunch of scenery issues (Floating and sunken buildings, missing POI's etc.) Pacific Surfliner from LA to SD is 128 miles, an additional 58 miles to Antelope Valley, with ALOT more urban areas to model......
Bumping this due to the route hopping feature of TSW5, as it would work well with my other suggestion for COASTER and Sprinter lines of the NCTD, as you can continue Surfliner trains from Oceanside, or swap a Metrolink train for a COASTER or Sprinter train.
this sounds great, but please at least some safety systeeeems ... not just alerter and route knowledge / HUD ... I want PAIN
I heard that DTG was having trouble re-obtaining the Pacific Surfliner license after Caltrans got more control over it.
