Train Simulator: Feather River Canyon Route Add-On DLC

Whats not to like! This is an awesome route, great modeling, and captures the feel of the feather river canyon as good as can be expected for a virtual reality. The engineering on this line was nothing short of amazing and so the route reflects that fact very well. I strongly suggest you use the free camera to a large extent so you can get all kinds of perspectives. Use a locomotive that has little or no tint on the windows. Try different times of day for different effects etc. The AI traffic is found mostly on sidings and is WP. I love running a long inter-modal train and watching it as it snakes through the tunnels. The WP equipment that comes with this route is up to par. It also takes just a tad bit of skill to observe the speed limits. As I write this review I think the price is 9.99 on sale. Really? Go for it! It is well worth the original price. I wish they would come down on other routes like they have on this one.

A great route, very detailed. However, as a passenger fan I am always disappointed when a USA route is created with only locos and freight stock. Surely it would be easy to add a passenger consist in WP livery. "California Zephyr" for example

As a real Railroad Engineer, I must say this route has instantly won favour with me. Dovetail Games have raised the bar and the realism in operating a real locomotive is very high. This is amazing and if you want some nice scenery with good freight operations this is it. If you are a pure passenger buff this probably won't interest you. But most railroad fans are not just into passenger trains. The quality of this route is lovely. I would give it 9.8/10.

The bar has been raised - by far this is one of the most beautiful routes in all of Train Simulator. The scenery, the locos and rolling stock and the level of detail are just top notch. Kudos to DTG! Please make all future DLC of this quality. This route is worth every penny.

I was born and raised In quincy and i used to travel the Feather river canyon with a family member who worked for Union pacific so i have seen the greenville wye and i have seen this route during all 4 seasons I love this route when i saw this route was coming to Train simulator i was exstatic and it brought back so many memories for me as a child

The best route I've seen from Dovetail. I love everything exept the fact that the Southern Pacific part of the route isn't there and that the old route isn't there. Would love to see the Old Route in the Map. Also, why isn't there a Free Roam Scenario? I give this route a 8/10; Positive - Amazing Details. (+0.5) - Lovely Loco's and Rolling Stock. (+1) - Big map. (+1) - 3D Train tracks .(+2) - Custom assets. (+1) - New Loco's. (+2.5 - Not a electric route. (+1) - New rail-road company; Western Pacific. (+0.5) - Very good Scenario's. (+0.5) Negative - Old Route not included. (-0.5) - Not engough Loco's and Rolling Stock. (-0.5) *Where are the Passenger Locomotives and Rolling Stock? - No Free-Roam Scenario's. (-0.5) - No Scenario's with atleast one Steam-Locomotive included. (-0.5) Total: 10-2= 8/10

Overall, this route is... frustrating. On one hand, I love it because 70's railroading is awesome, however, on the other hand they almost completely failed to fully represent the allure of the Feather River Canyon. [b]Pros:[/b] 1. The U30B is nice to drive. The horn is reused and inaccurate, however that is to be expected. The F7A is also a decent engine, however you can see that they added two single horns to the top, which would make the tone of the horn very flat. Instead you here this very nice, multiple chime horn, which does not emulate the horn physically modeled. 2. The route is stunning and features many new bridge models.** 3. Lots of variation in scenery. I won't spoil this for those of you who might not have it yet. 4. Good rolling stock sounds. 5. 1970's! 6. Very nice looking cliffs. The canyon's natural terrain was modeled well, which makes this route very nice on the eyes at points. [b]Cons:[/b] 1. [u]The fills and embankments[/u] As a route builder, I need to address a common and extremely glaring mistake that DTG does when making American Railroads; They seem to not fully understand that most fills and embankments, especially on the mountain portion of this route, are literally just straight and sharp drop-offs that can be at times up to 150 feet of almost straight down rock. Instead, DTG tends to make the fills and embankments extremely wide, which means that as a driver you can't really see into the valley below like you would in real life. This completely ruins Keddie Wye's realism, and detracts from much of the rugged portion of this route. In real life, it's fully understandable as to why the speed limit is 25. In fact, 25 MPH always felt absurdly fast due to the extreme nature of the route. However, in game, the 25 MPH speed limit makes no sense due to the pristine nature of the grade and track. It is extremely frustrating to see this done over and over again, and it's to the point where I almost do not want them to create an American mountain pass ever again. 2. [u]Horrendous bridges[/u] Again, as a route builder myself, I need to address the fact that you will almost never see a 50 Ft. wide concrete bridge with zero structural support holding up a mainline track in the wilderness or really anywhere else. This is an extremely common theme on most TS routes, and it remains a problem here as well. This is a simple concept. Just make proper steel or wooden bridges. Don't make them too wide, otherwise it detracts from the immersion. From screenshots of the new Clinchfield Route, I can see that they updated the bridge loft, however it's still almost completely inaccurate for almost the same reasons. **This entire thing is super weird, because all of the bridges that they did model were absolutely spot on. A solution to this problem would be to remove the generic bridge loft and replace it with a narrow steel or wooden bridge. 3. [u]Lack of Rolling Stock Options[/u] This route only comes with only a few rolling stock options. It lacks a tank car, centerbeam flats, low gondolas, 3-Bay hoppers and coal hoppers. This is disappointing because the Feather River Route had an extremely diverse set of operations on it. 4. [u]Lack of engine options[/u] In the 70's and 80's this route was shared with the Burlington Northern. It would've been prudent to add at least one BN engine, however they neglected to do so. They also do not have a road switcher included. They could have easily added a GP9 to this route, but they decided not to for whatever reason. Overall, if you are even just somewhat familiar with the Feather River Route in real life, this route might be a disappointment to you. Their modeling skills as far as terrain and track goes constantly left much to be desired, and it lacked critical engines and rolling stock. One good takeaway is, if you could ignore the issues with the roadbed and bridges, this route is quite pretty. That being said, I would only buy this on sale. (4/10)

Very impressive route that DTG ever made! The locos are great and very well placed scenery everywhere especially it being a mountian rotue.

This is one of the best routes DTG had made! The scenery is very realistic, and they have done a excellent modelling job! If you want to get a Mounatin route, get this!

Superbly put together route. Really scenic and captures what I assume is the feel of the area nicely. Even though I have a low spec PC (lower than the min requirements to be honest), I still get a decent frame rate on default settings. Included rolling is very well modelled, although the loco horn sounds seem a little muted. Interesting to see a portion of the Inside Gateway route included too. Included scenarios are very enjoyable. Would like to see a few more, but thats par for the course with current TS add-ons. One notable criticism. I feel potential buyers should be aware that the route runs from Oroville to Quincy Junction (including the Quincy Railroad). The section of the route from Quincy to Chilcoot Tunnel is not included. I do feel that this is an important omission, as it means that features such as Williams Loop, Spring Garden Tunnel, Clio Trestle, Portola Yard and the approach to Beckworth Pass itself are not included. Personally, I woud have preferred to pay a little more (and probably lose the section of the Inside Gateway) in order to have these included. Don't let this put you off though, its still an amazing route. I just hope they consider a 'part 2' route heading further east! (to Reno perhaps???)