(image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_442 442402 "County of Hampshire" seen at Wool, wearing the South West Trains Mainline livery, facing Weymouth, note that the frontal door is standing slightly open) What is it? The South Western Main Line is the mainline that runs from London Waterloo to Weymouth via most notably Dorchester, Poole, Bournemouth, Southampton, Basingstoke and Woking. There are mostly passenger trains running on this route, although I, personally have seen a few Freightliner Class 66s hauling freight at Dorchester. It runs through Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Greater London. (image source: from a YT video called Poole to Weymouth South Western Main Line Class 444 Desiro, a Class 444 can be seen waiting at Weymouth, one of the two terminals of the route.) Rolling stock The rolling stock on this route is the following: Class 444 (WAS South West Trains, now is South Western Railway) Class 450 (WAS South West Trains Blue, now is South Western Railway) Class 442 (WAS Network SouthEast, then Stagecoach South West Trains, South West Trains Mainline & South West Trains C6, now isn't running on the line anymore) Class 455 (WAS Network SouthEast, then South West Trains Red, now is South Western Railway, only in/near London) Class 456 (WAS Network SouthEast, then South West Trains Red, now is South Western Railway, only in/near London) Class 220 (Cross Country, Virgin Trains) Class 221 (Cross Country, Virgin Trains) Class 159 (WAS South West Trains, now is South Western Railway) Class 66 (Freightliner, EWS) (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_450#/media/File:450112_London_Waterloo.jpg, 450112 can be seen inside the London Waterloo railway station) Could I please have more information on the route? Certainly. The route is 100% third-rail electrified as of now. The Surrey section, where about half of it has become Greater London, was electrified as far west as Pirbright Junction (for Alton) using the 750 V DC third rail system, by LSWR or its successor, the SR before WWII. (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_66#/media/File:66598,_Chesterfield_(4288474539).jpg, 66598 can be seen hauling freight near Chesterfield [not featured on SWML, image just for the loco]) Why this? I feel that this route is very scenic and iconic, and it should definitely be made for Train Simulator. I, for one, would be overjoyed if this proposal would be turned into reality. Also, I've ridden the Desiros three times, first two times from Weymouth to London and back, and the third time to Woking and changed trains for Portsmouth, to the IOW and back. On the way back, I think I remember boarding an old train (which I now know was a slam-door, presumably a 411, maybe) back to Woking, and the Desiro back to Weymouth was delayed. Both of those were in the late 2000s. Although I've just ridden trains on it two times, I have to say the experience was astonishing. (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Waterloo_station#/media/File:Waterloo-Station-2013.JPG, an aerial view of London Waterloo from a plane approaching Heathrow Airport from the east. The London Eye ferris wheel can be seen to the left of the station) Some more info about its existence for TS People could make scenarios set in the 2000s, with the Class 442 utilising the SWT reskins available at Train Sim Design's Website, providing that DTG doesn't release skins for the Class 442 on the marketplace, although these require you to have the Class 442 and the Armstrong Powerhouse Class 442 Sound Pack (Pro). (image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Waterloo_station#/media/File:Waterloo_Station_clock.jpg) Fact If the SWML is going to be recreated into TS, so will the Waterloo Station clock, as seen in the picture above. Hopefully it will actually be displaying the in-game time. (image source: https://www.bournemouth.com/trains/bournemouth-to-london/ two Class 442s can be seen inside Bournemouth station, wearing the SWT C6 livery, hence the orange door) Here's a video showing the preview for the London Waterloo to Weymouth driver's eye view movie. Parts of the route can be seen in it. Last note That's it from me. To sum it all up, I'd really like the SWML to be re-created into Train Simulator, and I'd be travelling to and from London Waterloo all the time, and I'd be greatly enjoying myself while doing so. ■ Your opinion? What about you? Do you want to see the South Western Main Line recreated into Train Simulator? Leave your thoughts in the comments! Also, don't forget to check out the poll at the top of this article! Disclaimer: I do not own any of the media shown here, nor do I claim to. All media belongs to their rightful owners. I just put them in here for illustration purposes.
That is 100% my opinion. I also like the old SWT livery much better than the new grey SWR one. We can only hope that DTG decide to do it. By the way, thanks for your comment (and vote!), I appreciate it!
Exactly. If it would be in TSW, you'd have to wait for them to put every single train in, and then wait for them to release an update containing a map/scenario editor, so people can make their own scenarios. But if the trains look so realistic in TSW, even if we would have all the trains like the 444, 450, 442, 455, 456, etc; would it lag very much, if you'd, say, drive past Clapham Junction? The camera would have to render so many trains, the one you're driving, and about 10 more that also go past Clapham Junction. I really think TS is the way to go. You've got nearly all the trains that ever ran on the route (from the last, say 35 (or so) years), and the means to create scenarios. Also, if DTG would do it, they could re-use the Clapham Junction from the London to Brighton line. BTW: Do you know if the Class 415 also ran on the Portsmouth Direct Line? Thanks!
I couldn't agree more. And it'd probably be more than just a ton of mainline traffic, given that just one car of a multiple unit weighs more than a ton! Also, I feel that for the atmosphere, it doesn't need all those super realistic shaders and textures, I think the graphics of TS are Notch 7 (or Top Notch), for it to look great. I'm also not sure about the 415. Thanks for the reply, though.
I would really like to see this route as well as waterloo to Exeter but has anyone realized that as yet there has NEVER been a route using Waterloo for TS.I just wonder why when there is such a diverse amount of routes and possabillities available.
Although not the complete Waterloo-Weymouth route, SteamSoundsSupreme do a superb freeware steam era Southampton to Weymouth route. Have to agree that Waterloo has been long overlooked.
You can now do so! The remastered version of the Portsmouth Direct Line, for TS2019, extends the line all the way to Waterloo. Though, I'm sure you'll know this by now!
This would be a great addition, the line passes through some wonderful scenery at Southampton Docks (especially at night), all through to Poole Harbour, and then some lovely countryside near Dorchester. Would also be great to see the new South Western Railway branding make it into the game officially.
what you are all missing with the Weymouth route is the Weymouth quay tramway, a route down to the ferry terminal along a public road with buildings one side and the harbour the other. Though sadly not used anymore (it last saw commercial traffic in 1998), it could make for some great additional scenarios of running the Dorset Dawdler (yes that was a service from Waterloo to Weymouth) to the ferry terminal. Some POI's on the SWML in Dorset are the single track between Dorchester and Morton, Worgret junction down to Swanage, and the viaduct across Holes bay. Lets see what happens it would be great to see in TS and the possibilities are endless with just the Weymouth end!
Maybe Dovetail could do a similar thing to what JT do with the Western Mainlines... They could release it as 2 different routes, They could have the whole route that runs up to places like Southampton, Portsmouth via Cosham + the Alton branch and possibly Sailsbury, ect, And have the second route as an extension for the owners of the updated PDL for less money The Trains that could come with this route is the 450, 444, 158/159, 221, 66 and possibly a class 707 (Even though it doesn't run on the SWML) PS: Am I the only one here that thinks Dovetail and other TS developers don't care at all about the South Western Network?
There are several regions on the UK not covered completely in TS, and with two versions of the Portsmouth line in existence from DTG alone I wouldn't say they don't care about it, even if they haven't added in another major part of that network. Same could be said for the Kent lines (three major London terminals not in the game at all in Cannon Street, Charring Cross and Blackfriars) Same could be said for the Valley Lines in South Wales...
(For some reason the images don't display anymore. I have no idea why.) Also, the Bournemouth to Southampton route is very good, I really enjoy it! I love the Lymington branch too! Maybe it'd be good if there were two more routes though. 1. Bournemouth to Weymouth 2. Southampton to Woking So if you'd have purchased any of these which would overlap (such as Bournemouth to Weymouth and Bournemouth to Southampton), it should automatically merge the other route onto it. Just imagine the size of the route you'd have, if you'd have all of them (including the new PDL)! I think that would be a great thing for DTG to do. What do you think?
The problem is that all the routes are constructed separately, often on different maps so when you say "overlap", it might be an overlap in theory, but not in actuality For instance Cardiff has been on three different locations and elevations so those routes would be a complete pig to merge I completely agree that these things SHOULD happen, ie if you have two routes that go to the same place that they should be able to link up and merge, but this also causes a few issues For example how would you deal with datelines? Leeds station in the 30s was different to the 70s and is different to now What about lines which were not electrified but now are So it's not as simple as "join them all up". There are many considerations which need to be taken into account
As it happens, I'm making a route using the original Portsmouth Direct line. The 2d map shows quite a network of track and landscape including lines to Reading, Redhill, Brookwood and points south west. If the Waterloo-Portsmouth route shares the same DNA as the original PDL then there is a chance that there could be extensions to Southampton and beyond.
