Going through the Steam sale, I've narrowed down potential buys to any or all of Glossop Line: Manchester - Hadfield & Glossop, Linke Rheinstrecke: Mainz - Koblenz, and Bahnstrecke Bremen - Oldenburg. Are any of these must-buys or must-avoids from a gameplay perspective, i.e. fun to drive, the mechanics work as they should, runs can be completed? Input very much appreciated.
Left Rhine Line is a good choice. completely new trains (class 110, 103 and passenger cars I don't know the name of lmao), a good timetable, the route itself also seems great. however I've heard on Bremen-Oldenburg the signals were buggy and not usable anymore, and it reuses most trains anyways (110 from left Rhine, 425 from Rhine-Ruhr etc)
How can you forget the name of the mighty n-Wagen, the gracious Silberling? +1 for Left Rhine. Beautiful vintage rolling stock and beautiful scenery. You just can’t beat it. There are some problems with signalling and I can’t recall right now whether they were ever fixed. Bremen has a strong timetable. Lots of unusual moves with the proper DLC and lots of freight waiting to be overtaken (which Left Rhine has as well, but to a far lesser extent). The downside is that the entire route is essentially completely straight with only two curves in it for the entire run. Apart from the two end stations, there’s also just not really any interesting scenery either. Don’t own Glossop, so I can’t comment on that.
Left Rhine for sure, BBO in second place and the Glossop line last. I put off buying Left Rhine in fact I bought it on release and refunded it. But having repurchased it, now thoroughly enjoying it. Decent length run with a relatively vintage electric loco, what’s not to like?
Glossop has really nice scenery, and the 323 is well made. However, the signalling doesn’t work correctly, which is pretty grating, and the lack of traffic and (almost) identical stopping patterns on every train means there’s a lack of variety in the driving. In my view it’s worthwhile with a significant discount, but don’t expect to get too many hours out of it.
It’s like Cathcart but without the variety of going to Neilston or Newton. I know the 323 is well modelled including the sound but to me it’s always seemed a rather odd train, not really fitting in the paradigm of traditional AC EMU’s or the new generation. And running a few full length trips on BCC pretty much gives you a gutful of the thing anyway. As some of us said at the time, Glossop would have been better set in the 1500v DC era or it should have been part of a larger Manchester network.
I bought Glossop Line at release. Quite polished little route, but ultimately not a lot of variety. I held off on BRO because of the relatively average route/scenery and was rewarded for my patience because Left Rhine came out, including all the new rolling stock from BRO along with another new loco/wagon combo, better route with gorgeous scenery, busy timetable with layering for Niddertalbahn, and most importantly a true vintage German setting with fitting liveries and station signage. So I recommend LFR 100%.
