CRR is a 80'ish railroad mainly coal,with a boxcar and produce car on the side. Note:It's the routes F7 A+B units + the addition of tsw2 1st caboose that makes this route stand out,the route its self is along one but would it really be that great with out the new enginges and caboose included? SPG is a CSX route which according to history was the company that bought clinchfeild and now runs those same coaling operations. Note:Now as many of you who have played spg know it to has many coaling operations going up and down steep grades and moving coal(Heck the spg most recent dlc was a engine with a extra coal car on top of the one the route has already). So other then the f7 a/b + caboose(which i think are this routes biggest selling points)(heck i might just get the route for them alone). So putting the new trains aside for a moment are both routes coaling operations really truly different or just similar only being different by there era's and locations?
Well first off why put aside the stock? I would think for most people it's just as important as the route, and for some even more so. I don't have much interest in the Peninsula Corridor area for example, but I really like the F40PH and the Nippon cab car so it was a no brainer for me. With that said even if you did ignore that there's some pretty key differences between Sand Patch and Clinchfield. Sand Patch has a decent amount of coal trains, but it's mostly through traffic, you don't have a ton being processed really. Most of them are just passing A to B runs, like the many intermodal and manifest runs, only a very small number are actually loaded. Clinchfield on the other hand is in a large mining area, so there's way more coal loading done in the area than in Sand Patch. This means that not only are there more opportunities to use coal loaders than Sand Patch you also have to do more shunting. In part because of just loading the coal hoppers, but also because you need to shuffle around the consist more seeing as you need to turn around more often due to the network of branch lines. The route itself also isn't like Sand Patch, that route has a fairly consistent grade, so you're either going up or down hill, and generally speaking you're not having to do much once you've configured your engine. Clinchfield on the other hand is more hilly, and therefor not as consistent, so you need to be more vigilant because you have to adjust power and braking way more often on a route like that. Sand Patch is a consistent double track main line, Clinchfield is a single track line with passing sidings, so interruptions are more common on the latter than the former. Clinchfield bares some resemblance to Sand Patch certainly, but they are very different beasts when you look at them closer..
