Train Simulator: Marias Pass: Shelby - Whitefish Route Add-On DLC

Love this route, brings back old memories of msts and if you have the BNSF dash9 pack it definitly helps with the experience.

I really, REALLY like this route so far. I have only recently picked up this DLC as the BNSF ban has lifted, and have only driven the first half of the route from Whitefish to Essex; however, I did load up the scenario editor and fly over the route to get a feel for it. Below I will rate various aspects of this route and give my opinions on each, before drawing a final score. Scenery: 8/10 - This route feels very lived in. Every 30 miles or so you'll encounter an amtrak station, of which they are all very well modelled with full branding. You'll see things like dirt paths going off into the woods and cars parked beside the tracks. Many notable landmarks appear on this route, too many to go into detail here. Being released in 2013, many assets do look dated, however are perfectly acceptable for the pricepoint (more on that later). This route is also incredibly varied, with large towns like Cut Bank, Shelby and Kallispell, and smaller villages like Essex, Belton and Browning. The first half of the route, (Marias to Whitefish/Kallispell) is very wooded and hilly, making for some beautiful screenshots. After Marias the route gets flatter and eventually becomes mostly plains. If you have the Hi-Line route, you'll know what this looks like as it's the same plains. Trackage: 9/10 - This route is LONG. For a long time it was the longest route on steam. Being 150 miles it takes about 7 hours to do a full run of the route, however this is somewhat remedied by the relatively high speeds. If you own a route like Donner Pass or Canadian Mountain Passes this is kind of like that. My only real issue is the lack of spurs. Aside the Kalispell branch and the general Western end of the route, there isn't that much switching you can do. There are a few small yards and sidings at Essex, Marias, Cut Bank, Browning & Shelby but generally you'll be sticking to the west end of the route for switching. Equipment: 6/10 - The rolling stock included is decent, but I wouldn't go out of my way to use them by default. The two locos included are pretty decent with the SW1500 having a new horn that actually loops correctly, and the ES44DC has the infamous "Foreman Dan Hernandez" (he does get annoying though). The issue is, you only get two locomotives. One switcher and one heavy freight locomotive. If we got some more variety like some road switchers or passenger locomotives included with the route there would be more opportunity and variety on this route by default. There are some other DLCs with scenarios for this route, however this will cost you additional money. You get quite a lot of wagons included, maybe not as much as the Hi-Line but it's still a decent variety. Pricepoint: 9/10 - When launched in 2013, this route cost £25 ($40), but over time has had the price reduced to £15 ($20). This is a great pricepoint for this route, and you really get value for money. Plus the HUNDEREDS of free scenarios on the workshop, you really won't get bored of this route. However, to truly unleash this route I would recommend picking up the Searchlight GEVO-12 enhancement. (Just something to note, this DLC goes as low as 75% off in sales, so I would definitely wait for one!) Overall Score: 8.5/10 Final Remarks If you are contemplating this DLC and prefer the GN era, there is a workshop route by GreatNortherner that backdates this route to the 1950s-1970s. This doesn't overwrite the original route and the only additional requirement is the Montana Hi-Line route (which I also recommend).

With the region restrictions being lifted I can finally review Marias Pass. Being one the routes I played a lot back in MSTS days it was no surprise that once I started playing TS I'd get Marias Pass for this as well. The route runs an impressive 152 miles from Whitefish to Shelby with yards of varying size along the way and a 13 mile branch Kalispell servicing multiple industrial sidings. Speed limits are really good even for freight services along the rolling grades out in the open plains and even the grades climbing or descending the summit. For mainline running there's the ES44DC in BNSF livery with a nice selection of wagons and for shunting there's a SW1500 in BN livery. Other loco add-on's are available for this route with loco's ranging from BNSF, BN, GN and Amtrak. Scenario building possibilities are great for this route and can vary from: Long distance freight Long distance passenger Local freight Shunting Short trip trains Excursions Banking duties For newer players to TS may notice the route looks a little old for a release and that's because the route never left. Due to licensing issues with BNSF the route was restricted to sale in the USA only for several years. With the routes size and what's included it's a must buy regardless of discount due to the routes potential.

This is probably the best deal for a route you're going to get. The loco's are nice, comes with some decent rolling stock(most of it is outdated as of now) and the route is really well done. It's probably dovetail's best route to this day. Also, It is a huge route, over 100 miles, compared to the 50 that most US routes are now. This pairs really well with Montana Hi-line, and will give you a complete subdivision and crew change points on either side. Also, with it being BNSF, you can run the C-44-9W, the SD70ACe, and all the other BNSF loco packs. Still on of my favorites; the scenery is better than most modern routes. As an added bonus, it's only 19.99, which is a steal(compared to the other DLC) If you're even considering geting this, DO IT RIGHT NOW

This is my favourite route in Train simulator. Beatiful mountains and plains of Montana. There are also very high speed-limits for those who like speed. Fun missions, the orange BNSF train is awesome. I would recommend to buy Amtrak P42 DC Empire builder with this, It is great way to drive passengers in the middle of nature.

By far my favorite route for this game so far. Pros -This is a STUNNING route. Just from the pictures you can see how beautiful this DLC is. I live in the Rockies, and I can confirm this route does not detract from any of its beauty. -Lots of variety. When you see the yards at Shelby compared to the yards at Whitefish, it will be hard for you to imagine its all on the same route. -Have not experienced any major bugs in this DLC (which from RSC can be a bit of a problem) -Managing consists going up and down the Rockies is a fun challenge. -Its a really long route. Easily hours upon hours upon hours of fun can be had. -LOTS of steam workshop scenarios using this route -Scenarios aren't dreadfully long, which is good for beginners -The ES44DC in Heritage III Livery is an essential locomotive for most western american railroads -Not just a freight route, there's a good sprinkling of passenger stations for the Empire Builder route. -Route itself has a lot of history -Nostalgia from MSTS Cons -Kinda wish there was at least one more engine included. The route's overall length and detail makes up for this pretty well, but it would have been nice to possibly get another locomotive thrown in just for a little more variety. While ES44ACs are the primary locomotive power on these kind of routes, only seeing the ex-BN Switchers in the yards is kind of odd, especially considering there are not that many ex-BN switchers on the rails these days. Personally the lack of an extra locomotive is not that big of a deal considering he sheer scale of this route. If it really bothers you, which it might, I'd just suggest getting the MP-SD40-2 Twin Pack, because the SD40-2s would definitely be seen quite often on a route like this, and the SD40-2 is pretty cheap, too. All in all, I reccomend this route to anyone who's interested in train simulator. Wether you're just starting out, an MSTS veteran, like freight, passenger, or shunting, long distance hauls or local runs, this route truly has something for everyone.

Marias Pass is truly a wonderful pice of art by RSC(now DTG). Included it lots of rolling stock, with new sounds and even EOT on the rear car, two diesel engines( Ex-BN SW1500 and BNSF ES44DC) and a 152 mile line from Whitefish to Shelby, MT. The scenery is amazing and there is plenty of heavy freight action up the steep grades between Essex and the Summit of the route. Also featured is 13 mile branchline running to Kalispell which is great for some short line railroading or local freight operations with the SW1500 included. As for sounds, they're okay. The freight car sounds rolling on track are okay and the horns are ok also. The horns aren't exactly realistic but I like them still although I'd prefer realistic sounds over them. Anyways I highly recommend this route! It is a true favorite of mine!

[strike]Beautiful route, but incomplete. The description of this says it holds 8 scenarios. This is false, it's only 3. It may be a regional issue, I'm in EU. I read somewhere there is a copyright issue or something. This route is falsely advertised. I bought this route a long time ago, and I think it was complete then. [/strike] Beautiful route! Some of the scenarios, or rather most, can be found under the 'standard' tab, and not career. The route does not have any achievements. There is an additional locomotive for purchase, the [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/TNTFTB/recommended/222590]F7 Empire Builder[/url], [strike]but has the same problem, only one of the three scenarios available. [/strike] My review of [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/TNTFTB/recommended/24010/]Train Simulator Classic[/url]. List of reviewed [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39546715-Omnivore-Gamer/list/116835]Train Simulator DLC's[/url]. [table] [tr] [td] [i]More reviews at [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39546715/]Omnivore Gamer[/url], games that are easy to control (for handicapped gamers). [/i][/td] [/tr] [/table]

This is a joke that no longer the Marias Pass, Stevens Pass and other US DLC can be purchased from Europe. This whole copyright bulls*t is just getting very, very annoying. I hope there will soon be a workaround, a legal escape route or something because it is just pure nonsense.

Years ago when Microsoft was king of the simulation world, Marias Pass came into the limelight. This was my first experience with train simulation, as well as the new BN/SF livery. Over the years I've come to miss driving that route, and kept wishing that someone would bring this route to the updated TS experience. RSC/DTG finally did this, and I'm glad that they did. I've had this route for about a year and a half. Since purchasing this route it's been my exclusive home in TS, and I've thorughly enjoyed every mile of this route in the time that I've had it. There is plenty of scenery to enjoy, and in fact if one compares some parts of the route to the arial views in Google Earth, you'll find that much of the route is accurate. I've personally never visited Marias Pass in real life, but this route has given me a reason to desire a visit to Montana some day. I've purchased a lot of DLC with this particular route in mind. This route is the reason I've become such a fan of BN/SF. Although I first fell in love with a Norfolk Southern GP-38, there wasn't enough NS-related content at the time to justify making an NS fleet. So, I'm a BNSF virtual engineer for now. The route isn't perfect, and neither are the locomotives. Soundwise, the ES44DC comes close to what I've heard on the NS and CSX ES44's where I live. The horn is kind of dinky, but the bell is spot on. The windshield wipers are strange... only three of them move, although the windshield appears to still be cleared of rain. Switch to the outside and all the wipers appear to move. I can't say much for the switcher. I'm a long haul kind of guy, so I haven't played much with it. What time I've spent in it has been enjoyable, and everything seems to work as it should. There are also plenty of rolling stock, so making a few basic scenarios is easy enough. My main complaint with the route itself is that the water looks a little funky in some places. This seems to be more of a problem on the western side of the route, once one starts to get into the mountains. The river that runs alongside some of the tunnels looks really strange, and it's obvious that the water is fake. There is a lake that looks pretty good, and once one gets out of the mountains the water starts to look more like normal again. Overall, this is a great route. It adds a bit of street cred to the TS experience as it harkens back to the routes earlier days in the MS Simulator. I should note here that I also purchased a version of this route for N3V's Trainz 2012, and that version of the route was extremely buggy, had missing assets, track... all kinds of headaches. One thing I like about the TS version, is that the route doesn't get broken or screwed up because of updates. What you get is what you get... IT never changes. While this means that some of the minor issues will never be fixed, it also means that you get a much more consistent expereince. If you were a fan of the MS sim version of this route, or if you're a fan of BN/SF in general, I reccomend this route. Aside from the challenge of climbing the towards Summit, there are logisitcal challenges as the route often swtiches from dual track to single track. Add an Amtrak passenger train to add to the logistical nightmares, and you've got yourself quite a challenge! I definetly reccommend this route!