With Preston to Crewe coming tomorrow and now the possibility of doing a Carlisle to London journey, it’s got me thinking of ideas of continued journeys on from Euston (basically any of the other routes starting with a London terminus are fair game, or ones which crossover with WCMLS such as Bakerloo or Mildmay). Think my first one will be Eastbourne to Carlisle using East Coastway, BML, a virtual stroll to Euston and then the WCML routes up to Carlisle. As a side note, thinking about this has made me want Carlisle to Glasgow more than ever so we could get as far as Markinch!
I was thinking of going Redditch to Birmingham New Street in BCC, then BNS to Crewe. Crewe to Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes to London Euston. London Victoria to Brighton. Brighton to Eastbourne. It basically encompasses all my favourite routes, even if it's not particularly long.
On a more expanded theme, if you own one of the flight sims nothing to stop you role playing to the nearest airfield and hopping in a Cessna to bridge the missing sections! WRT Eastbourne to Carlisle, to minimise the imagined walking distance, you could hop on the Bakerloo at Embankment and alight at Baker Street!
That’s a great shout! Thought there might be something on Bakerloo to cover some of Victoria to Euston but my knowledge of central London geography is minimal at best.
Reddish to new street, new street to Crewe, Crewe to Preston Preston to Carlisle, Carlisle back to Euston, Paddington to reading, virtual hop to Exeter then on to Plymouth. Virtual hop to st Austell the ending in Penzance for virtual pasty.
Another idea - Tonbridge to Strood on Medway, Strood to St Pancras on SEHS, very short walk to Euston and then WCMLs up to Carlisle.
When I get a day to myself I'm doing: Reading to Paddington Paddington to Queens Park Queens Park to Watford Junction Watford Junction to Milton Keynes Milton Keynes to Lichfield Trent Valley Lichfield Trent Valley to Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street to Crewe Crewe to Preston Preston to Carlisle
Actually, technically you don’t even need to alight at Baker Street. Stay on the tube to Queens Park then jump off for a DC Line service into Euston to start your long haul north. A continuation of this is teleport from Carlisle to Newton. Service into Glasgow Central. Use Google Street View to walk to Queen Street then work a train across to Edinburgh for a Kirkcaldy service on Fife Circle. The furthest north we can currently go in TSW UK.
Okay, it's time to start the "Great British Rail Journey", as outlined earlier Eastbourne to Kirkcaldy via Brighton, Victoria/Embankment, Queens Park/Euston etc. etc. The only thing I might do differently is when I get to Euston, spawn in a classic loco hauled formation and repeat again at MKC roughly in the times of a Glasgow service. Same again at Newton. Starting out from Eastbourne at 0700. Wish me luck.
Having to refund Crewe-Preston whilst it’s broken on Xbox has thrown a temporary spanner in the works but if/when it’s fixed I’m going to have a go at that one, sounds a great one to do.
For now, I feel like the route hopping markers aren't ideally placed, and it's such an immersion killer to have to go back through the main menu...
This discussion has me intrigued. Being a yank and not as familiar with all the physical route locations as you, I turned ro Ai to look at TSW roures and plan a run from Eastbourne ro Carlisle. I have a plan both for modern and vintage, as well as using the Trent Valley or not since I don’t own that DLC yet. Just did the East Coastway from Eastbourne to Brighton on the 0629 departure arriving in to Brighton 2 minutes late at 0717. Will catch the Brighton to London Victoria at 10ish. Then role play a hop to the Bakerloo for crossing to London Euston. Will post my progress as I get time make the runs. Great thread guys, this will be enjoyable.
There is a small GA airfield about 6 miles from Carlisle so I’m figuring a VFR flight following the course of the WCML towards Glasgow. If I use the microlight might even be able to land on a road in the city centre near Queen Street station. Or I could use a helicopter but I never got the hang of flying those in FS!
Realise this is getting incredibly niche, but iirc Watch Dog Legions has quite an accurate version of London to navigate, so could possibly use a quick trip in that to conduct a virtual trip from one London terminal to another.
Of course a more mundane way of getting from Carlisle to Glasgow for those of us on PC, is simply to switch to TSC!
Eggbeaters take a lot of practice…and a good flight stick… not great at it, but in VR, it is much easier for me. Actually loaded up TSC last night first time in over a year and did a run on the Medway… graphics aside, was reminded the physics are not the best, acceleration, braking all felt way off compared to TSW. But, you do have a wealth of content to choose from.
That's true, and that's actually what finally convinced me to take the plunge and switch to TSW permanently some time ago.
Also, unless you have the AP sound mod, the Class 86 and 87 in TSC have rather poor default sound, just the constant transformer whine which blocks out the traction motors. Even with the occasional warping or squelching as I call it, the JT implementation in TSW is much better. Anyhow I just boarded a Bakerloo Line train at Embankment, travelling on the cushions (aka dead heading) to Queens Park then the DC Line into Euston where I’ll decide whether I drive a scheduled service to Milton Keynes or spawn in a Class 87 consist.
We are about the same point on the journey… I arrived in London Victoria and hopped on the Victoria underground to Oxford Circus on the Bakerloo. As you say, on the cushions to Regents Park then strolled to London Euston arriving mid day. ( I live in South Texas so your current heat wave is really a bit of a relief to me ) . Since all travel has been on the 377 stock… need to decide if I want an express, stopper or freight to Milton Keyes…
Before the curtain comes down once and for all, does anyone have any ideas for a German journey? I know there’s quite a few routes which share main terminals but my knowledge of German rail is limited at best so not sure i could piece together a decent one off the top of my head.
Got to Queens Park but couldn’t find a route hop from Bakerloo to WCMLS. Spawned in at the same time I arrived and - typical - just missed a train to Euston. So in the spirit of role play, I’m now stood on the end of the platform train watching for 12 minutes or so, rather than reloading and time skipping. It means my 1045 from Euston will be a little late once I arrive and spawn in a consist but this is quite a good concept.
Well after my stroll from Regent's Park to Euston (one of the few London Stations I have actually been to a few times) decided on the 1D57 an 805 to Chester departing1257 - gave me time a bite of lunch. Arrived at Milton Keynes at 1332 and noe in a condrum oh how to proceed next. Do I magically hop to the Birmingham Cross City or yoy hr Birmingham to Crewe route..... or bite the bullet and get the Trent Valley line??? If I get the Trent Valley route - do I take it all the way to Crewe of to the BCC to visit Birmingham and see the sights and bounce down the Birmingham to Crewe just to maximize route utiliztion. Will let all know my decision if interested if I decide before this thread goes away.
Hit a slight snag yesterday evening. Arrived at Euston and made my way over to a vacant platform. Spawned in a Class 87 consist intending to emulate the 1045 Euston to Glasgow, though technically being the “Royal Scot” was booked non stop to Preston. Unfortunately whatever I did, couldn’t even get the Master Key to turn on so after a bit of faffing about called it quits and went off to reacquaint myself with SimRail. Will try again later, maybe just have to dilute the purity a little and grab the next available departure to Milton Keynes.
I should probably post this in TSW favorite moments thread as well. But to continue my attempt to journey from Eastbourne to Carlisle, my last post had me arriving a Milton Keynes. Decidded to spring for the Trent Valley line and caught an 807 from MK to Rugby. Had to visit the namesake of my favorite Foot-the-Ball game. Even as a Yank started playing rugby at the USCG Academy (Union Roles) and was lucky enough to find teams at my first 3 duty stations - finally stopped play at 30 --- took too long to recover, both from the game as well as the after party. Decided the High spped was the best way to get down then line. Then at Rugby took a local stopper to Lichfield...did a Route Hop to the BCC and waited for a run "on the cushions" toward Birmingham New Street where I will route hop to the Birmingham - Crewe line and continue. Unfortunately for my record keeping - one of my dogs decided to delivery her litter last night (10 pups all plus mom healthy and doing well) so my attention to detail was lacking. Why I consider this one of my most favorite moments is that finally TSW can feel like a network rather than just a bunch of disjointed "moments" of drive locomotives. The journey is far from seamless - but the role-play immersion is fantastic. Will continue my missives on this adventure as long as allowed with this forum.... Now what service to Crewe from Birmingham New Street I wonder??
