I noticed that on GWE there are some timetables (don't know exactly the number but a decent amount) with the class 166 that don't stop anywhere between London Paddington and Reading. This kind of timetable all run on the tracks normally used by the HST: is that supposed to be correct? I ask this because I noticed that, no matter what, you are always late in this services: it seems that the travel times are calculated using 125MPH as top speed, but the class 166 has a top speed of 90mph. Furthermore, when running on the HST tracks with the class 166 I also noticed that there are some specific speed restrictions for MU that are not taken into considerations at all in the HUD which always shows a maximum speed of 125 basically all the way between London and Reading. Does somebody have some explanation for me?
I'm guessing it's because one is an 'all stations' commuter route so running a non-stop train on this section of line will just mean you'll end up catching up earlier services and getting stuck behind red signals for a large part of the journey. London - Banbury is one of the straight thru routes and if you notice when driving that 30 odd miles you do overtake a few trains. This kind of seems logical because if memory serves me correct the single stop (at Slough) 166 route uses the secondary line. Agreed about the times though. If you drive at the max allowed speed of 90mph then it's not possible to reach Reading on time, but if you just max it out to where it constantly flickers between 99-100mph you can make the journey with about 30 seconds to spare. One other thing. I am absolutely positive the 166 had a speed limiter in TSW2020 (95mph rings a bell) because that's what made it so easy to drive...something that is definately not present in TSW2
If I recall correctly, they run out of realistically-numbered HSTs, so they used the 166s. A more nerdy/correct explanation has been given in the past.
The Paddington to Oxford express services are operated by 165's and 166's run non stop so I assumed the non-stop 166 services are supposed to replicate those. There aren't enough 166's to cover all the services, I am certain I have seen set numbers duplicated, hence why I cannot understand why they didn't go for the 165 as there were far more of those, or use both. I do wonder at the depth of DTG's research sometimes.
No. Seeing as the line only goes from London to Reading. Didcot is off the map, located further West.
For some reason their HST timetable is vastly cut down compared to the real thing. If you look at the services for GWE, you’ll notice there are gaps of up to an hour or more of HST departures from Paddington. There definitely isn’t enough HST services on the route, which I don’t understand as it’s not like it requires a different model or anything, like the 165 does.
For the era depicted, in the real world a number of Paddington to Oxford fasts and indeed beyond to the Cotswold Line were diagrammed for Class 165/166. Others would have been covered by 180's which are not included so they may have substituted a Turbo rather than a HST in the game. Used to be a nice thrash down the Cotswold Line on a Turbo, sat over the engine (crank!!). Paddington to Bedwyn services also run (ran?) non-stop from London to Reading with Turbo stock.
Hello there! Had the same question today after playing some class 166 services and was searching the forum for the answer. I am not familiar with UK real railway rules so can anybody pls verify how should I drive 166 on non-stop service (Paddington-Reading for instance) to replicate the real life practice? 90mph is my max speed then or are there some other "rulebook" max speed restrictions here?
It is a current limitation of the game that the HUD speed limit only ever reflects the permanent absolute track limit, not any lower limits that might apply, including divided speed limits like on the GW mainline, legal class limits, engine Vmax, consist Vmax, signal speeds etc. To run a heavy freight (6-code) realistically in GWE, you should hold the speed to 60 all the way.* Similarly, if you're running a Talent in SKA, you shouldn't go above 160 km/h even though the HUD speed limit is telling you 250. *Even in a fast freight (4-code), it's 75; if you look above the windshield in the 166 cab it's painted right there: "Max Speed 75 MPH"