Hello all, I have a question. I am wanting to know from all you railfans across the pond, what route would you recommend as the best and as the most representative of the modern British rail network. I am thinking about getting a UK route eventually, and have been leaning toward one of the East Coast Main Line routes. I have the London to Favisherm (?) route. Thank you very much and God bless.
The London to Peterborough route is quite good and gives you the option of more Freight workings. https://store.steampowered.com/app/...ast_Main_Line_LondonPeterborough_Route_AddOn/ It uses the Class 91, 365 and the HST with speeds up to 125mph without the Cab Signalling of HS1 Covering the London Suburbs there is a lot of 4 track running and the two track bottleneck at Welwyn West Coast Mainline over Shap covers the WCML from Preston to just north of Carlisle The trains used are mostly Electric with both Class 86 and Class 87 plus a Class 47 along with Mk2 and Mk3 stock https://store.steampowered.com/app/...r_West_Coast_Main_Line_Over_Shap_Route_AddOn/ And the Pendolino services use the line having to Tilt on the mainlines over the hills https://store.steampowered.com/app/704283/Train_Simulator_Virgin_Trains_BR_Class_390_Pendolino_EMU/ Wait until Xmas for the Sales Peter
Thanks Peter. I am leaning toward the London to Peterborough one, but I will check them all out. Cheers! (I think what British say...)
There's very little that could be called modern UK. Most of the "modern" routes are showing their age. If you're after any of the new generation of EMUs and DMUs then you're in for a disappointment. The newest rolling stock is the somewhat disappointing Scotrail Class 380 or the WIP Class 800 (developed by DTG some years prior to its production so again, not great). My favourites are London - Brighton and Great Eastern Main Line as they are high intensity, electric and have a nice mix of city, towns and rural areas. GEML is going to see complete fleet renewal over the next 18 months, so it is fairly current, for now. Edit- Kings Cross to Peterborough is pretty good but is set about 8 years ago and much of the fleet has been or is being replaced so not exactly modern. I also recommend Just Trains Derby - Sheffield (Diesel only) and their version of London Underground Metropolitan Line which is an amazing piece of work IMO.
Thank you! I’ll be sure to check them out. Also, sorry to be ignorant, but what are EMUs and DMUs? I’m American so I’m new to UK trains.
Not a problem and a big hello across the pond. Not a day goes by without me watching MSNBC as Washington is like a reality TV show. I hope it all ends well for you. Electric Multiple Units and Diesel Multiple Units. I recommend a browse through wikipedia or maybe purchase a copy of the ABC Traction Recognition guides by Colin Marsden for a detailed overview. We're rather blessed with a varied selection of traction in the UK.
. A big hello back at you! Thanks for the info, I’ll look into that guide. I have something similar for American diesels called the Locomotives: The Modern Diesel & Electric Reference. I recommend it if you ever need info on American locos. Oh and yes, Washington politics are basically a long-running television drama series. Enjoy the spectacle! God bless.
And a Sale on Train Simulator has started The ECML London to Peterborough is now £5.99 https://store.dovetailgames.com/uk/...st-main-line-london-peterborough-route-add-on London to Brighton is also £5.99 https://store.dovetailgames.com/uk/product/263155/london-to-brighton-route-add-on Peter
The Class 800 comes with the ECML London to Peterborough and a reskin to the Azuma livery is free. No different to the GEML which is also using stock that has been replaced - There are very few if any routes that represent Today's Railways in the UK I would Not recommend Just Trains Derby - Sheffield. It starts at Sheffield and with one intermediate station you have arrived in Derby 30 mins later. The freight does not go thru Sheffield toward Derby - it joins on at Tapton Jn near Chesterfield. Their version of the LU Metropolitan route is ok but it has One type of train and is basically an extended Metro Line Peter
I'll second the nomination for WCML Over Shap- I bought it because I wanted to drive the magnificent APT but found it more varied and enjoyable in it's own right than I expected. It might depend on what you mean by "modern" though- the route as it comes has an '80s atmosphere. To my mind modern means not steam so pretty much my life time but that's the last 53 years now (Nurse where's my cardigan?) so YMMV. I'd add WCML (North) with the same caveat (late '80s setting). It's an older route but one with lots to do and much to like (unless you like earning career points- the three included career scenarios all have their faults) and it's usually a fiver or so in sales. Well worth having. Simply because it hasn't changed much in the last couple of decades The Settle-Carlisle route is pretty contemporary. Taken at face value there's not much going for it- it's quite linear and sort of peters out at the south end but it has a decent stab at the famously lovely scenery and, as another "classic" route, it's cheap- £4 in the last sale IIRC. If you just fancy taking something for a drive and watching the world go by it's hard to beat. There was free access to TS2018 for a couple of days and I liked what I saw of the North Wales line. Hope this is helpful.
Thanks JJ, that most certainly is helpful. I'll look into them all. The cardigan comment is priceless by the way! God bless
I'll have to recommend AP's Wherry Lines route. The quality of it is amazing and some of the scenery is beautiful. Racing through the Broads and seeing the famous Norfolk windmills and narrowboats can't be beat!
The only really representative route is Chatham Mainline with Medway Valley until you hit Rochester where the 700 is missing, other than that it's just about right With the huge changes in rolling stock and layouts and big missing chunks of London including North Kent, C2C let alone other parts of the country such as West and Mid Wales there is much that COULD be done if the will is there
The Chatham Mainline is also on sale at half price https://store.dovetailgames.com/uk/product/467167/chatham-main-medway-valley-lines-route-add-on Peter
749006 said "No different to the GEML which is also using stock that has been replaced " Ha,ha, are you trolling us commuters? 345s at London end and 10 x 755/4s are available at the rural end. The rest of us are still living the GEML (2012) dream at the moment. The first 745/0 should be in service before Christmas. The 720s are due shortly after the next ice-age.
I was just comparing the ECML to the GEML - both routes are as good as each other and both are set at the time of release. AFAIK Nothing new for either route has been made in TS2020 You commuters are having the good life - try the North West where I'm from 142's, more 150s that anywhere else, second hand 156s, 158s, 170sfrom Scotrail and 319s from Thameslink Peter
WCML: Trent Valley is excellent and modern -- with one caveat. Thompson Interactive has imposed a pretty awful EULA on it which guarantees there will be no commercial add-ons (sound packs or scenario packs) for this route. However, if you don't need these (e.g. you'll make your own scenarios or use non-commercial workshop ones), it is very good - the attention to detail from the railhead to the overhead catenery and lineside features (even the roads have proper road signs) really is some of the best out there - and it makes up for the otherwise fairly flat terrain. The scenarios are also pretty decent, although you'll be driving an American locomotive (class 66 (nicknamed 'shed' or 'ying-ying', you'll know why if you drive it)) for the freight scenarios. You can always edit the scenarios and swap the locos out if you want to run something entirely British (e.g. swap it out for a class 60). WCML over Shap is also very good. The scenery from Preston to Carlisle is better than Trent Valley as you'll be going through the Lake District. Unfortunately they didn't do the Windermere branch (the track's there, but without any real scenery), but there is the Morcambe and Heysham branches. I would recommend getting the Armstrong Powerhouse enhancement pack for the class 87, it makes it sound so much better. The 87 is really interesting to drive, it's a "tapchanger" locomotive and you have to think a lot further ahead when driving it, particuarly with the gradients and speed limit changes on WCML over Shap. The included scenarios are all 1980s, but the route itself is modern (it has modern cell towers and things like solar panels by the line). It also includes a couple of scenarios to the Heysham nuclear power station that include some shunting. Both of these WCML routes include working neutral sections, too, which work with the WCML Shap included class 87.
Thanks Mack! They both sound like bang up routes. I especially like that class 66 (I'm American so that's probably why). That's awesome that it is called a 'ying- ying', we have several types of locomotives that have that same engine, so I know exactly what you're talking about . I'll be sure to check them both out, especially AP enhancements. Thanks for all the detail and taking the time to help. I would love to go railfanning with in the UK one day. God bless.