I spawned an Azuma in Free Roam. Went into the cab to activate the controls and noticed an intriguing message shown for the destination display? This was only being shown in cab as the exterior passenger destination display was blank.
No, it's already been asked and posted on other groups. It's the same as GWE, where the service is from Paddington to Swansea, but goes as far as reading.
DTG should start adding to routes they already have instead of bringing out new routes with just one loco/train which seem barren without layers. Extending some and adding layers would be very popular with the players. I think ECML is ripe for an extension to Kings X so we can actually get an important termini on it, or Edinburgh for that matter. At the moment it's not fulfilling to drive a route designed to be long distance between significant cities of which Donny and Peter are neither. Also the Class 700 could be added to the London section properly with overhead power. Thy could then provide a proper run for Azuma to stretch it's legs and also add Grand Central Adelante's. IMO this would sell like hotcakes.
apart from the current known way to extend routes, which is intensive on time and resources. There isn’t any other way to make it efficient enough to see it done regularly. Whilst it would be good, it won’t be coming unless they develop that area a lot more. great for us, but unless you want no scenery and no traffic, that’s one hell of an undertaking for DTG to get working as one route, assuming it’s even possible (I wouldn’t want to play that route on Gen 8 with Traffic and scenery from the Scottish Capital to the English Capital)
Ideally we should’ve got Kings Cross to Stevenage (51 miles). The section of the route is very interesting, scenic and gameplay wise. There’s more speed restrictions too, due to regional services. The Class 700 plays a huge role on this part of the route too, all the way up until Peterborough. King’s Cross to Peterborough is 84 miles, so maybe would’ve been to demanding. To Stevenage though, that’s definitely acceptable.
That would have been worst case scenario, personally. It really isn't and would just be dull city scape and very dull 'scenery' getting closer to Stevenage. Sort of but it would mean the Intercity experience being worse than GWE and just being another SE orientated commuter route (just with juice wires rather than rails) which we have already covered in game. Not enough to change the experience much. Which is why we ever get this section modern it should go the full 76 miles to Peterborough.
Both Peterborough and Doncaster are actually quite significant cities. They are both major stations on the ECML for one, and many services start/stop at each to major cities such as Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Cambridge, Norwich just to name a few.
personally, I think the best section would be along the coast around (before and after) Berwick, but I do have a liking for the section before and heading into Kings Cross. Edit: I would probably say Newcastle to be the best station on the line, City and Castle entrance north side (east) and City, Bridge and Tyne river entrance on the south side (west)
I don't go further North than Newcastle so don't know the line North well, but I do know it well enough to know it's stunning scenically. The section we have got is the section I always said would be best. Newcastle is a horrible city, but by 'eck it has a wonderful station and approach, so certainly agree with that.
But nowhere near as important as London Kings X and York. Neither are termini for the ECML. Just about every station on the ML's have connections with other towns. Neither are significant destinations. I've ridden that route quite a lot recently and the vast majority of passengers are going to other destinations, the first being York and then points beyond.
They're not important in the sense they are the end of the line, but in that they are major interchanges.
If they were to extend routes and not make new ones there would be no end to it I’m my eyes. If gwe was extended to Didcot or Swindon for example there would be no reason to stop, just continue it every couple of months and you’ll end up in Swansea or even Penzance, they would just continue to extend routes into new territories. Another example, BCC, if that was extended you could go for miles out either end of Birmingham or Bromsgrove, you could make a wcml route out of it if you wanted to. Some locations deserve their own stand alone route. Routes should be separated imo, not every route needs an extension and extending existing routes should replace building new ones
I don't get it. How is Peterborough to Doncaster not dull? The section in game is just going through the british countryside through farmland and unremarkable scenery with a lack of service variety. Peterborough and Doncaster aren't even terminal stations
Because KGX to PBO is basically the same as GWE with little variety. The section of ECML has a variety of services, some all stops, some 1 or 2 stops.
There are the commuter services though and much more variety than just one passenger train and one freight train . Also the version in game only has you stopping at 1 or 3 intermediate stations that are 10-15 minutes apart which isn't long. Hardly remarkable in my eyes.
There's nowt wrong with farmland and this section of line is many times more interesting to drive down to the Cross as that is 45 minutes without any stops and mind numbing surroundings on the vast majority of the Intercity services which was the focus of this route. Since the start of TSW there has never been a proper intercity driving experience for Britain and so this route fills that gap which KGX-PBO wouldn't as it would be focused on commuter driving which is good for people that like that but no for those of us that have been waiting to do some proper intercity runs, as there are already plenty of commuter routes in game. Along with all the above this route also brings Lincolnshire, Britain's best county, to TSW so what's not to like. This was the correct section of line for dovetail to bring to the game and although it would have benefitted having Leeds or York it still is substantial enough to give a bigger dose of intercity driving to TSW.
Remember the focus of ecml is the 801, not anything else which is why dtg chose the particular section. As much as kgx to pbo makes sense, with the 801 only, it becomes another lgv with doing a to b runs with the occasional stop in between making it less fun than creating a section where it can do other things.
No. LNER on ecml south only stops at 3 of the 20+ stations, which is a very bad service variety, however on this ecml section lner stops at every station on the route with the stops alternating
Modern commuter routes are some of the best selling routes for the game. Another route similar to GWE would be a day 1 purchase for me.
But not everyone wants a commuter route. They have to cater for both markets otherwise they will lose customers.
We have enough commuter routes. Even Vorarlberg turns out to be a bus service if you do a S1 service all the way from Bludenz to Lindau. Very nice scenery but with most stops less than 2km apart it was starting to get tedious. IMHO Peterborough to Doncaster was a good choice for the ECML (though I would have preferred Newcastle to Berwick) but the Azuma is not much fun to drive. Still little or no sensory feel or sound in the cab. Earlier I started one of the EMT "relief" HST services in the timetable and that was awesome by comparison.
Honestly I don’t understand the London slander on these forums considering if we got Peterborough to Doncaster is essentially like GWE. Any UK route that is a mainline with a few stops inbetween is like GWE? And in fact isnt GWE one of the most popular routes. One of the major gripes of GWE is that it’s too short. So how is ECMLS like GWE when in essence they are completely different. Peterborough is much more further, plus there is an unmatched amount of variety on the southern section. When it comes to pure variety, you cannot top the southern part of the mainline. There’s the stoppers from Moorgate, the Cambridge Semi fast, the Peterborough semi fast, LNER with the fast runs and the bihourly Stevenage services, freight runs, special runs. That’s not even everything and the route is already very busy. If it came down to me, I would have probably had the ECML run into Leeds or York, rather than Doncaster as you get a terminus (in Leeds) and potential for reusage, along with layers from other routes and a West Yorkshire commuter. But each to their own.
The key difference is the difference in stopping patterns of services. On GWE you have non stop or stop at Slough. On PBD there are several different service patterns which give that element of variety, I have done over 1000 miles on the route and have not come across any service patterns which are the same (admittedly I am lucky that I know where certain services stop so can be more selective) but the fact I can do this is the big difference to GWE where I have only two options. KGX- PBO would be like GWE as you either go non stop or stop at Stevenage which is a very unvaried pattern and so becomes boring to play quicker.
I strongly disagree with that. The running sounds on the 801 are some of the best we've ever gotten in my opinion. It's the only train I can think of where you can actually hear the momentum of the train itself, either increasing or decreasing. As for it being quiet, turn on the fan just below the headlight switch. It even has two different settings.
Well they did basically admit that this section was the easiest to make. Personally I would've preferred the section that went into London or the section in Scotland which has much better scenery. I watched videos of the route and it just made me want to fall asleep to be honest. Also commuter routes are among the best selling routes in the game so unless some wouldn't like routes like that or are bias to this line, I just don't see the appeal of this section of the ECML. I'm sorry but I just don't.
I would actually kind of see the point if they added more than just an 801, but the more I think of it the more it’s starting to seem like DTG did it as it’s the easiest compared to north of York and south of Peterborough
We will have to agree to differ. The Azuma is worse than the 1442 on RT. Since the full release it also lost the reverb effect under bridges and tunnels.
It's a shame really, if they had included intercity services from day one - pick from SBB, DB or OBB, these would've provided regular stops while still skipping lots of stations and have varying service patterns. There would've been "bus stop" for people who wanted that and longer distances for others.
I'm with you on this one. The route, trains, and Peterborough and Doncaster are really well done, but the drive between is just so boring IMO. Will it be non-stop, or will there be one stop? Exciting lol! At least the 801 is a painless drive. Even MML has the big cooling tower, but i can't think of a single landmark on this one, just fields. Definitely my least played of the new routes, which is surprising to me. Anyway i know it's just IMO.
its not boring at all ECML is one of the true legend railways of the world and one of UK's finest and happy to have it in TSW at long last lets hope for more parts in future its way better then any USA Freight zzz
Personally I would like to see Peterborough to Doncaster extended to York & Edinburgh to Newcastle & Newcastle to York & London to Peterborough be their own Sections. (with some wizardry work for better solutions to implement route connecting)
DTG should go with that imo, release other sections as separate routes, then once you’ve got enough mainline maybe a merger can be attempted
I also said if you are bias to this part of the route which we do have some here. There is nothing remarkable about this route.
I would argue otherwise, it’s got a lot of iconic locos from different era’s, picturesque scenery on certain sections, architecture of the many stations is unique and some World Famous, (there is the then the idea of the Scottish and English connection (even more so when their the capitals))
maybes even throw in a extension like Leeds & Lincoln at some point to satisfy it not being left out.
As stated previously it is better than Kings Cross to Peterborough or York to Darlington (even a Videoscene cab ride I bought edited out the bit from York to Northallerton), but something like Durham or Darlington to Berwick taking in Newcastle as the centre point would have been much nicer, in hindsight.
It's a mainline that goes from London to Scotland. The ECML isn't a bad mainline, it's just that this section isn't remarkable in my eyes. It's just countryside and farmland with not much iconic scenery along the run. Then again every mainline will have a dull moment. And really you only get one train in this section of the route and it's mostly Hitachi AT300 trains that run on this route in real life anyways with some class 91 and a couple of Grand Central Class 180's.
Yea I’m not the greatest fan of this section, scenery is majority just field after field from what I can tell, the other sections I’d rate higher in terms of scenery personally. Though stations are quite nice and separated enough to enjoy high speed still. their is also local trains (northern up at Newcastle for one) and other operators like NTP & Cross country on certain sections (not in TSW of course but great layer potential) then all the ScotRail up at Edinburgh and other stuff at Kings Cross. edit: I do have bias on the express to stopping and slow side though, so I would take a Mainline over a near painfully slow line any day.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the scenery but the section of track between Grantham and Peterborough has seen multiple speed records broken along it one of which is worldwide and still unbroken.
I think that the Scotsman is overrated although that will probably trigger some people. I'm suprised they didn't make the LNER A4 4468 Millard though as that train is much more iconic for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world. That would fit this section of the ecml alot more in my eyes even if this part of the route isn't entirely interesting
