#trainsim

FIRST LOOK | BNSF GP60M & GP60B Add-On - Train Sim World 6 | PC Gameplay

At the start of the 1990s, the Santa Fe Railway, then led by its innovative president Mike Haverty, branded its high-priority intermodal services as the “Super Fleet” and reintroduced the railroad’s legendary red and silver “warbonnet” livery. For use on the Super Fleet in 1990-1991 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) acquired 63 custom-design 3,800-horsepower GP60M cab units equipped with North American cabs.

With the coming of the 21st century, the GP60M diesels could still be frequently found in intermodal service but were also increasingly used on manifest freights, and even handled local duties. Beginning around 2010, these stylish diesels were most often found in Southern California, including the Los Angeles area and San Diego. Kaiser Yard, located on the ex-AT&SF Pasadena Subdivision west of San Bernardino (and included on the TSW San Bernardino route), became a key bastion of GP60M assignments.

Alongside the acquisition of 63 GP60M for the Super Fleet in the 90s, AT&SF also purchased 23 cableless B units: the GP60B.

While sharing the same engine and power output specifications as its GP60M counterpart, the GP60B is a cabless B-unit, helping reduce purchase and maintenance costs.

This Add-on features the GP60B decked out in BNSF’s classic and subdued H1 livery.

*PLEASE NOTE: For the full experience, we recommend you own Train Sim World 6: Cajon Pass and San Bernardino Line which are available as separate purchases.

So, you may be thinking... TRAIN SIMULATOR!?!?11 Yes. Train Simulator. What can I say? I find it incredibly relaxing, I find it joyous and fun. It's not everyone's cup of tea I admit but neither is a first person game where you go round shooting terrorists in the face and trying to win a virtual war. Now I'm no mass train fan by any means but this game, along with Euro Truck Simulator 2 (Which I will get to in another post at another time) I love to play for relaxation and some "me time". Let's get on with it then, enough rambling and trying to justify my reasons for playing it.

The first thing (apart from all of the intro videos) that you're presented with is the main menu. Oh, the main menu... As pretty as it looks and as well as it does its function of well... being a menu, the music on it is incredibly relaxing! I could listen to that while I sleep, I could chuck it on my headphones when I'm sad and I guarantee it will cheer me up and chill me out. God it's good noise. Anyway, enough about the music. I presumed that clicking the pre-highlighted "Career" button would take me to a train driving career mode but oh no, it's just statistics of your playing, so let's click "Drive" and get on the right track! (ha!) After clicking "Drive" I am presented with a number of options for play, I chose "Career" which goes without saying really, jump straight into the deep end! I decided to choose the one that didn't take hours which happened to be "An Ice Cool Morning CS" Apparently I have to drive a train from a siding in Nordstadt for a passenger run from Hanover to Celle. Bring it on I say! Having previously played through the tutorial I think I could pretty much get the jist of it and get the train moving along nicely. After the loading screen of DLC content that seems to all be ridiculously expensive (I'll get in a bit!) the game begins! I press the "Interior View" camera so I feel more like I'm actually driving the thing rather than looking at footage of a train and begin to pull away from my stationary position. Chugging along at the speed limit of 40 which later changes to a generous 60 I eventually pick up the passengers and drop them off in the right places and arrive at Celle, it tells me well done and I smile with a relaxed sense of joy and accomplishment. The reason I am writing about this game is because although I like it and it relaxes me, there isn't really that much you can do with it. Drive trains, yeah of course and it's fun and the graphics are pretty good eye candy but what gets me is when you've driven all the trains (and there aren't really that many) you then end up driving all the locations, again, unless something is wrong with my game there are only three locations in the career mode and just London to Faversham on the quick play. This leaves me wanting more locations, more trains and therefore more time playing and more relaxation and fun.