I thought I would give another pop culture snippet. One later on in the 20th century of my TL. Since it's very loosely inspired by that TL, a special shout-out goes to @RySenkari and @Nivek for their iconic Player Two Start saga.

Long story short, Nintendo and Sony eventually go through with the SNES-CD, but under very different circumstances from anything that came close to happening IOTL. For starters, instead of a mere collaboration in 1988, Sony proposes a full-on merger with Nintendo. After a few ruffles are fixed, such as an agreement on who gets the profits for whatever games (the console's profits are split between the two studios, whereas profits on each game ultimately depend on who publishes it), the merger goes through. A result of this is that instead of doing so through an add-on, the SNES uses CDs from the very beginning.

This goes on into 1997, where the PlayStation is transformed into TTL's analogue to the Nintendo 64. It even becomes famous for how the controller is colored to make the buttons and their respective functions easy to understand.

Red: Pause, select, and start buttons.
Orange: shoulder buttons
Yellow: A, X, B, Y Buttons
Green: Camera analogue stick
Blue: Movement analogue stick
Purple: D-pad

PSN controller.jpg
 
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I thought I would give another pop culture snippet. One later on in the 20th century of my TL. Since it's very loosely inspired by that TL, a special shout-out goes to @RySenkari and @Nivek for their iconic Player Two Start saga.
thanks the mention..so something like this?
nintendo PS.jpg
 
@Nivek

If you remember my Norfolk Southern steam excursion program I contributed to the P2S saga, I also had some ideas of my own regarding how N&W 611 will go.

Long story short, her restoration will be in 1974 for the American Freedom Train. Then, further diverges from OTL leads to the 611 continuing to operate since then. Highlights ITTL will be leading the alternate American Freedom Train from Washington DC to Miami via Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke, Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Tampa.

Then, it's many years of excursions on the PRR (including ex-N&W tracks), Southern, Seaboard Coast Line, and Louisville & Nashville among other railroads.
 
@Lucas Is that 70s HST a gas turbine powered unit? I'm curious about the details and it's usage, as I had an idea for using a different-looking power car for the ATL Via Rail LRC, which IOTL used an Alco 251 diesel for power buy in my world used twin Pratt and Whitney Canada gas turbines and a small Detroit Diesel engine for hotel power and slow-speed moving.
 
@Andrew Boyd I don't think the whole NEC being owned by the PRR is necessarily a bad thing, particularly since the New Haven was more of less doomed after WWII for much of it, certainly the vast majority of its branches are useless for freight traffic, but it is entirely possible to split the New Haven into pieces and the NYC already has a New York-Boston route. Throw a new player into the mix and make a concession to the NYC somewhere (allow them to get to Philadelphia somehow, perhaps?) and you can make it happen.
 
I have recently been thinking of the Nippon Shayro DMUs, and how well they would do on the diesel-operated runs in my TL's Amtrak regional services.

Serious problem there: The Nippon Sharyu DMUs are designed for Cape Gauge sizes and very tight Japanese clearances, and as such they would be way too small for American use.
 
@Andrew Boyd I don't think the whole NEC being owned by the PRR is necessarily a bad thing, particularly since the New Haven was more of less doomed after WWII for much of it, certainly the vast majority of its branches are useless for freight traffic, but it is entirely possible to split the New Haven into pieces and the NYC already has a New York-Boston route. Throw a new player into the mix and make a concession to the NYC somewhere (allow them to get to Philadelphia somehow, perhaps?) and you can make it happen.
I agree, and that is why one idea I have considered is that the B&O (later Chessie) could take up a few of the lines that the PRR decides against taking over and try to fashion out a freight line to Boston that bypasses NYC.
 
Ah those DMUs. I thought you were referring to the sorts of machines used by the various successors of Japan Railways.

Having ridden on those, they work fine for smaller-run usage but I'm not sure they are big enough or fast enough for Amtrak regional use. They would at best be capable of feeder trains.
 
I agree, and that is why one idea I have considered is that the B&O (later Chessie) could take up a few of the lines that the PRR decides against taking over and try to fashion out a freight line to Boston that bypasses NYC.

Short of taking over either the Erie Lackawanna or the Reading and starting from there I have no clue how the B&O could even think about that, and remember that the B&O had financial issues pretty much constantly after the Depression. Where do they find the resources for such a move?
 
Short of taking over either the Erie Lackawanna or the Reading and starting from there I have no clue how the B&O could even think about that, and remember that the B&O had financial issues pretty much constantly after the Depression. Where do they find the resources for such a move?
Since the POD involves deregulation and other improvements in the 1920s, I was thinking about the idea that the B&O responds to the prospect of a PRR+N&W merger by strengthening its financial ties with the RDG, CNJ, and L&NE, mainly in hopes of strengthening its ability for competition with the PRR in Pennsylvania Coal Country.

That said, I think in such scenarios, the Erie Lackawanna might also be a decent option for an operator of that route to Boston.
 
Regarding my ideas about the New Haven, and who would get what.

Pennsylvania
- The entire mainline from New York, NY to Boston, MA via New Haven, CT and Providence, RI
- New Haven, CT to Springfield, MA viaHartford, CT

Chessie System (via B&O) or Erie Lackawanna
- Campbell Falls, NY to Boston, MA via Poughkeepsie and Hopewell, NY; Danbury, Waterbury, Hartford, Vernon, Willimantic, and Putman CT; Woonsocket, RI; and Medfield, MA
 
While the strengthening of ties by the B&O with the Reading, CNJ and L&NE makes perfect sense when facing a juggernaut like the PRR+N&W, do ask yourself a question before you go try to get Chessie to Boston - what will they gain out of it? They'll be entering a market where the PRR has a major share and the NYC has a through route from Boston to pretty much anywhere of importance in the Midwest. Chessie's mainline is well south of that and South of the PRR's Pennsylvania Main Line, so your freight traffic has to go a way roundabout route. The EL (or for that matter Wabash+Lehigh Valley and Delaware and Hudson, thanks to their connection at Buffalo, which is worth thinking about because a PRR+N&W merger will dramatically change the fates of several railroads) is indeed a better choice, and while the L&NE and/or L&HR using the New Haven's freight route via Poughkeepsie and Maybrook does make B&O to Boston possible, I'd advise thinking about the possibility that it may not be the best idea.
 
while the L&NE and/or L&HR using the New Haven's freight route via Poughkeepsie and Maybrook does make B&O to Boston possible, I'd advise thinking about the possibility that it may not be the best idea.
An additional thing I thought of about the Erie Lackawanna is that if it does get the carved out Boston line, we could possibly make it an even stronger competitor to the NYC.
 
An additional thing I thought of about the Erie Lackawanna is that if it does get the carved out Boston line, we could possibly make it an even stronger competitor to the NYC.

Provided they can get the grades and clearances good enough for high-speed operation, I agree. The NYC Boston line isn't the straightest, particularly between Springfield and Albany. The carved out E-L Boston Line, particularly if they get the NH's big South Boston Freight Terminal, will be a strong competitor to it, though it means they definitely will need to make sure they can move loads along their main line in a timely fashion. Better get them equipped with as many high-powered diesels - tall-geared F-units and maybe even E-units for freight and later on big-power diesels (SD40s and SD45s, bigger-engined U-boats, six-axle Alco Century units starting with the C630). Electrification is probably too expensive to do, but since the NYC has the Water Level Route, the E-L is gonna have to make up time. Time freights making 80 mph in the Midwest, anyone?
 
Don't make me gush with excitement. Let's not forget your faster ALCO and Catepillar designs either.

Those come later, and don't forget that the later Alco Milleniums had Cummins QSK power. Caterpillar was late to the game, only jumping in with its Progress Rail subsidiary after Morrison-Knudsen had busted the trifecta of locomotive builders and Mitsubishi had sold a handful of units in the United States as well.

Still, I'm thinking this world's E-L will be defined by electrification on its hillier sections and on flat sections long strings of double-stack containers, trailers on flat cars or spine cars, 86' merchandise boxcars, big autoracks and 75' refrigerator cars charging in both directions behind powerful diesel engines at major speed - 50-60 mph in more populated areas, 80 mph on flat farmlands and tracks through lots of cuts, tunnels and walled areas through cities, aiming to deliver goods from Boston and New York to Chicago as rapidly as possible.
 
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