I haven't yet driven the high speed German train so probably not fair to compare but I did drive the British train (is that a subway train lol I don't know).. Sure the American diesels are slooowwwwwww... but... the British train... I am finding myself only watching the upper left timer thing that tells me when to open/close doors... push forward, drive through tunnel.. more tunnel.. oh stop coming ... watch for the marker and try to tine your stop.. open doors... repeat.. rush through another tunnel.. not much to look at... make the next mark..again... no time to get out of the train and wander... but what is there to see? With the big American freighters... standing next to one (virtually of course lol)... you can sense the immense power this beast has.. it is intimidating ... the sound of that monster slowing coming to life... sure... you don't take off like you do on the smaller trains... your basically inching along until you get some momentum. It's an effort just to get to 10 mph... however.. it just FEELS so powerful... like you are really pulling something .... and you can take an outside view and see some beautiful scenery... rivers, woods, towns... cars, etc... blast that horn! Go to outside view ... train moves so slow that you won't miss any stops...just enjoy the view, open the windows... smell the diesel fuel pouring out of the top.. what an irony driving that big smoking diesels past those quaint wind turbines on the hill.. carbon canceling lol...full power up a hill ... MAN... how to describe that powerful sound of diesel driving large electric motors, such huge torque powering up that hill.. on the verge of losing grip just once and it's all over.. no chance ...back down the hill. In winter seeing the landscape at night... wow...driving past all these towns.. I don't know but for me this is enjoyable and I prefer it over the start/speed/stop/open/close/start/speed/stop of a busy rush hour commuter.. I must be weird. lol
There’s a great variety in what can and is done on rails. US freight trains are certainly impressive in scale. The size of the locos and the length of the trains is beyond anything we get here in the UK. Sand Patch Grade is arguably the best route in TSW and has been my favourite since I got it in the TSW2 release. There is a DLC coming soon with more US freight action and I’m looking forward to it. Once I get Clinchfield some of the faster trains I also enjoy driving may get pushed to one side again as I haul more coal through the mountains for hours on end. It’s not weird to like that kind of thing. It’s an all round pleasurable thing to do with your time.
Oh, yeah I can feel you, man! Love american diesels too. Preach! Preeaaach! But honestly you should try british and german freight too! Maybe they are not so brutal and overwhelmingly powerfuI but they have their own appeal for sure! I have much and much pleasure driving them. Love that raw sound of "Tractor" British Class 37 or respectful hum and melodic tones of electric BR 185 (its about 7200 hp nominal if im not mistaken!). British Class 66 is very enjoyable diesel too and was actually made by EMD also).
Although I'm not always a fan of slow US freight, and I really dislike Sand Patch Grade, there's something calming about slower routes like West Somerset Railway.
Lately I've started to appreciate transporting freight more, even though I'd normally consider myself a passenger train enthusiast. It's a nice change of pace, driving heavy American freight. Getting those locos set up correctly, then gently nudging the train to start moving...being mindful of those gradients and careful use of various braking...it takes quite a bit of thinking ahead, which I like. So I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming Clinchfield railroad! I would like to see some more dynamic freight traffic though, especially on German routes. For example mainline freight drive with diversions and stopping to let priority passenger trains pass.
Do not worry. Everyone here is like that It's worth trying different things. Go deeper into know-how. This hobby is largely about a background. You have to be able to imagine the rest - as in your example with the subway. Up there, the city is teeming with life. This life is up to you. Someone might be late for work after all Cultivate this excitement! Greetings \o/ PS I am in freight too yhyhy
I love freight trains, but what I like most is the wide variety and I love to try a lot of different stuff. One big disadvantage: it is very bad for my wallet. DTG should come with a discount offer for the most spending customers (buy 10 DLC get the eleventh for free or something like that ...)
Don't drive american, but I do prefer a long 66 haul rather than the target driven driving of passenger, and the waiting times annoy me, but given that on UK routes there are often ten passenger services to every freight... Not many to play with
Thanks for the replies everyone! Great to read others views. For SURE I plan on trying out the German fast trains and eventually getting back to the British trains. I set a goal to just focus on one train and get good at it.. understand it, try to make it as real as possible. I've learned more about trains on this forum and the game, and then of course Youtube and Google, then I ever knew in my life. It's also a little easier for me to comprehend things on an older type of train control where most everything is mechanical. Levers and switches, no computer interface . Of course there is some nostalgia... going to the #8 view and moving ahead to some intersection to watch the train go by.. memories of my childhood when me and by brothers would walk along the tracks out of our small town forever.. go until we were lost.. but we were never lost.. the tracks led us home!!! My grandmothers house was right next to train tracks. I'm probably exaggerating because I was small but I felt like I went out her back door, over a little hill and there was the train! No fence to keep us from getting killed!! And in another location, a bridge over a nice little clear water pond. We would stand on the bridge, wait for a train to come..and jump into the water.. Those were the days of summer.. oops sorry I digressed.... Anyway, my plan is to pretty much burn out on the freighters and sandpatch, sort of make it a "career" so to speak... then move over to the British line and do the same, finally ending up with a "career" as a German high speed rail driver.. Well that is the plan anyway!
I'm terrible at that (even in real life when sight seeing). I find myself engrossed in the moment and then it's gone.
