SP Shasta Route Expansion

[PerryPlatypus]

I'm finally starting to ramp up route work on the upcoming expansion for the Shasta Route. The "route" portion of the expansion will focus primarily on three specific areas:
1. A 16-mile segment of the McCloud Railway (formerly McCloud River Railroad) from the SP interchange at Mt Shasta eastward over the hill to the lumber mill town of McCloud, with grades up to 4%, 20 degree curves and one switchback.
2. BN's (formerly GN) White Line industrial lead on the southwest side of Klamath Falls, serving a number of large lumber mills and other industries.
3. A large mouldings plant on the north (railroad east) edge of Klamath Falls.

The expansion will include plenty of relevant locomotives and rolling stock (and activities) - details on that yet to be determined. This thread will primarily focus on the expanded portions of the route.

Trackwork is now done in the town of McCloud - and will very soon be done on the entire McCloud to Mt Shasta segment after I finish some grade revisions; a big thanks to Marshall for providing an excellent track chart! Trackwork for the other areas around Klamath Falls is essentially already complete.

A few prelim screenshots will come tomorrow...

[ighten]

Cant wait.... Excellent news

[R. Steele]

1. A 16-mile segment of the McCloud Railway (formerly McCloud River Railroad) from the SP interchange at Mt Shasta eastward over the hill to the lumber mill town of McCloud, with grades up to 4%, 20 degree curves and one switchback.

I made a run on that track in the current release and thought it had possibilities....happy to hear it is being developed for the expansion upgrade. Thanks.

[RobGuru]

Will there be an UP trainset pack for the Shasta route?

[PerryPlatypus]

Will there be an UP trainset pack for the Shasta route?

We've conceptually planned for at least one UP era pack *eventually*. I have ideas for as many as 4 or 5 expansion packs, but the order and timeline those may be released is unknown. There is still a lot of content we have yet to cover even from the original 1994-1996 era for the route.

[defect_detector]

I'm glad the track charts could help, buddy!

[pschlik]

Seeing all the track for McCloud and the western side of Klamath Falls in the route map got my attention back when the route released. It'll be fun to explore these new places and get away from the mainline for a moment.

[Dexter249]

Excellent news, I just bought Shasta so I'm probably gonna grab this on release.

Would love to contribute some activities for the team in future as well, as I'm currently learning to build them on my own

(If you ever create a VIA Canadian set, I'll be happy to send in my Ruel Activities as a base, still working on them right now).

[ChandlerBranchRailfan]

I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that it looks like MSTS routes have gotten smaller in recent years. It's NOT a bad thing I'm just saying.

[R. Steele]

I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that it looks like MSTS routes have gotten smaller in recent years.

A little push back...since this is a thread about TrainSimulations SP Shasta Route...which is NOT an MSTS route...it is an Open Rails Route. So --- I would say that new MSTS routes have become non-existent in recent years. 😏

[PerryPlatypus]

I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that it looks like MSTS routes have gotten smaller in recent years. It's NOT a bad thing I'm just saying.

If you're referring to the *length* of the route: there were plenty of MSTS-era routes (including payware) that were much shorter than Shasta. In any case, the end points of Shasta - Dunsmuir and Klamath Falls - are both crew change points for all freight trains, so there was no operational point in having the route longer. The next crew districts north (Cascade Sub) and south (Valley Sub) are both around 200 miles long, which is easily a full route in itself (the next subdivision to the north is covered by MLT's Cascades Crossing anyway).

I digress, you said it's "not a bad thing". Does that mean it's a good thing?

[CSRX]

I mean, from my standpoint Sean, I run on a 104 mile route at 25mph, and thats enough for me in reality. So honestly, anything around 100 miles is pretty good for the sim too. One route I am working on is 131 miles, and that may a bit much to some. haha.

[defect_detector]

I'm gonna cut to the chase and say that it looks like MSTS routes have gotten smaller in recent years. It's NOT a bad thing I'm just saying.

And I’ll cut to the chase and say that the level of detail, terrain texturing, and quality of the routes have gone through the roof.

I’ll take quality over quantity any day of the week, I don’t need a route with terrible trackwork that covers from Colorado to Oregon with roller coaster grades, no vegetation, and terrible terrtex.

As someone who’s tinkered with and detailed routes I can tell you the amount of time invested is staggering, especially considering how there’s no actual return financially on your efforts.

It’s important to realize that the guys at TS do this as a second job because it’s their hobby and passion. They certainly get far more attitude than deserved. I’m just sayin…

[Dexter249]

And I’ll cut to the chase and say that the level of detail, terrain texturing, and quality of the routes have gone through the roof.

I’ll take quality over quantity any day of the week, I don’t need a route with terrible trackwork that covers from Colorado to Oregon with roller coaster grades, no vegetation, and terrible terrtex.

As someone who’s tinkered with and detailed routes I can tell you the amount of time invested is staggering, especially considering how there’s no actual return financially on your efforts.

It’s important to realize that the guys at TS do this as a second job because it’s their hobby and passion. They certainly get far more attitude than deserved. I’m just sayin…

There are some really long routes with good scenery, such as the PRR Eastern Region, but I do love my long runs as much as the next guy, and Shasta is still a very long route, requiring 3 hours to cross with a passenger timetable, more with freight.

[CSRX]

Not trying to take away from Sean's post here.

But, considering one of the routes I am building is 104 total miles, and set at 25mph, would if be far too much, if and when it gets released, that a single activity could last up to 8-10 hours? I mean, realistically this does happen with doubling a train together in the yard, set out a large block and pick up another large block along the way, meet a westbound, sometimes waiting for an hour or two, make another large set off, and hand off to the next crew in the next yard..

I only ask, because I also have a tendency to make long activities with this much action on the Mullan Pass. I haven't attempted to do so on the Shasta route, only because, I don't really know a heck of a lot about the trains on this line. Especially UP era, and oddly enough, I haven't found much info on YouTube.