Wcml Preston To Crewe Discussion

Wonder if this version of Crewe was built entirely separately to the Crewe to Birmingham route, or if they collaborated at all. Signage aside, the station hasn’t changed much over the last 40 years.

 

I’m hoping they’re doing the Chester line out as far as The Works and Crewe Electric depot - there’s scope for 86/4s running to and from the depot to Basford Hall at the start/end of their turns. It’s a shame AAS didn’t model that given the imminent appearance of the 90.

 

I would think not, also worth bearing in mind platform 12 had it's roof removed in the mid 2000s, and the extensions to the original roof at the South end of platforms 5 & 6 are in a very sorry state now (back then it would have been a lot drier underneath!) and are due to also be demolished in the near future. Make the most of it while you can!

 

That's quite surprising. Even the old RSC (TSC) 47s had them moving.

 

I am glad they are doing a new 47.

Their 47/4 from Over Shap can still have an odd DSD function in a couple of scenarios, even though it was supposed to have been removed from the model after the issues on Blackpool.

For example, in two of the three Military Cargo scenarios on the route with the 47, you get the blue fault light and a brake penalty any time you are not sat in the driver's seat, but for the other scenario, it is fine.

 

Sounds like it "has SSF" fitted Take your foot off the deadmans pedal or not have it in direction then once you hit 5mph it dumps the brakes. I still recall working a Deltic double header and just as we pulled away the brakes dumped, it was absolutely bouncing down and I had to get out and check the next loco then the connections, ended up walking all the way down to the 47 that was on the rear to find a sheepish looking driver (traction inspector no less) "oh yeah I forgot it has SSF" and had been sat in the SM seat as it was roomier...

Preservation driving story aside, I don't think they modelled it as such for TSW but if it's not affecting gameplay just treat it as SSF

 

photos form jt's latest development log

 

No it's not that.

It does it even if you have the cab shut down entirely!!

 

Was looking at those yesterday.

So good!!

 

Them shots are epic. I love how it shows all the details especially trackside grass etc

 

I like what I'm seeing and hearing about the 47/3 and the route itself. More optimistic than usual about this route compared to others lately. We'll see.

 

Well it is a JT route, so it should at least be usable on release!

 

Ohhh I see a railfrieght gray livery. Love that livery on the 37 we have in game

Edit; (as a side note I probably shouldn't play tsw and try to post on the forum at the same time if I don't want to SPAD)

 

This does look good and I’ll probably take the punt. However, more reskinned 47s. Much as I love a 47 (who couldn’t?) we don’t have any modern variant (not suitable for this route I know) but the 31 hasn’t been touched for years, could we have had a BR era HST? Were the 50s still about on the WCML at this point? Were the 156s around?

 

The 50’s had long gone by then, as soon as the electrification to Glasgow was complete they were all transferred to the Western. The best choice for a new loco would still be a Class 25 IMHO.

 

Consensus is largely that the 25 would be the most suitable new loco for this route and era, followed by the roarers.

The 50s were long gone by the mid 80s as the electrification of the WCML was completed a decade earlier. The 156 started to be introduced around 1987-88 but were nowhere near enough in number to be seen with any regularity (as far as this route goes, they would only really be seen between Newton-le-Willows and Warrington "on North Wales Coast" jobs).

The HST wasn't particularly common yet either in this area, there was the odd service but that was pretty much it.

I can't comment on the Class 31, I don't think it moved in in great numbers until after the 25s were retired and the 20s numbers were reduced (though the latter as down to the introduction of 60s replacing them on the coal jobs). I do think we could do with a new version of the 31 though

With regard to the 47, it's quite ironic really that I moved from TSC to TSW for two reasons - the NTP route set in the 80s and the 47, as TSC never had a proper 47 (even AP wouldn't do one). Now they are everywhere, like they should be I do get your sentiment though, but don't forget that with this route we are also getting an reworked 20 with several little differences between them and the 86/4, hopefully plenty of new wagons to go with them

 

You would see the odd Class 50 at Crewe in that period, I'm not sure what services they were on but sometimes we'd take a ride down to Stafford being hauled by one.

 

I guess they'd strayed there on cross country services. Normally if a cross country service came up from Bristol with a 50 on, it was taken off at Birmingham New Street and an electric loco put on. However, it wouldn't surprise me if occasionally the loco swap was made at Crewe instead, if there was no suitable loco available at New Street.

 

Speaking from memory they were only ever diagrammed to Birmingham and were booked pretty much straightaway back out on a working back to the West Country. Very unlikely any would have sufficient layover time to make it to Crewe and back even if you could find a driver with traction knowledge.

 

Ironically as many would have said at the time, I just have this compulsion to say ‘not another 47?!’

As I’ve said, they look great but they’re getting very very boring.

 

The 47s were very much the 66s of their day, often overlooked in favour of more 'interesting' traction but nevertheless an integral part of the BR era scene being absolutely everywhere.

 

I think this is more than a reskin though to be fair, looking at the dev note and the pics it should appear and feel very different.

 

I welcome the 47/3. I don't think it's boring at all and it looks like JT have done a lot of research which is much appreciated. It always felt a bit off to me to run a 47/4 on freight and this solves that issue.

 

But is it worth the cost?

 

The thing is, with the Class 66 in the game it is essentially just a reskinned variation of the same old model. With the Class 47, and Class 47/3 for that matter, your not simply just getting a reskin. You're getting a fully authentic new model of the 47/3 sub class and all of the accompanying differences and changes which are actually quite substantial in this case (the list is available on JTs website). So it is a bit more than 'just another 47'. Largely familiar, but different in its own unique ways.

I am all for subclasses and differences on the same locomotives as it adds real variety for the anorak railway enthusiast types like myself who can spot the differences and appreciate them that little bit more.

 

It remains to be seen, but this route is looking worth it at the moment...for me anyway.

 

Given the very high standard of their previous two routes, if there is anything TSW related worth investing in, it’s probably this.

 

Two things for me..... One small and the other possibly a bigger issue.....

The small issue..... The large logo on the Railfreight grey livery is too small and should be pretty much the whole height of the bodyside not with a noticeable gap at the top and bottom (At first I thought it was something just with that particular loco with it being a "depot pet" but every photo I've found of it in that livery also has a larger full bodyside logo like the rest of them did).

The possibly larger issue..... I'm assuming the 47/4 from Shap and Blackpool will also be layering in to this route (and vice versa the 47/3 into WCMLoS and Blackpool) and to me this will suddenly look very strange when the 47/4 is stood next to the new 47/3 model with it's better texturing. IMHO the older model needs a re-work to the same standard and an update putting out to those two routes with the updated model otherwise I just think the two of them running alongside each other is going to look very weird/wrong.



Just my 2p's worth.

 

Agreed. It seems like there's more than just a "reskin." The slow driving mode for one is not just a reskin. The instruments seem more than a reskin, and I think they mentioned new sounds too. That's a new loco to me, not a reskin.

 

It’s certainly looking positive if these are your only gripes haha. I hadn’t actually noticed that issue with the large logo, but it is minor. The texturing from WCML/BB Class 47/4s is pretty damn good?!

 

I still think the second one is a big issue IMHO...... Having two locos that are meant to look pretty much identical to each other but in reality one being a lower quality model than the other is going to look pretty off.



There's also my other comment a few pages back which I think would add to all three of the JT routes regarding service/route window stickers in some of the carriage door windows.

 

Won't make any difference to us on Xbox!!

We will just be glad if you can see them both clearly in HD mode.

 

On the roadmap stream Alex mentioned a small article releasing on Monday before the GWE showcase, I don't know about anyone else but I'm really hoping it's for Preston - Crewe!

That's the one add-on I was hoping we'd see more of in the season of reveals. I think we need more of it considering everyone's now so excited for the Cumbrian Coastline (rightly so)!

JT need to get that focus back on this one

 

Yeah it does look slightly wrong… there was a variant of the Railfreight large logo grey where the logo was 3/4 (ish) body height but that also had a red strip across the bottom of the body.

 

My concern is that aside from it being in the 0-3 month window back in August (which last time I checked was 4 months ago) is that TrainSim TV have not been doing any videos building up to it. I understand things slip hence why being at least 1 month late isn't a major concern, however the guys at TSTV are actively involved in the project - like they were with Blackpool Branches and WCMLoShap and as it got to around 5-6 weeks away from release they started to do preview videos which really showcased the routes and the included rolling stock. We've not had that yet :/

The lack of development diary from JT themselves has been a little worrying, they had been really good with it on Shap but there's only been two for Preston-Crewe and they were about 4 months apart...

I'm not overly concerned about Whitehaven being announced, I think that the initial stages of the route creation will be done by a small number of folks that could peel away from Crewe without really affecting it's progress.

 

I would much rather JT take the additional time required to ensure this route is fully optimised. I can only presume they have watched the B2C debacle unfold and will absolutely not put themselves in a similar position.

 

What I’d say is that you shouldn’t need to presume, JT really should explain what the issue is that they’re having.

 

While it was a loco addon, things went quite quiet with the 86 when it was over to QA, then suddenly updates came about a week or two off release so this may be the same.

 

As much as i like the BR Blue era (1986) & at the age of 54 i am old enough to remember it i would just love to see a Modern day route from Just Trains

 

They don’t need to explain anything. It’s nobody else’s business to be quite frank. They could pull the whole product if they really wanted to, it’s got nothing to do with us.

 

No, they don’t. But it does nothing for their reputation if they don’t communicate with their potential customers. If you announce something and then go quiet it’s not a good look.

 

You have almost all the other content in TSW to keep you happy then =-)

 

Yes i do about 40 plus route add-ons UK-German routes . I have lost count of the Wagon & Loco adds -on as soon as they Announce a new Uk route i get very excited

 

They put out a lengthy development blog on their website 3 weeks ago.

 

Exactly. It’s not like there has been complete silence for months without any indication on how the route is coming along.

 

If I had to guess, I’d say the route is done and dusted (hence Whitehaven being on the way), but JT know just how long the bottleneck of DTG QA is, so aren’t hyping it up too much yet given it could be months until it gets out.

 

I'm hoping this will all just fall away as this article comes but we shall see! Alex didn't want to say what it was about on last night's stream to keep it a suprise so we'll see what happens!

 

I don’t look at all the websites, I just tend to look here and see what’s being discussed and therefore I’m surprised I didn’t see this update 3 weeks ago discussed

 

We all know what we are getting with a Just Trains route. A brilliant accurate design and plenty of attention to detail which makes their routes look stunning. A few of the new third party developers are doing the same, so the standard is getting higher and better for us all. My only disappointment is the release, it would have been absolutely wonderful if Preston to Crewe had arrived with Santa prior to Christmas Day.

 

It was the discussion regarding the 47 liveries at the top of the page As the photos were also posted