Route Wcml: Crewe - Preston - Feedback Thread

Discussion in 'Route Add-on Feedback' started by dtg_jan, Jun 18, 2026.

  1. dal#7945

    dal#7945 Well-Known Member

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    For me on xbox series x great route a little blurry around wigan and Warrington and had one ctd.
     
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  2. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    Look at your platform on the map.
     
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  3. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Still, should be clearly shown on the schedule along with some intermediate passing times too in the case of non stop services. And maybe I read the room wrong, weren't they dithering about it a bit as there's some issue where the arrival times where affecting on train announcements? Well I know what I prefer, the more so because in the cab of a Class 86/87 I'm not even going to hear the PA.
     
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  4. lcyrrjp

    lcyrrjp Well-Known Member

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    Thanks eldomtom. I had a look, but that looks like a list of departure times from that platform, not arrival times - or am I wrong?
     
  5. jarryd7470

    jarryd7470 Member

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    This has been really bugging me as well. Since the reduced timetable came out on PS5 I've wanted to match up these services and hop between the 2. Done a couple of full runs north by route hopping but really annoying me that i can't do it south. Seeing that this was a feature they mentioned before release I'm surprised it's slipped through testing
     
  6. eldomtom2

    eldomtom2 Well-Known Member

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    It is departures, but it should give you a rough idea of the arrival time.
     
  7. lcyrrjp

    lcyrrjp Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Tom. Unfortunately there was a lot of variation in dwell times in this era, particularly at major centres like Crewe and Preston. The departure time doesn't tell us much about the arrival time.

    I note that - if you just ignore the schedule and arrive when you arrive (which presumably is what JT had in mind), you arrive a long time before the departure time shown on the map. That either means that the schedule had a lot of recovery time before Crewe/Preston - in which case we should be conserving power and dissipating running time to maintain path - or the schedule had a long dwell time, in which case we should be utilising the full capabilities of the loco to achieve a right time arrival. Without actually knowing the arrival time, there's no way of knowing which - and that takes a lot of the interest out of it for me.

    I appreciate your help though. I have thought about trying to obtain an appropriate working timetable for the era, in order to find out the arrival times for myself, but it's a bit annoying to have to spend time and money doing so. Hopefully JT will put the arrival times in soon.
     
  8. lcyrrjp

    lcyrrjp Well-Known Member

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    You're right of course, all of the schedules should have intermediate passing times - they're essential for a Driver. But I've been on about that since TSW started, and I've never had a response, never mind any schedules with passing times, so I don't know whether their absence is a technical limitation of the game or just that it's considered too big a job to input them.
     
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  9. Margam

    Margam Member

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    I've given it a few days and been gentle with it but I've only seen a small improvement in performance on my PC since Thursdays patch. Tried light locos in free roam and light loco moves in reduced TT which worked OK though frame drops were still there and even got into Crewe station from the north on an ex-Liverpool service which was a first. Other moves like freight through the independent lines still crashed.

    Crewe is still the big memory sink for me, still can't run the introduction module - it always freezes during the class 86 info.

    Are there plans for another patch addressing memory use? Is removing the screens at Crewe as was done at Warrington being considered?

    Anyway, off to play with some real trains for a fortnight around Germany, Switzerland & Austria. Perhaps my PC will have cooled down when I get back and will perform better :)
     
  10. Margam

    Margam Member

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    Not a big one but noticed on the 47/3 the main reservoir runs between about 100 & 120 psi not 118 & 140. The sound of the compressors running is better than the 47/4 though :)

    There was a discussion about why the /3's were restricted to 75mph. I was told at the time the main reason was there were savings to be made not having to maintain to 95mph specs if not required anymore in the regularity and tolerance of checks needed.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2026 at 9:51 PM
  11. maccagee#4924

    maccagee#4924 Well-Known Member

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    First time playing since the patch, this is no longer the case.
    Using the same timetable - don't need to play the reduced one - and only the 3-car services have arrival times still, the 2-car ones no longer have them.
     
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  12. linkjoe#2363

    linkjoe#2363 New Member

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    After a few runs with the new patch, I gotta say it's a much better experience on PS5. Improved frame rates, significantly reduced chances of blurred textures, and no crashing to the Playstation dashboard. Played the 86/4 on a variety of services and times/seasons, and still felt like the route had some life despite the reduced layers. Did noticed on some 86/2 or 87/0 services there will be blurries between Wigan and Warrington, but those clear up when getting closer to Crewe or Preston.

    I think with maybe a tad more optimization on the trains to help reduce blurred textures on routes like Preston-Carlisle and Blackpool Branches, since these trains are backported there, it'll be just about perfect. Otherwise, I still think this is a great product.
     
  13. JT Benedict

    JT Benedict Well-Known Member

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    The issue is as it's a DTL thing it's on DTG to resolve but they are aware.

    It's annoying as in the dev environment the hopping works.
     
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  14. JT Benedict

    JT Benedict Well-Known Member

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    A patch for the older rolling stock was meant to go out with the route update at the same time but sadly didn't make it.
     
  15. jarryd7470

    jarryd7470 Member

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    ah ok, makes sense.... thanks for the update
     
  16. linkjoe#2363

    linkjoe#2363 New Member

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    thanks for the info, and for the responsiveness in the forums about these concerns. Always a class act from the JT crew.
     
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  17. SierraOscar95

    SierraOscar95 Well-Known Member

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    Done a run on the full fat timetable yesterday from Crewe to Preston and I can report that I didn't have a single issue of blurry textures in that single run. Also the lagging was drastically improved too. I was incredibly impressed how butter smooth the performance was! (PS5).

    So whatever has been done with optimisations has worked a treat.
     
  18. Phil47569

    Phil47569 Well-Known Member

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    I think the optimisation has been a bit overkill, prior to the patch there was a little bit of blurriness at a distance which cleared up as you got nearer to the texture but now, it doesn't improve, walked right up to this and it doesn't improve. It's fine when you're racing past on the WCML but come on...
    20260711180250_1.jpg
     
  19. mikeW1015

    mikeW1015 Member

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    I agree that picture looks pretty blurry obviously. However, I’ve seen this kind of blurry up close on many routes. To me honestly, I’d rather sit in the cab and drive versus getting directly up close to a sign that is just “scenery”. With that, I enjoy seeing more activity on trains, both static and moving in the timetable than I’m worried how a sign texture looks, for my enjoyment of the game! I do agree that there are some annoyances but I still say I spend 90% of my time playing TSW over any other game, and I’m not as worried about performance of passengers, signs, etc over the overall interactive and visual “world” of the route. So I’d rather signs and such be blurry if we can have more busy and active timetables if that is the thing holding it back.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2026 at 9:08 PM
  20. Phil47569

    Phil47569 Well-Known Member

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    True, it is just irritating that the route is actively being nerfed in order to make it more playable for others when some of us are not having any issues :/
     
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  21. simontreanor81

    simontreanor81 Well-Known Member

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    Is it still the case that consoles have no static stock? What, in practice, does that mean? Because obviously static stock can become active and vice versa. What's the overall experience for console players?
     
  22. JT Benedict

    JT Benedict Well-Known Member

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    As that sign was one of the blurries we knew about I actually did things to try and ensure it wouldn't be blurry so it's annoying that it's went the opposite way.
     
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  23. JT Benedict

    JT Benedict Well-Known Member

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    Static stock in this instance means stock that doesn't form anything and is just there to help populate yards.
     
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  24. maccagee#4924

    maccagee#4924 Well-Known Member

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    Any chance of making it possible to do loading/unloading in Preston at the start of scenarios JT Benedict ?
    I've been trying to write some but it won't allow you any loading/unloading.
    It's the same for Preston on the Shap route. I think it might even be the case on Blackpool Branches, I need to check.
     
  25. Phil47569

    Phil47569 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting, on release it was only slightly blurry (I'd figured as part of the core patch) which sharpened up perfectly if you got a little closer or zoomed in on it whereas now it's like that all the time.

    Thanks for the info :)

    BTW - it's not a gamebreaker, heck the route is too good for that, but it's really noticeable when you are lurking around Wallgate.
     
  26. historicalduck7

    historicalduck7 Well-Known Member

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    i understand this and it suits a lot of people just fine. but at the same time, lots of players enjoy exploring routes beyond the tracks and when a third party actively puts effort into enhancing this it’s a shame when it has to be downgraded to help performance
     
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  27. vendys#6021

    vendys#6021 Well-Known Member

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    I don't know if it's just me, but it seems to me that on this route, probably due to performance, the sound is distorted at times, especially noticeable on 86/4 and specifically on horns.
     
  28. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    This has affected all the JT electric locos going back to the Class 87 then 86/2 on Shap. Particularly noticeable with traction motor sounds at higher speeds and it’s the artefact that coined the phrase “sound squelching”. Possibly a core issue and to do with tile loading but it is particularly bad on the JT routes and locos.
     
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  29. vendys#6021

    vendys#6021 Well-Known Member

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    So in addition to blurring textures, sounds are also blurred...these are the results:|
     
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  30. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    If you listen carefully, it’s even evident on the official streams DTG and JT did for the route(s), but sadly something they seem to be in denial about. I’m not sure even throwing at it would make much difference.
     
  31. vendys#6021

    vendys#6021 Well-Known Member

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    I noticed that recently there was allegedly an update to many DLCs due to a change in sounds, the question is whether it is related to that......when I was watching Liberec - Stara Paka, class 843 carefully, it seemed to me that it is starting to do that too... well, I don't know......
     

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