Hello. I have a question. When the HST farewell pack comes out, would that mean IET would take over on the GWE route and would it also mean that the same route and the Riviera line need to be upgraded to full electric overhead? Just curious about that
IIRC a few months ago I read on Discord that with the HST Farewell pack there will be some scenarios that feature specific certain ai traffic, at least one scenario will have 2019 GWE ai, but there wont be any route changes to anything. For GWE to be upgraded with full OHLE, there was so much work done in real life in that time it would basically mean rebuilding the entire route in game afaik. And uh as local, the Riviera Line probably wont ever even get full overhead lines in real life never mind in the game.
Ok, cool. I was just wondering about it because of the farewell pack coming . I didn't know if the Riviera line would be electric
Alas not. I don't think it was even part of the original (now curtailed) GWR electrification plan. I doubt it will ever see wires. Alternatives are being explored, such as battery charging at terminus stations. While there's a chance of a less expensive energy type coming along there's a reluctance to approve new linear electrification schemes outside those that were underway but where axed by the last government.
The absurdity of the British railway network is the lack of electrification, even newly built railways like EWR is not electrified, it boggles the mind what goes on in the DfT and in insert government here.
I totally agree that the historical lack of electrification is absurd. There's a huge irony that much of HS2 is being built alongside the Chiltern mainline which has to be serviced by diesel trains. I'm all for building new infrastructure that encourages less use of roads and frees-up space on existing railways for freight but new infrastructure shouldn't be built at the expense of a managed decline in the effectiveness of the existing network. Likewise building new diesel trains that will be likely be obsolete in 10 years is just bonkers. Where I don't think that linear electrification is a good idea is on existing rural routes now that developments in alternative energy are getting close to the point where it can be effective and better for the environment. Those hundreds of miles of wires require electricity that, at the moment, often comes from carbon belching power stations. Though that's a story for another day about a myopic 20th century way of thinking. While tests are still in their early days, I believe that bio-fuels and terminus charging stations are the first step in removing not only diesel trains but when the technology is there linear electrification schemes. Train roofs, as another example, can now be covered in solar panels, now that physically flexible solar panels are a reality. They won't power a train at the moment, but they will power lighting and in the near future heating/cooling of the interiors and other electrical functions. Sorry, I got a bit in the weeds but I am frequently exasperated by short-sighted thinking in government (on all sides of the political spectrum) and a failure to invest in future energy that can make the UK a vanguard in modernity and green thinking. I'm convinced my generation had an opportunity to make a difference and we messed it up looking for short-term profit over long-term sustainability. And while I love Deltics and noisy diesel engines, like steam engines they belong on preserved railways and occasional railtours in 2026 and beyond. Sorry for going off topic Mods and readers.
Shame they couldn’t get a new sound pack and have stuck with a reworked version of the current sounds. Whilst it looks good, I hope it’s not yet another DLC let down
A Paxman Valenta version would have guaranteed a Day One purchase from myself and many others, as it is probably content to wait for a future sale.
Provided that there are no major issues reported, I will be getting this at full price regardless of the value of the pack itself as a thank you to grump dog games for the GWE-R which was, let’s not forget, completely free - including the timetable, unlike the ECW-R. That being said, I have every confidence that Liams product will provide some new and interesting gameplay and prove its own value anyway. The only slight reservation I have at the moment is the layer requirements for the scenarios. From previous screenshots it looked like both Mildmay (for class 345) and Shap (for class 08) might be required? I don’t see anything mentioned in the article about layering requirements though…
I'll make a layers list before launch. Layers have been made to compliment what is already in the timetable to reduce need for more DLCs.
Ordinarily I would agree, but GWE AFAIK still has the issue with the new timetable for the remaster where the game hard locks the PC during, or shortly after, loading a saved game. That makes it unplayable if you know you might need to come off halfway through a run.
I think it will tick all the boxes for what it is, but I have to agree, a Valenta version would have me putting my money down regardless of the price.
