First Look at the Moffat Tunnel Route In Trainz Railroad Simulator 2022

[@DerekSmith-h7f]

Sweet! I'm originally from Denver and grew up in the north metro area. The detail is pretty right on. I've always wanted to see this, and here it is. Fun fact, the grain elevator at the north end of the huge UP yard that dude started off in, was a favorite scene of much teenage debauchery. My buddies and I would shimmy our way under the giant garage doors and once inside it was a ten or so story climb up grain dust covered, metal cage enclosed, ladder climb to the roof. To access the roof we had to move aside a standard sized manhole cover. And naturally we tossed said cover off the roof to the railyard below and I shit you not, it broke in half upon impact. God it's nothing short of a miracle that we didn't kill ourselves or get busted. Stupidity at its finest.

[@BCSJRR]

As the author of a super-detailed 100+ mile Trainz 2019 route I can tell you that until you've built something like this you have no idea of how much work is involved. Jango has a magic touch when it comes to scenery. Applying to something this vast makes for incredible results. Worth much more than a measily 7 or 8 out ten dude. As far as some of those "kinks" or tight radii go, yes there do appear to be tight radii. However the spline curve mechanism in Trainz is backward. Instead of putting the broadest radii curvature next to the tangent tracks at the end of a curve, Trainz puts sharper radii near the tangents. Route developers have to be ever vigilent against this. Trainz track also doesn't stay put when cutting the track to install a bridge. Yes there are a few mistakes with tight radii, given what a route builder is working with, it's amazing there aren't more.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Good to know, I dont doubt the effort thats put into these things, I am more just comparing these finer details with other routes from past or present games.

[@stuartthurstan]

The trainz track system is far from perfect, but believe me, it can be done a lot better than on this route. Given that this is a train simulator, the trackwork is of paramount importance and many of trainz' shortcomings can be mitigated. Bridges for example should be created as separate no-track splines and positioned to align with track so as to avoid them interrupting the track flow. Curves can be improved greatly by adding a third spline point about halfway through any curve covering more than about 30 degrees. Using one of the many freely available curve template guides can help here too. Agree that scenery work is outstanding though.

[@Chasingrail]

Someone can give a route a 7 or 8 out of 10. I think that’s fair for this route. As said, one doesn’t doubt the effort - just being honest about what’s there. Especially for someone who would be paying money to buy something like this. Route builders have to know the quality of the route they are putting out… especially if it is being sold at a price. Coming from someone who’s done a 280 mile route in 19.

[@TrainTrackTrav]

My gosh, Trainz has come such a long way from TRS2006. That was the last version I fully utilized. Still miss it to this day.

[@gregnoland7075]

Thanks for this. This line is synonymous with Colorado history. There were several businesses that tinkered with this route, including one that would have been electrified. Ultimately the majority of the line was built by the Denver, Northwest & Pacific, founded by David Moffat. Originally, it went over Rollins and Corona passes, above the modern day Moffat Tunnel. My only disappointment is that it ends before Kremmling. Gore Canyon is an amazing sight.

[@jamesr4951]

Ah yes, my home route. I've been waiting a very long time to see this recreated in a train sim. Formerly a DRGW route. The grades average around 2% for many miles. The loaded cars on big ten curve are actually used as wind blocks. The wind gets so bad up there it has derailed trains in the past, so the cars you see there are permanently placed on that siding IRL. There are 28 tunnels between Denver and the small town of Pinecliffe, however they are numbered 1-29 with #28 missing. I believe tunnel #28 was removed pre 1960's era. Amazing scenery on this route and I'm very pleased with the way it's been represented in this sim. My only gripe with it is that some of the curves are a little too tight compared to real life but that's ok I guess. I'd give it an 8/10 for accuracy. Maybe a 9 since they properly numbered the tunnels lol. PS: The Tennessee pass would be amazing to see recreated!

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Planning on doing the Tennessee Pass in Transport Fever 2👌🏻

[@DomQuartuccio]

The track work on this route looks very poor.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

@@DomQuartuccio it is, we could have done it better lol.

[@cmilburn26]

I have been there, it comes out right at Winter Park Ski Resort, and their recreation of it is very accurate. Never taken the train to or from Winter Park, but I've always wanted to.

[@anglosaxon5874]

Never had any of the Trainz franchise, but it looks stunning and the size of the map! Wow. That tunnel's nice. The longest tunnel I have driven through in the UK is 3 miles 66yds [Standedge Tunnel] at 85mph [not at the beginning or end as it curves out at either end. As an ex driver, I too like attention to detail and noticed the same track defects as you! lol Will take an interest in this game! Thanks for showing.

[@SternLX]

Wish the guys over at Dovetail would add this route to Train Sim World 2. Edit: Meant to mention... If you're a passenger on the Amtrak California Zephyr, just before you get to Moffat Tunnel the Conductor makes an announcement that passengers are to remain in the Car they are currently occupying. I think they ask that you remain seated for the passage as well.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

That would be some awesome graphics if TSW2 made this route

[@brandoncarstensen1637]

The tunnel in Alaska you're thinking of is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. Opened in 1943 and is 2.5 miles long, more commonly known as Whittier Tunnel. This video brought back memories of when I visited Moffat. Seen both East and West ends. Got chewed out on the East end for "being too close" by a UP officer.. West end of Moffat is the town of Glenwood Springs, the DRGW used to pull a special Ski Train out of Denver to Glenwood just for the tourists. Practice of that even continued through Amtrak era, and along with the typical 80's and early 90's Amtrak power, you'd usually see a DRGW GP50/GP60, SD45, or the occasional SD40T-2 leading. To make the history even better, Amtrak was the foreign power, the train only used DRGW coaches, no red, blue, and silver besides the locomotives.. Edit: I swear too those were the ONLY clean locomotives the DRGW ever had on their roster too. 😂

[@AllThingsRailroad]

thats the one!

[@brandoncarstensen1637]

I do have to agree a recreation of Tennessee Pass would be amazing to see. A second one I'd like to see is the famous Colorado Joint Line. Also visited the line while I was there in Denver for a while. The line drops SW out of Denver I believe and is double track all the way to Palmer Lake and transitions to single after that. Today it's joint owned by UP and BNSF(ATSF & DRGW back in the day). The line does rather sharp turns and both mains even cross over each other at points. Never forget that day up there though, what a thrill! Turbos on those Dash 9-44CW's, ES44AC's and SD70MAC/ACes certainly sound wayyyyy different that down in the heartland here.. Way louder to where you literally can hear them from miles out yet.. The engines are already starving for air cause you're more than 1 mile above sea level, then tack on steep grades and a heavy unit train, and they're almost choking themselves out, so those turbos got their work cut out for them..

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Planning on making the Tennessee Pass in Transport Fever 2.

[@brandoncarstensen1637]

If I do remember right, there's a good 38-40 minuet home video of Tennessee Pass posted on KZbin here. Simple search DRGW Tennessee Pass should bring it up. Give a rough idea of operations of the route and a few select scenes. Most certainly turn your PC speakers up when you got it going too! 😂 The one thing that's gonna be difficult to recreate is the famous tunnel on the route, it's got automated doors on the tunnel.. opens when a train approaches, and closes after they leave. It's a theory behind venting the exhaust out of it after a train passes, doors closed, fans kick in pushing fresh air into the system.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

@@brandoncarstensen1637 ve been there before so that'll help a lot lol, stay tuned!

[@kevinmills8437]

I Love That Route and I Make It.

[@OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars]

Very nicely done 👍♐♐♐

[@Motherslug-q7l]

I own Trainz 2019 which is Awesome I've been for the last year and 5 months custom building my hometown route which will most likely take me another 2 years till its done which I'm happy at building it as I get more enjoyment out of the game in the long run can't say that about any other railroading game. Trainz 2022 looks identical to Trainz 2019, 22 just added more options to the ingame tools. Largest Route DLC is still Canada Rocky Mountain Pass which takes 7 DLCs to connect together to make one route that's like 3,000 miles long Insane it is. Best 3rd party Locomotives are by RRmods the sheer amount of detail on the units and interiors are beyond any railroading game models ever made with 40% of working Buttons Levers windows & doors plus Real Radio chatter makes them so far more superior Mods than any. And if you have a tickle for Steam Locomotives K&L Mods has the Best especially with there pin point accurate sounds.

[@mancamiatipoola]

This is a very nice map, but lookiing at your newer maps in TF2, i would say you have them beat. Your maps are more detailed and nicer looking. I dunno if it's the mods or just your creative ability, but your TF2 maps look much better than most train sim maps. For instance, your Railroad Paradise map looks much better than this one. So GG! Here is my RR question for today: what is the purpose of a 3 track main line?

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Thank you for the kind words I appreciate it. And a the purpose for a 3 track main line is high volumes of rail traffic. Railroads want to build as few tracks as possible so if there is 3 tracks it just means that line is really busy.

[@scotty4579]

The cars on big 10 curve are a permanent feature as a wind break. As route traffic there ain much BNSF Provo - denver manifest BNSF 3x2 coal train (rare) 3x2 loaded sand train (when needed) runs out of Denver loaded to Utah A few grain empties on both UP/BNSF. Have been seen in recent months UP the local that switches the plant at Arvada Grand junction to North yard and North yard Denver to grand junction And a handful of coal trains that are sporadic at times and amtrak.5&6

[@AllThingsRailroad]

good info thanks!

[@scotty4579]

@@AllThingsRailroad go back 10-15 years then it was a interesting route mainly UP coal trains The old UP/MP/CNW/CTRN and other old 3 bay/4 bay steel hoppers CSUX for a a few years before it got it went to the PRB. Xcel energy Denver , power plants in texas , Florida, export trains AC4400CWS were the main stay SD9043macs lived a 10 year career between 1998 and 2008/2009 on coal train service

[@AllThingsRailroad]

@@scotty4579 Nace, crazy how times have changed, the railroad aint what it used to be.

[@andrewdupuis1151]

its very nice route

[@alexg6336]

the Moffat Tunnel is 6.2 miles long.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Impressive👌🏻

[@SternLX]

Yup, and even more impressive is part of it is 2800 ft below the surface. I've been through Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel(1.75 miles long) in my Truck lots of times running from Grand Junction to Denver and back again and that seems impressive for an Interstate Tunnel, but Moffat blows it out of the water.

[@liamcooper6721]

did the map creator not know what google maps is?... damn that's some dodgy trackage. As stated by others, the hoppers on the inside of "big ten curve" are permanent to serve as wind blocks. The "triangle" at Moffat East it the cut-off for the original pass over the mountain before Moffat tunnel was dug and doesn't end into a rock face like that. I heard a rumour that UP was going to reopen Tennessee pass in the near future but if I remember correctly the shut it down in 06 after a few wrecks and EPA problems with leaking tank cars. Don't quote me on that but I feel I did read that somewhere. Edit: Dash 8's? No good Sir, they are Dash 9s. Wrong trucks and the vent behind the dynamic brake vents are short. OR just like this map, they can't do a good image search and model a loco right.

[@DannyTOG]

The wye does go straight into the rock face in real life

[@liamcooper6721]

@@DannyTOG ah yes. it looked like it swung around to meet the switchback but it does not. My mistake.

[@DannyTOG]

@@liamcooper6721 the original section of the line was down by the first curve from the tunnel if you’re going east I believe

[@noahcochranrailproductions1]

Just curious, what specs are you running on your PC?

[@greendiode5522]

How’s the performance and what kind of fps are you getting on what hardware?

[@danieldoestrainsinkirkwood5820]

Have a question I got a dell G 15 what do I need to do to it to make it work for this game it’s having trouble for Trainz 22+

[@AllThingsRailroad]

Thats a good question im not too familiar with computer specs. If you go to the steam page for this game they have specs

[@danieldoestrainsinkirkwood5820]

Ok

[@csxfreighttrains6779]

I have trainz 2022 on my computer

[@thespeedracer2477]

I just want to have multiplayer

[@contractor5086]

bro trs 2022 is almost the exact same as trs2019

[@AllThingsRailroad]

That’s what I’ve heard, I’d be nice to get a new game sometime lol.

[@AbelG8781]

7:35, those aren't stored cars, they're permanently there for wind protection from knocking over moving racks and stacks. A train hopper uploaded a video going through this exact route and explained it to us.

[@falconauii]

looks same as trs2019

[@The101Point1]

Is this game out now? Ik this video is beta

[@AllThingsRailroad]

this was beta but yes its out now

[@briankistner4331]

Denver not at all accurate. North Yards (UP) not laid accurately. BNSF Yard not done right. Denver South not even close. Overall the route really bites. IT'S A REAL POS!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the railroad I grew up railfanning. I know this stretch up, down forward, backward, an diagonal and NONE of it is even close to being accurate. What I'm designing for RW/TS looks MORE like the real route.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

im not surprised at this point lol.

[@MrVinic33]

Wowww, how i play this game???

[@stuartthurstan]

Beautiful scenery but absolutely terrible trackwork. What a shame as it totally ruins the route.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

100%

[@MainlineThruTheRockies]

This is unironically the most inaccurate route I've ever seen in my life. Having lived in Denver for a long long time, every single part of this route is inaccurate in some way, shape, or form. Buildings are in wrong locations, buildings that aren't there are, buildings that should be there aren't. There isn't even a clear era this takes place in. This route is a disgrace to the city of Denver and the state of Colorado. I hope this route is better when the game comes out, cause this, this is horrible.

[@AllThingsRailroad]

yeah I have only been through Denver once and this route didnt look accurate lol.

[@lewisner]

I've built a couple of Trainz routes myself and modified a few more so I understand the difficulties of doing it and I would never negatively criticise anyone else's work. It looks amazing.

[@MainlineThruTheRockies]

@@lewisner I don’t know why I was so pissed off when I wrote this lmao, I’m sorry

[@nicholasjohnson6133]

The Moffat tunnel is 6.2 miles long.