Train Simulator: Amtrak E8 Loco Add-On DLC

Amtrak E8s were the backbone of their passenger service until the SDP40Fs showed up on the scene. This add-on (While having some flaws) is a decent pack nonetheless. The cars depect the accurate hand-me-down from other railroads like the Zephyr and the Silver Star consists painted in a beautiful Phase I. The locomotive is nicely detailed and the cab is good! Phase I and Phase II. The consists are accurate lengths. Yeah one of the downsides is the fact the sounds are recycled, but the 567 is fitting to the locomotive itself (while missing the dual prime movers) And the horn is typical of DoveTail products. That being said, I would recommend this to any Early Amtrak fan! 6.5/10

Eagerly awaited by some and a mixed reception by others but here is the E8. The modelling inside and out is not bad and the liveries are very nice plus there's bound to be alot of 3rd party reskins on the way due to the E8 being rather popular loco's and the carriages look rather nice but no passenger view though. The loco's can take awhile to accelerate and brake so you'll need to get used to that but it dosen't take long. The only downsides so far is the sounds which are the usual copy and paste but the more annoying one is that the second scenario is completely broken and a official fix unlikely to happen in the near future. A welcome goodside though is despite the regular price being the usual $19.99 you also get the U36B included so you're saving an additional $19.99 which is great if you don't own it already or starting you're US collection. Despite the issues I'm satisfied enough buying it during it's 25% off intro sale.

With the exception of the second scenario "[E8] 02 Days of old: part 2" (especially if you are a Steam Award hunter) which is impossible this is not a bad piece of DLC. Thankfully I bought it in a sale.

Unfortunately I cannot consider this as a good and maintained DLC, since this addon for the MI-WPB route renders one scenario impossible to complete, especially if you're racking up for achievements. The Part 2 scenario is officially broke due to a high wait time against a passing freight train, and the timetables render you as late which is totally unacceptable. As a result, this DLC is impossible to complete. Come on Dovetail, how did you really mess this up so bad?

This is one piece of motive power that is so highly needed and finally it's here. I know you will hear a lot of moaning about the recycled sounds. But really people, you should be use to it with running T-S now. Besides with all the alternate sounds available, it is an easy fix to one's liking. One thing I would have liked to have seen was a "Patched" paint job from the true early days of Amtrak. A patched PC, SCL, BN unit thrown in to the bunch would have been great. It would have felt like it was 1971 all over again (for me at least). But I am sure there will be a slew of repainted for these units. Being that almost every road had these E units. That will bring a true windfall for a lot of the USA routes. Myself, I like these units alot. I am a person who loved running east coast fallen flag routes, these will come in quite handy, And they are a nicely made model for T-S. And with 25% off at the release of it on Steam, well worth it. A thumbs up on my end here. !

I just bought this locomotive, and I gotta hand it to DTG-, they don't always hit with their addons, but this one hits it out of the ball park. The E8 is a very universal locomotive: lots of roads owned it, so it could be used just about anywhere from Portland, Maine [Boston & Maine] to Portland, Oregon [Burlington Northern], and most points in between. I'm more surprised and perplexed that DTG chose AMTRAK of all liveries to release it with, as the E8 really didn't last that long on Amtrak compared to other railroads. But then that just makes it more universal, and creates lots of opporotunities for scenarios set in the 1970s. That said though, I think DTG missed an opporotunity with this by not releasing more liveries. Given how much DTG have recycled models for their routes and for other addons [looks at the F7 and GP9], I'm surprised the E8 hasn't be re-released with other paint schemes or re-released with a route. What I would have loved to have seen would've been an E8 mega pack, something along the lines of the RSC GP9 and SW1200 pack, where there are several E8 models with different paint schemes, and maybe a scaled back passenger set (85' baggage car, 10-5 or 4-4-2 sleepers, 48 seat diner, 64 seat coach, Budd or PS Dome coach, and a Budd/Pullman Observation lounge car) for each paint scheme. That way, you've got a variety of paint schemes to choose from, creating opporotunities for scenarios across various routes and time periods: Pennsy for Horseshoe Curve, Union Pacific for Cajon Pass and Sherman Hill, Seaboard Coast Line for Miami-West Palm Beach, and maybe throw some extra liveries in like Southern Railway, Chicago & Northwestern, or Baltimore & Ohio. Speaking of Baltimore & Ohio, there's a thought for DTG. The B&O Mountain Division is in the works for TS [at the time that I'm writing this review], why not release a "B&O E8 livery Add-On" with the E8? Just repaint the E8 into the B&O livery, give it a different horn, and make all new cars for the engines. It would give you the chance to back date the route just a little further into the 1960s and run B&O passenger trains over the route. Food for thought, DTG? I can dream. Despite other peoples' nitpicks, I'm okay with the sounds. Everybody's talked about the E8 recycling sounds from the F7 and GP9, but please remember that the E8 used the exact same EMD 567 diesel engine that the F7 and GP9 used. I know it doesn't have that dual-engine sound we're so use to with the E8, but it does still sound more or less the same compared to their freight counterparts, so I'm okay with it. The horn and the bell are alright too. A different horn and bell would've been nice, but what's been supplied will do. The cars are okay too. I don't mind that the California Zephyr cars were reused, as Amtrak did acquire quite a few ex-CZ cars from the CB&Q and the Western Pacific, I just wish they'd used a better dome car-, if they went to the trouble of making a new locomotive, it wouldn't have hurt to make a few new passenger cars to go with it. A smoothside PS 58 or 64-seat coach or other sleeper configurations (10-6, 4-4-2, 6-6-4, or even an ex-GN or ex-NP duplex sleeper) would've been nice too. All in all, I would highly recommend this.

Other than reused sounds(which can be fixed) this is a great DLC. Locmotive is modelled nicely looks amazing! I have not had any issues with it.

I retract my previous review stating that “this is essentially a recycled EMD F7 locomotive with an EMD E8 body and cab view.” Aside from the longer car body (the F7 is 50 feet, while the E8 is 70 feet long) there is a difference is power. The E8’s with an A-B-A or A-B-B power arrangement can do more than what F7’s do with A-B-B-A. The sounds are recycled, though. The heritage passenger cars in ‘phase I’ livery are new. The red lights for the last car glow a brilliant red color when turned on. In closing, the Amtrak EMD E8 trainset is fun and easy to drive. It makes for creative 1970's era scenarios on many routes. It also opens the door for other railroad’s repaints (can you hear me, Union Pacific?).

While the locomotive looks beautiful, if you are the type who actually cares about completing the career missions and earning the achievements then I would say avoid this DLC. Just before writing this, I attempted the career mission "The Days of Old - Part 2" with the E8. The mission technically isn't bugged, but it is unwinnable. To get the achievement you must finish the mission with at least 950 points. At first glance it seems easy (and it would be if the mission worked properly) but right near the end you'll come to a signal forcing you to stop and wait for a passing train. Problem is, by the time that train passes, you'll be late. REALLY late. I pulled into the final stop 7 minutes late and lost so many points I had a negative score. And there's no way around it. So unless and until the devs fix that broken mission, I'd say stay away from this one.

The EMD E8 exemplifies all that is wrong with DTS's north american products, from it's horrid sounds to it's braking issues. The E8 is exactly what we've come to expect from DTG, the sounds are identical to those of the Kuju F7s from years ago, the coaches are all reused, varying in origin from the Empire builder to the CZ. Rant over, pros and cons time. Pro's: Reskin potential. The E8 is likely to serve as an excellent basis for numerous reskins, from the Pennsy to the CB&Q. Cab textures. The cab textures are fairly good, with few issues, it also (fairly) closely matches what photographs I've seen of real E8 cabs Paintschemes. The quality of the locomotive paintschemes is nice, nuff said. Opening cab doors. That's nice I suppose, not that it effects the sounds or anything Cons Sounds. Gee! what a surprise, reused sounds from kuju F-units really dont cut, who'da thunk. Physics. The brakes are of they're standard horrible quality, and to add insult to injury, the cab includes a nonfunctional brake mode selecter switch to taunt you. otherwise it seems fine, I honestly cant really tell. Coaches. The coaches are all reused, mostly from the California Zephyr addon, as well as a few from the Empire builder all those years ago, it certainly would have been nice to have all the coaches be of the same quality. also the only passenger view is from an ex-EB dome car... yippee. Wrapping it up. As is normal, us americans get to take it up the bum, while I dont regret the purchase, I do not recommend this addon to anyone other than dedicated masochists bent on suffering while green with envy for the brits and germans. P.S. sorry for the caustic attitude and poor grammer, finally getting a locomotive i've wanted for years only to (as expected) be let down tends to piss me off