Am I right in thinking that all parts of the two mainlines are available on Steam (or if not, the gap via a third party)? Thinking of the ECML, there’s: JT’s Dundee to Edinburgh JT Edinburgh to Newcastle DTG ECML Add On Newcastle to York DTG York to Peterborough DTG Peterborough to London For the WCML, going back up: WCML South (London Euston to Birmingham) ?... (Birmingham to Crewe to Preston) WCML Over Shap (Preston to Carlisle) WCML North (Carlisle to Glasgow Central) Is this another gap?
The available "Missing Link" sections for the WCML are on ATS at the moment, but as subscriptionware. They still have the Stoke loop and one or two other bits to add, then I believe once these latter stages are added it will be merged. Newcastle to York is here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/208303/Train_Simulator_East_Coast_Main_Line_Route_AddOn/
That's the old one though... this one is a massive improvement. https://dpsimulation.org.uk/ecmlne.html
Ooh... thanks for the link- I knew about the North East England route but not this one. I'll have to check on that UK buildings pack but if I've got it that's the rest of my evening figured out.
Thank heavens I already have all those UKTS packs installed - don't think I could face another 8 hours to download a few MBs!
I couldn't find that building pack in my list of DLC but apparently it's part of the Woodhead route so wahey. Just had a quick drive and I'm looking forward to finding some scenarios for it. I was very slightly disappointed by the station signs at Allens West which weren't modelled accurately- there's usually a dab of paint applied by some wag to make the second L into a lower case I. Now I think about it I was aware of this route but I didn't have all the dependencies until last year so it sort of dropped off my RADAR.
Ready for a facepalm? They're not only officially hosted on UKTS, they are here too > https://www.trainsimdev.com/forum/downloads.php?cat=19 (lovely quick downloads too) or even torrents if that's your bag.. Apparently there's a limit on the overall monthly downloads and that's been exceeded (never noticed or had that arise when I downloaded the packs recently), but you can still torrent by the looks, also I thought I was a member but apparently not, anyone want to chuck me an invite?
Or instead of messing around with Torrent Download you could spend a total of £2.50 for 1 Month of Super Fast Unlimited Downloads from UKTS.
The Phase 3 installer installs the entire section from Birmingham to Preston via Crewe and Weaver Jn to Liverpool Lime St Along with an ATS Subscription, £32.99, you also need to purchase the OHLE pack from ATS £11.99 - or less
The ATS 'missing link' is great, but you need a shed-load of DLC. More useful to me would be that DTG produce an add-on (extension) for WCML South to add the missing local loop to Coventry from Rugby via Long Buckby and Northampton, so we can have realistic stopping services.
BitTorrent isn't the enigma it used to be, it's free to download, a simple to use interface and clicking a button on a web page to start a torrent seed is hardly messing around. I fully support the UKTS subscription too, it's horses for courses, but it's not one easier than the other imo.
I had a look at it, and at the time I thought it was an ‘bypass’ offshoot, rather than a branch of the WCML.
Edinburgh to Dundee was noted, but you forgot that Scottish East Coast Main Line goes all the way to Perth. The path from Perth to Inverness is presently under development. And the Kyle Line itself, which meets at Inverness, it on Steam and through JT, the latter with extra scenario content (including more six hour ones).
You are right - It is not a branch of the WCML - IT IS the WCML Rugby - Birmingham - Stafford is the branch off the WCML
I'd particularly like the Liverpool- Crewe section of the WCML (as Liverpool is my local station & have done many a mile between the 2 stations), is ATS the only place I can get this section of route from???
ATS is the only place you can get the route from - The people who made it are distributing it thru ATS However the South Lancs and North Cheshire - BR Blue route is still under construction will include Crewe to Liverpool. Have a look at these pictures https://www.flickr.com/photos/143036581@N05/sets/72157718139143613/ The first part of the route is available here https://www.wotawallysbits.co.uk/liv-man-br-blue-route
I started saving the stuff from Wotawallybits recently after learning of Nick Hudson's death last month, I believe March 8 or so. Saw the tribute on a scenario on his extension to WCMLOS that day, and Nick's last release was apparently a quartet of kitties to place as scenery. Several routes on that site are partially his work.
I didn't know him or what he did, then I asked someone and was linked to that site, and realized what kind of contribution he had made. Here is his Workshop route, for which he also made some scenarios (he also did a batch for the "Great Western Mainline to Swindon in the BR Blue Period" route by Martin Freeman, and a few unicorns mixed in there). And here is where I learned the news, a scenario dated March 8 called Swallows and Amazons v2.0. On that last one, it's stated, "This scenario is dedicated in memory of Nick Hudson, one of the community's asset creators, and builder of the route this scenario uses. Rest in Peace." Would be neat if DTG did some kind of tribute by including one of his items in one of their routes as well, but the chances of this seem slim to none.
Andy Freeman who worked with Nick Hudson on that Great Western Route and the South Lancs North Cheshire route The route is still being constructed by Andy Freeman - Nick had laid a lot of the trackwork and Andy does the scenic items.
Very nice. I look forward to the completion of the project, and I suspect it will be fully dedicated to Nick.
