EMD E8: RTA and Metra
Commuter rail services in and around Chicago were struggling in the 1970s, and with the transition of individual inter-city routes being absorbed and taken over by the government-controlled Amtrak, there was a similar push for commuter rail lines to be taken over. In 1974, the RTA, or Regional Transportation Agency, was formed to manage commuter rail, bus lines, and rapid transit, within the Chicago Area. They would slowly take control over various commuter rail routes, from railroads such as the Burlington Route, the Rock Island Line, the Milwaukee Road, and of course, the Chicago and North Western. And finally, in the summer of 1985, the Metra brand was created to unify and market commuter rail services to and from Chicago.
This pack includes four repaints of themeatballhero’s fantastic E8 locomotives, two in RTA blue, with orange-red and brown striping, and two in Metra’s blue and red.
- RTA 513 -1974
- RTA 519 -1974
- Metra 515 -1985
- Metra 521 -1985
This is essentially a functional continuation of my previous reskin of Chicago and North Western E8 locomotives, as many ex-CNW E8 locomotives saw use with RTA, and later, Metra.
Want those matching gallery cars? You can find them here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2832103756
Also thanks to the following:
- themeatballhero, for their fantastic E8 locomotive, the resources to skin it, and helping troubleshoot along the way.
- The Transport Fever North America Discord server, which had plenty of resources and people willing to help out.
- The Transport Fever 2 Wiki, their instructions on setting up the Model Editor were essential.
- You, the people viewing this and downloading this skin! I was blown away with the positive response from my CNW E8s, that it really encouraged me to do more.
