Train Simulator: B&O Kingwood Branch: Tunnelton - Kingwood Route Add-On DLC

Very challenging route, and if you like me have a thing for the american south, then this is a must have, it uses some assets many would consider "cheap" for the scenery, but with Armstrong Powerhouse lighting and RW enhancer it looks good and has a great atmosphere. I refunded this route twice until I found out that some older routes will need the .ap files to be extracted, after I did that the route worked properly. Highly recommend if you want a real challenge and enjoy shorter routes.

Pathetic horns, reused engine sounds and worst of all the brakes are terrible. The brake gauge needle moves so slowly that they kick in about 30 seconds after you need them. Undriveable.

I do and don't like this pack. The route, as a standalone, is stunningly excellent. The rolling stock, however, make this route run into a brick wall. The GP9 sucks, for lack of a better term. Sounds are meh, physics and braking are horrendous. The freight is alright, though you can find half of it for free. I, personally, find more use on this route by using steam locomotives from dickyjim.com and a few repaints from RWA. From there, one can really have some decent fun with this route. I'd say pick this up on sale, as the route itself is sweet but the included stock really doesn't live up to it.

A wonderful route. We don't have many US short lines so this was a welcome addition to Train Simulator. PROs: route: lots to do for its size. loading points, and lots of sidings steep grades: I'm talking 5% at some poits time period themed (1960s): something that is very lacking with the US dlc lineup wonderful B&O rolling stock: for reals its worth it for this alone less CPU intensive: uses 2D trees to cut down on CPU useage without effecting the overall look of the route. CONs: Locomotives: You get one, the GP9... for $40 this is almost a crime. B&O had a great roster of loco's GP9: its nothing amazing. in a side by side comparison with RSC GP9 its lower quality.. Price: I feel this should have been priced lower. Even at $30 it would have been a little better.

I love the route. It is such a nice departure (pun inteded) from modern mainline operations it's not even funny. The wonderfully modeled towns and operations are perfect. The rollingstock is modeled perfectly for the period. Only complaints: the horn is not quite prototypical. No big deal, just a little weak is all. The bigger issue is the fact that the brakes are very unresponsive. I thought it was because of the steep grades, but there is a serious issue with brakes on these GP7's and there needs to be an update.

In the depths of Appalachian Mountains, hundreds of miles of abandoned right of way lie dormant. Once part of the heartbeat of a nation, now lie a slumbering storyteller of the past. They guard some of the most challenging railroad in North America, and the Kingwood Branch is a perfect example of how one of these short lines would have operated, had they survived the coming of the Semi truck. To get the bad out of the way quickly, it’s another 1950’s-60’s era route with a GP9 and all the standard cars you get in a 1950’s-60’s era route. The GP9 had a quiet horn outside of the cab, and the scenery is roughly Railworks 2 quality. But if you can look past that, you’ll find the what the Kingwood Branch lacks in content and graphics it makes up for in challenge. The GP9 has a very realistic braking set up, thus you will have to use realistic techniques to get the train both up and down the grades safely. There’s a switchback on the line, which is a rarity on Train Sim, as well as a ton of coal mines to do some switching at. Passenger runs are a thing, and these require you to be paying attention as there are flag stops you’ll need to stop for. Sadly, there is no story really, which sucks. The Kingwood Branch could easily have an interesting story attached to it that could have rivaled Story of Forest Rail, but they chose not to. This I feel is a missed opportunity, but not nearly as big as one as not having any steam locomotives. Once again, here’s a fantastic US route, set in the right time period with no steam locomotives… Have you no shame? Anyway, that aside, I recommend the Kingwood for its challenging gameplay. However, I would feel a little better if this was a $30 route. It’s not very long, and could really use a scenery upgrade to really push it into that “must buy” section. Still though, if it’s been on your Wishlist and it comes up for sale, I would give it a try.

I enjoy this route very much. It is different. The Kingwood Branch foucuses on skill rather than speed. It has a maximum speed of 25 MPH, but most of the line is restricted to 15 MPH. The grades are ridiculous -- as much as 5%! Runnning on this line feels like a slow roller coaster. I am an experianced user of train simulators (back to the MSTS days), and I failed every career scenario at least once. The Kingwood Branch will test your skills and patience. You must be focused at all times. It is both fun and stressful. You get a sence of accomplishment when you finally successfully complete a scenario. I highly recommend this route for those looking for a different kind of challenge. Also, the scenary is spectacular. Like most other reviews, I was not happy with the horn. I don't know if this is the authenic horn sound for this locomotive in this era. If it is, then it is okay. If not, the developer should patch it with the authentic sound. I also would have liked it to come with more miles of the main line.

Nice route, unfortunantly most everything is recycled, not worth the ridiculous $39.99 they are sometimes asking for!! The funniest and saddest of all the US diesel horns arguably resides here! Seriously if you are the sound guy who created these feeble effects you think sound like air horns PM me and I will get you to within inches of a diesel horn. I promise you will understand why everyone laughs at the crap that is deemed acceptable by DT.

Bought it straight away, as I love the previous route this group did. It is rather tricky coming down the steep grades, but I got quite proficient as I went through the descriptive scenarios. The little towns and mines look great. As with their other Line, it comes with heaps of great looking rolling stock. Cons. The loco horn is awful IMO. I feel the track needs to be blackened with coal dust and the occasional coal spill. Maybe even a derelic wagon that has tipped over and been pushed clear of the track?

I bought this within 5 minutes of seeing "B&O" in the DLC list, because I grew up next to the B&O railroad and continue to live nearby to the CSX in Maryland and West Virginia. [b]Comments on the route:[/b] [olist] [*]I like driving the route, and I appreciate the inclusion of several miles of mainline, so that scenario creators can include more than just short-line runs. The switchbacks and grades are definitely challenging, so be prepared for a learning curve. [*]B&O Color Position Light Signals. Yes. Heck Yes. Thank you! [/olist] [b]Comments on the scenery:[/b] [olist] [*]The stations and other lineside buildings look great to me. I especially like the elevated coal loading tracks, and the use of dirt roads looks better than some other routes I’ve seen that use them. [*]It looks like the authors were going for the sort of “spindly and sparse” look that the vegetation has at higher elevations in the eastern United States, in areas where the forests are in the process of regrowth after industrial clearing. That being said, the heavy use of 2D tree/bush models makes the route look less realistic than some other routes that use 3D models. I’m not sure if this was done to conserve computer resources [/olist] [b]Comments on replayability:[/b] [olist] [*]There are plenty of opportunities for switching at the coal mines, and also some switching for mixed freight at a few of the stations on the line. [*]Finally, I am looking forward to doing some interchange switching between the mainline and the branch. [/olist] [b]Comments on the GP9 locomotive:[/b] [olist] [*]At first, after running a couple of scenarios, I was disappointed with the locomotive braking physics. However after running for a few hours with the included scenarios as well as one of the workshop scenarios, and then two of my own, I think I have figured out the GP9 brakes - (a) get used to using the dynamic brakes for descending hills, and (b) then apply brakes early and often with both locomotive brakes and train brakes for station stops. I have not figured out how to "ride" the locomotive brake for easy low-speed control, as I have been able to do with some other locomotives, and I don't know if that is even possible with this locomotive (real or as-modeled). [*]I don't know if the horn is accurate or not - but it does not sound good to me. It is very dry, with no ambiance or reverberation at all. [*]The sun visor in the head-out cab views is very distracting to me (this applies to other TS GP models too, not just this one). [*]It seems to be very difficult to really capture the B&O blue color when weathered - the blue always seems to drain the detail out of the model (again, not just this model). The best I have seen are some of the B&O/C&O repaints of Justin Cornell’s GP38, although they are are a bit too shiny - I guess I’m never happy :) [/olist] [b]Overview:[/b] [b]Pros:[/b] [olist] [*]B&O Color Position Light Signals [*]Challenging driving conditions (fun, once you get used to the brakes) [*]Good replayability in a short-line / interchange context [*]Nice buildings [*]Did I mention B&O Color Position Light Signals? [/olist] [b]Cons:[/b] [olist] [*]Overabundance of 2D tree/foliage models detract from realism* [*]Locomotive horn sounds, and locomotive colors [*]I do think that $39.99 is a bit steep for this route. I do recognize the amount of work that goes into creating a route; however I think that $29.99 would be more reasonable. Had I not been a rabid B&O fan, I would have waited for a sale. [/olist] [i]* Perhaps the 2D models are to conserve CPU/GPU cycles?[/i] [b]Overall:[/b] I am growing fond of the route!