Santa Fe Splendor!

Jul 12, 2022

Written by Gary Dolzall

Coming soon, Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 recalls one of America’s – and the world’s – most extraordinary railroads.

Santa Fe: In the long history of American railroading, perhaps no single railroad was more iconic and renowned, and no livery was more widely familiar and cherished than the red-and-silver “Warbonnet” scheme worn by AT&SF’s flashy diesels.

And soon, the glory and splendor of Santa Fe railroading will come to Train Simulator Classic – with Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 from High Iron Simulations!

Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will bring to dynamic life the memorable Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) of the 1960s and 1950s, delivering a robust selection of six notable and detailed diesel locomotive types, the Santa Fe’s unique and magnificent El Capitan Hi-Level passenger train, a dozen types of freight equipment including two versions of the railroad’s famed Ce-1 steel caboose, and ten realistic career scenarios hosted on a pair of popular and authentic Santa Fe Train Simulator Classic routes.

With the upcoming Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 you’ll experience the grandeur of the remarkable AT&SF:

You’ll take the throttle of elegant Santa Fe Electro-Motive F3 passenger diesels dressed in the railroad’s never-to-be-forgotten red-and-silver “Warbonnet” livery and hustle the magnificent El Capitan Hi-Level streamlined passenger train through the forested mountains and across the remote high plains of Arizona.
Aboard EMD F7s dressed in Santa Fe’s stylish blue and yellow freight liveries from both the 1960s and 1950s, you’ll tackle heavy tonnage and battle the three percent grades of legendary Raton Pass in Colorado and New Mexico.
You’ll put EMD’s landmark GP7s, dressed in AT&SF’s original and eye-catching black and silver “Zebra stripe” livery and its later blue and yellow colors, to work freight and switching duties.
Santa Fe’s powerful and stylish second-generation workhorse, the versatile Electro-Motive GP35, will provide the power as you forward priority and heavy manifest tonnage across the rugged Arizona Divide.
Aboard Santa Fe’s uncommon and stunning red-and-silver General Electric U28CG dual-service diesels, you’ll be the engineer of the El Capitan climbing twisting Raton Pass and the engineer of the AT&SF’s unrivaled “Super C” piggyback – known as the “fastest freight train in the world” – racing at passenger-train speeds across Arizona!
Each of the locomotive types in Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will feature advanced and type-specific authentic air braking systems as developed by Mike Rennie of Smokebox, adding exceptional realism and challenges to your experiences. The F-units and Geeps utilize 24-RL air brakes while the GP35 and U28CG employ 26-L air brakes. The F3s featured in this upcoming pack re-create the AT&SF red-and-silver Warbonnet-clad EMD diesels as they appeared in upgraded form in the late 1950s and 1960s; the GP7 is included in a variety of authentic variations (with and without dynamic brakes; with and without steam generators) and including the Santa Fe’s rare GP7B cabless booster.

Joining the diverse motive power in Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will be a wide selection of rolling stock, including a complete consist of the beautiful Hi-Level El Capitan passenger train, AT&SF’s noted Ce-1 steel caboose in standard and rebuilt styles and in multiple liveries, and a selection of eleven types of superb freight rolling stock in multiple liveries and variations, including Santa Fe, Burlington Route, Great Northern, and North Pacific colors. Among the carefully crafted freight equipment will be a massive 89-foot AT&SF auto box, 89-foot piggyback flats hauling trailers in multiple AT&SF liveries, 40- and 50-foot boxcars wearing a variety of the railroad’s distinctive slogans, and multiple types of covered hoppers.

Yet another highlight of the upcoming Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will be its selection of ten realistic career scenarios, five each hosted on Milepost Simulations’ acclaimed Santa Fe Raton Pass and Arizona Divide routes. All of the diverse scenarios, including passenger, manifest freight, intermodal, local, and switching duties, are closely based upon Santa Fe operations and train numbers of the era. Eight of the scenarios feature 1960s operations with two recalling memorable 1950s railroading.

Note: The locomotives and equipment of Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 can be used on a variety of Train Simulator Classic routes. The included scenarios will require the Raton Pass: Trinidad - Raton Route Add-On and the Arizona Divide: Winslow - Williams Route Add-On (routes available separately).

Get ready to experience the glory and the memorable magic of one of America’s – and the world’s –most extraordinary railroads, with High Iron Simulations’ Santa Fe Classic Pack 01, coming soon to Train Simulator Classic!

Soon, the glory and splendor of Santa Fe railroading will come to Train Simulator Classic – with Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 from High Iron Simulations! Arguably, no livery in railroad history was more widely familiar and cherished than the red-and-silver “Warbonnet” scheme worn by AT&SF’s flashy diesels, and a set of elegant AT&SF F3s are hustling the famed El Capitan through Darling, Arizona. Please note: Screenshots may depict content while in development.

Electro-Motive F3s in Santa Fe’s never-to-be-forgotten Warbonnet livery are one of six types of diesel locomotives featured in the upcoming Santa Fe Classic Pack 01, which will also include AT&SF EMD F7s in two liveries, EMD GP7s in multiple variations (including the GP7B) and liveries; AT&SF’s potent EMD GP35, and the railroad’s uncommon and striking General Electric U28CG. Screenshots by Gary Dolzall.

In a scene recalling 1950s Santa Fe railroading on legendary Raton Pass, a set of Santa Fe F7s in blue and yellow “cat whiskers” livery battles the pass as GP7s dressed in the railroad’s eye-catching “Zebra stripe” livery work as rear helpers (above). Wearing the familiar version of the Santa Fe’s blue and yellow freight scheme of the late 1950s and 1960s, an A-B-B-A set of AT&SF F7s depart the yard at Trinidad, Colorado (below).

On the Train Simulator Classic Raton Pass route, a pair of Santa Fe GP7s in Zebra stripe livery handle the Colorado & Southern interchange at Trinidad during the 1950s (above), while in the decade of the 1960s, blue-and-yellow Geeps grind into Trinidad with a string of AT&SF hoppers (below). Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will feature a selection of ten realistic career scenarios, five each hosted on Milepost Simulations’ acclaimed Santa Fe Raton Pass and Arizona Divide routes.

Dawn is breaking at Winslow, Arizona on the Train Simulator Classic Arizona Divide route as a set of five AT&SF EMD GP35s totaling 12,500 horsepower begin their pull with westbound piggyback and manifest tonnage (above). Further west, Santa Fe freights meet at speed as GP35s flash past one of Santa Fe’s iconic Ce-1 steel cabooses (below). In addition to two styles of Ce-1 cabooses, the Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will feature eleven types of superb freight equipment in multiple variations and liveries.

Among the most uncommon, and striking, diesels of the 1960s were Santa Fe’s fleet of ten General Electric U28CG dual-service locomotives. With a trio of U28CGs on the point, the El Capitan is overtaking an F7 powered freight on Raton Pass. Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will include a complete set of the AT&SF’s magnificent Hi-Level El Capitan streamliner, which was the coach sister to the Super Chief.

At Arizona’s fabulous Canyon Diablo, red-and-silver Santa Fe GE U28CGs are maintaining passenger-train speeds with the AT&SF’s unrivaled “Super C,” known as the “fastest freight train in the world.” The scenarios included with Santa Fe Classic Pack 01 will put you at the throttle of the Super C, the El Capitan, heavy manifest freights, and challenging locals.

Santa Fe F3s powering the El Capitan descend Raton Pass as GP7 helpers assist a freight griding upgrade. Get ready to experience the glory and the memorable magic of one of America’s – and the world’s – most extraordinary railroads, with High Iron Simulations’ Santa Fe Classic Pack 01, coming soon to Train Simulator Classic!