Good morning, I recently purchased western lines of Scotland during the express sale, and have been really impressed with the route, length and number of secnarios. Probably the best dlc I have ever purchased and being a steam fan, I have found the black 5 a great loco and we'll programmed. Has anyone got any suggestions of other steam routes or locos that is well made and has long drives? Thanks Arm
I'm not much for kettles but I do like to drive one now and then which I mention as a caveat because there are more knowledgeable users who may disagree with me. Anyway: The Riviera Line in the '50s has about half a dozen GW steam loco's and main and branch line running. It's not that long, especially at main line speeds, but nicely done. I risk geting a price put on my head but I like it even more now I have the Western Hydraulics pack. Settle-Carlisle comes with some celebrity preserved steam loco's (and more if you add the specials pack which includes A1 Tornado and V2 Green Arrow which I always pause to admire when I'm in Shildon) all of which are quite old models now but still fun.
Ahhh settle to carlisle. That's a good shout. Only 9.99 on Steam at the mo too. If i was to get that tonight are there any steam locos that come with scenarios for it?
S&C is usually £10 on Steam and typically 50% off during sales as was the Specials Pack when I got both. YMMV but I try to follow the commandment, "Thou shalt not pay more than 50% of the RRP". I mispoke slightly about the S&C. As far as steam goes (it's a modern route) it comes with LMS Jubilee Leander and Fowler 4F and scenarios for both. As mentioned the separate Specials Pack has Tornado and Green Arrow plus GWR King Class Edward II and Hall Class Wooten Hall. Again there are scenarios for each- be kind of odd if there wasn't really (try as I might I can't get close to completing the King scenario BTW). As mentioned these are all older models and quite basic in some respects but that doesn't mean they aren't fun to drive. I'm sure there are other scenarios for other steamers in the Workshop but you know what you already have and can search it as readily as I can. Now that I think about it another route you might consider is the older Woodhead Line. Obviously it's famous for being the first electrified main line in Britain (if you disregard the Newport line up my way which, admittedly, does stretch the definition of a main line) but it comes with Stanier 5MT and 8F and I got it bundled with the LNER B1 and Robinson O4 (which includes a bonus BR lined black V2) all for less than a tenner in the sale. Bargain. Regarding the Riviera Line in the '50s that was one of the routes bundled with the 2016 edition of TS. Getting an older edition which other sites sell but distribute through Steam can be a good way of adding a bundle of routes. I'm not going to add a link to a rival retailer's site here because there are tools which can spot such things and block them but you can use Google and I should get away with mentioning Golf Two Alpha as a clue.
I can think of two other routes. Netherfield: Nottingham Network Route which is a complex set of lines around the Nottingham Coalfields. This route comes with 5 different Steam locos, Stanier Class 8F, Fowler Class 4F, Robinson Class O4, Thompson Class B1 & Sir Nigel Gresley’s V2. If you like coal trains and shunting it might be one for you. And the Weardale & Teesdale Network. This has over 200 miles of main and branch lines set in the North East of England with Darlington and Durham stations on the East Coast mainline. There are no steam locos, just diesels but the route is set in the 1960's with not a colour light signal to be seen. Worth a look.
Thanks for the suggestions I really like the look of weardale and teedale. Plus very long route! I actually bought settle Carlisle yesterday. Seems like a great route, albeit very dated now (the class 158 doesn't even have DRA!) But was thinking of grabbing the black 5 too as there is alot of content from the community for this route and that loco
Although, as noted, it doesn't include any kettles this is an excellent suggestion. I think the route would ably represent any period from nationalisation to the end of BR green. In fact a certain amount of "modellers licence" has been used in its creation to keep a few tracks, platforms and even stations busy which were actually closed by the '60s it is ostensibly set in. The line from Darlington to Durham via Bishop Auckland was used by diverted main line traffic when the ECML was closed so you'd have good reason to run everything from pugs to Pacifics.
I would recommend Netherfield and Woodhead (the steam era one) as both complement each other and are very good routes. Woodhead comes with the Black 5, the 8F and a Class 76. It's also the basis for the Steam Sounds Supreme 8F enhancement packs, which give you pretty much all variants of the 8F. The Black 5 (the non BMG one) is old but decent. The Class 76 is an electro that is quite interesting to drive. Netherfield comes with: -the 8F, the old DLC which allows usage of some pretty old scenarios, especially those by the late Pat Dalton (PGEE) on UKTS. -the Black 5 - Robinson O4, great loco a bit older but still pretty good and it was a loco DLC for woodhead. - the Thompson B1, same as the O4 a great loco out of the box and also was an Loco DLC for Woodhead. That that is great value for Money. Also if you add the West Coast mainline and West Coast Mainline over Shap to that, you have the majority of addons you need for the Steaming over Beattock and Steaming over Shap freeware routes. Which are those sections of the WCML backdated to 1960....perfect for running both kettles and diesels. (Full disclosure, I helped a bit with the bughunting on those projects.) https://www.wotawallysbits.co.uk/steaming-over-beattock https://www.wotawallysbits.co.uk/steaming-over-shap I would also recommend the Weardale & Teesdale Network, as the route itself is phenomenal and is used as a base route for several great kettle addons like the Victoryworks K1. Riveria Line is also a great addon that is a must have if you like Kettles. Really old, but a good challenge for every driver is the Somerset & Dorset Route, it and it's assets are really dated, but each train on it is a test of your skills! Also there are ways of replacing the dated vegetation and afaik tracks as well.
