[Genma Saotome]

Curiosity prompts the question: If there was one route not yet done that you wish somebody would do, what would it be? I can name four or five but it's really, really hard for me to narrow that down to just one....

I think, maybe... it would be a complete Soldier Summit route set between 1943 and 1956, Helper Ut to Salt lake City (street running) with a complete USS Steel works at Geneva, just north of Provo. Big Rio Grande steam, 2.2% grade, plenty of coal mines and coal trains.

What about you?

[keystoneaholic]

I would like to see Los Angeles to San Bernadino, the ATSF passenger route, set in the 50's. If it could be extended to Barstow to include Cajon Pass with the older layout at Summit (with the wye track) and without the new yard at Barstow, that would be the icing on the cake. I can think of others but I'll not be greedy.

[Coonskin]

Routes: A subject that's near and dear to my heart.

As many of you know, I find my greatest enjoyment in creating and exploring new route ideas. Some of the resultant routes make it to the "keeper" stage, many others do not. Doubt any of my "keeper" route projects will ever truly be "finished", but it's what I enjoy most about my train sim hobby. I seldom (almost never) run a train upon any routes, mine or otherwise. I mainly spend my time in RE creating/extending a route, or looking over a new route/idea for a potential project and such.

THUS, I don't really have any "desires" for routes from other sources, for I don't seem to find my kicks in running on routes. No, for me the fun of creating and exploring options is where it's at.

Curiously, I DO have this "hope" that I'll get one of my more interesting routes up to the visually "complete" stage, and then enjoy operating on it via "activities" I create... but thus far that hasn't happened. However, I can hope, can't I?

SO... bottom line for me: Whereas I enjoy looking at pictures of routes others are enjoying running upon, me running trains upon someone else's route is typically not where my jollies are found.

Not much help, was I?

:sign_sorry:

[Fleegle411]

I answered a post like this some time ago, and some of the routes were indeed eventually created! (The Washington & Old Dominion).

Personally, I'd like to see the CSX Metropolitan and Cumberland Subs from Washington DC to Cumberland MD, by way of Brunswick and Harper's Ferry.

[rfranzosa]

The New Haven Railroad, of course! What other road combined electric, steam, diesel, exotic equipment, commuter rail to pullman-only streamliners, TOFC and fast freight with the longest runs ~200 miles?

Back-in-the-day, Bob Jones partially created the VNHRR New Haven, CT to Springfield, MA route including a model the city of Hartford done so exquisitely I felt like I was a teenager again as I 'walked through' the city! I have a copy of the VNHRR for MSTS via an agreement with Bob Jones that it cannot be distributed for free. I also have Michael Stephan's "Boston Route", started as Boston & Albany, but then modified to include NH trackage what was to extend to Walpole and Framingham. There is no restriction for using that route. Era is late 50's-early '60s (before the Mass Pike extension replaced most of the B&A). Alas, Bob and Michael Stephan (GN Hi-Line) abandoned MSTS for what was then Railworks.

Now, with a Metro North route (that would have to be seriously back-dated for my era), the NH-Springfield line and the Boston route, the majority of the New Haven Railroad would be available, the Shoreline would have to be added from Walpole to New Haven. This could even be extended from Devon to Maybrook, connecting up with the LH&R route.

I can dream anyway.... :D

[Genma Saotome]

Too many Rick... gotta be just one. Which one?

Andre, I'm like you -- I much prefer building stuff than running but on rare occasion I'll do an extended explore route. Much to my surprise they're Midwestern routes -- the CGW in ILL and Iowa and the ATSF in Kansas. I don't ever run the completed routes in California even tho I've lived here for almost 50 years.

I picked the 40's-50's era Soldier Summit because years ago I struck up an acquaintance w/ Mark Hemphill who, at very different times was the editor of CTC Board and Trains magazines. We did chat almost every night for about 6 months, talking business. Mark was big on the Rio Grande and both of us were keen on the business side of railroading. That led me to drop into major research mode -- a VERY detailed traffic analysis of where the Rio Grande got all of it's money (it wasn't Colorado) on the one hand and everything you ever wanted to know about making steel (it's a really cool subject) and beet sugar (also cool) on the other. Didn't have the space for a proper representation in HO scale... one of the factors that got me turned to MSTS.

[rfranzosa]

Genma Saotome, on 16 March 2019 - 10:47 AM, said:

Too many Rick... gotta be just one. Which one

I said "The New Haven Railroad"

the rest of it were optional places to start :D

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[Genma Saotome]

rfranzosa, on 16 March 2019 - 11:15 AM, said:

I said "The New Haven Railroad"

the rest of it were optional places to start :D

The whole thing? No wonder it hasn't been done! :rotfl:

[rfranzosa]

Genma Saotome, on 16 March 2019 - 12:15 PM, said:

The whole thing? No wonder it hasn't been done! :rotfl:

Oh, all right, grumble, grumble... The New Haven/Springfield line including enough of the New Haven area to justify electrics and enough of Springfield to include B&A and B&M stock ;)

[ebnertra000]

Wait, you're supposed to run trains on routes, and not just build them? I can't believe it - I've been living a lie!

The nice thing about being bitten by the route-building bug is that if I think "Gee, I'd like to see that route, I might just start on it. The only problem is, who on Earth knows if said route will ever get done. Maybe some will, maybe... Most of what I build is from the upper-Midwest, since there's nothing like local knowledge for route-building

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