So, while alot of people have suggested Tehachapi in the past (Myself included: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...pi-pass-pre-1971-bakersfield-to-mojave.26637/ ) Decided to do another thread for this one, but however, suggesting it in 1 of 2 eras that I think would be interesting for DTG to follow, as they have some unique trains, and a good amount of "color" in the stock on the line, as well as what is historically available for that time period. Both eras would feature the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Santa Fe Railroad. The route itself is what is usually proposed, Bakersfield to Mojave, Bakersfield has SP and ATSF yards, Mojave has the SP yard and the connection to Barstow for ATSF trains. Possible local freight between Edison and Bakersfield for SP, as well as the cement plant at Monolith. Granted this wont be the most spectacular of suggestions, as in its base form, its still another US Mountain Freight Route with most likely some form of the SD40-2, but I think the 2 era's will hopefully add some spice to the route. ERA 1: Mid to Late 1980's The 1st era I'm proposing is the mid to late 80's, more precisely about 1986 to 1988, there are a few reasons for this. #1: The failed SP-SF merger. The 1st reason would be due to the failed merger between the 2 railroads on Tehachapi, both were extremely sure that the merger would be approved, that they started painting locos into the new paint scheme. Dubbed "Kodachrome" by railfans, this scheme was painted on over 300 ATSF locos and 96 SP locos when the merger was denied. This time period would allow this unique paint scheme to be mixed with the typical Santa Fe's Blue and Yellow, and Southern Pacific's Scarlet and Grey. #2: The end of an era, the Caboose' last stand Around this time is also when the well known caboose that trains NA trains pretty much mostly disappeared from mainline trains. However, they were still kicking around on various trains in this time, so this route would be the latest one they could appear on. #3 Southern Pacific's "Oil Cans" Running under the symbol BKDOU, SP's oilcan train was one of the more unique trains to run on Tehachapi. It utilized special "Tank Train" cars built by GATX. Power on the train was a must as well, with loaded Eastbound trains using 5 locos on the head end and 6 mid train helpers. This train would also be applicable in the 90's era as well. ERA 1: Early to mid 1990's The 2nd era I'm proposing is the early to mid 1990's. Same 2 railroads apply, but some things have changed since the late 80's #1: Santa Fe's Superfleet, and Southern Pacific Speed Lettering Starting around 1989, started it "Super Fleet" campaign, which saw the reemergence of the well known "Warbonnet" scheme (More precisely, the version used on their U28CGs in 1965). The paint was 1st applied to ATSF's fleet of FP45's, followed by most new loco orders after that such as the GP60M, B40-8Ws, C40-8Ws, SD75M, and C44-9Ws. As for Southern Pacific, as a result of the failed SPSF merger, the railroad was sold to the Rio Grande Railroad, after this in around 1991, a modified version of SP's Bloody Nose scheme appeared starting in 1991, with the new 'Speed Lettering" font from the Rio Grande donned on the side of repainted locos and new orders. This was probably the most varied paint era of the SP, as the new speed lettered units could be seen mixed with the older bloody nose locos, Kodachrome's from the 80's not repainted, as well as DRGW and SSW units as well. This would give a good mix of paint should the era be chosen for TSW2. (If DTG puts the effort for alt paint schemes like SPG). #2 The Swift Roadrailer Train A unique train that would be appropriate for the 90s era would be the Swift Roadrailer train, which was ran by the SP during this time. Due to the nature of how Roadrailer trains are formed and designed, this train would give different handing characteristics due to the lack of any slack action from the train. Obviously, if this did come to TSW2, I wouldn't expect branding, but would be a very unique thing to add to TSW2. #3 The rise of the Double Stacks It was around this time when Double Stack trains started to become more prominent, especially over TOFC trains. The SP was paid by the Santa Fe for some modifications to Tehachapi to allow the larger 48ft containers over the line. POTENTIAL LOCOMOTIVES At most, each railroad could receive at least 1-2 loco for this route that is listed below SOUTHERN PACIFIC Unfortunately for SP's roster, most of their equipment is mostly run of the mill EMD stuff, as their U-Boats were retired by the mid 80's. Most of their 4-Axle GE power was usually seen on the Sunset Route, though they did acquire some modern 6-Axle power in the 90's. EMD SD40T-2 (80's/90's) Probably one of the most well known SP units, the cousin of the SD40-2, these Tunnel motors made up a good chunk of SP's fleet. A total of 239 with most going to the SP, and 10 to the SSW. 8 received Kodachrome paint, a good handful got Speed Lettering as well. EMD SD45/SD45R (80's/90's) Another large bulk of SP's fleet were made up of its SD45 roster. the SP ordered a staggering 356, with 317 going to the SP, and the rest to subsidiary Cotton Belt. 167 of them were sent thru the SP Sacramento shops and rebuilt into SD45R's. 2 SD45's and and 17 SD45R's received Kodachrome Paint. A handful of SD45R's received Speed Lettering. EMD SD45T-2/SD45T-2R (80's/90's) The slightly more powerful cousin to the SD40T-2, the SD45T-2 is the Tunnel Motor Variant of the SD45-2. Unlike the SD40T-2, the SD45T-2 was spread more evenly between the SP and the SSW (Cotton Belt), with 164 to the SP and 84 to the SSW. 126 units were rebuilt to SD45T-2R's. About 18 units received Kodachrome Paint, and a good chunk received speed lettering. EMD SD70M (90's only) Delivered to the SP in 1994, the SD70M was the 1st 6 axle EMD that the SP ordered since the 70's. A total of 25 were delivered, and they usual ran the "I-5 Corridor" from Oregon to LA.
EMD SD9E (80's/90's) One of the longest standing loco's on SP's roster, the "Cadillac's" lasted on SP's roster till the end. 11 received Kodachrome paint. EMD GP60 (90's only) The Southern Pacific was the last railroad to take order of any 4 axle EMD locomotive. They ordered 195, with 100 to SP, and 95 to Cotton Belt. Early orders had the old Bloody Nose paint, later models had the newer Speed Lettering font. EMD SW1500/MP15DC/MP15AC (80's/90's) Decided to chuck all 3 of EMD's later Switchers into 1 suggestion. These would be used for yard work and locals around Bakersfield. SP had 204 SW1500s, 12 MP15DC's, and 58 MP15AC's. SANTA FE Unlike the SP, the Santa Fe had a bit more variety to choose from for locomotives, include a few unique models. Though their roster was also filled with spartan cab EMD units as well. EMD SD40-2 (80's/90's) The Santa Fe had a total of 187 SD40-2's, a handful of them received Kodachrome Paint. EMD SD45-2/SD45-2u/SD45-2B (80's/90's) The Santa Fe had a total of 90 SD45-2's A handful of these units got rebuilt into Cabless B-Units. A few SD45-2s and SD45-2u's recived Kodachrome Paint. GE C30-7 (80's/90's) The Santa Fe ordered a total of 157 C30-7's, 44 of them received Kodachrome paint, tied for the most units painted in that scheme with..... GE U36C/SF30C's (80's/90's) The U36C, between '85 and '87, 70 of the 100 were rebuilt to C30-7 standards and classified as SF30C's. EMD F45/FP45/SDF40-2 Some of the more unique EMD power on the ATSF's roster were the full cowl body F45, FP45, and SDF40-2s. A good chunk of the F45 fleet got Kodachrome, a handful of FP45's did to, none of the SDF40-2s did. The FP45's were also the 1st units in the "Warbonnet" superfleet paint.
Good call. I remember tearing my hair out with the now ancient SIAM Tehachapi 1991 traffic control simulation. Usually ended up totally dog knotted by 1400 particularly if the track inspection car was running!
EMD GP50 (80's/90's) The Santa Fe ordered about 45 GP50's. Only 1 received Kodachrome paint. EMD GP60M/GP60B (90's only) One of the units that got the Superfleet treatment, the ATSF ordered a total of 63 GP60M's and 23 GP60B's B40-8W (90's Only) A loco that was unique to the Santa Fe, a total of 83 were ordered from GE for High Speed Intermodal Service. C40-8W/C41-8W (90's Only) The 6 axle cousin to the B40-8W. The Santa Fe had 152 models on roster, with the last 24 models being the C41-8W model. I know this is a bit of an ambitious suggestion, but these 2 eras, if captured correctly, would bring a unique historical route to TSW2.
I'm in. I'd also like to mention that Santa Fe had five of their SD45-2s painted in the red, white, and blue Bicentennial livery. Those would be awesome to see. Also, SP had C44-9Ws and AC4400CWs in the 90s, so I want to see them added too. We also need ATSF Spartan-Cab GP60s, GP40Xs, GP35u's, GP30u's and SD45u's.
The Bicentennial SD45-2s were gone by the 80s, they wouldn't fit the 2 eras I've suggested. The Dash 9s could be used for both SP and ATSF. SPs AC4400CW were originally assigned to the coal trains in the Rio Grade, some of those trains did make their way to Tehachapi, but wanted to suggest the SD70M for SPs power over the 2 GE units. Not too fussed on Santa Fes army of Geeps, which is why I only picked the GP50 and GP60M/B.
These exist in-game for Caltrain UP CSX. Just need reskins for Santa Fe Southern Pacific. Owners of this route will realize that they are Accomplishing the SD40-2 UP 500 miles by simply running Tehachapi Pass instead of Sherman Hill. Currently accomplished by Running Sand Patch Grade SD40-2. Furthermore MP15AC Caltrain Achievements can simply be unlocked by running the Southern Pacific Version These can be the basis for C30-7s CSX and Norfolk Southern 8500s if there is a need for them
There would still need to be changes to the models themselves due to time period differences and road specific features (Like the Sinclair Antenna) Also, for the SD40-2, the nose may need to be modified if the "Snoot" nose variation of the SD40-2 is used.
Thanks for telling me about that. Since my impression is that DTG can copy that to create the same locomotive for different Railroads without knowing their custom requirements.
I would say yes if DTG hasn't pretty much dropped US freight from TSW.... HIS is probably the only way this route comes to life.....
Definitely the right era, before some of the alignment improvements and double tracking. Biggest issue apart from the licensing and co-operation in as much as it applies to a historical depiction, is how do they do it better than Run 8? The Mojave Sub is essentially still at the heart of their SoCal network. Unless you can find a way to include the yard work and local runs, including Arvin and Buttonwillow, it does take the risk of coming across to some as another up the hill/down the hill. Slog.
