The second expert loco is the DB BR 145 from TSG, announced today at Dovetail Direct Fire away the discussion!
Really looking forward to this one. Focus on freight, looking at the new features we are in for a treat. Also interesting opportunity for Leipzig Dresden, as this loco did run commuter trains on here once…
Having manual brake hose operation and working angle cocks sounds good, I am curious though how it will work when you couple it to non-expert rolling stock Also curious about the price. The expert BR 101 comes with an expert loco and cab car, and coaches, and is £29.99. I wonder if the BR 145 will be cheaper since it only comes with a loco and one freight wagon, or if £29.99 is going to be the default price for expert level content
From a strictly personal perspective, and assuming it is just the 145 by itself, I find it a misguided and possibly detrimental choice. There are also, it seems to me, some underlying misconceptions, about freight operations being inherently more complex or technical, which appear to weigh heavily on this issue. Of course I perfectly understand that the selection is not made arbitrarily "in a vacuum", so to speak, but follows directly from the necessity of specific high level expertise. In this sense, I am happy with whatever is made, because I know it will mark another milestone in the game, fully deserving our immediate purchase upon release. However, it is still a problematic choice, for me personally. Moreover, I am slightly worried by the tepid reaction i have seen so far... In any case, I extend my best wishes to the all the people in the TSG team, for their unique dedication to these very important tasks.
Misguided, detrimental, and problematic! My goodness! Whatever, i don't know what a 145 is but the Expert 101 was so good, it's a day-one purchase for me Working hoses and anglecocks should be a standard feature though tbh. Hopefully we'll see it make its way to the standard lineup someday like train faults have...
Really really glad for this one! In terms of the development time of the 101 and me wanting the next expert loco as soon as possible , this choice is understandable from many perspectives. So finally we get an expert traxx. Also not to forget the loco can be used on most current electrified german routes. This offers hours of gameplay (probably more than the 101 currently has). In terms of immersion and the general experience, i rarely used anything else beside the expert 101 since its release, even for freight. Lets be honest, an euro dual would take 2 years of development at least. Changing to a expert diesel would need a change in the entire fault simulation. So the 145 is definetly a well choice since it can be used on most germsn tsw routes. For sure better than a railjet set, where the fun is restricted to the 2-3 routes. Day1 for me.
My wallet is going to have a talk with me after I buy the Expert 145! An amazing choice by the TSG team, Expert freight is going to be so much fun, considering ZDE will now take alot longer than what we saw with the 101. Will be a day one purchase.
Yeah, the option to use the 145 on regional trains is pretty cool! At the time the 145 ran between Leipzig and Dresden, the route was pretty different to what it's like currently (or during the time period modeled in game) though, so I can't see it as a headline feature for the loco. I think they hadn't even finished quad-tracking Dresden to Coswig yet, and Dresden-Neustadt was a big construction site. A nice idea for a mod timetable or a gameplay pack though. Either way, big fan of the 145. Having an Expert loco will make freight a lot more interesting, and I like that it'll come in a non-DB-red livery as well.
Very excited about this news. Is it possible for the developer to ensure that Joysticks/Raildriver are supported (as I can no longer drive using keyboards - it’s similar to PMDG selling the 777 and asking you to fly it with the numpad). Also, could someone possibly sort out the Expert 101 to allow joystick use. Strangely, the Expert 101 lok in Red works fine, but the other included repaints, the MFD display lok and the cab car do not. Is this a simple fix, or should I give up hoping. i have mentioned this on three different threads and there has been an overwhelming silence
I've given up with raildriver functionality with the Expert 101 and Cab Car, however I do enjoy it on keyboard so not a big deal for me.
Yes, even though I was aware of the aspect in general, I am not sure what part of the route was in what state when. The 145 drove there (to my knowledge) latest in 2011 and as far as I know at least the part between Dresden Hbf and Neustadt was more or less completed by then. The route to Coswig was probably still two tracks only at that time. But I would certainly be fine with a bit of an artistic license, in this case
I agree. The RE50 is one of my favourite services to drive in the game, so I'm very much in favour of putting an Expert loco on it even of it's not quite realistic! Apparently they even ran on the S-Bahn too. Another thing I really hope to see is some TRI-style (football match/other event/help, all our EMUs are broken) specials using the 145, n-Wagen and that WiKo from the Stuttgart route. This page has pictures of both the types of working: regular S1/RE50 service on Dresden - Leipzig, and some "oh no, all our EMUs are broken" n-Wagen/WiKo runs on Dresden - Chemnitz... and apparently it even used to run InterCities on Dresden - Chemnitz back when that route had long-distance traffic? Wild honestly.
I actually received the TSC-X controller yesterday. I haven't tested it yet so I can't give a review for those that are thinking of picking it up, but I'm definitely excited to try it out, and hopefully it should help with setting up control curves on the BR 101 Expert (and the 145 Expert as well of course) I do have a Raildriver collecting dust in the basement, but it long ago started having issues with control spikes and trying to buy a replacement seems to be harder than getting a PS5 back in 2020
