Greetings friends! In the last couple of weeks we’ve talked about what we called the Golden Steam era: the years of expansion of the railroad when trains became not just a means of transportation but a symbol for progress, hope, and even freedom. Today we tackle the next period, and again we will talk about some of the historical inspirations for the locomotives you can find in Train Valley 2. This second generation of machines goes from 1920 to 1950. Since they were still powered by coal and steam, we will call it the Silver Steam era. Pack up and prepare for a long trip, because for the first locomotive we’ll talk about we have to cross the globe and travel to the Far East!

Let’s go to Japan! The Class D51 was a Japanese 2-8-2 locomotive: it had two leading wheels on one axle, then eight powered and two driving wheels in four different axles, and finally two trailing wheels in another axle. While usually the firebox (where locomotives burnt coal) was placed above the driving wheels, the 2-8-2 arrangement put it behind them, which allowed a larger firebox and therefore more power and higher speeds. This arrangement was first called “the Mikado” in the West after a previous Japanese locomotive (the Western nickname changed to “the MacArthur” during the World War II for obvious reasons).

(Photo from Wikipedia)

The Japanese railway system was built and operated by the imperial government with military and political ends, as a means to connect distant feudal communities in order to establish the central imperial power. Thus, it wasn’t only a means of transportation for goods and service: it was a political instrument and a symbol of power, a way to tell everyone that the Emperor authority reached the last corners of Japan. The Class D51 was built from 1936 to 1951, and it was designed by no other than Hideo Shima, a legendary engineer: he was the driving force and inspirator behind the creation of the first bullet train! Because of the war efforts, many parts that were meant to be built in steel were substituted by wood – but in spite of that, they kept circulating until 1975. They were almost exclusively deployed in Japan, although a small number of them deployed in Russia, Korea, and Taiwan were seized and used after the Japanese retreat at the end of World War II.



Train Valley 2’s in-game counterpart is this beauty. You can see the similarities in the front: the circular smoke box door, the lantern and a feedwater heater; after it comes the chimney, and finally the uninterrupted covering for the upper sand box, feedwater and steam dome. How would you call our first Eastern locomotive?

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Hello friends! The celebration of the Lunar New Year has ended. The Yellow Earthen Pig has finally come and we hope brought you a lot of steam coins! So while we are picking up the confetti, extinguishing the lanterns and hiding the dragon you can read a new issue of “Choo-Choo Weekly” about two great levels from our workshop! All aboard!

Do you want to visit a seaside? And what if it is the Amundsen sea? Dress warmer! We are going to the antarctic expedition with @Gemanera (a proven master of our workshop): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1645784681 Among ice, penguins and fancy turquoise water you can find fast trains and a lot of industries. The map requires a lot of attention to railroad switches and the correct order of production. Take into account, if you want to get 5 stars demolishing of tracks and stopping of trains are strictly prohibited! One advice from our team: send all the resources to all the productions that require electricity and only then start the power station! Great job @Gemanera! 10 Eiffel Towers out of 10! Featured!

And the winner of the week is the level from maestro @h2onik called “Being Evil has a price”! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1649912413 What price will the city authorities pay for the deal with Him Who Must Not Be Named? As always… souls of the innocent people! Quite a creepy theme but just look at the design of the map! Isn’t it great? Color scheme perfectly renders the contrast between the green valley and the inferno world. And we only hope that these red rivers and lakes filled with lava… The puzzle is nice as well! The customer manager Charon lets the train go to the other side only with the soul contract! An interesting landscape with hidden ways will take some time but the level itself is fast and really fun to beat! Will you dare to challenge the Dark Lord? Congratulations @h2onik! Such a dramatic map! This week 10$ steam gift card goes to Poland!

That’s it for today! Hope to see more great levels with new Market production! And we're looking forward to see new names among workshop authors. Maybe it is you who will win the prize week prize? Jump in! :tv2car::tvvagon::tv2loco:

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Hello friends! Hope you are well! Here comes our new update. As were promised we are introducing a new object with a new mechanic. Please meet the Market. The concept is pretty simple and transparent: in the Market, you can buy resources for money. It can be a great alternative to the Port if you need to bring some resource to the map without the whole production chain. And the custom price can make it a great tool to balance the economics of the level. Hope you will find an awesome application for this mechanics in your levels.

- The Market object.



I should remind you that the majority of new features and objects will be available with new 20 levels on full game release. We are working on it right now.

Please let us know if you face any problems with this update. We are here to help as always.

Stay tuned! :tv2car::tvvagon::tv2loco:

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Hello friends! We have lots of good news for you this week! First of all, Lunar New Year is here, and with it another Steam sale! Check out our discounts during this sale! Remember soon the price will get higher. And our new issue of “Choo-Choo Weekly” is out! And our top three workshop contributors for this week are:

3. @Vulcon - „Build That Wall“
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1642219200 What if two neighboring states are separated from each other by customs? And then one of them decides to build a wall? At the beginning of the level, you will have only $1,000 and two locomotives, and you will need to complete the building of three unfinished facilities, each at $ 35,000. In each of the built productions, there are already 35 finished products. This will be of help in the creation of building materials. After that, transporting the workers and their food to customs has to be dealt with. This thing with double customs is awesome! Also, you will have a task to destroy 2 trains and save up to $ 6,000,000. Passing this map will bring you a huge amount of pleasure! For more hardcore players, there is a “Fast” version! Great job, Vulcon! This goes to our favorites!
P.S. Do not build a brick factory until you accumulate enough resources at customs. Trains with bricks will depart very quickly!

2. @reg – „Flying Saucers“ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1640645621 What if aliens were to attack your city? How would you react? A small map, with already laid paths to each production, the difficulty lies in the management of trains and in the arrows. Tasks do not stop the train and managing to send the train to the correct station only adds voltage to the gameplay! The use of new resources, new options for choosing the color of water and an excellent design creates the feeling that you are actually in a city occupied by aliens. Deserved second place! Featured!

And the first place of this week ... Drum roll, please!

1. @gemanera - “Archipelago” https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1640153191 A tropical archipelago, with 4 cities scattered on different islands. There is only $ 5000 in your bank account. But this level is rapidly gaining momentum! The need to build a large number of bridges and transfer resources from one island to another creates a complex logistical task. And the additional task of not destroying a single object makes you think through every step! Great job! First place and a 10€ gift card going to @gemanera! Congratulations! Welcome back to Olymp!

We are working hard on new content friends. Going to give you a new object pretty soon. Stay tuned! :tv2conductor:

Greetings friends! In the last post in our series about the history of locomotion, we introduced you to the Golden Steam era when railroads started expanding and covering the whole world. We also talked about the first locomotive in the game and its historical counterpart, the beautiful Jupiter, the first train that crossed America from coast to coast. Today we want to show you the second and the third locomotives of this era, and the real-world machines they were inspired by.

England is one of the most important countries in the history of the railroad – after all, it was an Englishman who invented the first high-pressure steam engine, and steam locomotives were developed in Great Britain during the 19th century. The UK still holds the honor of keeping the oldest operational railway: the Middleton Railway, which has been working since 1758 (although, truth be told, only for recreational and historical purposes now).
But the locomotives we want to introduce you to do not haul from this early days, but the early 20th century. The first one is the Claud Hamilton, a 4-4-0 steam locomotive named after the chairman of the Great Eastern Railway. It is universally considered one of the classic locomotive designs: you will surely recognize its iconic cylinder-shaped locomotive with big wheel arches that remind of the art-deco style.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Claud Hamilton shares some traits with the locos of the B4 class. Both of them were powerful machines, capable of hauling the heaviest trains, be them full of passengers or goods. The B4 and its revision, the B4X, were slightly more powerful, but the Claud Hamiltons were much more popular: only 33 B4 / B4X were built, against 121 Claud Hamiltons.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

This is the in-game counterpart of those two beautiful machines. As you can see, it features their long, sleek body, as well as its big wheel arches.
Again, it could use a nickname… let us know if you have any ideas!



This German locomotive was so successful that, having been built for the first time in 1908, it has been in service until the 70s. More than 3,700 were manufactured and sold all over Europe, and more than 500 P 8 engines were in service for 50 years. Not bad for an old steam machine, huh? It used a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement (four leading wheels on two axles and six powered and coupled driving wheels), a setup that had been really popular in the USA known under the name of "Ten-wheeler".
The iconic aspect of the P 8 comes from its practicality: its inventor, engineer Robert Garbe, was a no-nonsense type of guy who just wanted the simplest and most efficient design. Thanks to the superheated steam technology, it was really fast for its time (up to 100 km/h), so Garbe wanted it to be as aerodynamic and easy to drive as possible.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

As you can see, its in-game counterpart shares some characteristics: check the two steam domes behind the chimney, for instance. Steam domes were a measure of security, a way of keeping the main steam pipe above the level of water to minimize the risk of water entering the cylinders of the engine. Although locos tended to have just one steam domes, the P 8 featured two. There’s another important (if subtle) difference: the driver’s cab was tapered to give it lower wind resistance.



Now, how should we call this little machine? It’s up to you, engineers!

That’s all for today and for the Golden Steam era! In the next post of this series we’ll talk about locos of later Silver Steam era. Stay tuned! :tvloco:

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Hello friends! January is over! Probably you already know about our tradition to make a special cover of Train Valley Time in honor of the best level of the month. So the winner of January 2019 is... https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634151341 Yes it is the level of the last week, that boldly snatches the victory because of it's undeniable merits. It's great gameplay, fabulous design and superior attention to details. Have you ever been in miniature museum in Hamburg? You can spend all the day catching small stories in every small piece of the toy train exposition. I had the same feeling playing the RAILSHOT. You will want to examine every small part of the map and your observation will be more than rewarded!
Great job @striker700! We are sending you the 20$ steam gift card and the special t-shirt from our friends at fretshirt. Congratulations! :tvvagon::tv2car::tvloco:

Want to see your name on the next cover of Train Valley Time? Try to play with level editor today. It's easy and fun. We are sending prizes every week and every month! Jump in! Workshop is waiting for you! :tv2conductor:

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Hello everyone! We are really sorry about delay with Choo-Choo Weekly. Hope you was waiting for it )) One more winter month is nearly over. Soon days will be longer and sun will shine brighter. In the meantime, we are ready to tell you about new levels from our workshop! Let’s go!

What would you say about the level where all necessary track are already laid down? This concept was implemented in the level called “Blue Sea” by @reg: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631385433 Map looks great: a large metropolitan area an industrial districts with factories and plants and some farms with cattle grazing around. A lot of details make this level really live. It is a fast-paced and simple level with possibility to create alternative shortcuts to improve the time. Great work from the debutant of our workshop. Featured!

How can river canals coexist with railroad transportation? This is an interesting question and a main theme of new level by @wantok: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631003457 Six islands, six manufactures, customs, and two cities on different shores: that is what we have to start with. Maybe you would say that the map is a bit empty, but this spare space allows to experiment with new tracks and pretty soon the map become covered with a web of tracks and trains. Try it our yourself! Definitely featured!

And the final chord of our digest is the map “RAILSHOT” by @Striker700: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1634151341 This beatifull level features a picturesque forests and mountains as well as deep blue lakes and seas.
In order use customs you will have to spend $250K for a store sending trains with dynamite (!). And taking into account the task to prevent accidents it is getting really challenging. Interesting logistics, great work with tunnels, impressive attention to details. Just look at those flags in the corners of the map! Really great job, @Striker700! Well deserved first place of the week and a 10$ steam gift card are yours!

That is all for today! And we are waiting for your new works (some really interesting levels are already published).
Stay tuned! Choo-choo! :tv2conductor:

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Hello everyone! As you surely know, Train Valley 2 (and its predecessor in the series, Train Valley) is a game inspired by the history of railroads, but not exactly a historical game. We have tried to capture the essence and spirit of every historical period and its iconic locomotives, but we have taken some artistic liberties in the process. However, we think that all our players here might be interested in taking a sneak peek behind the curtains and discovering the beautiful machines that inspired locomotives in Train Valley 2. Today we start a series of blog posts where we talk about the historical counterparts of the locomotives included in the game. Enjoy the ride!

We have called this first generation “the Golden Steam era” because these were the years of the expansion of the railroad. Although locomotives were invented decades before this period (and steam machines much earlier than that), the first railways were not built until the 20s. It took some time for enthusiastic engineers to crisscross the lands with their railroads, but eventually trains started moving around people and goods, changing the face of the world (literally and figuratively speaking) forever. By 1850 they had become not just a means of transportation, but a symbol of progress, science, change – a promise of wealth and freedom for thousands of people who dreamed of jumping on one of these trains to start looking for a new life.

The first locomotives we drew inspirations from comes from this era: the beautiful machine officially called Central Pacific Railroad #60, a 4-4-0 steam locomotive. But best known as the Jupiter, it became famous for being the first locomotive to meet at the Promontory Summit in Utah during the historical Golden Spike ceremony that celebrated the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, which crossed the United States from East to West. As you can see below, it features 4 leading wheels and 4 driving wheels (that’s what the 4-4-0 numbers stand for), and a magnificent modernist design that, for today’s standards, makes it look almost fairytale-like. This locomotive was in service until 1901, when it was sadly scrapped – the picture you can see below (taken from Wikimedia) comes from the replica in display at the Golden Spike National Historic Site.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Our in-game counterpart is this little friend here. It keeps its toy-like aspect, like the mental picture that we all have when we think of old trains from the Wild West era. You can easily imagine outlaws trying to aboard it, right? Rest assured, you won’t have to worry about robberies in Train Valley 2! Our first locomotive features the Jupiter’s characteristic big conic chimney and its frontal lantern, although the red pilot (cowcatcher) looks more like Jupiter’s sister engine, Leviathan., come to think of it, we don’t have a special nickname for it… Why don’t you help us choose one? Leave us your suggestions in the comments section!



In the next post of this series we will talk about the second (1-2) and third (1-3) locomotives of the Golden Steam Era.
See you soon, friends!
Stay tuned! :tv2conductor:

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the new issue of Choo-Choo Weekly digest! Probably you have already seen our last rainbow update? We were happy to know that it was reflected in new workshop maps! And by the way we have a two winners this week! Intrigued? Let's go!

What if a level could be a beautiful painting and a nice experience at the same time? Please meet an ethereal "Rainbow Dreams" by @Sugarstar:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1628216577 It's amazing how a simple alternative goal (earn 600K) can significantly change the gameplay! Productions located exactly the way they block tracks and force you to build bridges. Simple short map giving you both aesthetic enjoyment and nice challenge! Featured!

Do you know that tunnels keep stories and ready to tell it everyone who have a patience to listen. Want to discover one of them? Try a new map by @Gemanera: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1630304485 Slow trains, lack of money in the beginning of the level, expensive tunnels necessary to move on. You will feel yourself a detective unraveling the tangle of evidences, moving from one room of old mansion to another. Don't forget to turn on the light! Great job @Gemanera! Definitely featured!

There are levels challenging your endurance! If you like marathons a new map by @Vulcon is right for you! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1627528826 A strict beauty of geometry in the heart of this level. It is playing with heights forcing you to juggle bridges and tunnels. High speed trains and fast productions requires a focus and planning. You will have to seriously think over the sequence of bridges construction to get to the right factory at the right time! Try to beat it in 45 minutes or even challenge the current record by @Yokuyin (33:41). Anyway this great puzzle will help to form some neural connections in your brain! As an exception we want to send 5$ gift card to @Vulcon for this map and his dedicated work last weeks! Congratulations!

And the winner is the second entry of our workshop debutant @domgilvary:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1625659466
Very unusual puzzle dealing with difference between trains capacity and number of goods required. And of cause you will face an extra obstacles: do not stop trains, avoid crashes, do it in 30 minutes. Do you think Dark Souls needed perfect timings? Try this! Be ready to press restart button several times before the level would be conquered (have I mentioned Dark Souls already?). But in the end of the day you will be absolutely happy! Well done @domgilvary! 10$ gift card is yours this week!

Have you already tried the level editor? Workshop is waiting! :tvvagon::tv2car::tv2loco:
Stay tuned! :tv2conductor:

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Hello everyone! Here is a hotfix to our recent update. Unfortunately the last game build caused problems with progress saving (connected to migration from .net 3.5 to .net 4.0 in Unity engine). This hotfix should solve the issue.

- Problems with progress.

[UPD] Looks like if the progress was rewritten in the last version it would be lost. If not - it should return. Unfortunately we can do nothing with lost progress. The only advise here - to run the game with "-open-level 30" parameter. It will not return stars but all levels would be available.

Sorry for inconvenience. Keep us updated!
Stay tuned! :tv2conductor: