It was announced on the roadmap stream It will include the 387 and HHA (HHA-A & HH-D) wagons It will appear on GWE, Cardiff, MML (HHA move) and ECW (Player only, not AI)
Unless the route is getting further work though. it will only be useable on the Paddington to Hayes shuttles, which replaced the Greenford services out of Paddington, truncated to and from West Ealing. And if they are making GWR 2.0 then definitely needs extending to Oxford, so the 387's can do the full run to Didcot.
Unless the route gets extended to Didcot or at least Greenford. Don't think I will buy this just for the short runs to Hayes.
Included with the HST farewell pack, so I guess that softens its use being limited on GWE specifically, without any OHLE extension… looking forward to getting it
Just to clarify it is NOT included with the HST farewell pack, Alex made a mistake on the stream but it's a separate add-on
Also they has either a 345 or a 710 in disguise in one of the screenshots of the HST farwell pack. I'd say it was just a mistake with a modded timetable but its very noticeable.
The 345 is part of a scenario, if you remember Mildmay line had a reskinned 710 acting as a 345, that's what this is. It won't be a part of the timetable
That scenario is based in 2019 during the last farewell out of Paddington. the 345 there is to represent the Liz Line shuttle to Hayes
The C2C inspired livery (and possibly the GWR one) are somewhat handy for a late 2025 BML timetable, as a number of ex C2C and Gatwick Express 387's have transferred to Southern recently and so there's been mixed formations of units from both.
To be honest a modernised version of the route would be great to include the pack and we can use the class 802 for the base of the route. Elizabeth line would be fun to drive on this route too for a class 345, but it would be nice to see some development using the the GWR Class 387. The Windsor branch should be added too as it's only short only and stop. GWE is amazing for the timeline and era, but to get full utilization of the GWR 387 Pack it would be great to get modern version to Oxford, I kinda want to play Railworks 3 now just to get the full run to oxford but you never know, if it becomes highly suggested they may consider it in future
Brings back some memories… I got lots of fun from the Network Southeast Class 47 and Mk2s gameplay pack!
Oh it really does, I'd rather love to see a 2012 timetable with liveries back then, I think that's when the Thames valley branch lines had the Great Western Link for the liveries back then too
Not to put down any work done on GWE, since it’s obviously taken a lot of effort & the farewell pack for the HST pack will certainly scratch an itch for me, aswell as the GWR 387 filling in layers where it can, which will be nice to see more gaps filled. All that said, for all the work being done around both the route & rolling stock, it’s strange that we didn’t just see the current version of the route. Personally I prefer the pre-OLE era of the route, but all this dev energy being expended by people who clearly just want the post OLE route anyway seems odd. If we have the 2015 GWE, I’d rather more things to go along with it. Not shoehorned packs that have to find value from slotting into 20 other timetables instead.
I know we have been told the original GWE was obsolete tech to consider an extension but how true is that really? Otherwise it means the chances of getting a modern (or even semi historical) GWE that runs to Oxford, Swindon or even Bristol are next to none. Seems the options for DTG are… 1. Start over, in which case Liam’s work on the remaster is partially (assuming some of the work can be ported over) wasted. 2. Any fresh effort would be Thames Valley “Outer” starting at Reading and running to Oxford and Swindon, or maybe Newbury as well. However that creates another Peak Forest situation where the route finishes abruptly at an illogical terminating point. Also a potential clash of eras with GWE being set in 2015 - 2017 while the new version would be up to date. Option 2 would also leave the 387’s with not much to do - Reading to Didcot plus possibly Newbury. So it would be interesting to know what plans, if any, DTG have for this part of the world. With the GWR licence back in place, the Class 220 now in the game and the Class 70 coming for Intermodal and if they can licence it Colas freight, it seems inconceivable further development of the eastern Western route is not going to happen.
Yeah I very much suspect more GWR routes are in the pipeline, my bet is they’ll just start from another Terminus such as Bristol. I also wouldn’t be massively surprised to see a modernised WCL. Other parts of the GWML are just going to be oddities, between Plymouth & St Austell isn’t going to be attractive to most as a standalone route, same thing with anything headed South from Exeter. The 387 pack is certainly odd, for what I’ve said above & also because most modern takes of the GWML are going to need that for what would be primary traction. I’d have thought DTG would want one of their own rather than players needing to buy another pack for it. Outside of that we’ll likely just see the 158’s & 175 once it’s been put into service along the current Riviera.
Not sure I'm a fan of stuff being left off the roadmap graphic and article and only announced on the stream, with it seemingly being left to the community to share with people who don't watch the stream...
Same, I assume it was a last minute thing so they didn't have time to add it to the roadmap but still. I didn't think I needed to watch the stream since I read the article earlier in the day, just for me to go check Discord and see people talking about this pack, had me quite confused for a minute.
Yeah. I don't really bother with the stream when I can just read the article much quicker, especially when skipping through stuff I'm not particularly interested in
The GWR 387 is by no means a 'new' train and likely not #1 wanted for most players, but it is something that's fills a gap in a few routes even if it's a small role. Other than making it a GWR variant, it is being bought up to TSW 6 spec and will also include new wagons (HHA-A & HHA-D) which were used in Class 387 stock moves.
To be honest I think given it's use on other routes outside of GWE makes it worthwhile. Hopefully it'll be able to be appreciated on East Coastway remastered too to enjoy it on third rail territory. It'll also be nice to see it on the GWE in an official capacity and it was the right move to wait for an official branded one over the original unbranded one.
Forgot to ask will the wagons have multiple liverys? Either way I’m getting this lol, it’s a perfect combination of passenger and freight
It was so clear, when the unbranded ones were held back, that there was a plan for an officially branded 387. Looking forward to it, to add even more services to GWE and making it even busier.
I’m personally quite happy this is coming, understandably it isn’t a ‘new’ train but hey at least we get another sub-class variant, hoping it has new and improved features over the BML version. I could immediately suspect this was coming after the unbranded layers were announced to no longer be included in the timetable “in case a 387 DLC were to be made”.
The 387 could conceivably layer into a future route set somewhere between Paddington and Cardiff as they do have a number of booked workings on the Paddington to Cardiff and return services, also presumably sub in when short of Cucumbers. Though they are even less comfortable to travel on than an 800/802.
I remember travelling from Paddington to Newbury on a GWR 387. My backpack didn't even fit in the overhead luggage compartment. Although to be fair it was stuffed rather full
Im hoping they get more GWML in but it is one of those situations on which way do they go as they have WCL - 90s Riviera is more modern day Cardiff is more modern day with its scenery GWE - 2017 I've made my feelings known across a number of posts to have a v2 WCL geared towards the last months/Year of the Castle sets to coincide with the HST farewell pack and extension to Plymouth to link with Riviera, finally add the Night Riviera with the Class 57 and coaches..Another GWE this time with the OHLE extending the run 24-27miles to Oxford (including Didcot Parkway) This way you also get the xc 220 run in from Reading as well as good runs for the 387 to Didcot and 800/802 with a complete end to end at Oxford to/from Paddington, while adding a new Cardiff central to Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway and Cheltenham spa via Gloucester (with the latter also running to Cheltenham spa via parkway) set in 2023, this way you have 150/153 tfw, xc 170s + 220, GWR 166 + 802 + HSTs (and now 70s) which are already in the game, and possibly an Exeter to Bristol temple meads including the loop from Tauton Via Westbury and Bath spa linking many of these together..It'll just be that final section to link these to GWE vOHLE that I am unsure about I understand that there are other areas across the greater UK network that people would prefer to have in the game but I like the approach AABS are going about it, concentrating on linking a major line for extended gameplay and I don't get much of the negativity towards that way of thinking.. nothing more I hate then taking a 390 or now 805 on wcml sth and finishing at MK and thinking is that it! (and nothing against the remaster but same with the run from Paddington to Reading)
Just a slight point of detail, the section from Didcot to Oxford remains unelectrified, a casualty of the decision taken a few years back to curtail the scheme. This has also created the silly situation where trains from Paddington to Bristol TM via Box have to use diesel from Chippenham to Temple Meads and South Wales from Cardiff to Swansea and vv. Also why the DPU’s on the Class 800 are starting to suffer technical problems as they were never intended to be run hard for such extended periods.
