Recent reviews by sergeant_0ddball

I love this route. Absolutley love it. I love the look, I love the feel. I love the heavy ore traffic and the laid back wayfreights. I just wish there were some more local freight scenarios.

I love the 2-10-2 because we FINALLY have a good american freight hog that can haul tonnage at speed.Don't get me wrong, AT&N connie is a great little loco, but she really doesn't have the power for the heavy tonnage trains I so love and I end up having to doublehead, or even triplehead them. the Smokebox Northern is a mixed traffic loco, so while she can haul tonnage, she isn't what I am looking for. I am looking for a non-articulated (like the GTrax Cab Forward or the god awful Big Boy and Challenger), heavy duty freight loco. the Santa Fe is exactly that. I now have a good, high tonnage locomotive that I can put through its paces on the B&O Kingwood branch, or the NS coal district.

and the 0-6-0. FINALLY A US STEAM SWITCHER. The Connie no longer has to pull double duty as a switcher and a freight loco. Granted, that loco did that IRL, but it is nice to finally have a locomtoive suited for yard work or tight industrial trackage. She is a great little switcher, able to really pull strings of cars around a yard and bustle about from this track to that track, moving surprisingly long strings of cars for her size. She accellerates quicly, as a small switcher should, but what came next amazed me.
To my surprise, this little firecracker can do 45! It kills your boiler pressure to do so, and she can't keep it up for long, but it can do it!

Both locomotives have a wonderful amount of steam effects, as well. The cylinder co cks release large clouds of steam, the dynamos (small turbines used to generate power for the lights) have steam coming out of them. The pop valves (safety valves) emit a large amount of steam as well. I don't think they do, because I am not usually looking there, but I think the pops lift in sequence, as well, just like in real life.

The cab windows open on both the locomotives, as does the roof vent. when the bells ring, the clapper swings and hits the side of the bell. Not to many locos have that, or animated bells for that matter.

Some may complain about the recycled sounds, but that doesn't bug me. They aren't the PRR K4's sounds, which are ripped from MSTS IIRC, so there is that. At least they are from other Gtrax locos, so we have some quality.

The train brakes have a small quirk to them, where after you make an application and release the brakes, the pressure doesn't rise back up to 90 at times. Don't know if this is intended or not, but I like it because it keeps me from making too many heavy brake applications too close together and, as the real railroaders put it, pi$$ing away my air. Keep the brake lever in the "running" position and it will slowly build back up to 90 over time.
the Independant (locomotive) brake doesn't have this quirk. However, it is not meant to stop an entire train and is meant more as a brake for when you are moving light (without a train) or with a very short train, like 1-2 cars short.

Oh the memories. The models aren't the best, and the gameplay can be very simple at times, but this game is what introduced me to the Tycoon style games. as the last title in the RR tycoon series, I think it is the best.

I absolutely love the M*A*S*H skin. I grew up watching the show with my father, and even now we watch reruns every morning after we come home from work.

You are the captain of an old tramp steamer, not the largest, not the most well armed, and definatley not the fastest. Your task is to try to make a living and retire in comfort in this dark, mysterious, monster-filled world. Fuel is expensive, as are supplies. Profit margins are thin, grab what you can when you can.

Can you rise to the challenge?

Gotta admit, this years version is a little better than last TS2015.

TS2015 seemed to be geared towards the people who like to run passenger trains from point A to point B, because ALL OF THE ROUTES WERE PASSENGER ROUTES. I like passenger, but I also like freight. You got ONE freight loco with TS2015, and no scenarios for it. Even PAcific Surfliner has freight cars, but no freight locos. (Why?!) And the routes were all modern routes.

This year, however, there is a nice mix of freight and passenger on the routes, and a route that has steam locos for those who want to run those. One thing I don't like is with the Sherman Hill route. One of the locomotives that comes with Sherman hill has several consists. But each consist counts as a different locomotive in the Loco menu. This is very annoying.

I haven't had this route for very long, but in the short time that I have, it has become one of my favorite routes.

It feels like a backwater shortline, in some areas, but in others it feels like you are just a stones throw away from a major city. I LOVE the two short branch lines that branch off from the main line. One near Westin that goes to a logging site and a coal mine, and another that branches to a coal mine and a limestone quarry. You gain a bit of elevation going from one end to the other, but it really doesn't feel like it, as the grades are kept very mild. I think the steepest grade you will encounter is 1% on the branch line to the mine and quarry.

Another thing I like abou this route is that it could easily be a steam-diesel transition era route by making your own free roam using the US freight car packs and some of the early diesel locomotives and steam locomotives in the store. I have done this already for myself, and I would post it to the workshop if a large amount of DLC was not needed. (I don't like posting things that need a massive amount of DLC to use, because that limits the number of people who will be able to enjoy it)

This route lends itself well to the Smokebox AT&N Consolidation, the GP7 pack, the SW1500 pack, and any of the 44 Tonners because the route feels like the kind of railroad that would use a small locomotive such as these as the main locomotive power, with the 44 tonners being used as yard switchers or assigned to move cars up and down the branch lines.
Heck, the branchlines could even be a separate railroad, with trackage rights between the sawmill, Westin, and the two branch lines with Westin being the interchange yard between the two.

Now, onto what I don't like about this route:

1. None of fueling points are interactive so you can't refuel a diesel or take on water in a steamer.
2. None of the mines/quarries/grain elevators are functional, meaning there are no loading or unloading points at the industries. All you can do is spot cars beneath the tipple, which is a shame, because there are several places where coal would be unloaded, (the textile mill, the foundries, and the saw mill, among others)and several places for limestone to be unloaded (lime and cement plants). It would be great to be able to load a car of coal or ore at one of the mines and unload it at one of the two foundries or the power plant for the textile mill or sawmill. The same applies for the cement plant and lime plant. it would be nice to be able to load a car of limestone at a quarry and unload it at the lime plant, or load a car at the cement plant or even one of the two grain elevators.
3. The tracks for the Colton Roundhouse dead end halfway into the building, leaving half of the locomotive sticking out of the doorway, which looks even more awkward considering the roundhouse stall doors are closed.

Don't get me wrong, you can still have a lot of fun with this route. I myself have cloned the route in the editor and added loading and unloading points at several of the industries, as well as fuel and water points for locomotives.This has taken the enjoyability of the route to the next level for me.

EDIT: I contacted the route creator through his website and got permission to release a modified version of the route containing operating mines, quarries, and grain elevators. Also included will be unloaders at the locations where the coal/ore/grain would be unloaded. I will link it here when it is fully ready.

A very well made game. The storyline is great, and very well done. The world is immersive and well laid out. this Pioneer Camp is one of those fictional places you wish you could visit. Every character is unique, and also very believable. When I first started it up, I meant to play for maybe half an hour, and spread the first line out over a few days of playing. Next thing I know, it is 12:30 AM! I was so immersed in the game, the hours flew by.

Also, the text and inner musings of the player character get really philosophical a times, and I was surprised. Most of the time, these RPG's aren't like that. This game is worth downloading.

What are you waiting for? Camp Sovionok is waiting!

I like the route. It has a lot of atmosphere. I just wish it was quick-drive compatable. I know the locos are, but to be able to take any locomotive on the route would be nice. Also, stay away from the Advanced Mode locos. To change the reverser, you have to press "e" to take off the reverser lock (which is fine), but to change the setting you have to close the throttle, which is unrealistic and makes you lose speed. And when you are climbing to Maerdy Collery with a train, you will need every bit of speed you can get.
The locomotives are nice, well modeled, and run great. the yellow one that only has locomotive brakes has a very nice look to it. It LOOKS like a locomotive that has spent its life working a coal mine or other industrial area. it has that worn down look, but it also has the air of pride that any steamer does.
one thing that disappoints me is the lack of steam effects. There are no particle effects for the injectors, whistle, or cylinder co cks.

When I first saw the pricetag, I was excited. I thought to myself, "What a great deal!" I couldn't wait for the download to finish.
Excitedly, I put the Challenger on my favorite test map, Pacific Surfliner. (Long, has many hills, and is good for finding out what a loco can do)
My exitment turned to dismay when I opened the throttle, and it all went downhill from there. Soon, I realized why it was so cheap.

The Challenger is completely unrealistic. The front engine set's number boards display a different number than the number on the cab. When the wheels are slipping, it is only the rear set of drivers, because an articulated acts like a lash up of diesels, or a double header: an engineer on each "loco" even though one is just a set of drivers.

The challenger can't keep steam up even when the throttle is closed. How do they solve this problem in the programming? When the boiler pressure hits less than 170 PSI, the generation rate shoots up, and the usage rate goes way down. (EG, the usage rate is at 2,475, it shoots down to half that, even with the throttle wide open. I gave up on using advanced controls and manual fireman when running the Challenger)

The whistle goes on for 3 seconds, even when I just tap the key.

The cylinder ♥♥♥♥♥ don't work, even though there is a valve for it in the cab, and the bell is a rapid, high pitched dingdingdingdingding, instead of a deeper, slower dong--dong--dong.

The couplers on the cars that you get are broken: once you uncouple, you cannot recouple.

There are no interiors for the passenger cars and the caboose, either. (This is a minor complaint, but it is something that I wish they had taken the time to do)

You cannot use the in-cab injectors, you HAVE to use the toolbar.

The Challenger is a well modeled locomotive, but that does not redeem it. The running characteristics are junk. It cannot even reach 70 mph, which the real Challenger could do easily!