I picked up the Doncaster Yards DLC for literally pennies and really enjoyed the back and forth of the day to day running around. Can anyone recommend anything similar with a bit of variety. I'm just not feeling passenger runs at the moment.
You might have these but: If you don't mind an older period route the Weardale route has loads of collieries, quarries and yards and comes with a nice selection of diesels and wagons. Some of the collieries have enough track to potter around shunting on. It is very atmospheric too. It is often quite cheap in sales. The Maerdy route also, there are two versions one after passenger services ended and has quite a cool electric loco. There is the main colliery at Maerdy plus a smaller one at Tylorstown I think it is. I don't know if you can still get the Hedborough route anywhere at all
Second this and, as someone has pointed out elsewhere, it's over 70% off on Gamers Planet ATM (among other things including a couple of older editions of TS): https://forums.dovetailgames.com/goto/post?id=257787#post-257787
Also, Weardale has large yards at Shildon and loads of yards, factories, wagon works around the Darlington area. Plus there is the goods station at Barnard Castle. One of my favourite past times is a freeroam pick up goods on the Middleton in Teesdale branch line. The Wearhead line also has quarries and brick works along it and very nicely made scenery.
WCML North has lots of modern feight facilities and quite a lot of feight scenarios spread over various DLC. The West Highland Extension has notable freight opportunities at the Fort William aluminium smelter and wood mills, but I can't remember how many scenarios it has for freight. Whatever, it's a lovely scenic line for mooching around on if you don't mind lowish speed limits.
As JJ pointed out, Weardale and Teesdale, I think I saw for £6.60 on Gamingplanet. Also (not on sale), the South Wales Coastal route has a whole industrial area (that doesn’t seem used in default scenarios) - I haven’t looked at the Workshop yet. Margam and the Steelworks - seems like lots of untapped scenarios there on all these sidings
Woodhead Electric in Blue has plenty of DC 76s pulling freight: https://store.steampowered.com/app/...oodhead_Electric_Railway_in_Blue_Route_AddOn/ And of course, a whole route centred on freight: East Midlands Coal, not currently on sale: https://store.steampowered.com/app/...ands_Coal_Sherwood__High_Marnham_Route_AddOn/
South Wales Coastal is one of the routes in TS2017 which is also on sale at Gaming Planet. (This will be the original version with Arriva trains and without the extension to Swansea not the Arriva-free route released as South Wales Main Line.). There's also Chatham and Medway which users were allowed to try for a few days a while ago and which certainly includes freight. OK- obviously I've had another look at the Games Planet deals and can someone explain to me why they're selling Marseille-Avignon for £8.30 when it's included in TS2017... which they're selling for £7.49?
It still amazes me how many people (myself included until recently) think that Cardiff to Swansea was an extension to the Bristol to Cardiff route, however it is not it's a standalone route. For it to be an extension it requires the 'main' route to be owned and installed, Cardiff to Swansea does not. I believe (or was told more precisely) that there are only two UK extension one was Holyhead extension to the NWC and the other was Sheerness branch extension to the London to Faversham. I'm not nit picking I just find it interesting so many of us assumed Cardiff to Swansea was an extension.
You're right of course- Bristol-Swansea is an extended version of Bristol-Cardiff which is what I meant. I plead muddle-headedness after this morning's visit to the dentist. Do owners of Bristol-Cardiff get given South Wales Main Line as those of us with Bristol-Swansea did?
Ughh After a visit to the dentist I'd have forgiven you if you'd said DTG are the best listening, conscientious and attention to detail observing developers out there. Of course I'd have to blame the vast amounts of anaesthesia and slap you silly once you'd fully recovered but yeah, I'd have forgiven you.. No, you had to own both I believe.
Some shots from Woodhead earlier: double heading and double banking 76s sandwiching thirty coal filled hoppers to get them up a 1 in 40 gradient. Woodhead and East Midlands Coal, as I said, are routes focussed on freight! (I couldn't remember the headlight code for freight offhand, so likely wrong.)
Both Woodhead routes are great routes, both atmospheric, the original still looks good ten years on. Trying to get away from Wath with a heavy load is fun, especially if you are trying to do so with a steam engine. The China Clay route is another nice little route if you want to shunt freight around, my main disappointment with it is that they never reached Newquay. I never got East Midlands Coal, it didn't seem to have great reviews although I have the other Creative Rail routes and they are nice, is it worth getting? I am not generally into freight only routes. I wonder what has happened to Creative Rail as they have gone quiet and their website hasn't been updated for some time. They were one of the few developers who concentrated on the BR period.
I just picked it up recently in a sale, but haven’t explored it so much yet. You can obviously still do ‘end to end running’ with freight instead of passengers, but adds some different possibilities.
Any opinions on Hatchet Hill Quarry? It represents a British branch line kept open for industry and intrigues me. I always forget to check for it during sales. It does appear to still be available but you try searching for it in Steam.
I forgot all about that, I did purchase it but don't have it installed. It was a nice little route if I recall with opportunities for pottering around in a shunter moving wagons around and working trip freights. I think it was a class 04 shunter. I think the route was withdrawn, I can't remember the publisher, it might have been Oovee?
If you Google it you get a link to it in Steam so it looks as if it's still there to be bought but search for it from the Store page itself and there's nothing. Must see if I can log in through the website and put it on my wish list.
East Midlands Coal is ok. Maybe I'm biased because it's local to me and I knew all of the locations. The Sentinel scenario is quite a nemesis of mine. Just can't figure how to get those waggons loaded properly.
