Hi everyone, I‘m really new to all this and tried to search the web for my specific issue but so far to no avail. I bought the fantastic Rush Hour-London Commuter and to add more layers and traffic to the experience I also got other DLC (Great Western Express, SoutheasternHigh Speed) which sucessfully added rides to the timetable and as AI traffic (around 1425 timetable rides) So today I also bought the East Coastway DLC to make Brighton more „lively“. Unfortunately this didn‘t really layer on top of London Commuter as I would have imagined. I spawned at Brighton “by foot“ around 11 a.m. and suddenly there were no more Class 387 red Gatwick Express trains at platform 3/4 or parked at the Depot. Platform 3 just shows one departure to Lewes in the evening although I spawned there at noon. Also the number of timetable rides in total didn‘t increase. So my question is: is East Coastway not intended to layer on top of London Commuter as the other DLC‘s did? Or if it should, what am I doing wrong here?
No, ECW is a completely different route, to play it you have to leave London Commuter, and start up East Coastway.
So I can‘t see East Coastway traffic in London Commuter while playing it and vice versa? Why does this work with the other routes though? For example at Victoria station I can see Southeastern trains while playing London Commuter because I bought the Southeastern High Speed DLC.
If you own East Coastway, you'll be able to drive freight services with the Class 66 on South Eastern High Speed (8 services) and BML/London Commuter (2 services). The 377 isn't used elsewhere, particularly as the same (albeit upgraded) 377 is included in BML. If you get the recently released 313 for east coastway, you'll see the 313 on BML and it'll populate Brighton (apparently, I don't actually have the 313 yet), but East Coastway wasn't intended to add extra traffic to BML, outside the two freight runs.
The BML version of Brighton already includes all of the Coastway traffic, albeit as AI only. Just walk around Brighton and read the PIS boards. In general, newer routes do not create layers for older routes (which would have to be rebuilt to include them) Having said that, owning ECW does add a bit of freight to BML, and is a prerequisite for the 313 which does have a BML layer. And SEHS adds 375 (and if purchased 465) traffic to BML. Note, again, this is a matter of additional content for the new route, not the old ones. General rule: older routes/locos add layers to newer routes, not vice-versa.
Great Western Express adds Class 43 HST (AI only) and Class 166. Southeastern High Speed adds Class 375 and Class 465 (465 is AI only and a separate SEHS DLC). East Coastway adds Class 66 and Class 313 (313 is a separate ECW DLC).
I find it difficult to understand why ECW hasn't been updated with the London services. After all this is a "current route" - DTG have just released a new DLC for it to try to attract more buyers.
Understand that an existing route can't just automatically 'absorb' new services from a new route. The old ECW timetable would have to be chucked out and rebuilt to incorporate additional services. NB: even "current routes" are set in a very specific time frame, the time during which DTG did the research for their digital recreation (usually 1-2 years before release). Trying to perpetually update a route thereafter to keep up with real-world changes would be the way to madness.
Yes I thought so too. But when I walk around Brighton in London Commuter I can‘t find Coastway services to Seaford and Lewes as destinations. Track 5 and 6 are also constantly empty without information on PIS. When I load up the East Coastway DLC those tracks are in use.
The ECW was provided with a new timetable anyway with the new DLC. The London services operate on different lines from different platforms so it shouldn't have been hard to add them unless the coding is very odd indeed. I don't think keeping to period is too much of a problem as none of the timetables are all that close to a specific year from what I can see. In WCL many services are pure fantasies using stock that had been withdrawn by the official time of the route.
If one buys the 313, you now have a choice of two timetables on ECW: the original, and the new one with the 313 (running the same Seaford etc services covered by 377s in the original timetable). With the new timetable, however, the BML trains are also included (as AI), and all platforms at Brighton are in use:
The reason for this is that DTG haven't gone back to the ECW timetable and added in a layer for the GX or other services from BML. If you want this then add as a suggestion in that part of the forum, but that's the long and short of it