The mountainous Stevens Pass through the Cascade Mountains features the longest railroad tunnel in the United States, and is now recreated in a spectacular new route for Train Simulator.
Opened in 1893 by the Great Northern Railway, the pass is named after John Frank Stevens, the first non-indigenous person to discover it. The Pass stretches from Wenatchee on the Columbia River to Mukilteo, alongside Puget Sound in Washington State, and travels through four major regions – the urban, maritime Everett; the agricultural plains between Lowell and Gold Bar; the heavily forested mountainous Cascades region; and the semi-arid eastern slope with its ubiquitous fruit orchards.
The Pass was an important route for freight and passenger traffic to the West Coast and on to Canada, and crossed some of the State’s most mountainous regions. With major industries at both ends of the route, and many smaller yards and industrial spurs in between – including the Boeing assembly facility at Mukilteo – the Great Northern faced a challenge to keep the route open year round.
A major achievement in engineering was realised with the opening of the 2.63 mile (4.2km) single track Cascade Tunnel in 1900 to avoid the problems caused by heavy winter snowfalls. In 1929, portions of the railroad were realigned between Leavenworth and Scenic, and a longer replacement tunnel – twas put into service in the same year. This second tunnel stretched 7.79 mile (12.5km), connecting Berne with Scenic Hot Springs.
Because of safety issues along the route and ventilation requirements in the many tunnels through the mountains, only 28 trains per day are permitted to traverse the Pass, including freight trains carrying Boeing fuselages from its facility and the famous Empire Builder passenger train.
The Stevens Pass route for Train Simulator is a scenic recreation of the mountainous route, featuring stations at Cashmere, Leavenmouth, Winton, Berne, Skykomish, Baring, Gold Bar and Everett, as well as the Boeing construction facility and major industrial yards at Wenatchee and Mukilteo.
Also included are locomotives and rolling stock often seen on the route, including the EMD GP38-2, in ex-BN and BNSF Heritage liveries, and a GE ES44DC diesel locomotive in BNSF livery, plus a selection of freight cars and unique loads.
This beautiful route through the Cascade Mountains is a challenging drive, with steep gradients, slow running and single track navigation ready to test even the most experienced railroad engineers, but with stunning panoramas across Washington State as a welcome reward.
Scenarios
14 scenarios for the route:
- Everett – One Time Around (Career)
- Gold Bar Showdown (Career)
- PA Jct to Delta Yard (Career)
- Special Delivery Part 1 (Career)
- Special Delivery Part 2 (Career)
- Fruit Service Local (Career)
- Snohomish Swap (Career)
- Winter Hill Climb East (Career)
- Wenatchee Local Part 1 (Career)
- Wenatchee Local Part 2 (Career)
- Scenic Inspection Tour Part 1 (Standard)
- Scenic Inspection Tour Part 2 (Standard)
- Scenic Inspection Tour Part 3 (Standard)
- Scenic Inspection Tour Part 4 (Standard)
More scenarios are available on 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!
Key Features
- 123 mile (198 km) Stevens Pass route from Wenatchee to Mukilteo
- Features 7.79 mile (12.5km) Cascade Tunnel
- Major freight yards at Wenatchee and Everett
- Boeing construction facility at Mukilteo
- EMD GP38-2 diesel locomotive in ex-BN and BNSF Heritage liveries
- GE ES44DC diesel locomotive in BNSF livery
- Assortment of freight cars, including unique loads
- Scenarios for the route
- Quick Drive compatible
- Download size: 1,917mb
