Shasta Route available

[niknak]

Ah ok. In that case its probably a coincidence. It's just that when I removed the velocity minus sign I mentioned earlier, the popup message noting that car had derailed disappeared then, making me assume that was the problem

[R. Steele]

An incidental >> I did find this in the log:

Warning: File x_Switch_Fast2.wav missing from C:\ORTS\ORProfiles\TrainSimulations Content\ROUTES\SP_Shasta\SOUND

Just copied "Switch_Fast2.wav" -- renamed it to "x_..." and it works well enough for me...Seriously these new switch sounds are superlative, in fact they exhaust superlatives...very nicely done! This route and all the fine work that went into .... knocks it out of the park.

[pschlik]

Hopefully the devs can provide the missing file, as the non-x (interior) version of that file is going to be a bit quieter than the e(x)terior version

[eric]

Is it realistic that you'd hear a switch from inside the cab with any degree of engine noise?

[defect_detector]

Is it realistic that you'd hear a switch from inside the cab with any degree of engine noise?

Yes, you can definitely hear it (mainly as the locomotive transitions over the frog).

You’re often in a locomotive that weighs above 150k lbs (for smaller switch engines, up to 410k for the heaviest modern road power) so there’s no hiding the noise that steel on steel makes through that area. Cab insulation on the newer road power we have certainly does cut down on it though.

[eric]

Oh, the transition and frog yes. I was thinking it was the switch motor and points movement.

[defect_detector]

Oh, the transition and frog yes. I was thinking it was the switch motor and points movement.

Oh, if that’s the case the answer is definitely a no. You can barely hear that when you’re standing right next to it.

[MMCdude]

Is anyone else having issues with the throttle position indicator showing "setup" when in idle and all power positions in the Amtrak P40's?

I'm running OR 1.4. I took a look at the cabview file, but nothing there stood out as an obvious problem to me.

[uli2]

Is anyone else having issues with the throttle position indicator showing "setup" when in idle and all power positions in the Amtrak P40's?

I'm running OR 1.4. I took a look at the cabview file, but nothing there stood out as an obvious problem to me.

It depends on the OR version. I have the same issue with OR 1.3.1 (I don't use OR 1.4) but not with OR 1.5.1 or OR Monogame.

[derekmorton]

Hi Team,

I have just started the "mid train helper" activity and found that I cannot apply the brakes.

Anyone else seeing this?

I normally run 144.1, but I tried with 1.5.1 and it does the same.

[wwhall]

Many thanks to Sean and the TrainSimulations team for this fine route. It and Mullan Pass are two of my favorite routes.

Now to my rant, not directed at Sean. Throughout the MSTS/OR community there seems to be a palpable and growing bias towards producing 60's-90's period routes and equipment, with much less current era equipment being produced. I would love to see a modern era Shasta Route, much like was done with Seligman--with newer locomotives, etc. For example, Tier 4 locos have been out for going on a decade now, but no payware versions have been made of the GE/Wabtec Tier 4's, and no publicly released EMD Tier 4's. Similarly, there is a paucity of current era rebuilds showing up, either. I like the "older" era routes, etc.--I lived through those prototype eras in the 60's-90's, but I also still like the current era of railroading.

My other rant, again not directed at Sean, is that most all of the Streamlines/TS routes lack very good night lighting--street lights, etc. I can somewhat understand this because a lot of the currently available street lights, etc. just don't look good with the MSTS/OR archaic lighting effects. Still, it would be nice to have better night lighting--I like to run nighttime activities.

One final thing for which I give Sean great credit on both Mullan and Shasta--the scenery, within the limitations imposed by MSTS/OR, is some of the very best out there and it actually approaches the appearance of the prototype. I do look forward to the expansion packs.

[qballbandit]

The demographic majority, in my view over the years, seems to favor "nostalgic" railroading. Not a thing improper with that, but I too prefer what is relevant now. It probably has a lot to do with the artists interests too. If we had more modern thinking artists, we'd see the modern routes and equipment.
No bash on the remarkable craftsmanship on all that is released these days. You are all pro's and are to be applauded.

[CSRX]

Not that my opinion much matters here, but 80-90's era isn't bad. Had a lot of flavor compared to what we have now. I can tell you it gets boring seeing and running in SD70M-2's every day, but not just locomotives, the amount of little railroads and per diem cars that were around back then, compared to now, is insane. Sean and I were just chatting the other day how some of the New England based boxcars and such, made their way out onto the Butte Sub and others, hauling state of Maine products such as potatoes and lumber.

Street lights I admit would be a great addition, but until something is done in ORTS to have more than one source of light, this is going to be ignored.

[PerryPlatypus]

Thanks for the comments guys Nothing wrong with constructive criticism (which is nice for a change, considering a lot of what we get is very NON-constructive criticism).

Our team actually discussed the night lighting issue recently, and we are looking into ways to somewhat improve the lighting in urban areas. I personally rarely run at night in ORTS because even in rural areas, the lighting looks like crap, in my personal opinion. The way that headlights cast super sharp edges across the edges of the terrain mesh looks awful, and the fact that in 2023 we still have just one functional headlight cone at night... It makes it pretty hard for me to feel motivated to seriously pursue realistic night scenes. ORTS' dependence on 23-year old material and lighting properties is also playing into the poor appearance of things at night (or even in dawn/dusk lighting). I know recently the ORTS devs have been working on at least getting ambient sunlight and weather to function a bit better, so maybe some day down the road these other topics will get looked at.

As for era choice on routes - for me personally it's sometimes a matter of the specific railroad or era, but it's often VERY influenced by the railroad operations specifically, including variety of trains and especially the volume of rail traffic.

Take Shasta for example. In the mid 90's it was seeing well over 20 trains per day, including numerous intermodal trains, roadrailers, sugar beet trains, unit trash trains, numerous locals, the McCloud Railway being active, helper operations, etc. etc. Today, Shasta sees as few as 6 or 7 freight trains per day (sometimes less), only a couple intermodal trains, no locals, no helper operations, etc. It's a shadow of its former self in terms of rail traffic volume. Imagine running an activity end-to-end on Shasta where you see just one AI train the whole way.

Take Tennessee Pass, one I am toying with heavily for an upcoming project. It shut down in the late 90s, so cant exactly do modern. The era I am looking at - early 90's - is because it was the busiest time by far in the diesel era.

Take BC Rail. In the late 90's it saw 6 daily freights plus the Budd cars each way on the south end of the railroad. In the "Tier 4" CN era, it was one train each way per day, and no helper operations. Now it's been mothballed for freight and all it gets is the Rocky Mountaineer twice per week for a large segment of the line. That's it.

Take Chris' Blue Mountains route, backdated to the 80's. Today, UP's PSR policies and the downturned economy has left that line seeing a tiny fraction of its train count in the 80s or 90s. Plus the loss of Amtrak service.

I could go on and on and on. I do believe there is a place for contemporary routes (Mullan was set just 2 years "back in time" when it was released), but the honest truth is that for the last decade or two of North American railroading in most (not all) places, train counts are way way down, variety of motive power is way way down, variety of train types/commodities is down, locals and small carload industries are disappearing, etc.

[dcarleton]

It would be nice to see a well detailed route in the region formerly served by Conrail, or anywhere east of the Mississippi for that matter. More than half the population lives there!