Hello folks, in my oppinion, there is now the time for the HST 125 (blue/grey livery) Era 7/8 AddOn. By releasing the West Cornwall route some of us missed a bit the HST in the old BR style/version. The reasons for not bringing it also in this DLC were comprehensible, first there is a need for the basic local traffic before bringing an express-only train into a route. Due I am a fan of the old BR blue era, I like playing the Diesel Legends on GWE. But I think I am not the only one who thinks, the express tracks are a bit empty. Also NTP has some more capacity for trains. So what would be with the following package: - HST in Blue Grey livery for the time between 1975 and 1992, backdated cab and sounds. - Services on the West Cornwall route. This I would recommend as base DLC, because there seems that there was also extensive traffic to Penzance, so the trains are missing for the complete flair. - Two hourly services between Paddington and Reading in the 70s timetable of GWE for more life on the route to show the transition time beween the Westerns and the HSTs. (Not Base DLC, because a DLC for a DLC of a DLC would not make sense xDDDD ) - Maybe four or six services on NTP acting as diverted trains to make the HST AddOn more valuable, i.e. for people who want a bit more gameplay for a ""recyceled"" train. - ECML-AI Traffic on TVL, stopping at Darlington Best regards!
Yeah, AP have sound recordings for 3 of the 4 that were used in HST's, the one they don't have being the uncommon and unreliable Mirrlees Engine.
I agree with you that the HST is really a needed DLC, but I’d you to consider that people will not like the BR Blue/Grey HST for the West Cornwall Local, as in reality BR Black Intercity Swallow HSTs ran there in that era. That’s quite obvious, as the route is suited in the time after the sectorisation, and Intercity, as I remember, was one of the first sectors to be separated. Though the idea of an HST Add-On is quite great, having one add-on giving different experiences (here liveries) on different routes was not the case yet. So what I’d rather recommend is an add-on called something like “West Cornwall Intercity Train Pack”, featuring the BR Black Intercity Swallow HST as I stated above, as well as BR Black Intercity Swallow Class 47 and Mk2 coaches for Cross Country services. Not only would this make the route feel more alive, this could also be a layer for many future DLCs, as Class 47 in Intercity livery was used on really many routes.
Yes, you are right. I was looking for some original footage of that time and found this: So the route/timetable has indeed much potential...