Well, having tinkered and rebuilt the things a half dozen times, my offline version of FYM is finally on the right track. I've pretty much abandoned the last plan of rebuilding a Milwaukee Road clone because the sat images are too poor and I wanted to get moving forward with running traffic. So for now I'm using a small mix of maps from the game as well as my own creations. I've highjacked Northtown yard (it is in Washington state now :) ) for my initial classification yard and I'm using IM trackage as large team tracks (transloading facilities... hence all those trucks) :)
Almost all traffic right now is manifest while I get the baseline movement going. When you first start out with this everything is very clean cut and sterile looking. Only after a half dozens runs does it really start to 'look' more like a railroad.
I've also added a few more locomotives to the roster. Mainly just the GE Boxcabs (regular and bobtails) from the MR's electrified areas. (I've declared all of Washington state to be electrified). I don't know if I'll add the Quill motors or the switchers but the Little Joes EF-4 will be on the next rebuild. I'm also planning on adding a few steam engines, but I need to figure out their horsepower ratings first. I might also add the Baldwin centercabs...
... this of course brings me to something I'm also considering... back dating FYM to around 1950. The length of cars is easily changed. Some car types are not around yet (grain hoppers were in their infancy for example, and automobiles were hauled in boxcars (almost everything was).
Heck backdating to the late 1800s could be cool too, but the maps will be a challenge. They would almost have to be abstracts. That and fuel appears to be hard coded in to the game, so there is little way to reduce the ranges of the locomotives. A 4-4-0 with a 3000 mile range seems a little silly.
-Lego
