The picturesque countryside of Bavaria awaits with Pegnitztalbahn: Nürnberg - Bayreuth for Train Simulator Classic.



The Pegnitztalbahn, or Pegnitz Valley Railway, is a long-distance and regional route through the countryside of Bavaria, Germany, linking across the south of the country and beyond into Czech territory. The line is one of several in Germany which is yet to be electrified, meaning all traffic is still provided by diesel traction.

From the winding rails of Chemnitz in Train Sim World, the DB BR 612 makes a bold appearance in Train Simulator Classic. Wearing the same Franken-Sachsen-Express branding, as the Pegnitztalbahn plays host to another section of the same service, the BR 612 makes easy work of the twisting line, leaning into corners for increased passenger comfort.

The diesel workhorse DB BR 648 fills in the gaps on regional traffic. While it doesn’t tilt, the BR 648’s low floor makes it an easily accessible unit for the rural Bavarian villages. Also supporting the cast is the long lost and tilt-equipped DB BR 605 ICE-TD; while now retired from passenger service, one unit was converted into DB’s Advanced Train Lab, a mobile testbed for new technologies.

In Train Simulator Classic, the Pegnitztalbahn recreates the 93 km section between Nürnberg and Bayreuth, with 17 intermediate stations en route. Take on the tilting challenge of the DB BR 612’s unique controls, as well as other diesel traction across a variety of challenging scenarios.

The Pegnitz Valley awaits! Head to the store page to explore this new route. You can also get this route as part of the new German Deluxe Edition.

See the route in action below, with an exclusive preview video from Jamie.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2009528

The Festival of Rail is now live on the Steam Store. Throughout the weekend (2nd-6th February) you can look forward to huge discounts on Train Simulator and Train Sim World 3 as well as streams from our very own Railfan TV team, reward giveaways for those watching the broadcast and some exclusive videos.

Head here for the Festival of Rail Page

Live now on the Steam Store from 2-6 February, the Festival of Rail brings a celebration of rail simulation. This weekend you look forward to discounts on a wide range of Add-Ons for Train Simulator Classic, as well as a special streaming event featuring some exclusive free rewards for those watching, and pre-order for our next big route.

Head to the Festival Page on Steam and read on to find out more about what's on this festival weekend.


Arriving for Train Simulator Classic on 9th February, Pegnitztalbahn is available for pre-order now as part of the Festival of Rail. Get 10% off this new German route, a diesel main line running through the picturesque countryside of Bavaria. The route features the DB BR 612 and DB BR 605 ICE-TD for long-distance duties and the DB BR 648 regional workhorse. Find out more and see the first screens on the store.


There are hundreds of add-ons discounted as part of the Festival of Rail. With something on offer for all railfans no matter the country, era or traction type you prefer. Will you pick up a new route to explore like Taurus Mountains? Maybe a new locomotive to master like the Amtrak E60? Or a new way to play with your existing collection with a Scenario Pack? You can browse all of the offers on the Steam Store.



During the Festival Weekend you can find something to watch every night on the event page. On Saturday night Train Simulator Classic is featured and you can join streams from Train Simulator Driver who will be driving Philedelphia - New York, the British Ace on Brighton Mainline, Train Sim Play on Cologne – Koblenz and an introduction to Train Simulator Classic from Jamie. Watch on the event page each night.


If you’re tuned into the streams each night you’ll also be able to get some exclusive rewards. Watch on Steam to get profile backgrounds and emotes for both Train Simulator Classic and Train Sim World. The Train Simulator Classic rewards feature WCML South, Tehachapi Pass and Bahnstrecke Leipzig – Dresden. As with previous years these rewards are available for this weekend only, so make sure you don’t miss out.

The Festival of Rail is live now, join the celebration!

Hello everyone, starting later tonight at 18:00 UTC begins Festival of Rail 2023!

This event will run from February 2nd to February 6th and will feature lots of ambassador gameplay and fun challenges to watch live, including new announcements and previews of Train Sim World upcoming content over the next two months!

For Train Simulator Classic, we have a whole day on Saturday 4th February to focus on ambassador content showcases on the Train Simulator Classic channels, our other content will be live via Train Sim World pages and socials. See below for our full schedule!

Each day will have one headliner from Dovetail Games, and then 3 slots of ambassador content - the exact times of these streams may vary slightly off the ones listed, but set your alarms now for your favourites!


Thursday 2nd February
This day will be focused on newer players and showcasing our core routes.



Friday 3rd February



Saturday 4th February - Head over to our Train Simulator Classic Pages to view this day!
Our Train Simulator Classic day, with a TSC Introduction headliner!



Sunday 5th February
Our ‘Big Bang’ explosive finish to the event, with a TSW Summit showcasing some of the upcoming content you can look forward to for the next couple of months! This is one not to miss. There might also be a couple of cheeky announcements for new content on the side, too.



Monday 6th February
The final day of our event as it ends at 18:00 UTC.




Catch us live on our Steam Store Page to be up for a chance to get the Steam backgrounds and emote reward drops for both Train Sim World and Train Simulator Classic.



Thank you to all our wonderful ambassadors who signed up to be involved in this mega-event, we are grateful to this great community and look forward to seeing you all live!

Arrived now for Long Island Rail Road in Train Simulator Classic, the iconic M3 is ready for operation.
A Long Island legend arrives into Train Simulator Classic in the form of the iconic LIRR M3, operate this memorable EMU out of New York and Atlantic Terminal into dense commuter suburbs!
During the late 1960s and early 1970s in a major fleet renewal program, New York’s Long Island Rail Road, with funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, purchased 770 M1 EMUs constructed by Budd and General Electric. Christened Metropolitans, the M1s immediately became the workhorses of LIRR electric operations. With its business expanding and its electrified trackage being extended, in 1984-1986, LIRR and MTA returned to Budd to acquire 174 similar M3 EMUs.
LIRR’s M3 cars stretch 85-feet in length and are constructed of stainless steel. The cars operate on D. C. current from LIRR’s third-rail system and are powered by four 160-horsepower traction motors riding in General Steel GSI trucks. The versatile EMUs, built in two-car “married pairs,” operate at speeds up to 80 mph (129 km/h) on the LIRR.
Dressed in yellow, gray, and silver, the LIRR M3 and M1 EMUs have become railroading classics and while the M1s were retired in 2007, the LIRR M3s soldier on.
Experience the challenges of operating this classic equipment on Long Island Rail Road: New York – Hicksville. Available now on the Steam Store.
You can watch our preview stream for the LIRR M3 on YouTube below.

The festive train has arrived at the Steam Store, bringing with it the holiday magic of discounts on hundreds of Train Simulator Classic routes, locos and packs. This is the perfect time of year to expand your collection of your favourite region, learn a new locomotive, dive into a new historical era, or discover an unknown territory. Whatever your rail passion there is something for everyone in the Steam Winter Sale.



You can browse all of the DLC on the Steam Store, discounts run until 5 January. Here are just some of the highlights available this year...



This includes Bahnstrecke Leipzig – Dresden which adds an additional 65 km to the popular Riesa - Dresden route, one of the best UK high-speed lines with WCML South featuring the sleek Avanti BR Class 390 Pendolino, and the legendary Tehachapi Pass with its challenging rugged mountain scenery. A bargain for existing and new players.


Launched at the start of this year to a fantastic response from the community, this route has fast become a fan favourite. Dating back to the early 1890s, the Glasgow Subway is the third-oldest system of its kind in the world. Take the controls and go round and round under the heart of Scotland’s most populous city with this feature-rich Add-On.


Scenic regional operations come to life with the picturesque Kiel - Lübeck railway for Train Simulator! Unlike many popular routes throughout Germany, the Kiel-Lübeck railway remains unelectrified to this day, and is mostly single-track, meaning it is a haven of diesel operations and features passing loops at various stations across the route. Experience Schleswig-Holstein at its scenic best.


Climb the mountains and explore stunning Switzerland. This route has been captured exquisitely in Train Simulator, right down to individual station building features and the intricate overhead electrification. Pick a winter drive for a true holiday experience as you climb and descend the steep hairpins on this challenging route. Good practice for a new Scenario Pack coming in the New Year!


A highly detailed route created by High Iron Simulations and set during the captivating Chessie System era, the B&O Mountain Subdivision comes to Train Simulator featuring 140 miles of main line, four locomotive models in multiple liveries, more than 20 types of freight equipment, and thirteen realistic career scenarios. Lots to keep you busy!


Discover the sights and challenges of historic New Zealand rail with NZTS Workshops’ Midland Line for Train Simulator! The Midland Line is a 3ft 6in gauge railway that traverses the rugged and beautiful Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island. Set in 1968 this features both electric and steam traction locos to explore this scenic line.


A new territory launched for Train Simulator Classic this year, Taurus Mountains from developer AND Model takes you to the breathtaking mountains of Southern Turkey. The line weaves itself through gorgeous terrain from end to end - A must see for railfans worldwide. Never before seen challenges await as you take control of the realistic 1970’s classic DE 24000 locomotive.

These are just some of the offers featured in the Steam Winter Sale. Head to the Store Page to browse more.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/24010/Train_Simulator_Classic/

We often get asked about what the future holds for Train Simulator Classic, and it's always something we're thinking about too. We speak to Senior Producer, Steve Dark, about his vision for the simulator's development moving forward.

Hello everyone! For those that don’t know me, I’m Steve, the Senior Producer for Train Simulator. Whilst I have only recently taken up the role, I have worked at Dovetail for over 8 years. However, my passion and involvement in Train Simulator goes back right to the very beginning of the software.
Like many of you, I came aboard on the first day that Rail Simulator hit the market and have bought every version since until joining Dovetail in 2014. I spent much of my time in the software making my own things and modding the published content to meet my own expectations in how that content should work.

The thing I love most about Train Simulator is the freedom it gives you to be creative, to tinker and make things your own, to collect and build something that you can truly be proud of. No other piece of software gives you that level of customisation or to build a collection that can satisfy whatever you might be in the mood for that day.

Train Simulator’s ecosystem is about so much more than the content we make, it's about the contributions of the entire community. Those who work to meet or exceed your expectations with some of the most advanced add-ons ever made for Train Simulator by developers such as Armstrong Powerhouse, ChrisTrains, Just Trains, ATS, Aerosoft and High Iron Simulations are just a few of the big names contributing to the ecosystem.

I personally feel Train Simulator’s strength is that it provides a unique platform to bring out the creativity in anyone who has an interest in trains or railways/railroads, whether you’re creating scenarios, routes or trains, or just tinkering and modifying something someone else has created. No matter who you are, or what you do, everything you create for Train Simulator is all a contribution to the wider ecosystem and it’s that ecosystem that is Train Simulator’s legacy that will continue onward for as long as there are those out there that want to play and enjoy the work that everyone has put in.
So, I’m sure you can see that Train Simulator isn’t going anywhere. As you all continue to invest in the software, so too are we, and I’m here today to outline some of what our investment in the core technology is going to look like as we move into Train Simulator’s future.

Perhaps the most important aspect to the core software is to ensure it is stable. Train Simulator is a highly advanced and complex piece of software - it was cutting edge at the time it was made. Over the years we have patched and upgraded things, added new things along the way and used it as a testing platform for some experimental things. It’s all those things that we want to tidy up and clean out. Anything that is no longer being used is going to be removed. In so doing, it will lead to much cleaner, leaner and robust code, and consequently, become much more stable.

An area we’re looking to improve is how the software communicates with you, the player, when things aren’t going so well. Right now, the software is only capable of showing one error message irrespective of the problem you’re seeing. We’ll be building in more granularity to the User Messaging System so it will give you better contextual information on what’s gone wrong instead of just the same message over and over again. Over time, we’ll extend this to include even more intelligent functions and messages that will enable you to understand more about what’s going on under the hood without having to deep dive into LogMate logs.

We're already well under way with this part of the work and are making good progress. There’s still a long way to go but our plan is to deliver phased updates to you when they're ready, with the first update planned to come to you in the coming months. We’ll continue to keep you informed on progress and give you details on when you can expect to get involved.

As part of our thinking, we’re looking at improving performance on modern PCs. Train Simulator was built for the PCs of the early 2000s but, things have moved on from there quite substantially and it wasn’t something anyone could have predicted at the time. Our primary aim is to have Train Simulator be capable of using whatever resources your PC has available. This will give Train Simulator a new lease of life, giving more performance overhead enabling ever more complex content and stress-free play on modern computers.

Some of this work will be about optimising how the software handles certain tasks such as your collection of locos, routes, scenarios, and Workshop content. Some of it is about changing how the software does things such as important processes which are vital to how the software operates like streaming in a route or loading scripts.

As Train Simulator continues to grow and expand, the need for it to be able to handle the demands you place on it with large collections of content and support the substantial memory loads that are placed on it will be particularly important. So, with that in mind, we’re investigating the possibility of retiring the 32-bit engine entirely and going full 64-bit. This will include all the tools that you and we use to make content.

One area that Train Simulator doesn’t handle so well is your collection. Whilst it does a good job of loading everything you have installed; it doesn’t give you any control over it to curate your own content library. So, we want to build you a set of tools that gives you the power to manage your own collection, whether that means removing content you’re never going to play with or simply just organise your collection into categories that makes it easier for you to find the content you love playing with the most. It’s your collection, so we think it’s important that you should be able to manage it the way you want to, and with large collections, being able to organise it is paramount.

As part of the process to improve content handling and improve overall performance, we’re also looking at overhauling the user interface. We currently use Autodesk Scaleform to handle the user interface. Unfortunately, this is a bit long in the tooth these days and because of its reliance on Shockwave, it isn’t going to be suitable for our longer-term aim of putting the control over your collection in your hands. Scaleform was also retired many years ago by Autodesk so, we are no longer able to keep this updated with newer versions. So, we will be looking to embrace a modern web-oriented user interface which will better integrate with Steam and our own websites but, more importantly, enable us to develop the tools you need to manage your collections the way you want to.

As I mentioned at the start of this article, the best thing about Train Simulator is its flexibility in customisation. With a powerful new user interface, it will enable you to do much more than just manage your collection. It will include (for those with the necessary abilities) the option to customise the interface for your own purposes, use your own background music as well as choose from a selection of interface graphic and colour styles that suit you or, better yet, enable you to make your own and share them with your friends or the community. At the time of writing, there's still a lot to investigate in this area, so this is likely to be a longer-term goal. We may need to take this step-by-step, expanding the capabilities as we go.

Finally, we know that a DirectX Version upgrade is something that has been heavily discussed over the last few years. Based on our research, this may not be something we can do easily as it may impact your entire collection of content as it will fundamentally change how not just content works, but how it is made. This will naturally complicate things for everyone, so we do need to be careful.

That said, we are looking to implement a DirectX 9 to DirectX 12 translation facility that will essentially give us DirectX 12 support in Train Simulator. At this stage, we don’t know what benefits this will give us in Train Simulator until we try it but we’re hoping you will all join us in testing it when it becomes available.

We will see how the translation works as we go but it may require an alternative solution that will need to be evaluated step-by-step. We’ll keep you informed on this.

The above is just the tip of the iceberg. There is no shortage of ideas on how we can improve and further develop Train Simulator. We have read and continue to read all the suggestions that have been coming in from you, our players, and we will continue to roll noteworthy ideas into our thinking as we move forward. We may not be able to factor all your ideas, but we can assure you that they are taken seriously and discussed thoroughly. So, feel free to keep your ideas coming on the official forums.

One caveat we feel it is important to highlight is that we are only just beginning the journey to further develop the software, so there may be things we will need to tweak and adjust as we go. This means things on this article may not go ahead or may need extra time to fully realise, so this plan will need to remain somewhat fluid, as we have no idea what challenges we may run into. We’ll keep you updated on what, if any, changes there are and the reasons for them.

As mentioned earlier, the work has already started and is well under way with the first update planned to go in the coming months.

We hope you’ve found this article of some interest and it offers some reassurance that Train Simulator’s ecosystem is as vibrant and full as it ever has been and there is a long future ahead of us that we can all look forward to.

We’ll be back with another update when we’re ready to share more detail with you on the progress we're making. For now, we hope you all have a great Christmas and are looking forward to the great things ahead for Train Simulator Classic.

The massive and powerful General Electric E60 electric, constructed for Amtrak and also employed by New Jersey Transit, now comes to Train Simulator Classic through the masterful creativity of accomplished developer Reppo! Available now on the Steam Store.



At Amtrak’s formation in 1971, the passenger carrier’s electrified Northeast Corridor was entrusted almost exclusively to a gallant fleet of veteran ex-Pennsylvania Railroad GG1s, the survivors of which had been built decades earlier by PRR’s own Altoona shops, Baldwin, and General Electric. Also in Amtrak service at this time were the pioneering Budd-built, General Electric-motored Metroliners.
Thus, it might have been expected that General Electric would play a role in Amtrak’s goal to replace the railroad’s aging GG1, and so it was. During 1973, Amtrak ordered 26 GE E60s, which were six-axle, 6,000-horsepower electrics that weighed in at more than 365,000 pounds. That such a beast of a locomotive would be chosen for passenger service had much to do with the fact that the design was modified from a freight locomotive – GE’s E60 had been first built for the coal-hauling Black Mesa & Lake Powell Railroad. With Amtrak amidst its transition from steam-heated equipment to HEP, the order for E60s was split between steam-generator and HEP-equipped units (the former would all eventually be converted to HEP).



Not surprisingly, the E60 is passenger service struggled from its excess weight and related tracking issues. After the arrival of the EMD/ASEA AEM-7 electrics (which began in 1979), Amtrak began selling its E60s, including ten units sold to NJ TRANSIT in 1984. Nonetheless, thirteen Amtrak E60s were rebuilt (and renumbered from the 900-series to the 600-series) and remained in Amtrak service into 2002. The ten ex-Amtrak E60s sold to NJ TRANSIT worked primarily on the railroad’s busy North Jersey Coast Line route and remained in service until 1998. Two GE E60s (one Amtrak and one NJ TRANSIT) have been preserved.



As created for Train Simulator Classic by talented Reppo, the E60 is featured in Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT liveries and variants. The Amtrak edition represents the 600-series rebuilt E60s which operated as late as 2002 and is accompanied by a beautiful all-new rendition of Amtrak’s landmark Amfleet I coach and café car in attractive Phase III livery. The E60 features authentic controls and is provided in running and “cold & dark” configurations. Four career scenarios, including two each on the Train Simulator Classic NEC: New York-New Haven Route and North Jersey Coast & Morristown Lines Route (routes available separately), put the potent and husky E60 to work in realistic and challenging Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT services.
General Electric’s E60 electric was a giant of a locomotive – and the extraordinary E60 experience awaits you! The General Electric E60 DLC for Train Simulator Classic, which includes Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT versions of the big electric, is available now at the Steam Store!

Now available, Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, from High Iron Simulations, delivers contemporary, heavy tonnage BNSF and Union Pacific mountain railroading!

Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, now available on the Steam Store from accomplished developer High Iron Simulations, brings dynamic and contemporary heavy-tonnage BNSF and Union Pacific railroading to the popular Train Simulator Classic Tehachapi Pass route with ten new and highly authentic career scenarios.

Spun over and through the daunting Tehachapi Mountains of California, the Tehachapi Pass route was constructed by the Southern Pacific, opened in 1876, and connects the arid Mojave Desert with California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley. In 1899, via a trackage rights arrangement, the Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) also began operations on the Tehachapi Pass line. In the 1990s, Southern Pacific merged into Union Pacific and Santa Fe merged with Burlington Northern to form BNSF and today the route is Union Pacific’s bustling Mojave Subdivision and is a bustling tonnage and intermodal artery for rail giants Union Pacific and BNSF.

With the new Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, you’ll experience realistic and challenging intermodal, manifest freight, unit-train, local, and switching operations, and you’ll work aboard five types of modern General Electric and Electro-Motive diesel locomotives to battle heavy tonnage and the steep and unforgiving Tehachapi Mountain grades.

Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 features taking the controls of some of the highest priority and longest and heaviest trains in America. With this realistic scenario pack, you will:

• Handle a priority run of BNSF’s hot transcontinental double-stack intermodal train Z-WSPSTO calling upon the potency of high-horsepower General Electric locomotives.
  
• Operate Union Pacific manifest freight M-WCRV employing head-end and DPU (distributed power unit) motive power and use all your skill as an engineer to descend the 2.2 percent grades of Tehachapi’s north slope.
  
• Make an authentic end-to-end run of the historic and daunting Tehachapi Pass route from Bakersfield to Mojave at the throttle of heavy BNSF manifest H-STOBAR.
  
• With a duo of Union Pacific GE ES44ACs, work a local turn as it makes setouts and pickups at Tehachapi Summit, then returns to Mojave Yard.
  
• With Union Pacific General Electric AC4400CWs, lift a heavy ballast train from Bakersfield to the summit of the Tehachapi Pass route.
  
• Handle challenging local, interchange, and switching duties at Bakersfield and Edison aboard BNSF GP38-2 and Union Pacific GP40-2 diesel road-switchers.
  
• Climb into the cab and engineer’s seat of contemporary diesel power, including General Electric ES44DC, ES44AC, and AC4400CW diesels, plus veteran Electro-Motive GP38-2 and GP40-2 locomotives.
  
• Amid the constant bustle of this legendary rail route alive with Union Pacific and BNSF operations, witness run-through diesel power of other North American railroads.
  
• Operate trains through all of the Tehachapi route’s renowned mountain locations, including Caliente, Bealville, Cliff, and the extraordinary Tehachapi Loop at Walong.

The ten career scenarios of Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, based closely on actual railroad operations and train symbols, offer you a remarkable opportunity to experience realistic and memorable railroading on one of America’s most famed and fabulous rail lines.

Note: For full use, this scenario pack requires the Train Simulator Tehachapi Pass: Mojave - Bakersfield Route Add-On; Marias Pass: Shelby - Whitefish Route Add-On; BNSF Locomotive Pack Add-On; and SD70 V2 Volume 2 Loco Add-On.

Climb aboard and tackle heavy tonnage and renowned Tehachapi – with the new Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 for Train Simulator Classic, available now at the Steam Store!



Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, now available from accomplished developer High Iron Simulations, delivers dynamic and contemporary BNSF and Union Pacific railroading to the popular Train Simulator Classic Tehachapi Pass route with ten new and authentic career scenarios. Bound for Barstow, BNSF manifest freight H-STOBAR emerges from a tunnel near Bealville, California. Screenshots by Gary Dolzall.



Rain is falling at Tehachapi Loop as hot BNSF intermodal Z-WSPSTO, with its head-end and DPU (distributed power unit) motive power visible, winds around the legendary loop. Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 features operating some of the highest priority and longest and heaviest trains in America.



It’s train time at Tehachapi Loop as Union Pacific manifest M-WCRV, employing head-end and DPU power, demonstrates the appeal of the famous location. With Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, you’ll take the controls of five types of modern General Electric and Electro-Motive diesel locomotives to battle tonnage and the steep and unforgiving Tehachapi Mountain grades.



Among the experiences that await in the ten realistic career scenarios of the new Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02, you’ll make an end-to-end run of the route from Bakersfield to Mojave at the throttle of BNSF GE ES44DCs powering manifest freight H-STOBAR. With BNSF 7782 and two sisters on the point, the freight is approving Caliente as it passes a UP stack train.



Working a Union Pacific turn job from Mojave to Tehachapi, a duo of General Electric ES44ACs is making a set out at Tehachapi (above). Heavy tonnage is the order of business as a trio of UP GE AC4400CWs (below) make their departure from Bakersfield Yard with ballast train W-BKMJB.





The new Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 delivers the unique challenges of local and switching duties. A pair of BNSF EMD GP38-2s are working the SJVR short line interchange at Kerns Junction in Bakersfield (above), while a duo of Union Pacific EMD GP40-2s are returning to Bakersfield Yard (below) after working lineside industries at Edison (below).





In addition to BNSF and Union Pacific power, Tehachapi Pass often hosts run-through power of other North American railroads. BNSF and Union Pacific trains meet with the Pasco (Washington) bound BNSF manifest being led by a Canadian National EMD SD70M-2. The ten career scenarios of Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 are based closely on actual railroad operations.



Serpentine Union Pacific trains wind around the fabulous horseshoe at Bealville, California. Climb aboard and tackle heavy tonnage and renowned Tehachapi – with the new Tehachapi Pass Scenario Pack 02 for Train Simulator Classic, available now at the Steam Store!

Written by Gary Dolzall

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The massive and powerful General Electric E60 electric, born during the formative years of Amtrak and employed also by NJ TRANSIT, is coming soon to Train Simulator Classic through the superb creativity of developer Reppo!

At Amtrak’s formation in 1971, the passenger carrier’s electrified Northeast Corridor was entrusted almost exclusively to a gallant fleet of veteran ex-Pennsylvania Railroad GG1s, the survivors of which had been built decades earlier by PRR’s own Altoona shops, Baldwin, and General Electric. Also in Amtrak service at this time were the pioneering Budd-built, General Electric-motored Metroliners.
Thus, it might have been expected that General Electric would play a role in Amtrak’s goal to replace the railroad’s aging GG1, and so it was. During 1973, Amtrak ordered 26 GE E60s, which were six-axle, 6,000-horsepower electrics that weighed in at more than 365,000 pounds. That such a giant of a locomotive would be chosen for passenger service had much to do with the fact that the design was modified from a freight locomotive – GE’s E60 had been first built for the coal-hauling Black Mesa & Lake Powell Railroad. With Amtrak amidst its transition from steam-heated equipment to HEP, the order for E60s was split between steam-generator and HEP-equipped units (the former would all eventually be converted to HEP).

Not surprisingly, the E60 is passenger service struggled from its excess weight and related tracking issues. After the arrival of the EMD/ASEA AEM-7 electrics (which began in 1979), Amtrak began selling its E60s, including ten units sold to NJ NJ TRANSITin 1984. Nonetheless, thirteen Amtrak E60s were rebuilt (and renumbered from the 900-series to the 600-series) and remained in Amtrak service into 2002. The ten ex-Amtrak E60s sold to NJ NJ TRANSITworked primarily on the railroad’s busy North Jersey Coast Line route and remained in service until 1998. Two GE E60s (one Amtrak and one NJ NJ TRANSIT example) have been preserved.

As masterfully created for Train Simulator Classic by highly accomplished Reppo, the upcoming E60 will be featured in Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT liveries and variants. The Amtrak edition will represent the 600-series rebuilt E60s which operated as late as 2002 and will be accompanied by a beautiful all-new rendition of Amtrak’s landmark Amfleet I coach and café car in attractive Phase III livery and with complete interiors. The E60 features authentic controls and is provided in running and “cold and dark” configurations. Four career scenarios, including two each on the Train Simulator Classic NEC: New York-New Haven Route and North Jersey Coast & Morristown Lines Route (routes available separately), put the potent and husky E60 to work in realistic and challenging Amtrak and NJ NJ TRANSIT services.

General Electric’s E60 was a giant of a locomotive – and it’s coming soon to Train Simulator Classic!