Gwr 387 Pack Announced

I know that its not electrified..I had v2026 But changed it to OHLE as majority will be under the wires

 

(Emphasis mine) What other routes will it feature on?
I'd guess Mildmay (once it's extended to Richmond), otherwise is it just acting as transferred stock to (say) Southern/GX?

 

I'm wondering, how do they want to sell this DLC and the HST pack to console players? I had already to disable WCML to get rid of blurry textures, I now only have Island Line 2022 and SEH active. So why should I buy a new DLC with the risk of getting blurry textures back? With only Island Line 2022 and SEH active, I did not saw blurry textures.

 

I just don’t see how the 387 fits in that compellingly with anything that’s currently on offer. A bit of extra traffic around Cardiff and short runs on GWE doesn’t seem worth the outlay. Maybe if there was a run from Cardiff out to Reading it would make sense, but otherwise I’m struggling to see the attraction right now.

 

With the MML services, would these be the 37/7 hauling them? Or with the HHA being an aggregate wagon (usually Freightliner) is this using the Class 70/66?

 

I was a little confused an ended up doing some research. Turns out that the GWE branded 387’s did do runs between Paddington and H&H.. I had assumed they were TSW-talk for ‘going to Heathrow’ without going there as it’s not in game. There’s a single bay platform at H&H which I assume will adopt the new electrostars?

 

Yeah they did 2 shuttles an hour between H+H & Paddington. They did indeed use the bay platform, usually as 8 car sets.

 

When you say shuttles, are we talking non-stop to H&H, fast line running, then crossing over the slows and into that single bay at H&H?

 

No they replaced the Greenford services (which were cut back to West Ealing) so called all stations to Hayes Bay and vv on the Relief Lines.

 

No they were stoppers, designed to alleviate crowding on the turbos. For the most part they stopped everywhere but Hanwell, though some early & late runs had slightly different patterns, but even those stopped at most stations.

Pretty sure 2017 also saw them reaching Maidenhead, which did introduce faster services where the first or second stop was H+H, so it will be interesting to see if we get those.

In terms of bay platform operations, whilst they did use it, it’s not really a diagrammed platform & was usually used as a backup.

 

it's very unlikely that we get the 387s to Maidenhead, as the route is set in 2015, and the cables only went as far as H&H. hopefully they extend / update the route, but i'd have thought they would do that as part of the remaster if it was to be done

 

Of course they won’t run upto Maidenhead in game, but given the TT we have is set in 2017, there could be some compromise to have the Maidenhead sets run upto H+H, giving the 387 pack both stopping & fast runs.

 

Interesting! Thanks for the information too.

Hopefully Liam is way ahead of us here!

I do also wonder what happened to the 350’s as 450’s at Reading..

 

Interesting - I never actually noticed they’d been mentioned in regards to the remaster. I wonder if in game Reading is even setup with third rail to make that work.

 

I remember probing about them a while ago, maybe a year back, and it was something he’d looked into and considered.

I watched the preview stream last week, and felt the same confusion as Matt did when scanning the departure list on the DC platforms at Reading.

Seems like a missed trick really, or perhaps just something that wasn’t worth the energy to redesign.

The lines out of Reading DC get a bit ‘pointy’ to be fair!

 

My reaction, "meh".
Nice to see it but another reason why I hoped they would have put the wires up to Reading for the remaster.
I use the 387s a lot between Slough and Reading /Paddington. It's a nice run and a chance to mix it up on the both the fast and slow lines.
A short jaunt to Hayes & Harlington isn't the same. I'd probably give it a miss or wait for a good sale.

 

Sometimes you jump in free roam and dream!

 

Would be nice if we got a route to give it a good run on, would Reading to Bristol be asking too much, would also give the 802 a good run too.

 

Change that to a 455 and then I'd agree.

 

Or even better the same era as great western express to give the hst a really good run

 

I'd like to see full FGW branding and better sounds as the current HST sounds don't really do it for me. Still a really enjoyable train to drive though.

 

I agree, I never really had a problem with them before but comparing them to more recent trains and even the EMT HST the sounds are definitely lacking in multiple areas

 

Well the EMT variant used the Paxman VP185 which is similar if not quite the same as the original Paxman Valenta engines so much more pleasant sounding than the rather subdued MTU prime mover.

 

Even still the sounds just aren't that good in my opinion. I drove the new AP MTU one in TSC a lot and those sounds are so much better even though its the same engine and everything. IIRC the EMT version has AP sounds as well... Its just an AP sounds thing.

 

I think it uses the same audio as the old VP185.

Fully agree with your statement on the MTU HST, it has never sounded that good even compared to the old AP MTU EP.

 

So will these HHA wagons be the first barriers with Dellner couplers? I know it's early days, but is the plan for them to be able to couple to other compatible stock outside of this pack?

 

Would be nice for them to appear doing the coal duties they were designed for as part of the new timetables coming with the 387 (the addition of some of the coal services around Cardiff would also be something completely different to the 150s and 153s included with the route)

 

YOOOOOOOOO LETS GOOOOOO

 

I see positive reactions to this, what does AP sounds mean. New sounds? I hear it a lot and not sure what it means

 

AP sounds are Armstrong Powerhouse, they do sounds for TS Classic, unfortunately they've not ventured into the world of TSW but DTG and some other 3rd parties can buy their sounds and mix them for use in TSW

 

And based on the reactions, they are of good quality? Are there any trains in game at the moment with AP sounds

 

They've not officially created anything for TSW, but there products feature in TSW. If my memory serves me correctly the 377/387/150 (although the original 150 mix was made so awful).

 

31 as I think

 

I'm a bit non-plussed. Why would we be asked to buy a train that's already been bought and paid for in the game?

 

The 387? It’s no different to any other livery/gameplay pack. It also includes barrier coaches which are a new thing for TSW. Plus the presumably new TT’s for routes & also an AP sound pack.

If the price is right then I’m not seeing an issue with it.

 

Well I suppose we desperately need another electrostar. Albeit one that's been gussied up a bit from its original version on BML. Some new cars and sounds do not make a new train.

Then again, there's not much originality in the UK passenger fleet these days, is there? So I suppose copycatting is the only way to go.

 

Meh, not something everyone needs to buy. Theres plenty of rolling stock packs in the pipeline, this one will just be nice for people who want modernised regional stock for the western region.

 

The 387 adds additional gameplay and missing services. It will be fun to shuttle back and forth between Hayes and Paddington, especially with the new busy timetable. And I say this as someone who isn't exactly a huge fan of Electrostars myself.

 

Yup, it’s not a surprise at this point to see these gameplay packs - without them a lot of routes would be missing not insignificant layers. Also I’m personally more than happy to see Electrostars come in separate packs rather than as feature trains in DLCs, it stops me being put off an entire route as opposed to a small pack.

It’s also not coming at a period of content drought, so it’s not like this is coming instead of other DLC’s. Plenty to pick from IMO.

 

It's not for everyone and I can see that...

I think it only appeals to the anorak types like myself who really notice subclass differences and those who are from the UK. I can see why someone who's American or German might not be interested as it's not something they'd see every day.

I'm more then happy to pay for this DLC for a number of reasons besides it being a independent sub class variation of the 387... It'll be upgraded to current standards, it'll has GSMR, it'll have suspension, and overall the 387 will sub into a number of Southern Region UK routes. So more of an add on for the UK railway anoraks like myself, and maybe not for the 'casual gamer' either.

So I am looking forward to it, and I'll be able to enjoy the driving experience differences in AC mode and the more sluggish DC mode... Electrostar subclasses really will be well represented this year and I'm excited for it as I see them everyday!

 

I'm from neither of those countries yet I will happily pay for more electrostar subclasses in the game.

I don't get that complaining about it being the same train just painted differently, would we rather get nothing at all than a pack that can layer to various different content? I wonder how happy those guys would be if I said that class 86 DLC is not nice (certainly didn't meant LOVE lmao) because JT's new route will feature class 86 anyway...

 

Yes exactly, the 86 was so expensive for what little you got, but a new up to date Electrostar with many timetable services will make them upset.

 

….did you forget that the 86/2 has a set of 8 liveries and set of new carriages plus two liveries for them, the only reason why it didn’t have new services was because they were already in the timetable but was using the 87 instead until the 86 was added (reminder it was only £20, most packs with less content still costed £11.99)

the upcoming 86/4 was pretty much only on freight, only handful of times used for passenger services, basically making quite a difference and also pretty sure they had multiple train functionality (might be wrong there) and will most likely have different liveries

anyways I look for to the 387 pack and especially the valuable freight part

 

I used it specifically as a pun towards people that complain, "Ah, it's just reskinned X, no way I'm paying for it again". I appreciate Class 86 and can't say a bad word about it. It was purely to show how ridiculous some comments are.

 

Aren't the barrier coaches coming with the HST Pack? I thought the 387 was coming separately with a 66, liveries and some wagons?

 

I get that, but that argument can be used against the people who complain about these 'reskins'. Just because it's an 86, some people think it has more value. I don't have any interest in the 86 or any of JTs content really but understand that the pack might have been worth it, people just have a hard time believing modern stock has the same value.

 

Possibly, I have lost track a little of what’s in what pack (DTG should take note here of why new additions to the roadmap should be on the roadmap itself & not just the stream).

That being said the 387 is layering into some routes purely for drag operations. Would be odd if the barrier coaches are in the HST pack since that wouldn’t need them & the 387 drags would.

 

It's not so much I have a hard time believing modern stock has the same value. I just have found that JT do more with their releases for the most part I feel like a lot of care and extra bits like multiple liveries go into their stuff, Which I haven't seen from DTG. When BPO came out we had multiple pacer liveries, multiple 47 liveries, multiple 08 liveries. We'd never had anything like that before on that scale and it's one thing myself and many people appreciate with JT.

Although I will say that it is nice to see this starting to change with ATS doing multiple liveries, HST pack with multiple liveries, this 387 pack with 66 liveries and I hope AABS do the same kind of thing. It's something I'd like to see DTG do more.