Just Trains - Blackpool - Preston - Ormskirk Official Thread

Just got around to watching the stream. Very good presentation by the JT guys. The route is just OK for me, but the rolling stock sells it. Having such a variety of trains to drive, freight and passenger, is something sadly missing from most TSW routes so this is refreshing. I hope it is a paradigm for future DTG routes, though I have my doubts.

The only question for me is that, once again, I didn't think the night lighting was adequate, but I've come to expect and reluctantly accept the chronically poor night lighting from TSW.

However the era is right up my street, so I'll be grabbing this next Tuesday.

 

The route looks fantastic. I just wish they had slowed down a bit during the stream (and tested the sound levels before going live ). The person driving seemed more concerned with getting a gold medal than showing it off properly. The walks through the train and round stations were at breakneck speed and didn’t really give us time to appreciate them properly.

 

You do realise that sarcasm is the lowest form of witt

 

Just a heads up guys, i will be hosting a live stream on Monday 13th at 1930PM (UK TIME)
This will also be co hosted by Mark who has unable to be available for voice comms on the DTG stream.
We aim to take the look around a bit more of a slower "pace" <-- bad pun intended!

You will be able to find us on the following link.


Cheers and have a great weekend!

Tom

 

Bad puns? No such thing! Anyway, you can bet your bouncy suspension that I'll be there.

 

I just watched the stream last night and very impressed with the quality of the details along the tracks as well as the railway elements (like the wiring turnouts). Enormous care has been taken with this road, it shows; congratulations Just Trains. For my part, I can't wait for Tuesday to buy it and browse this line

 

I had no intention of buying this route since I am not really interested in the older UK stuff, I live in the US. After watching the stream yesterday, it became a must have with all the great detail JT has put into it.

 

Thanks for sharing! I will watch this stream for sure

 

Never get’s old.

 

I would watch this if I could but the link doesn't show up for me for some reason. There is just a blank space where the link should be? (this often happens with some videos as well) any help as to why this would be would be welcome. Using Microsoft Edge

 

you need to enable cookies on the forums for YouTube videos to show

the link goes to Just Trains YouTube channel for a stream on this coming Monday at 19:30 GMT

 

Just had a thought.
It's all good that we have announcements on the pacer for ntp… but that route takes place 2 years before the pacer was even built, I suppose it's not a huge deal but something I just wanted to point out.

 

I have cookies enabled on the forums and its only some videos and picture links that don't show up but thanks for the info. I managed to track down where the vid will play from JT's site

 

The route dates are not set in stone - see Diesel Legends.

 

likely for player scenario use, or advanced versions of free roam in the potential future what would allow player services, I think they wanted to cover all the proper BR routes as people were interested in running the 142 on them.

I don’t think announcements should be taken as guarantees of any future layers.

or perhaps they may want to look into substituting at another time or something, I’m pretty sure there is a way to force them to be selected only and not spawned in that way for those it may be a bit immersion breaking.

 

more on per route basis, if they’ve given a year they keep it more to that most often, other times DTG often use the term “modern ish” to allow leeway with some stuff.

DTG have always maintained GWE is set pre electrification and I don’t think that’s all to do with the wires (minus DLoGW), likewise Cathcart is to capture the 314 era.

DTG were more keen on selling a pack than recreating another route set in same area which is what DLoGW is

though all that’s still probably subject to change on case by case basis

 

Watched the first part of the stream and very impressed with what JT have achieved.

In all likelihood I will pick this up on Tuesday, however there are a couple of caveats...

Posted in the Suspension thread after watching the Blackpool South to Preston section I had a rather nasty sensation of nausea and I don't normally suffer from motion sickness. Admittedly this was on a large screen TV not the PC monitor but it is a concern particularly if the effect can't be turned off or down. Obviously you can drive the substitute traction but Journey mode is going to be pretty much solid 142 I would have thought.

The other item is that I have to concur the 142 seems to accelerate far too quickly even with the correct driving technique staying in Notch 3 for initial takeoff. The fact the demonstration seemed to be arriving early at most of the stations would appear to bear that out. The 142's were quicker off the mark than a heritage DMU but not that swift. Certainly the bottom end acceleration looks to need toning down by 10 - 15%.

So I may still hold back to wait and see what initial reactions are particularly with regard to the specific points.

 

Why? By steam you can test it if you have problems with it ask for refund! Otherwise you can minimise it in the settings as well

 

Yes I know! Just felt it worth noting the issues and as I already said this route in my mind exists to give the classic traction an outing.

 

It's on because of the stock available and the layers

 

Hi Thomas I have a question for you how do you handle the pacer when driving it with self changing gear box on inclines as it appears from reading the manual there is no gear hold switch/button to keep pacer in low gear on inclines awesome route and trains

 

Different game but that's also a nuisance in Snowrunner climbing hills when the transmission insists on trying to change up to 4th or 5th gear but needs to remain in second.

Was such a button actually provided on the real 142's, though?

 

Not sure but it’s in the ap pacer pack release

 

It won't be there with the release of this route but dtg are making a toggle

 

They didn't do anything special during the stream. You can rewatch sections to see how they drove using the different engine

 

Oh god I couldn't use the 101 because of changing gear I found it tricky I presume the pacer will be the same but i will give it a go

 

I think the Pacer has an automatic gearbox, so I think you’ll be fine.

 

The pacer does not have a manual gear system like the 101 does. You can hear the gears change on the original engines I believe, but it is automatic

 

A bit like a techtronic gearbox on a car, as opposed to a fully automatic CVT.

As an aside I had a Vauxhall Corsa with a techtronic gearbox for a few years. Wretched thing was always trying to kill me by not always shifting down into first. Go to pull out into a tight gap on a fast moving roundabout and the wretched thing would be chugging away in second!

 

I think those of us who learned to drive on a stick- shift will quite enjoy the gears on the 101. I like the sound of the mechanical shift. And the Raildriver makes driving it effortless.

I look forward to a similar experience with a 104 on PFR if /when it appears.

Certainly beats the pants off the joystick experience of an electrostar.

 

There are times I've got angry at my RailDriver and wanted to chuck it out my high window - then I said "Wait - the 101!"

 

Great that's good then

 

I found the 101 incredibly frustrating when I first came across it in NTP.
It’s now become my favourite train and it gets driven around almost every route at some point.

Definitely looking forward to driving the Pacer.

 

I think the 101 is quite easy to use, but definitely seems difficult at first thought when you hear about gears, brakes on the other hand aren’t the simplest but I think easier than American lap brakes.

Part of the reason I want to see the Class 142 on TVL, as I like non stop/limited stop services with the 101 rather than every stop.

 

Yeah its the brakes I hate on the 101, not the gears.

 

They get easier the more practice but I don’t think near enough to the level of ease with a brake handle like the 150 or 43 for example.

 

If you don't already know you can press the "/" key to return the brake handle to lap, so much more helpful than constantly moving it back and forth all the time.

 

There’s also a guide to how to drive the class 101 which people may find useful. As others have said, once you get used to it, it’s a very satisfying experience. The link is here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2989281079

 

A question for those with more knowledge than I: Watching a video of trains at Preston in 1987, I see several Class 150s. I'm sure there's a reason Just Trains decided not to add them as a layer, but why? Were they not used here in 1986? Is the Regional Railways livery too new? Are there cab upgrades that would be incorrect in 1986?

No judgement or second-guessing from me, just curious and wanting to learn more.

 

I think they certainly got more common from 1987 onwards, I believe the first of the 150/2s entered service towards the end of 1986. As for their inclusion I have a feeling adding them would probably create further headaches, with their current incompatbility with the Pacer and 101 (which have themselves caused issues during development) adding then likely would cause issues on any formations which split and join throughout the day.

As for cab upgrades well, the 150 as depicted in WCL already had modifications it shouldn't have for another 10 years so i think that ship has sailed!

 

I believe they were more a thing around the region in 1987.
The other issue is the regional railways livery on them, we would need Sprinter with the running man logo on the side for them to remotely fit in in some capacity, i did look about them getting added to the Timetable but that was the issue that made me say no to them being added.

Cheers, Tom

 

Fairly certain the 150/2’s were not rolled out until 1987 so technically would not belong on a route set in 1986. Besides without a major rework the Rivet 150/2, nice as the exterior and interior looks, is simply not in a fit state sound or physics wise to be layered on any other route.

If JT do decide to enhance this project with a sub DLC, I would much rather they did a Class 104 or Class 108 DMU pack, the former in particular were very common on Manchester to Blackpool North services and the added bonus with a reskin and retro interior could finally be layered into PFR for the Buxton shuttle.

 

In all likelihood 150/2 was not included because of the total hash made of setting audio up as these contraptions sound nothing like 150/2 should hence in all likelihood why in there fantastic thinking that they put class 142 pacer into timetable so we can scrap 150/2 and drive pacer in its place in timetable mode

 

Not a deal breaker, but I just heard on a stream that Rail Driver is not supported on the Pacer. Is this true? I know it's a bit of a niche product, but it's disappointing that a feature some of us are used to being on every new release is missing. Would be nice to know if it will be introduced later.

In any case, I think it would have been good to mention this a bit earlier (or maybe I missed it?).

 

I think they said they are aware and it will be poatched I believe.

Hentis

 

Im sure a backdated class 150/1 & 150/2 loco dlc would sell well with the configuration of 1987. They could include the 150/0 prototype too.

For the timetable the cl40s would have disappeared by then probably.

 

I'm very impressed with everything of BPO - it certainly seems the most exciting route to come to TSW in a very long time; oh how I wish every route would be as interesting/varied as this now we're at TSW 4.

Regarding the earlier discussion about whether BR era routes/rolling stock will be popular, well I think there'll have to be multiple BR routes before any trend can be seen first though. For example, BR era routes aren't exactly my favourite, however with BPO looking this superb, even I might get this route at some point namely because of:
- Service/livery variety
- Busy timetable
- Multiple rolling stock, no one-loco routes!
- No large empty stations

 

I doubt this is true, but if it were, it would be a serious impediment to my buying this route until it is made fully RD compatible with all trains on the route.

I cannot drive without the Raildriver.

Can someone clarify?

 

Unfortunately it’s true, I just asked on the Train Sim TV stream. They said they will look to add it later, but for now it’s not there.

Not a deal breaker for me, but a slight disappointment.

 

Thanks, Tom and all, for the info.