Written by: Gary Dolzall

Amtrak’s sure-of-foot SW1000R switcher and racehorse-fast Cab Car now come to Train Sim World in one new Add-On!

Railroading delivers a variety of captivating experiences – and that’s certainly the case with the latest release for Train Sim World, as the now-available Amtrak SW1000R Loco Add-On puts you at the controls of both Amtrak’s slow-and-steady SW1000R diesel yard switcher and high-speed ex-Metroliner® Cab Car!

In previous articles here at Dovetail Live (“Introducing Amtrak’s Yard Goat” and “Amtrak’s Cab Car is Coming”), we introduced this fascinating railroading version of the “tortoise and the hare” – the sure-of-foot SW1000R and racehorse-fast ex-Metroliner Cab Car – both of which are ideally suited for service on Train Sim World: Northeast Corridor New York.

Amtrak SW1000R

Amtrak employs diesel yard switchers at its major terminal locations, such as New York’s Sunnyside Yard, Washington (D.C.)’s Ivy City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where the diesels pull together consists and move equipment to and from maintenance shops. Among the diverse roster of switchers that Amtrak has employed is the railroad’s distinctive SW1000R locomotive.

Amtrak in 1994 acquired a group of ten second-hand Electro-Motive switchers that had been built as EMD SW9 or SW1200 locomotives and which dated to the 1950s. For Amtrak service, the veteran switchers were put through a rebuilding process at NRE (National Railway Equipment) which included repowering the locomotives with a 1,000-horsepower EMD 645-series power plant. Following their rebuilding at NRE, the Amtrak SW1000Rs have served long and successful careers at Amtrak locations across the U. S., although in recent times a number of the units have been retired or further rebuilt.

Amtrak Ex-Metroliner Cab Car

Regularly employed today on Amtrak’s New York - Philadelphia – Harrisburg (Pa.) Keystone Service® trains (as well as on other short-haul, “push-pull” services in the U. S.), Amtrak’s distinctive Cab Cars have a long and storied history in which they began life as the Pennsylvania Railroad’s innovative high-speed electric-multiple-unit (EMU) “Metroliner.”

Developed in the mid-1960s by the Pennsylvania Railroad and U. S. Department of Transportation and built by the Budd Company, the Metroliner was one of America’s first ventures into modern high-speed rail. Along with its heritage as a high-speed train (the EMU was designed for 150 mph and in service operated at 120 mph), the Metroliner also left an enduring legacy to American railroading in that its design provided the basis for Amtrak’s landmark fleet of Amfleet passenger cars first introduced to service in 1975.

Even as the Metroliner’s career as an EMU wrapped up in the late 1980s, the equipment found renewed life as Amtrak began converting the Metroliner cars into unpowered cab control cars for use on various short-haul “push pull” services. The cab cars have seen service on a variety of routes, including working on the San Diego-Los Angeles Surf Line, short-haul runs from Chicago, and on Amtrak’s New Haven (Ct.)-Springfield (Mass.) line. But the cab cars are most synonymous with duty on their old haunting ground - the Northeast Corridor.

Now available, the Amtrak SW1000R Loco Add-On features both the SW1000R and Amtrak Cab Car re-created in exacting detail and with realistic operations features, as well as a selection of three scenarios for the Train Sim World Northeast Corridor New York route (included in Train Sim World). And both the SW1000R and Cab Car are included in TSW’s popular timetable “service mode.” The Amtrak SW1000R Loco Add-On is available now! – Gary Dolzall

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Now available, Train Sim World’s Amtrak SW1000R Add-On features both the distinctive diesel yard switcher and Amtrak’s storied ex-Metroliner Cab Car! On the TSW Northeast Corridor New York route at Sunnyside Yard, Amtrak SW1000R 799 tends switching duties as a Keystone Service consist arrives with an ACS-64 on the point and a Cab Car trailing. Screenshots by Gary Dolzall.

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Extraordinary and captivating railroading variety awaits you with the new Train Sim World Amtrak SW1000R Add-On. You’ll handle duties ranging from yard switching at Sunnyside Yard with the slow-and-steady SW1000R (above) to high-speed main line service with the ex-Metroliner Cab Car (below)! Note: Screenshots depict content still in development.

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Diverse and realistic experiences also await you as you climb into the rather roomy cab of a SW1000R (above) and the snug confines of the cab car (below), both of which are re-created with exacting detail and authenticity.

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Amtrak’s Cab Cars were constructed in the late 1960s as high-speed EMUs for use on the Northeast Corridor, then rebuilt in the late 1980s for use as unpowered cab control cars on Amtrak “push-pull” trains. Today, the cars are regularly employed on Amtrak’s New York – Philadelphia – Harrisburg (Pa.) Keystone Service trains. At Newark’s Penn Station, Cab Car 9640 is making a Harrisburg-bound departure.

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The Amtrak SW1000R is representative of the classic “end-cab” design of EMD switchers, thousands of which were constructed, yet also unique in its form following rebuild by NRE in the 1990s. Wearing Amtrak’s silver-and-black switcher livery, SW1000R 799 is at work at sprawling Sunnyside Yard on the Northeast Corridor New York TSW route.

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It’s a snowy winter night on TSW’s Northeast Corridor New York route at Sunnyside Yard as Amtrak Cab Car 9634 is prepared for its next assignment (above) and SW1000R 794 is illuminated by the Sunnyside yard lights (below).

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In typical “push-pull” formation for an Amtrak Keystone Service – an ACS-64 providing the power and ex-Metroliner Cab Car positioned on the opposite end – Amtrak Cab Car 9630 leads the way around Sunnyside Yard’s loop track.

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In snow-dressed New Jersey, a Harrisburg-bound Keystone Service train crosses the Passaic River and in moments will make its station stop at Newark Penn Station. Now available, the Amtrak SW1000R Loco Add-On features both the SW1000R and Amtrak Cab Car, each of which are ideally suited for service on the Train Sim World: Northeast Corridor New York route. The Amtrak SW1000R Loco Add-On is available now!

Screenshots and images displayed in this article may depict content that is still in development. The licensed brands may not have been approved by their respective owner and some artwork may still be pending approval. Screenshots taken on Windows PC.

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