Train Simulator News

Welcome to the third night of our Festival of Rail livestreams! You can view a plan for the upcoming content, starting from 17:00 UTC tonight in our summary image below:



We also have a weekly schedule of content up to Monday 12th February, with a very special Dovetail Direct Spring 2024 update on Sunday evening, so don't miss it as well as the wonderful content created by our teams and our brilliant ambassadors!

Our annual Festival of Rail is live now! As part of this annual event you can enjoy big discounts on DLC, live streams that include previews on upcoming releases, giveaways of Steam emojis or profile backgrounds, and the reveal an exciting new US route coming to Train Simulator! Read on to find out more.

[h2]Discounts[/h2]

Running from 1-12 February, save on a wide range of add-ons and get 75% off Train Simulator Classic. Pick up routes, locomotives and packs from around the world for your Train Simulator collection. Look out for offers on recent releases from 2023 like Glasgow to Dunblane & Alloa (-30%), U-Bahn Hamburg U1 (-40%), and Boston Springfield (-30%). You can also find discounts on hundreds of other add-ons for Train Simulator Classic, including 90% off classic routes Weardale & Teesdale and Soldier Summit. Head to the Festival page to start browsing offers.

[h2]Railfan TV + Giveaways[/h2]

Running from 8-12 February you can look forward to five nights of rail simulation streaming across Train Simulator Classic and Train Sim World 4! For Train Simulator broadcasts make sure you're tuning in on Saturday 10 February for a Southwest China High Speed run with British Ace, a look at Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland with TrainSimulatorDriver, and a preview of the HXD1 from Jamie. on Sunday 11 February we will also be previewing some upcoming releases for Train Simulator in the Spring Dovetail Direct.

Check our social channels for stream times, and make sure you're watching on the Steam Store to get some free rewards! There are emotes and profile backgrounds as rewards for watching.

[h2]Feather River Canyon Enhanced[/h2]

We started our Festival celebrations on Train Simulator Classic with the announcement of Feather River Canyon Enhanced. An extraordinary new extended and detail-rich enhanced edition of this legendary route with a superb variety of new locomotives, rolling stock, and realistic scenarios. Read our full announcement article, and add to your Wishlist. This exciting release arrives 15 February, and any owners of the original Feather River will get -15% off at launch.

[h3]Head over to the Festival of Rail![/h3]

Western Pacific’s fabulous and legendary Feather River Canyon Route is coming 15 February to Train Simulator Classic in an expanded and enhanced edition, re-creating the railroad’s entire 118-mile Third Subdivision from Oroville to Portola, California! This includes enhanced scenery from end to end, you can see a preview of this in the video below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The upcoming Feather River Canyon Enhanced Route for Train Simulator Classic will also feature a portion of the Western Pacific’s Fourth Subdivision (the “Inside Gateway”) and the entire Quincy Railroad short line, bringing total route mileage to 130 richly detailed route miles.

Five types of Western Pacific diesel locomotives, a Burlington Northern locomotive, and 16 types of freight equipment, all provided in a variety of authentic liveries, will deliver superb operational variety and realism to the upcoming route.

Created through a collaboration between Dovetail Games and High Iron Simulations, the Feather River Canyon Enhanced route will include:

• Western Pacific’s entire Third Subdivision as it existed in the 1970-1980 era, and with major yard and terminal facilities at each end (Oroville in the west and Portola in the east).
  
• An all-new 34-mile addition of the route between Quincy Junction and Portola, including famous landmarks such as towering Clio Trestle and the remarkable Williams Loop.
  
• Enhanced and richly detailed scenery from end to end and including a variety of new custom-built stations, structures, and assets. Special attention has been devoted to enhancing the detail and realism of the route’s many lineside shippers and industries.
  
• Five types of Western Pacific diesel locomotives, including the EMD F7 (cab and booster), GP9 (with dual controls), SW9, and GP40-2, plus the GE U30B. All locomotives will feature advanced braking and are offered in 14 total livery variations!
  
• An all-new Burlington Northern EMD GP35. Western Pacific and Burlington Northern conducted joint operations via the “Inside Gateway” and over the west end of the route.
  
• Sixteen types of freight equipment appropriate to the line and era, including open-side auto racks, 86-foot auto parts boxcars, bay-window cabooses, and a variety of rolling stock in liveries including Western Pacific, Union Pacific, Rio Grande, Burlington Northern, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle.
  
• To further enhance the realistic operating characteristics of the line, route speed limits have been set as authentic to the 1970s era, signaling has been improved, and the route is fully equipped with lineside operational signage.
  
• Bringing the enhanced experience of the Feather River Canyon to full life will be a set of ten new career scenarios that include end-to-end operations and a free-roam scenario – plus the route is Quick Drive enabled.
  

Head to the store page below to find out more. Owners of the original Feather River Canyon Route (Released in 2016 by Dovetail Games) will receive a special limited-time -15% discount on the purchase of Feather River Canyon Enhanced. Available for the first two weeks of launch only. To get this you need to have the original route in your Steam Library and be signed in. Add to your Wishlist on Steam to make sure you don't miss it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2662410/

Hello Railfans! January has been a busy month for Train Simulator Classic, We’ve started off the year with six add-on releases and two new hobby features. Read on to find out more on those, but first ICYMI an update on the Public Beta from last month...

[h2]Train Simulator Classic[/h2]
The 76.3a Public Beta was rolled out for all players in December. This update includes some major fixes on issues relating to how Train Simulator allocates memory and more. Read the full update notes through the link below, where you can also add your own feedback. Not on the Public Beta already? Hit the second link to find out how to access.

• Public Beta 76.3a Update Notes (External Link)
  
• Join The Public Beta

[h2]New Arrivals[/h2]

DLC add-ons for Train Simulator Classic in the month include historic narrow-gauge, an iconic loco and lots of German wagons! The narrow-gauge arrival was Brockenbahn from developer WaggonWerkstatt, a route that takes you through breathtaking scenery to the highest peak of the Harz mountains in Northern Germany. The new loco arrival came from Reppo with a detailed recreation of ‘the toaster’, otherwise known as the Amtrak AEM-7. Also arrived were some new German wagons from virtualRailroads, as well as the DB Fas 126 with remote shunting from developer MRW. Links below to all releases from the month.

• Brockenbahn: Wernigerode - Brocken
• Amtrak AEM-7
• DB Fas 126
• Zcs VTG Wagon Pack
• Tamns VTG Wagon Pack
• Zacens Wagon Pack

[h2]Your Hobby[/h2]

We’ve posted two new hobby articles to Dovetail Live this month, featuring two operators who have plenty of add-ons available in Train Simulator Classic. Hit the links below to find out more about Norfolk Southern, a titan of North American railroading. And Deutsche Bahn - One of the largest rail operators in the world who turned 30 this month! These two operators have rightfully become legend among railfans with their iconic units and liveries.

• Norfolk Southern (External Link)
  
• Deutsche Bahn (External Link)
  

That was January, so what next? We’ve got some exciting releases coming in February to Train Simulator Classic, and we'll also be giving a preview of more upcoming add-ons in the month.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The biggest Steam sale of the year has arrived, and with it discounts on Train Simulator Classic as well as hundreds of add-ons. Discover a new route, learn a new locomotive, or complete a collection. To celebrate the holidays we're also giving away the festive Game of Gnomes during the sale. Head to our Winter Sale event page on Steam, or read on for highlights.

[h2]Free Gift![/h2]

Game of Gnomes is free to download and keep during the Winter Sale. As driver of ‘Little Ned’, the Richie Rails garden scale train, it’s up to you to gather all the lost toys before the Children awake on Christmas Day. Chase the gnomes, collect the presents and return them to the house – but watch out for snowballs and those mischievous gnomes! If all goes to plan, ‘Little Ned’ will be back running around the Christmas tree and no-one will have to know about the night-time adventures.

[h2]Renowned Routes[/h2]

You can find routes from all around the world featured in the Steam Winter Sale. Austria awaits with Linz Passau (-30%) from RSSLO, climb aboard ÖBB CityShuttle services as you take passengers to the German border. Travel to the heart of the Peak District and explore the picturesque Hope Valley Line (-41%) from Just Trains. Experience the extraordinary – and the magic of legendary Colorado narrow-gauge railroading – with the Rio Grande Southern (-10%) from Milepost Simulations.

[h2]Legendary Locos[/h2]

Take the controls of a new machine this holiday season. Experience the massive and powerful General Electric E60 (-50%) from Reppo. Celebrate 100 years of the most famous steam locomotive in the world with the Flying Scotsman Centenary (-70%) from Dovetail Games. Transition between traction types with the modern dual-mode Euro BR 159 Electro-Diesel (-30%) from RSSLO.

[h2]Big Discounts[/h2]

If you're looking for the biggest savings, we've picked three Dovetail Games routes to get 80% off during the Winter Sale. Discover the Garden of England and the Breezy Kent Coast with the Chatham Main Line: London Victoria & Blackfriars - Dover & Ramsgate. Take the throttle of classic Electro-Motive diesels on the fabulous and famous Clinchfield Railroad: Elkhorn City - St. Paul. Explore the unique and splendid Wutach Railway filled with stunning scenery and viaducts with Wutachtalbahn: Lauchringen – Immendingen. All 80% off!

The Steam Winter Sale runs until 4 January 2024. You can find these add-ons and many more on sale on the Steam Store, browse the offers.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/24010/