Route Thames Valley Branches

274 services is pretty impressive for just those three little lines. That's very busy.
I look forward to the 7 Class 37 services and the upcoming Class 70 layer too. Not sure what the Class 70 will do exactly as they didn't say, but hey at least that's ONE layer for the 70 announced!

 

There are other features, like the multi- function save application for which we don't have the equivalent 25 years later in TSW.

Not to mention the many steam locos.

For some of us, it's not so much " nostalgia " as .missing features. Of course now we have colorful umbrellas and annoyingly persistent dense fog, things MSTS didn't have.

 

That's fair... but not from a tech standpoint.
That's a gaming design choice.
I disagree with it, but they've never said it's impossible to do.
They just chose not to.

 

Last I heard couple of years ago, they're still working on it.

 

Well they were "looking at it as a possible future feature."
Not that they couldn't do it.... just that they didn't see the "need" for it.

 

After watching the stream, I can only say well done! Great scenery, interesting concept and the perfect route for a few short drives with a DMU. The price is the same catagory as a single loco add-on, so very reasonable.

I hope we can see this concept with some German branch lines too.

 

Pros:
Looks great, the attention to detail is astounding.
Decent implementation of services.
Opportunity to explore on foot.
Free Roam with a Pacer, 101, 153, 150

Cons:
Gameplay limited pretty much to the same DMU.
Single track so not many other trains to see.
Very short services.
The GWE linking isn't included, you have to hop to go back to the menu.
No variation to services patterns.

 

See you on Day 1 then!

I’d say having watched the stream, it’s very different, it’s a more slow style of gameplay, although I absolutely echo comments I saw on YouTube regarding this what West Cornwall Local should have been, and I couldn’t agree more!

What I really enjoy about TSW is that developers bring routes to life that have never really had any attention in any kind of Train Simulator.

The Marlow branch seems to be the most interesting and not only that it will genuinely be nice to do end to end runs, when I’ve got half an hour to spare.

I’m quite impressed, it’s not the standout like Crewe to Milton Keynes or Medway Valley Line that we’ve been spoilt with this year, but for the price and some of the attention to detail, it’s a brilliant offering from Johannes, what I mean by this is that while on the stream the scenery looked great, it was only because Matt was out of the cab most of the time, so from the cab is there actually much to see?

In terms of scenery, the approach to Windsor & Eton riverside was stunning but apart from that there wasn’t much to see! That’s not a criticism, that’s just how it is in real life.

But definitely a day 1 purchase, a lovely filler DLC, with plenty of gameplay opportunities.

 

Follow last night stream the route is very appealing and the attention to detail is amazing. l agree that West Cornwall Local needed the same care and attention to detail that Johannes has brought with this offering. TV Branchlines was needed when Great Western Express was first released. Glad we now have it in the game. At that price definitely a first time buy. Crazy not to, can’t buy a main course meal for that today.

 

Would be great if a similar concept was taken for Cornwall branches

Liskeard to Looe, Plymouth to Gunnislake, Truro to Falmouth etc

 

There's nothing stopping someone from doing those side branches.

 

While I won't condone Leo's post, as it was OTT, you did make an error in your response.

if you go back and check the post you replied to, they said "Thames" branches not "Thames Valley". Not the same thing.

GWR consider Greenford as one of their "Thames Branches". In fact, if you get the excellent Thames Branches Day Ranger ticket - a rover I highly recommend to anyone exploring the area - the Greenford Branch is included.

 

The stock football pitch that everyone uses is awful!

 

While I doubt he watched it, the angry commenter could have heard from the developer himself why he in fact chose not to include Greenford Branch. It was a thought out choice. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, that also includes the developer. The angry commenter can also choose not to buy it.

Another choice consciously made was to reuse assets to save memory and make the route run better. Yes there could be more "custom assets" but that would have both made the route run worse having to load in many more different assets... and have taken months longer to get to market since the developer would have had to create them all individually. This would have then arguably driven the cost up. (Unless we're saying that the developer's time doesn't have value)

To me, repeating a few assets for better performance, quicker release time, at a lower cost.... is a GOOD compromise.

I think it's honestly a bit ignorant for someone to demand everything and not recognize that compromise. The people demanding custom assets AND the three things that custom assets would make impossible is just wishing for the moon and ignoring how reality works

Life is about choices and compromises.

I think Johannes did a great job from what I can see. In fact the "compromise" to increase performance was so successful he was able to ADD features like the CCTV on the train and lots more animated scenes like the boat racing, etc.

 

Night-time engineering services, according to the TSS interview.

 

You could make this argument for most TSW routes.

I´ll be getting it next week. Good price, nice scenery and a Class 165. The upcoming 70 will also layer.

 

Let's face it, whatever they do people will complain. Have 3 disconnected lines - why can't we have the main line or part of it. Include the relevant section of the main line (even at the same price) - why should we pay for a route we already have. We demand a discount.

At the end of the day, the routes are not connected in real life. Only a couple of rush hour trains go through to London (and none AFAIK from Windsor, certainly not from Windsor to Maidenhead and Twyford) so including the line will elicit further complaints that it is not true to real life and would "ruin the immersion".

Like it for what it is or don't - that's your choice as is the choice of whether to buy it or not. Personally I love the idea for some short routes for when you've got a few minutes to kill. The fact that it is an area I know well from an earlier stage of my life (and used to commute from Bourne End to Reading - I don't even mind route hopping, it's just like crossing the platform) is a bonus.

Let's have more of these to add to the variety of the game.

 

Looked good watching the preview stream. Only thing that annoys me personally which is trivial is the GWML stations having only tiny sections on the map the HST’s passing all crawl past as they enter the portal and have no time to speed up but like I said it’s just a tiny thing that I find annoying and spoils the realism a little

 

Oh... just night time for the Class 70?
Yeah... not so much interested in night runs.

 

If I remember correctly - one of the biggest complaint about TSW routes is that they are only sections of a route and the routes do not provide true end to end runs. Even remember people complaining about the West Somerset Railway was too short - but the length match the real world heritage line and it is an end to end run. Now we have a developer providing not one, but three routes that are end to end runs as in RL and yet the complaints. Oh well - just goes to show you can't please everyone.

Thames Valley does look interesting and will be added to my collection for that uniqueness.

 

This route give me a inspiration to have more network route Like having the South London network from tsc would be nice to have more like that

 

I think it is a fine piece, particularly in how the scenery and other elements have been crafted.
It captures the charm of the UK beautifully, and the area in front of the station is wonderful.

 

Is there route task on this route

 

I think this one looks good and I’ll be picking it up, especially at that price. While I enjoy hour long runs, it can also be fun to do some shorter ones, either when time is short, or when you want to have the experience of running back and forth, changing ends frequently etc.

 

There's zero freight on these branches IRL, so engineering services (at night) are the only realistic option to deploy the 70. In reality, 70s are relatively rare on the GWML*, most freight is handled by 66s or 59s.

* except on the Reading-Oxford line. 70007 at Appleford in charge of 408Z Leeds FLT-Southampton MCT (2017-04-13):

 

Class 70?
I hope they won't be on the branch lines as their route availability is too high.

 

I'd have hoped there'd be RHTT runs, but apparently not.

 

I thought that would have the only freight would see on the lines.

 

I wasn't in the beginning interested much in this ,I agree at face value it doesn't seem to offer much ,but what it does is gives a slightly different driving experience for owners of great western express in short shuttle moves off the main line .
Had it been added to the great western remaster I'm sure it would have been classed as a new route and therefore I'm sure wouldn't have been a free update .
Also then the question is would it have given the route performance issues ?
From what I've seen from the livestream it was very well modelled with lots of detail and I think the price is reasonable for what you get compared to other content

 

What do you need to own for the 37 services? I have this route but they aren’t showing up. Can’t find the information anywhere.

 

No mastery for Thames Valley?

 

I asked that exact same question and no answer yet.

 

West Somerset and West Cornwall

EDIT: And then we wanted to try the Railtour with the Class 37 and I have to admit, I didn't get it going, even though the brakes showed as allowed so the machine was digging in place and it didn't even start with the set... I don't know what I did wrong... two attempts and nothing

 

So playing Windsor to Slough every i pull into any of the stations I get brake demand train comes to a complete stop speed is 10mph. Am I doing something wrong I dont get any alarms nothing. Thanks

 

From the preview stream Johannes noted you need to come in about 8mph to avoid triggering emergency brakes

 

Thank you. I’m just missing West Somerset, which fortunately is currently on sale. Thanks again.

Edit: Ah, I have West Cornwall Local, I’m guessing I’d need to own West Cornwall: Steam Railtour.

 

It let me go up to about 10 mph

 

Slough. Down Main Starter signal.
Missing route indicators. I believe it’s a position 1 to Windsor and Position 4 to Down Relief.

 

I see Incredible Trains are still creating gibberish AI-generated descriptions...

 

Thee’s a few things straight away, which is why this route is Incredible and was a Day 1 purchase!

Firstly, Johannes has gone for a selection of routes that have been one of the most requested in TSW, since I’ve been on these forums an extension of GWE to include the branch lines has always been a popular request, and now we finally have them!

They’ve also proven the case the less is definitely more, even with just over an hour playtime so far, I have got just as much satisfaction out of this DLC as I did with Crewe - Milton Keynes the UK’s longest route in the game.

Secondly, Johannes hasn’t just gone for something that is interesting scenically. They’ve have gone for something that more than anything is operationally interesting and that is a huge plus in TSW. The Marlow branch with the token and staff is really interesting, just as much as the short-hop between Slough and Windsor, quickly changing ends and driving back to Slough.

It’s lovely to have an end to end route, that if my time is limited I can do a there and back from Slough to Windsor or Twyford to Henley or a full Maidenhead to Marlow, and again that’s something that is always a popular request in TSW, when someone has limited time opportunities to play.

In terms of scenery, the Marlow branch wins hands down. The dense foliage, tree-canopy "tunnels," and riverside details such as the rowing boats, and considering the foliage detail and amount the impact on performance is negligible if any at all, this is playing on PC in 4K at Ultra settings, so performance has been spot on, which is something they wanted to achieve.

The Windsor branch is probably the least interesting in terms of scenery, after all it’s a 6 minute service that is until you round the curve into Windsor and travel over the Thames! Brilliant!

It’s really nice to have a proper 165 in the game that has definitely had a few updates and is definitely more than just a reskin from the 166.

Incredible Trains have shown the amount of detail that they can pack into short routes and while it’s rough around the edges in one or two places, such as incorrect AWS indication on approach to Slough but I really hope they stick with GWR and do the Cornwall branch lines next, another popular request.Well done Johannes, I’m going to get an awful lot of enjoyment out of this! Thank you!

8/10

 

This route does look great, but after a bit of running around and seeing the route and compare with my photos from last week and memory, there's some issues that I have observed:

• There are some very interesting stuff at the southern end of Shiplake in real life, including a very dated 10 car stop marker and a totally unprotected ped crossing (ridiculously having a stop look listen board beyond do not trespass board), both of which the route misses;
• In Maidenhead the signs around nowadays says "alight here for marlow branch" and you even see the sign with fgw logo in pl1 nowadays, which indicates this is definitely not new addition, yet it is missing in-game. Might be an issue inherited from GWE.
• Also apparent lack of trees in some areas, where it's basically a forest in real life and gets only a few in game (area around Bourne End bridge, south bank; Alexandra Gardens).
• Unfortunately due to lack of resource/budget for custom modelling, explained in preview stream, Henley station canopy and the Bourne End & Windsor Railway Bridges and side entrance of Windsor, all have inaccurate models. He really deserves some extra people to help him with those for future routes...

 

Also, why is there someone else in the cab of the 165?!

 

Some (all?) of these services carry a 'guard' (probably no longer the modern terminology) who operates the doors and does the token exchange at Bourne End.

While I'm here, does the blue (FGW as opposed to GWR) 165 come with the route?

 

Interesting video, with the use of the token.

 

No. It's not even a 165, it's a 166 with a fake number lol.

 

No, that layers from GWE

 

They shouldn’t be in the leading cab!

Also the abundance of platform mirrors suggests they are DOO routes.

Another issue is the level crossings. The white light shouldn’t be flashing while the barriers are raised.

 

The Steam addon is not needed, just the basic map West Cornwall local because of Class37

 

Is there going to a mastery for this route at some point?

 

There seems to be a bug where the HST Services going out of London Paddington have the Coaches Flipped the wrong way