All Aboard Studios Route- Crewe To Birmingham New Street.

In terms of full length runs, for 2019 a Virgin class 221 would've been the best choice, and for present day you could have a 730.
If set earlier I suppose you could have an Arriva Trains Wales class 175 since they used to run via Stafford, but I have no idea of how frequent.

You could also have a TFW class 158 but they only do New Street to Wolverhampton, same with a WMR class 196.
Perhaps something freight related? Though I have no clue if there's enough freight on the line for it to be worth it.

 

I really don't understand why unbranded trains are a deal breaker for some. As long as the livery is there I'm not that bothered if a logo or some text is missing. I'd much rather that then creating fictional liveries. If a licence can't be obtained then I'd much rather have unbranded trains than not have that route at all.

 

For TFW it should be 1 train every 2 hours from Birmingham up the Cambrian to Aberystwyth and/or Pwllheli, and 1 train every 2 hours from Birmingham to Holyhead. Should work out as 1 train an hour each direction.

 

Yeah the Cambrians don’t go to Crewe though, so only part runs to Wolvo.

 

I've also noticed on the 350/3 shown in the promotional video, the blue panels highlighted should only be blue in the /1 (another remnant from Silverlink)


They should be grey as seen here

While the 350/3s were the first units to receive the LNWR livery, they weren't refurbished until 2023-24, so they should still have the old London Midland green seats.

Hope this helps!

 

All TFW services should run off-map at Wolverhampton to my knowledge, though I'm fairly sure Arriva Trains Wales did run some services via Stafford but I'm completely unsure as to how frequent.

 

Kind of funny to me that the tfw trains will be on three routes (playable) and only one of them is actually in Wales

 

I think we'll get a 730 pack one day maybe once GBR run London & West Midland services, this will be the third TSW route they will be useful for.

 

Please fix the weird auto brakes

 

Appreciate the information there! 2019 seems to be the TSW bullseye for modern timetables - so long as it works with the BCC crossover!

 

Will the 323 appear at Crewe?

 

It’s honestly a very reasonable thing to not want in a Train Simulator & obviously DTG clearly don’t want that either as it may impact their access to the trains themselves for audio & modelling purposes.

I myself don’t find it as a deal breaker but I do dislike seeing the 350 unbranded on WCMLS because I find it to be incredibly bland and even more now compared to the AAS 350s.

However, unlike other people I’m fine with seeing fictional liveries such as in the IOW22 & I’m not saying we should get more fictional liveries but I find it reasonable in my opinion on why some people may dislike unbranded liveries & may cause them to not buy the DLC.

 

An unbranded livery could still be a copyright issue - often the colour and design choices can be copyrighted too and potentially a licence holder could make a claim even if their specific logo is not used.

On routes like Mildmay where they are in the background it is not likely to come to anyone's attention, but when part of marketing and promotion, it could cause issues.

 

I would assume so as they're the only Northern liveried DMU and did operate some diagrams to Crewe in 2019.

 

Yeah we'll have to disagree there. I can't stand the fictional livery used on Island Line. I still refuse to play it without using an accurate livery downloaded from creators club.

 

Well you're in luck.
You can play Just Trains routes to your heart's content.
Have fun.
Oh wait did I just accidentally tell you what to do?
Well you better NOT have fun just out of spite then.

 

Hi all, I have been reading a lot of comments from various places about "no new trains" and I want to shed some light on this. Firstly everyone is entitled to have an opinion and to decide if they personally see a product as being worth the money. That being said, let me shed some light on why we chose the 350 vs another unit. Firstly, when we started this route back in Janurary, we as a team were still learning the tools and also still growing, we had a lot less people working within the team at the start of the project compared to now. Building a train for train sim world is a very complex task that very few developers have really been able to truly crack. From art to simulation there are tons of moving parts to learn, so we thought it was best to take small steps rather than make a big commitment to something out of the gate that may or may not of worked.

The 350 was the obvious choice as it is the backbone of the route in real life, even with the introduction of the 730s today, the 350 still serves as the main core backbone of this section of line. That being said, the 350 was no easy feat in itself as a lot has had to be changed, fixed or improved to make sure it can be an enjoyable and consistent experience for all players. We also chose to include the 3 subclasses present around 2019 to give players a wider range of choice and also to try and show we aren't just copying a train over and calling it a day.

We will no doubt give a full breakdown of the 350s very soon to paint the full picture but to give you a quick overview of some things I have personally done on the 350, here is a quick list:

- Reworked the suspension physics from the ground up (Wheels no longer look like they will fall off)
- Fixed a bug where when you switched cab ends the brakes wouldn't release (This was actually a fix I ported to the EMK version back in June roughly?)
- Fixed emergency plunger not releasing brakes when being unpressed
- Fixed the auto brake so it now kicks in at less than 1.5mph as per real life operation, instead of the 3mph that was set on the EMK version
- Fixed various problems with the Traction Lock behaviour as it was causing trains to lock up and not move randomly
- Ammended issues with the brake guage
- Fixed an issue with gangway doors not working correctly when AI is in control and is either coupling or uncoupling from another train (need to triple check that this is fixed for the uncouple side of things)
- Ensured that when two units are coupled together, tail lights in the middle dont light (This might already now exist on the EMK version)
- Changed the PIS art style to reflect closer to real life
- Removed "NotIn" and changed it to "LNR" as per real life
- Centred the text for the PIS to reflect real life
- Fixed the Indicator lights which would sometimes stay on regardless of whether doors were locked or not
- Removed DC components from the /2 and /3 as per real life (Art side was done by Sam)
- Added Onboard Announcements and Passenger Ambience

This should give you an idea of the amount of work done just on the technical side which was not quick fixes. Now I do understand regardless of this, people may still think well it is the same train, all I can say to that is that you are welcome to have your opinion and there are plenty of other great options for stock to drive on our route as we will detail in a deep dive article on our website soon. Another note to add, we chose 2019 for the timetable era to maximise the gameplay potential giving you the player a lot of options and variable service patterns, not just in the 350 but also in all the other layers.

My final thing I will say on the whole "no new train, not worth it" topic is this. We absolutely want to explore looking at new trains that haven't been done before but this takes time, planning and so forth. If we can't get reference material (from photos, videos, sounds, manuals and so forth) then simply put we just won't do the train. We want each pack we do to be the best it can be, working on making a train without enough source material would just result in a subpar product. We look at the suggestions on discord and forums all the time, we take a lot into consideration before planning a project, so for now, bare with us whilst we continue to learn the train building process and enjoy everything that Birmingham to Crewe has to offer.

We look forward to talking to you all about the route and the trains further on the preview streams and our website. As a final note, we are looking at the feedback on the 350s that has been posted and will see what is viable to be ammended within due course.

Have a lovely day all!

 

Any chance you can confirm if your 350 will be playable on WCMLsouth?

I suspect you can’t answer this one, but will your new timetable with the 805 pack (for WCMLS) use these 350’s?

Apologies to ‘pile on’, but let me just say I’m genuinely looking forward to this route & despite any comments regarding it being repetitive content, personally I think TSW has been longing for some good length modern running in this region.

 

I think I can speak for most when I say we appreciate all the work that's gone into this route, and the Class 350 subclasses and updates for the Class 350 will make it feel like a completely new unit compared to the original!

 

It’s looking brilliant! Can’t wait for the stream next week. And hope the upcoming Class 90 will layer on at some point.

 

And from what I've seen it'll definitely be a day 1 purchase for me.

 

52 miles is actually pretty good. Not to long or not to short. Give or take you can make the best out of it. Now if you really want this particular route to be long use the old 08 to satisfy your need.

 

That’s where an old Class 304 or 310 EMU would come in. All stations 75 MPH max. Never ending journey!

 

Any chance of the traction lock issues being ported to WCMLS too please? Believe this is what was often preventing the 350 from departing after stopping and loading at a station.

 

And not a modern-style 75mph journey either, the type where it takes the best part of 5 minutes to reach that speed.

 

What about the Class 101?
That's a fun older piece of kit in game =-)

 

Yes, the 101 is probably needing an update now. Even though I never drove a real slam door, it feels weird opening the doors from the cab. Likewise with loco-hauled trains.

I'm hoping the delay in getting more slam-door MUs in game is because DTG are figuring out how to have dynamic doors with them opening and closing at different times. The TSC AP Class 411 does it brilliantly with some doors opening before the train has stopped, just like in real life.

 

The Class 101 also needs a better sound set. Doesn’t really have that more distinctive whine that the AEC engine DMU’s had compared to the Leyland/BUT engine ones. ISTR a few years ago someone giving me an unofficial mod which improved the sounds more like they should be but sadly my file fu seems to have lost it and probably obsolete in TSW6 anyway.

 

They were fitted with Leyland prime movers as well Vern. Originally designate 102's but then 101's.
But the 101's were also retrofitted with Leyland prime movers during the 1970's.

 

Good point Mike!

Then you had a few units with the AEC engines like the Cravens or Class 120’s that didn’t have such a distinctive whine.

 

Spot on Vern, but as you correctly say in regards the AEC fitted 101 units. They were right whiners buddy .

 

Will the braking effectiveness be adjusted at all ? Often think the 350 brakes and slows down way to quick . Dtg have adjusted it a few times , but it stilll seems hard to believe how quickly it can stop.

 

Kezz why did you not used the Class 350/1 to 350/3 Cockpits from the TSC Addon from Euston to Birmingham from DTG few Years ago?

Want the 350 from the original Route also get all Updates?

 

This is my home route, and i am just happy that DTG don't get to screw it up.

Don't get too excited about Wolverhampton Steel Terminal though. You sometimes see the odd class 60 or 66 sitting there, but it's usually completely dead 24/7.

So, if anybody wants to release a BR Class 60 in Steel Sector livery for realism....

 

The 350 subclasses on the WCMLS will be in the 805s timetable most likely.

 

Appreciate your speculation, but this isn’t a Q+A for you.

 

I'm afraid this is an open discussion, and if somebody wishes to respond with a possible answer to your question, they have every right to do so.

 

So the team have published a deeper dive into the timetable and layers on their website here: https://allaboardstudios.co.uk/wcml...Kh1CSGCnxGafRUJLTo_aem_BreEClIg7CuUhZSlnDGlmw

 

I’ll be buying this route day one regardless of no new unit with it. As the devs said learn to walk before you run and building a new route is a huge undertaking on its own starting out and learning the tools. In addition they have built a huge timetable as well so they had a lot to do. From screenshots this looks detailed in the extreme and closer to a JT route than a Rivet one.
For me the chance to stretch the legs of a Pendolino after its wings were clipped down south is worth the purchase price alone. Add to that all the lovely layers and what’s not to like?

 

My question was not asked in this discussion.

 

Wow, impressive stuff here, but seems to more layers than previously mentioned? Sale ending soon, picked up some dlc for this, although the 170 not on sale?

 

The route looks fantastic. Looking forward to giving it a go soon! Out of curiosity have you been able to fix the weird invisible walls issue on the 350 around the first class compartment? Has been quite an annoying bug to deal with when trying to play Gaurd mode.

 

yeah ATW services should be visible from New street to Wolves and around crewe, all going off map apart from the few that terminate at new street as the rest go to brum int'l, unsure how much it's changed but services into new street are in theory 1TPH each way, services passing through crewe to manchester are 1TPH each way, crewe to chester leaving from the north end of crewe is 1TPH and crewe to Shrewsbury leaving from the south end of crewe is is 1TP2H

 

Fantastic article. I really think DTG should be taking notes because this is the sort of route they need to be making more of. A route that makes great use of stock already in the game to deliver a complete experience without anything missing.

 

I’m just hoping it’s not full of bugs / glitches and definitely no blurry textures, otherwise it’ll surely be a purchase from me

 

I think this route is an excellent use of the traction available in TSW and I think it's a perfect strategy for new developers who are still learning how to create routes and traction.

I disagree that DTG should be taking notes. I think they should be taking risks and trying out new areas of the UK with traction that's not yet in TSW, thus allowing new developers to spread their wings too. If each year brings more of the same, the result will be diminishing levels of excitement from TSW fans and diminishing sales. For now, this route is a very promising first release and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also looking forward to something different to drive eventually.

 

It's a pity DTG won't patch the EMK 350 with these fixes. The auto brake, wrong tail lights and corridor connections are still there on a year old core route.

 

I notice that this route will be offered for sale at full price ( £30, $40 ) despite having no original stock. In my opinion this is an unfortunate trend and personally I'm not going to purchase such routes whether from DTG or 3rd parties unless the price is substantially discounted for the absence of new train (s).

Just a couple of years ago, this would have been unthinkable. If developers cannot build trains they shouldn't build routes. ( in my opinion of course, others may be more forgiving. ).

 

Can you tell me which train that isn't already available as a layer on this route could realistically be added to it for 2019?

 

For me, I buy a route based on the value I get out of it. Whether it has a new train or not isn't the point in my opinion, it's whether the representation I'm being offered is an accurate one. With so many trains available in game now, there are clearly going to be more route releases that utilise existing trains.