Wcml Preston To Crewe Discussion

I'm going to fire up the route tonight and try doing an end to end run to get let me console cache of the route establish itself and see if that improves the blurring once I've run it it a few times.

I sincerely hope that the PS5 issues can be resolved without diluting the quality of the route or timetable in anyway.

I'll report back once I've done a end to end run in each direction to see if it helps the blurring in future runs.

But the route looks phenomenal from the screenshots people have posted, and even with the MGR run I done myself it really hit the spot... Fingers crossed the dust settles and things can be resolved.

 

…seriously though, just had the best Hellfire Thrash ever, spawned a Class 45 + 7 mk2’s at Newton-le-Willows (free roam) to Preston via Parkside West & Golborne Junctions, Full throttle down WCML (75mph for WNW) brutally brilliant & prototypically accurate for 1986, highly recommended.

 

This was going to be a day one purchase for me. I want to support JT's products as they do "my era" but there seems to be too many problems, especially on XBX. Just watched British Ace's run down to Crewe and the crash on approach to Crewe and the blurry textures have made me hold off, which is a shame. I do wonder if these faults with TSW will ever be resolved!

 

Really enjoying the route, for a bit of fun I just had to try and make my own version of the 1989 'Birmingham to London in 5 minutes' using both Crewe - Preston & Preston - Carlisle!



Haven't even strayed away from the mainline yet!

 

I did 7T75 last night full run from Mine to Fiddlers, by the time I had got there the 47 had already begun to unload, great 1st run to test the route out.

 

Sometimes this game looks really nice





I'm not sure about JT encouraging arson tho

 

To each their own of course but I wouldn't hold off. CTD around Crewe is a real issue and the blurred textures are present most of the time. But, I drove a 46/3 service from Walton Old Jct to Preston and it was great. There is genuinely so much to see and do with this route, even if you completely avoid Crewe I would think it a good value. This doesn't mean that CTD and textures don't need to be addressed because they do. But there is more than enough right now to justify a purchase, at least to me. I have been able to do services around Crewe on XSX without CTD as well, but results vary. And also of course you'll get some additional layers on BPO. You will probably buy it eventually anyway. Everyone's needs/wants are different, but I don't think of this route as the disaster that it might seem to be to others

 

Nice, I like the way you uploaded it in 480p for that vintage feel

 

Is the 47/4 missing for anyone? The 87 + 101 from Shap and Pacer from BB show up fine. I cannot drive the 47/4 though.

 

Nice to see Just Trains so active here and on Discord, may I ask what the status is for console fixes to make the route playable? I really want to play this route so badly!

 

Thank you for keeping working on this. I noticed that Matt drove the 86 using a ‘TS Controllers’ controller and that seemed to work fine. I’d imagined it would be the same principle, but I’m by no means an expert!

 

Are passengers meant to stand on cars?

 

I've been making some optimisations to try and reduce issues but they will also need to go through testing before it's released but we're trying to go as quickly as possible with it.

 

Salut tout le monde,
Il est préférable de procéder ainsi, car JT reçoit l'argent immédiatement au lieu d'attendre trois mois si vous passez par Steam ou d'autres plateformes que le site web https://www.justtrains.net/train-simulation-add-ons. De plus, vous gagnez des points qui vous donneront droit à des réductions chez Justtrain !

 

Ok thanks Benedict.

 

Getting an unbelievable amount of SPADs here 24 hours in. A sure fire sign that the route I’m playing is amazing and I’m enjoying myself way too much. What an absolute work of art this thing is.

 

So how long did it take for you?

 

Mastery challenge levels are annoying. Really wish they'd stop putting the scenarios in the later tiers

 

It's quickly become my favourite route! Yes there are a few hiccups on XSX which I'm playing on and might currently result in a crash to desktop but the variety of services, scenery and general atmosphere of the route can't be matched. As annoying as the CTDs are I've still found myself reloading and playing different services just because i like it so much.

I've had multiple SPADs on the class 20 and 47 too but they're always caused by me thinking the train will brake like a class 66 and not realising i need to think a few miles in advance.

Hopefully JT and DTG can iron out the wrinkles soon, if so I'm sure this will be considered one of the best routes available by everyone.

 

Unknown as I have refunded the route until such time as JT and DTG in particular pull their thumbs out to sort the issues.

 

definitely the difference in braking in those two I agree, but also, I just get distracted by what’s around me.

incidentally, if anybody wants a sunset run in the 20 that shows off the absolute beauty of this route at its best, I’d recommend 0Z54 in journey mode. Wow.

 

Is anyone else finding the class 20s brakes are really bad??

 

Well, its been a busy day - hard to sum up really - I’ve driven and walked the heck out of this route today ( at least, I’ve gone and tried everything I could immediately think of to scratch the itch of being sort-of able to relieve my youth ), and I’m feeling like I’m just scratching the surface, so all that remains is to say a massive THANK YOU to JT for building this. Superb.

 

Check out the 0P03 (I think) Crewe shunt job - 1945ish I think, CS in and out of the station with “clear” as the weather setting - absolutely gorgeous lighting and quite a bit of other train activity too - for me this is what TSW is all about!

 

I've noticed that on both the 20 and 47/3 the locomotives bogie brakes have a tendency to leak on, very irritating but as long as you keep an eye on your gauges you can just push the handle into speedup/override. I did take the 20 out for a speedlink run earlier and found that the brakes do seem to be made of cheese though, had it on something like 80% and it was still not slowing down coming out of Latchford. Then again the 47/3's compressors are hardly going to win awards, that's D&M brakes for you "days and months"

 

I've been hammering this route all day, done jobs in at least one of each class bar the Gronk and great fun was had - even enjoyed some night time running (which is a first).

I love those Class 20s, they've really been given some TLC and are now a top notch loco, though the brakes are "interesting". Took a light pair from Springs Branch to Crewe at daybreak, splendid, took a single Chopper out for some bonnet first action on the Arpley Sand job, lovely. Brought a convoy of 47/3s down from SP to Wazza and disposed of them, super, especially getting overtaken by the "celebrity" 86 at Bamfurlong with me overtaking it at Golborne where it was held for the diversion and then of course having it pull into Wazza P2 as I arrive in P1, to top it off as I'm rolling through he sets off again so I give it a nudge so we can close up between the two tracks (definitely not Slade Lane Jn on MAC haha).

Did a 101 on a Wigan - Preston job, it was a power twin, Hellfire!

Also did a 142 ECS from Preston to SP, it had passengers spawned on it so just changed the blinds to say Wigan and dropped off in P1 at Wigan before turning off the saloon lights (so I couldn't see them) to finish the job.

The funny thing is though, I've been on it for a good 13 hours today and yet my mileage is just under 500 but compare that to Trent Valley and my first day was 350+(ish), that is because that one is just end to end high speed running but Preston-Crewe has such variety

 

Just want to thank JT again for such a great route. I just started the 1h55 Merry Go Round scenario.

It's been fascinating to bring to life all the track and signals I've spent days with on SimSig in Warrington PSB.

 

Love all the little Easter eggs dotted around the route.
One that stood out for last night, quite litterly was YouTuber TinTin 57 rail fanning on a small stepladder on one of the branches.

Great little touches JT

 

Running PS5. There is no requirement to reduce any services or detail from this route. The performance was acceptable overall during the first runs, but has noticeably improved after completing multiple journeys across different locations

 

Can’t get above 13fps around Warrington driving the 20’s. That’s on PS5…

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but I love that the award for Mastery level 1 is a load of Decals.... including at long last the BR logo. About time lol.

 

There are frame rate drops for short periods around the expected areas, but nothing I would class as immersion breaking. It’s never going to run at 60fps!.

On a side note, if anyone wants to see what real performance issues are like, purchase Microsoft Flight Sim for PS5 lol

 

Really hoping some kind soul makes a Class 90 sub mod that'll let us run various freight and pax services with the 90

 

Short periods? I’m not so sure. Doing the full merry-go-round service you’re around Warrington for a good twenty minutes I’d say - it’s get unpleasant after that long.

 

Have the updates made it worth buying?

 

What updates are you talking about sorry

 

He's replying to someone who's talking about the 90

 

Well, congratulations, I have the opposite experience on the PS5 Pro, it started to blur even when only the map was installed without any other addons......

And you see, Microsoft Flight Sim works without any problems for me

Interesting

 

MSFS is great, but I regularly get blurred or missing textures, and that’s on a super fast broadband connection as well. Clearly there is multiple factors at play in regards to performance

 

On purchasing this route I was prepared to get bored of running up and down between Crewe and Preston relatively quickly, but the variety of trains, stock and playable services really does make each run different, and the freight services make it feel like two different routes. Definitely the right choice from JT in putting the effort for the freight side. I'm looking forward to the 31s being added back in, but what feels odd to me is to see a network devoid of Class 37s. My earliest memories of Crewe are from the very late 80s and early 90s but I'm certain every single time I went there I'd see at least one 37 pottering about and making a racket. Am I mis-remembering? Would they maybe not have been the 37/5 we have in the game?

Regardless, I'm really enjoying the route and can't wait to see if JT have a 58 or something else in stock for us. It's a shame the routes are set a few years too early for the Mk3 DVT as that's something I'd love to see in the game.

Here are a couple more shots taken on the route


One of my favourite activities is to fire up timetable mode and then spawn in whatever train I feel like driving.
Here I am in the late 90s


And a quick hop to the early 2000s

 

*Updated. Blurred textures for probably 40-50% of the Preston - Crewe Railtour. Gutted.

I have faith JT & DTG will find a solution.

 

Done a run from Crewe upto Preston on a passenger run... (Standard PS5)

Yes, I did get blurring. But it was peculiar, it was very temperamental blurring that popped on and off. What I found interesting is usually blurring on other routes also includes the speedometer/brake gauge numbers and digits... But the speedometer and brake gauge did not blur and stayed consistent throughout. Even the the little BR Class 81 - 85 & 86 driving instruction guide Easter egg in the cab of the 86/4 did not blur. But what did blur was the internal locomotive number inside the cab, and the writing underneath buttons, and to the textures of the external locomotive and carriages. In my own experience of blurring, this is usually consistent and everything from the in cab gauges, internal texture and external textures are consistently blurry, but this wasn't the case. So quite peculiar, and would like to know if this was anyone elses experience?

As mentioned the blurring popped in and out and wasn't consistent, and I'd like to know other peoples experience to see if this was the same? I've still got to conduct a south bound run down to Crewe. I am wondering once the route is cached after a couple of runs on the system, whether this will improve the blurring there after. So I would also like other people's experiences if they have done a few runs on console already and whether they have seen an improvement after a couple of runs.

In terms of the route, it is actually incredibly impressive. I got far more out of the passenger side of things then I expected and it is a 1980s masterpiece as JTs usual routes are. I really enjoyed my run in the 86/4, and it takes a different driving approach to Preston to Carlisle, with more frequent speech changes and stopping patterns, but I really really enjoyed the different pace of driving. What is also attractive is the drastic change of scenery throughout the run, from city, to country through to the industrial areas and finally arriving at Preston, which gives you satisfying and deeply engaging run where you eyes will notice the gradual scenery changes and isn't just fields in-between. It was well worth the wait. I made use of this and the BPO updated timetable and done a late evening Euston to Blackpool run that the timetables matched with each others so was possible to take the same service all the way to Blackpool from Crewe.

I really pray that console users don't get a diluted experience with any future updates, as for all the blurring popping in and out, I got a real sense of business and immersive realism from the diversity of services passing me and in yards. I really hope that any optimisations or updates do not dilute or change that experience.

A positive addition included with this and the BPO update, that I haven't seen anyone talk about yet is the Mk3As finally being updated with the distinctive suspension sounds which is one of the first things I noticed! Superb stuff!

My only criticism for JT, is the sounds on the 86 are lovely (as AP 86 sounds), but the lag in the sounds does appear worse then the 87 & 86/2 from Preston to Carlisle and I hope this can be improved or resolved.

This is a really strong route, with a different type of challenge in terms of freight and passenger work. I just hope any issues can be resolved without any knock on effect that drastically effects the experience for us console users.

 

Done a few runs now on PS5, noticeable improvement on my last run. Not using external cameras seemed to help.

Im now loading in on foot and waiting at the station for my train rather than starting in the cab. Basically playing as a real life driver. Resisting the urge to use external from that point onwards.

 

It's the only way to play! I even get out the cab and check the marker lights are set correctly in first person, rather than using 3rd person view.

 

Just finishing up the scenarios, but wow that 20 mph PSR on the Up Slow between Wigan and Warrington is brutal! I wonder why such a restrictive speed for a main line?

I would love a cheat sheet for the neutral sections like those that exist for Preston-Carlisle (attached), I'm sure some kind soul will make one. Of course, it would be even better if DTG added them to the Track Monitor!

Edit: The 20-30 mph is probably to slow heavy MGR trains right down before the junction at Golbourne (a SPAD here would definitely not be a good idea).

 

The guy who made that is on one of the facebook groups. I asked him the other day and he said he hopes to have one done in next few days.

 

I was surprised at how challenging the Preston to Crewe section is. Not just flat out 100 MPH running with a bit of power now and then to keep momentum. However I do agree the freight side is going to be the bread and butter of this route. If only JT had chosen 1981 or slightly earlier as their time period, then we could have had plentiful Class 25’s rasping about everywhere.

With the attention to the freight side, I’d love to see JT have a go at the area around Knottingley with the various collieries and Class 56 hauled MGR trains day and night to Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge Power Stations. Basically a fully realised hands on version of the old SIAM Aire Valley 1990 traffic simulation for those who are familiar with it.

 

Can you remember which 7T75 this was? There's a few across the day.

EDIT: Silly me, I didn't think to just check when 7F25 runs! It's the midday time.

 

Just checked, it's the 12:09 one. Whilst you're on the way to the power station you can see 7F25 on the map being brought up to Latchford siding 3 before the engine does a run around and then brings it down to the power station.

 

Just noticed the Stratford (white roof) class 47 isn’t showing a drivable. Is this just on Ai services?