About This Content Picture the Electro-Motive “E-unit.” For an entire generation it was THE motive power for America’s passenger trains – and now the elegant E-unit waiting for you in Train Simulator in the form of the EMD E8 in two classic Amtrak liveries!When Amtrak was formed as the United States’ intercity passenger carrier in 1971, the company was faced with patching together a fleet of second-hand locomotives. Amtrak first turned to Electro-Motive’s E8 and its younger sister, the E9. Amtrak would operate nearly 200 E-units and the stylish EMD diesels became the workhorses of the early Amtrak era.The E8 was produced by EMD from 1949 to 1954, and nearly 500 were built. The E8 derived 2,250-horsepower from a pair of EMD 567-series V-12 power plants, rode on an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, and could be geared to operate at up to 117 miles per hour. During Amtrak service, the E8s operated throughout the country, handling both long-distance trains as well as short-haul services. Amtrak operated its last E-units into the early 1980s.The Train Simulator Amtrak E8 is provided in cab and booster configurations and is available in Amtrak’s original red-nosed “Phase I” livery and stylish striped “Phase II” scheme. Single- and dual-headlight versions of the E8 are provided as are “as built” and rebuilt variations.And there’s even more! Accompanying the E8 is Amtrak passenger equipment ideal to re-create U. S. passenger trains of the 1970s and early 1980s. Included with the E8 are an Amtrak baggage car, 48-seat coach, dome-coach, 10-6 sleeper, and diner in Amtrak’s Phase I passenger car livery. The Amtrak E8 DLC features career scenarios on the Miami - West Palm Beach Route Add-On (route available separately) and even includes Train Simulator’s popular Seaboard Coast Line General Electric U36B and freight equipment to provide era-authentic freight traffic. Amtrak’s legendary Electro-Motive E8 is ready to highball in Train Simulator service! Included ScenariosThe Amtrak E8 comes with three brand new scenarios for the Miami - West Palm Beach Route Add-OnThe Days of Old: Part 1The Days of Old: Part 2Meteor ShowerPlease Note: Miami - West Palm Beach Route Add-On is required, as a separate purchase, in order to play the scenarios featured in this add-on.More scenarios are available on the Steam Workshop online and in-game. Train Simulator’s Steam Workshop scenarios are free and easy to download, adding many more hours of exciting gameplay. With scenarios being added daily, why don’t you check it out now!Click here for Steam Workshop scenarios.Key FeaturesAmtrak Electro-Motive E8 diesel in cab (“A”) and booster (“B”) versionsAmtrak Phase I and Phase II E8 liveriesSingle- and dual-headlight E8 versionsE8s in “as built” and rebuilt variantsAmtrak Phase I livery baggage car, 48-seat coach, 10-6 sleeper, dome-coach, and dinerSeaboard Coast Line GE U36B and SCL freight equipmentThree career scenarios for the Miami – West Palm Beach route Quick Drive compatibleDownload size: 189.9 MB 1075eedd30 Title: Train Simulator: Amtrak E8 Loco Add-OnGenre: SimulationDeveloper:Dovetail GamesPublisher:Dovetail Games - TrainsFranchise:Train SimulatorRelease Date: 22 Mar, 2018 Train Simulator: Amtrak E8 Loco Add-On Free Download [License] train simulator amtrak e8 loco add-on 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.. This train is super fun to drive and it makes me feel like i'm in the 1970's. This is a great Loco, I grew up on the east coast. The bloody noxe silver star brings me back to a by gone era of musle trains.. what a cool locomotive, i notice this locomotive have 2 engines.. Despite what most people say, this is a decent addon. the textures are awsome on both locomotive and rolllingstock. my biggest complaint is that phase I is weathered and phase II is clean, would have like both to have a weatherd and clean skin for both, Also a Patched unit would have completed the pack. honestly an early amtrak pack with no patched units?. the sounds are recylced from the WP FP7 but it dose sound like their are two 657 engines (F7s had one 657, keep that in mind when you complain), in the cab it sounds like theirs a two real 567 engine behind you, out side... not so much. If you bye these addons alot you should know how to mod them and put the horn on you like. also sad theirs no obervation car or patched cars. the senarios arn't the most origanal but thats miami - west palm beach. The comunity can fill this void both scenario and paint wise. I enjoy these locomotives and I bet a mmarket place reskin will come soon.. 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. 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. !. Dovetail Games has brought to us another classic icon to the Train Simulator world: the Amtrak E8! Does it hold up? Let's take a look...Locomotive Variety \u2734\ufe0f The add-on comes with the E8 in both "A" and "B" type units in two Amtrak paint schemes: Phase I and Phase II, and that's it. There's not much locomotive variety in the pack. However, it does come with the DTG U36B for the time period-correct freight locomotives, but I won't count it as that's an add-on you can get separately, which is in my opinion a red flag if you're going to include an add-on in an add-on that includes it.Locomotive Design \u2705The locomotive in-game is designed rather well, like with DTG's other products.Locomotive Physics \u2705Brakes and acceleration work fine, better than what I expected.Locomotive Functionality \u2705It has the usual DTG flare in terms of controls, but it does have some extra functionality such as opening doors and windows.Locomotive Sounds \u274cAs always with DTG products, all the sounds are recycled, with minor changes put in. The engine sounds almost come directly from the old Kuju F7, while the horn and bell come directly from the WP FP7 California Zephyr, and even the US-only Great Northern F7 Empire Builder add-ons. Not really worth it for the sounds alone, but it can be modified.Rolling Stock Variety \u2705Like with DTG's other products, most if not all of it are recycled from the WP FP7 California Zephyr, with some minor changes. The passenger rolling stock does look pretty good though, and the variety is quite decent, so I'm giving this one a passing grade regardless. It does also come with the DTG U36B for the time period-correct freight rolling stock, but like I said before, I won't count it as that is a separate add-on that happens to be included with the E8 add-on.Scenarios \u2734\ufe0f There are 3 scenarios for the Miami-West Palm Beach route that come bundled with the E8 add-on. I ran through all of them, and 2 out of the 3 are beatable with a gold metal. The 2nd scenario has a major timing issue where you are forced to wait for a SCL U36B Freight to pass by, and the Miami station arrival time in the scenario is 13:15 (1:15 PM), but you actually arrive at around 13:22 (1:22 PM) due to the delay, making this scenario impossible to complete at Gold. The third scenario also has an issue with the 1st freight AI; the last 6 wagons were for some reason not hooked up to the train, thus they are left on the main line as static stock. However, those can be fixed in the editor manually. Other than that, the scenarios are functional, but aren't really that good. I'd prefer High Iron Simulations any day.Value \u2734\ufe0f While this pack is worth it for the E8 alone, unfortunately most of the passenger rolling stock is recycled but varied, there's not much locomotive variety included, and 2 of the bundled scenarios have issues. If you didn't own the U36B add-on before, this might be of good value, but if you already had it, I'd only recommend getting this when it's on sale, like with DTG's other products.Final Score: 7\/10 (Average). 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.
- tiocopontankta