Thames Valley Branches Discussion

Incredible Trains aka, Johannes has announced his next route


Which is Thames valley Branches



very interesting on how it’s going to play out, considering the mainline is already in game




Either way, I do like these rural branch line, and it looks to be coming along well, so, fair play to incredible trains.

 

The Thames Valley Branches it's special about disconnected lines but a bit shame that it's not a GWR extension.

I don't think I'll buy it unfortunately , depending on the price and whether the modding community ever manages route merging.

 

As I posted a few mins ago, happy to recon for Johannes for the Henley branch

 

So are separate from GWE we already or do they join up.

 

Not entirely sure how I feel about having three completely disconnected lines. I suppose route hopping with GWE will make up for it allowing us to continue services where appropriate, though that would also require the timetable to be linked up with the GWE remaster one. I can get along with it either way, it's just a strange concept and I haven't entirely come to terms with it yet.

 

We finally get a proper 165 with this route, nice!

the 165 also has some differences to the interior and features things not seen on the 166 before. So, good to see proper changes.

 

The three branches lines are completely separate.
You will have to route hop to change lines (it's not an extension of GWE)

 

Three short unconnected lines doesn't really do it for me, I'll be honest. If they were part of GWE, sure, but I suppose that isn't really possible.
(I have to admit I initially got excited thinking it was something going the other way out of Reading towards Didcot, Oxford and Newbury... That I would love...)

 

To me at least, It is an interesting concept on having three individual branch lines as one route, don’t think this has been done before in TSW.

knowing Johannes work on mildmay, I have a feeling this could actually end up being a nice route.

 

Are we going to get different locations rather than london routes we seem to get alot of those

 

These are contained lines though, why would connecting it to the entire GWE route make any sense?

 

Thought I’d share this from the discord,

if this is true, this route could be a lot better than we think.


Since Thames Branches has a lot less layers compared to the likes of Mildmay, that gives Johannes a lot more room to work on scenery.

 

Definitely interesting and very different.

I will say that this route will definitely be a perfect fit for people who only have a short window with which to play, with runs only being a few miles at a time. Service length will be very similar to IOW I imagine.

With the inclusion of the 165 which is a two car train though, I do wonder if the 150 may also be able to sub in since it would just be an even swap. Now if we could use that on this route too, that would be an instant day one purchase from me.

 

Not really that interesting to me, though the main appeal would be the 165, though the screenshots and description aren't very encouraging.

For starters, the screenshots show a 165 numbered 165210, which is a unit that doesnt exist. Also the description states that the 165 is a 2 car unit however there are 3 car units as well.

165101-165117 are 3 car units, whereas 165118-165137 are 2 car units.

 

I wouldn't call it a London route
The scenery is similar to Medway Valley.

 

I thought they would be more of selling point if was integrated into GWE. To make the route/map big and busier. I would have bought it straight away.

 

it looks really goo imo I do not agree with some of the negative comments I just think they are being ungrateful in my opinion this route looks beautiful to me I look forward to the release as this will probably will be one of the last before TSW 7 is announced

 

That’s disappointing. Why couldn’t they have just extended them into GWE

 

Not a full price route, which is good.

 

Doesnt matter aint that deep route looks awesome

 

so perhaps around the 15 pound price point

 

As I just posted in the Roadmap thread, it is quite disappointing this will be three standalone branches, particularly Windsor. At a minimum the GWML should be included between Slough and Twyford to link the three branches and support through workings in the peak, with Reading and the TCD ideally to cover the morning and evening ECS moves. Another route relying on modifying existing stock rather than bringing a new train. Would have been great in a retro setting and used to get a Class 117 DMU in the game.

Will be thinking about it, but unless very cheap (as in £19.99 cheap) this will be an optional sale purchase for me.

 

still looks good

 

Looks interesting i will still buy .

 

this is a good route too though

 

you can tell he puts a lot of work into it

 

Yes definitely when mildmay extension arrives that will look amazing.

 

Sorry, but I have to say it...

I don't get it.

My first impression was "ooh extension".

Nope... three disconnected lines. Can only move between the three on route hop.

I travel on 2 of the 3 lines often and the screenshot of Alexandra Gardens in Windsor - where the Hurricane is - looks very good.

But from a playability perspective it would get boring for me quickly. For example, the one I use most is Windsor to Slough. Six minutes tops with no intermediate stations. Henley branch 12 minutes end to end.
The only interesting bit about the Marlow Donkey is the reversing at Bourne End.

Plus, if you're a user of the excellent The Thames Branches Day Ranger ticket, there's 4 Thames Valley branches in total, as it includes Greenford.

It won't happen now but it would have been nice for the main-line between Slough and Reading Traincare depot to have been included. It would have been a wonderful opportunity to electrify the line and set it just before the Elizabeth line started. After all, so many of us were crying out for it to be electrified.
And I know Johannes would have done a good job of it.
That way you can have GWR 387s on local/fast services between Slough and Reading and also use IETs in electric mode between Slough and Reading as before Elizabeth line altered the timetable, IETs stopped there each hour.
Plus, you'd be able to drive the late night/early morning ECS services between Reading Traincare and the various branches.

That would have got me excited because of the playability, especially with layers. Really sorry, but despite this being local, in its current state it does not.

 

Honestly, it’s a new thing Johannes is testing out, and as long as it isn’t full price, fair play to him.


I feel like some people are just way too used to the busy mainlines we’ve been getting, and aren’t satisfied much with anything rural.

in honesty, we are in much dire need for rural UK branches in game, and they can be really good.

 

Yes, this route, as it is not in London.

 

In the current timetable there are no through workings to Paddington.

It will be sold at a lower price point (see ⬇️)

 

Extensions in TSW are painful so I get why this is seperate and i'm ok with that. These lines are very tiny though so not a lot in terms of replay value.

If the price is less than £20 then I'd say it's fair, I do like branch lines but the price has to be right for such a small map with no new stock.

 

Which makes it even more of a disjointed exercise. We will still have the main line stations but set in current day rather than the original 2017 timetable which would have been more suitable to integrate the branches. How will main line AI work, in and out of portals at all three of the junctions? And while we have the 802's there are none of the far more common 800's, or a Class 345 for the Crossrail workings and the GWR 387's will be a payware add on when it eventually releases.

Not denigrating what Johannes is doing, but if he wanted to do a small section of the GWR, something like Reading to Bedwyn or Swindon to Gloucester might have worked better.

 

Whilst the majority of branch services may be self-contained, unless this route's timetable aligns with the GWE:R timetable I don't see much point in it.

That being said, I'm glad these branches are in the game, albeit not in the form hoped. Probably one for a sale unless it's fairly cheap.

 

If I had to hazard a guess it is probably because GWE is so old.

 

Well, " just west of London with multiple crossings of the River Thames " . As a foreigner, looking at a map, I'd call it part of the London area.

Interesting, though, all 3 branches feed into the GW Main Line. Pity TSW hasn't matured enough to provide through trains to Paddington.

 

That may have been the original concept of the route, but I reckon Johannes wasn't able to talk to Liam/DTG to include half of GWE on this route, even if in a more modern era with electrification.

 

Those 3 branch lines are not in london. There's no through trains to Paddington in real life either

 

Interesting idea - one to watch. Wonder if he'll consider building out the Cardiff routes a bit, that'd definitely get my attention!

 

Isn't there someone on the forum that merged 2 parts of the wcml into 1? I don't remember who that was, but I was thinking that these branches would be an ideal candidate for a merger.(Edit: With the GWE Remastered)If it would then also be possible to merge the timetables for each, I think the Thames Valley branches would become more interesting then it is now. (At least for me)

 

I asked Johannes a few questions:

Why isn't this an extension of GWE?
"GWE is not my route, so its not my place to extend it. Also there are no services beyond the endpoints in Windsor/Marlow/Twyford so it would add no gameplay"

Why is the Greenford branch not included?
"Greenford is a bit different as it does run services to Paddington and they would have needed to be stopped early"

What year will the route/timetable be set in?
"The timetable will be the same year as GWE: 2017"

Pricing
"I cant tell you the price yet, but it definitely wont be a full price route "

 

I also think this is an interesting concept and one where the current route hoping may work IF there are any through services . Full marks to the dev.

 

Thanks for that.
Guess I'm out then, opportunity missed. I wish Johannes all the best and look forward to the Richmond extension coming out.

To be pedantic though, by 2017 the electrification was about done.

 

Here's a quick edit I did overlaying the route map onto Google Maps. Even from the most basic perspective, all three lines exist outside of the M25 orbital motorway, so are completely outside of any London based councils or authorities.

 

Constructed doesn't mean it was active. If I recall correctly it wasn't until nearer the end of 2017 that 387s started running all the way along the line, and it wasn't until 2018 that IETs actually entered service.

 

Im a bit ‘meh’ about it in all honestly. All these disconnected routes are getting a bit tedious now. There needs to be some serious thinking by DTG and the 3P devs about ensuring that future routes connect/merge/join existing lines or routes already in game.That would be so much more a ‘proper’ train driving experience!

 

If it’s sub £20 then I reckon it will be an a contender as a day 1 purchase. But the service count is concerning me, arent these branches mostly 2 tph in each direction and Windsor 3tph? Even throwing in a RHTT return service isnt going to give us much more than 220 services is it?

If the mod community can manage a route merge then so much the better.

 

To be fair, the level of detail in the picture of Windsor is incredible, plus it'll have a working token system? I'd say there's good value there, especially if it's not even a full price route.

 

May 2017 We got the first services from Maidenhead to Paddington using 387s. Total game changer. Went from 2 or 3 car DMU's to 8-car EMUs.

 

…should hope not…it’s not a full route!