Did you live near an active rail line when you were younger? Did you sit by the tracks waiting for a train to come zooming by? Did you have family members who worked for the railroad? Were you into model trains too? Let's talk about childhood train memories (and maybe get a few awesome route ideas for TSW). I'm a resident of Las Vegas, NV. I do have a couple of local rail lines, and I did quite a bit of railfanning (and I still do) when I rode in the family car to northern Utah, Arizona, or southern California. The main rail line running through Vegas is the Union Pacific RR's Los Angeles and Salt Lake (LA&SL) line. Vegas is the division point and crew change between the Cima Sub (LV-Dagget, CA) and the Caliente Sub (LV-Milford, UT). Also, part of the LV-Boulder City branch that was originally built in the 1930s to get supplies to the Hoover Dam build site near Boulder City, NV is now owned by the NV Southern RR Museum. The museum has a short excursion train that I've ridden countless times. I also got to experience driving a real locomotive, UP GP30 #844, at the museum. That was an amazing experience that I want to do again someday. Then in northern NV is the NV Northern RR in Ely. I've ridden that train only once, and I really want to do it again. They also have a "Be an Engineer" experience there that I want to do. I've also ridden on the Pacific Southwest RR Museum train in Campo, CA (near San Diego, CA) and the Grand Canyon RR from Williams, AZ (one of my favorite train rides and highly recommended by me) I rode in the dome car, which gives passengers the best view of the line. I've also railfanned a bit in the Phoenix, AZ area, the Kingman and Williams, AZ, areas, and of course, BNSF's Cajon Pass Route (which we have in game already; also we have the ATSF 1990s Cajon Pass Pack coming soon; we should get some new locos for BNSF and UP; maybe SP and more ATSF too?). I'm such a train nerd. I love train videos and especially model train videos. TM Books and Video's I Love Toy Trains series and some of their other model train shows have been favorites of mine since I was a small boy. Those videos and my railfanning memories inspired me to build my own O-Gauge model train layout that models the deserts of Arizona and the BNSF and UP RRs, which I've mentioned on this forum in another chat. Now for the part you've all been waiting for (just kidding, not really; ha, ha): the route suggestions based on my memories (and yours too). Here are my suggestions: 1.) ATSF or BNSF Seligman Subdivision and Grand Canyon RR: We have the Winslow-Williams section of this route for TS Classic. I would love to see the full 293.5-mile-long Needles, CA-Winslow, AZ route, but it would need to be made in three (or maybe four) sections. This route has high speeds, rugged desert and mountain scenery, Route 66, small towns, history, and of course, the ex-ATSF Grand Canyon RR that runs out of Williams. Lots of trains (70+!) run each day on this route, so it is a very busy line (I even saw a few at 3AM while I was in Williams last year!). I still want BNSF ET44C4s, GP60s/Ms/Bs, and ATSF #3751, along with Amtrak P42DCs or ALC-42s with the SW Chief, which also operates on this route (only at night though). As for ATSF: SD40-2s, SD45s, SD45-2s, C44-9Ws, B40-8/B40-8W, U-Boats, Dash-7s, C40-8W/C41-8Ws, GP60/M/Bs, GP50s, GP38(U)s, etc. The Grand Canyon RR is also a must-have route for TSW. The GCRY needs their two steam locos: #29 and #4960, their F40PHs, their yard engine, an ex-ATSF GP7u, and their old ex-CN Alco FPA4s/FPB4s, along with their fleet of passenger cars. 2.) UP Cima Sub: LV-Dagget and UP Caliente Sub: LV-Milford: The UP's LA&SL Line has a single track with passing sidings. Both these routes are over 100 miles long, which might be difficult for DTG to make. The line sees a number of intermodal, autorack, and manifest trains. There's also some nice scenery, especially at Rainbow Canyon near Caliente, NV (I've railfanned in that area a bit too). In and near Vegas are several industries, including the Apex area to the northeast of town along I-15. Apex has Gypsum mining and drywall manufacturing and there are always freight cars there. Yermo, near Dagget and Barstow, has a military base. UP also has trackage rights into Barstow and on Cajon. Perhaps if we get the Cima Sub, we could have the line include Barstow too. As for locos: Dash-8s, Dash-9s, SD70AH-T4s, C4460ACs/AC6000CWs, SD90s, SD70Ms, SD60s/SD60Ms, SD59MXs, GP60s, GP40-2s, MP15s, ET44s, ES44s, etc. 3.) Nevada Northern RR: The NN handled mining operations in northern NV. Now the line is a tourist railroad. They currently roster an ex-SP SD9 #250 (that is currently painted in the US 250th Anniversary livery), an SD7, an Alco RSC-3, and a few steam locos (#93 included), among other equipment. This one needs to be set in the 1950s-60s during the height of their mining operations. 4.) UP/BNSF or SP/ATSF in the Phoenix area: BNSF and UP both operate in the Phoenix area. The BNSF Phoenix Sub runs south from Williams Jct. to Phoenix. A section of UP's ex-SP Sunset Route passes through Phoenix. I'd love to see some SP locos, including SD7s/SD9s, GP60s, GP40-2s, SD45s, SD70Ms, AC4400CWs, C44-9Ws, B39-8s, Dash-7s, U-Boats, etc., along with a selection of freight equipment. Now I want to hear your childhood railroading stories and any new route ideas you may have based on those memories.
The first railway I grew up with was the Tyneside suburban network, pre Metro. Ultra smoky Newcastle Central with (mainly) Class 101 DMU's thrashing their guts out to get the vacuum up before setting off every 20 minutes for the Tynemouth Loop on inner and outer circuits. Or every half hour to South Shields and Sunderland with the hourly express service to Middlesborough via Hartlepool. I even have the vaguest memory of the old Tyneside electric units (the original LNER ones, as these stayed on the Tynemouth Loop longer than the EPB's to South Shields). Then Newcastle Central itself was alive with the sound and smell of Deltics on the main ECML expresses, Class 47's on the semi fasts and Peaks on the inter regionals. Would love to see that replicated in TSW.
Two of the three railroads I grew up with will never see the light of day in TSW, unfortunately. While the southern portion of the Harlem Line is present in TSW, I grew up around the northern portion, and in particular the Wassaic Branch (I actually remember when they first opened Wassaic Station and started running trains past Dover and Tenmile River; I also remember when Southeast used to be Brewster North). It was pretty cool seeing the final days of the FL9's and F10's on shuttle duty, and we've even had leased Amtrak P40's working the branch in the past prior to the Brookville units showing up. I didn't start riding the southern portion of the route into GCT until I was older and out of high school. The Housatonic Railroad was/is my local freight shortline, and the tracks ran right in front of my high school. I'm actually friends now with their CMO, but haven't had a chance to visit in a year or two, despite having an open invitation to pop by the shop. The Naugatuck Railroad was where I went on my first tourist train rides, back before they ran out of the now-restored Thomaston station. I still visit on occasion, and they've grown into a pretty strong little operation, now even running freight trains from a construction debris transload facility and interchanging with the PAR (or the B&E, or whatever they're calling themselves this week).
OldVern: I agree with the Deltics. We need those in game on a 1960s-80s ECML or on modern Railtours. I'm amazed that it hasn't happened yet. Everyone wants Deltics. R3DWolf91: NYC Harlem Line w/ FL9s sound pretty cool too. More US Fallen Flags are needed in game. Your local freight lines sound interesting too. Freight trains are so amazing. They are loud, powerful, and huge. Maybe that's why a lot of kids love trains.
Started off my train hobby as kid during the good days of Thomas the tank engine being on (season like 8 or 9 but I always watched the older stuff since it was easier to get back then) Now back to real life trains, Every summer as a kid I would visit my grandparents down in Arbroath, so I would be taking the train from Aberdeen to Arbroath (the service normally going to Glasgow queen street with the class 43 or 170) so that’s what I did for the most part while young nowadays I do trainspotting around Aberdeen and Arbroath with the occasional visit to the Caledonian railway, currently I’ve only seen two steam trains in my time but try to see as much as I can now to the model side (pretty new, Hornby/ other) I currently have a non functional class 55 deltic in br blue which was my first model and probably the main reason why I’m so into br blue the highland rambler 0-4-0 GWR tank engine Two pannier tank engines (both non functional/ not moving but does make noise) Class 02? (maybe not sure on this one, it says dock Authority on the side, sadly it only makes a very faint hum and doesn’t move for now) The battle zone class 08 Class 25 in br blue Class 26 in rail freight grey Class 33 in br blue rolling stock 8 mk1s in maroon red, 1 br blue I think used for mail (red/ orange door on the side) 1 mk2 br blue 1 mk 3 br blue Two KWAs One double freightliner container wagon And the rest is just standard freight or smaller carriages Last thing My grandad used to be a train driver when he was young, this was during the good old steam days, he hasn’t said much about it but he did help out during operation snowfall of 1955
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/western-slovakia-triangle-bratislava-trnava-galanta.85935/ this would be probably one of the best first Slovak routes in TSW, as it has lots of variety (some old stock, but also the most modern stuff) and decent speeds ... my home routes are Galanta - Bratislava (back when I used to commute to Bratislava from my hometown) and Galanta - Trnava (used to travel there for part-time jobs)
