I currently have £47.99 and not sure which addons to get, here’s what I already don’t have. (On series X, if you have any knowledge on any of these please share) Santa Fe on cajon pass Birmingham to Crewe Frankenbahn stuttgart to Heilbronn Amtrak acela CSX C40-8W Metrolink F59PHR Oakville subdivision Manchester airport commuter London overground mildmay line The 1938 stock Island line 2022 Db br 187 Niddertalbahn (All other DLCs not mentioned here is stuff I already have)
Birmingham to Crewe is actually a nice route but if you're on XBox believe there are still performance issues. Stuttgart to Heilbronn givws you the 140 which is nice, but the route is a bit short and nothing to write home about. Should have waited for a sale. Niddertalbahn is nice single track rural retreat, but is a slow 60km/h stopping service for the most part. Avoid the BR187 like the plague, it is second only to the 204 as the worst loco add on for the game. Oakville is nice but showing its age and a very short route. Island Line 2022 is an oddity. The route is good but I can't engage with the train which is way overpowered and sounds nothing like the prototype.
Niddertalbahn and Mildmay are IMO the best two. I probably slightly prefer mildmay since you can see London's skyline, though you'll need to disable some AI layers (which in most cases you barely see) to avoid blurry textures.
Since you’re not a fan of modern traction it’s not an easy task. I’d recommend Niddertalbahn (set in the 90’s) since it’s a very nice scenic route with lots of unique foliage. It feels almost Japanese in some respect, what I’d expect the Tadami line to be similar to. The BR.628.2 is a nice drive also.
For the record I still play modern and keep all of it installed but it’s just not as big of a passion compared other stuff
if you have all the layers, and it sounds like you do then Manchester Airport Commuter could be the one for you. very busy timetable. For me, the only thing it lacks are decent sized express runs, something that isn’t possible without it being extended to Crewe.
The performance for me on PS5 is really good besides (Ardwick?) Depot where the frame rate drops for a small while. Otherwise, it runs wuite well.
I bought all of those in the sale for GWE Remaster and OTS WCML south timetable layers. I am not a fan of mildmay, but now I was confortamble buying with the annoucement of the extension to Richmond.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say anything positive about modern traction, so you can see my point though. It’s like me owning steam traction and absolutely loathing it, which I do.
Get MildMay because then you’ll qualify for the free extension to Richmond that’s coming. A nice new train as well.
If you do get mildmay if I was you disable more then half of the layers i think has more then 25 a lot because 9 times out of 10 you dont even see the layers if you do its lime for a few seconds. And by doing that it really improves the performance of the route. And the freight jobs are short but some are a challenge.
Personally I get rid of anything related to the WCML, MML and ECML and it seems OK from what I remember, haven't played it in a couple months
I tend to leave the WCML layers on as they add a lot to the Willesden end but get rid of any of the ones from lines that cross along the way, particularly the ECML ones. This tends to turn it from “blurriest mess in the game” to very acceptable.
The 365 services on Niddertalbahn is some of the most fun I've had with TSW. They're all connected in a good way. You can feel that the route was made with great care. It's got some unique (to TSW) signal/safety system stuff going on so have a look at the manual if you decide to get it. Actually have a look at it either way, it's pretty cool. https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/2386141/manuals/Niddertalbahn_Manual.pdf?t=1695748541
Will give a few thoughts on the North American stuff on your list. -Santa Fe on cajon pass HIS have yet to patch this, don't touch it. -Amtrak acela Was a decent loco DLC when it launched, of course it layers into pretty much all NEC routes so its a good pick up especially on sale. -CSX C40-8W An ok loco DLC from the TSW 2 era, nothing really special about it though, slightly older cab than the AC44, its not bad, but IIRC it really only adds 1 4 part coal loading service on SPG, not tot mention the coal hoppers that come with it still have a broken EOTD. -Metrolink F59PHR Again, another ok modeled loco DLC, it add the final piece of variety to Metrolinks roster. I think it runs on both AVL and SBL by default, but I dont remember. -Oakville subdivision Oakville is pretty dated at this point, just a bygone route from the TSW 2020 era, the GP9RM that comes with it was nice at the time, but the route just doesnt do much anymore.....
Bought Manchester airport commuter to try out, heard freight isn’t too bad on the route and the 87 rail tour is quite nice (pretty a surprise for some) going to keep the extra money for now to see if there’s a new release or sale at some point this month Thanks for telling the info on the addons (Will share my thoughts after a few runs)
Okay first of I must say I love the attention to detail on the route, especially the bridges also being able to do more than 45 miles per hour is really nice anyways the current problem is in between stations where there will be blurry textures and honestly have no clue what’s causing them because there was no other trains going by and the only on some parts of the route it happened
This only started happening to me (occasionally) after the last update which added the Voyager, never got blurry textures before that.
I changed display modes and it seemed to run better or at least it managed the class 66 with a lot containers wagons
I was going to save my money until I realised that I reached day 700 of taking screenshots everyday in tsw so I decided to get the final Country that I don’t have a route for yet being Canada/ oak ville subdivision, also just wanted more freight
It’s not like it matters since my Birthday is at the end of February so if anything comes out I will just get it then or with my savings ( JT’s new route comes out and class 90 being things I will get with savings if they come out before my birthday)
brum to crewe definitely...in spite of the performance issues (which i don't find too bad on the series X) it's one of the most varied timetables in the game i personally don't have the love for manchester airport that others do. cant comment on the others you list.
