Which Is Your Favorite American Freight Route?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by The_Drunken_Engineer, May 16, 2022.

  1. The_Drunken_Engineer

    The_Drunken_Engineer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2022
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    266
    Which of the US freight routes is your favorite?

    Thinking about possibly buying one. Looking for one that's not agonizingly slow and has shorter services, not all 90 or 120 minutes. Do they run well on 8th generation consoles? Are the locos all geeps and AC4400's? Any one stand out amongst the others?

    Thank you in advance.
     
  2. Krazy

    Krazy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2020
    Messages:
    654
    Likes Received:
    1,508
    Well then, I believe that you would be interested in Sherman Hill!

    It's a Union Pacific route in Wyoming that runs for about 58 miles from Cheyenne to Laramie. The main feature of the route is the big hill that the trains climb up or crawl down. Should run fine on 8th gen consoles, although I can't confirm that. I just know that the trains are shorter than the ones on 9th gen (50 cars compared to 100).

    As for the included trains, the selection is quite nice. The SD40-2 is available for switching duties, mainly around Cheyenne. For the mainline runs, you get the SD70ACe, which is indeed quite different from the AC4400CW. And the length of the services is indeed reasonable. If you want to drive the whole route, then sure, it may take 2 hours or a bit more. Depends on how heavy your train is. But there are plenty of services that let you drive only some of the route, whether it's the hill itself between Cheyenne and Hermosa (about 1 hour), or a simpler straight run between Hermosa and Laramie (40-ish minutes).

    So yeah, Sherman Hill is basically the greatest freight route in existence.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  3. Calidore266

    Calidore266 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2021
    Messages:
    1,198
    Likes Received:
    1,721
    Haven't played SH yet so I can't compare them directly, but Clinchfield is tremendous. Possible con for you is that the speed never goes over 40 or 50 kph. On the other hand, there are several workday type journeys broken up into multiple services--as many as 10--of varying lengths. Simply put, these are runs between home base and the various mines to drop off empty cars and pick up full ones; but in practice, you're doing quite a mix of driving and shunting, with lots of breaking trains into pieces and moving in all directions in the process. At one point you end up in the bizarre configuration of two locos in the middle of 40 cars, 20 on each end, and the caboose leading the way. But like any good story, it all comes together in the end. Also, all this activity takes place on varying inclines, which can make the shunting a bit of a challenge.

    I went in intending to play a couple of journeys and go back to Ghost of Tsushima, but ended up getting completely hooked and playing through all six journeys straight through.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  4. The_Drunken_Engineer

    The_Drunken_Engineer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2022
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    266
    Thank you very much for the detailed answer. That sounds great and I will pick it up at the next sale.
     
  5. The_Drunken_Engineer

    The_Drunken_Engineer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2022
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    266
    I really like the cool older loco but yeah, the low speeds would kill me. Thank you for your answer.
     
  6. The_Drunken_Engineer

    The_Drunken_Engineer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2022
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    266
    A big congratulations for getting your screenshot in the loading screen, you beautiful mad bastard! Great job!
     
  7. Krazy

    Krazy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2020
    Messages:
    654
    Likes Received:
    1,508
    Thank you my friend! Sometimes I get lucky enough to capture a shot that’ll surprise even myself!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. paulc

    paulc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2021
    Messages:
    1,334
    Likes Received:
    2,747
    Clinchfield.
     

Share This Page