As I’ve said before though, the licensing issues with Arriva were a while ago now, and it’s far from impossible that they’ve patched things up.
It would be great to see it extended to Worcester or even better Hereford. You would get the contrast from the big city station to the much more rural railway with mechanical signalling. However sadly I suspect that is just a pipe dream. It is actually the class 170's which are being replaced by the class 196 and it was those that mainly ran the Worcester/Hereford via the Lickey services and the Shrewsbury services. Class 172's are mainly used on the Snow Hill lines although probably did/do operate the odd service down the Lickey incline. I suspect it will just be the Lichfield to Redditch/Bromsgrove section with a class 323 and a class 66 and freight either included or layered.
Hurrah something new to moan about. Let's at least wait and see before condemning it out of hand, There's no obligation to purchase
There isn't no but people seem to be wanting routes that are busy, offer some different train types and have some good scenery or interesting challenges. What we are worried about is getting a route with one new train, A to B on Green signals and nothing of great note to see en route.
Were there issues specifically between Arriva and DTG or did Arriva just get their proverbials in a bunch because they lost their Welsh contract in ignominy?
The 323 isn't in game. The scenery and station count is dense. We don't have any LM or LNWR trains in game We might get a 170, 350, 390, 220, 158 etc in game at some point So there may be "different train types" and so on, but that takes time to build up. Sometimes I wonder if people really do forget that each DLC is a separate game in essence until they start to overlap (and then probably complain because they're only seeing the same things)
I can't understand the criticism "this is a bad route", "one train with one station", "tired of these electric stars". Catcar is a wonderful route with a wonderful train, a good timetable. According to my expectations, BCC can turn out excellent in the new TSW3 shell. The train is excellent. If the schedule is busy, the environment, sounds and lighting are up to par, it will be a great route. Looking forward to the route. Looking forward to an exciting journey. I see no reason to complain and moan.
Arriva pulled out of the wales contract at the time when DB were looking to possibly sell off their passenger holdings and the Welsh Government were running their first devolved franchise deal IIRC Either way, they only told DTG not to use their logos and IP when they lost that franchise, so not sure if its an "arriva / DTG thing" or just "Arriva throwing their toys out of the pram" Either way, we MIGHT get an XC livery at some point, or they could make the 221 from Avanti, and then repaint it
For someone who lives in the US, how long is the Birmingham cross city route and does it take in all 3 of the stations there.
No Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill are on a separate section of railway. Total length of this route is going to be ~35 miles.
Ive never understood how the likes of Bachmann can continue to release & sell Virgin Branded voyagers and Arriva Train Wales & XC liveried trainsets in n gauge and seemingly have little issue with getting licenses for 99% of UK outline, yet DTG not only cant produce new routes with the above liveries but had to withdraw their existing routes.
I am looking forward to it, the pictures look very nice. I just hope they do get the sounds right this time as the train is one of the most unique train sounds. Glad they have got a route with birmingham quicker this time rather than having to wait 10+ years like we had to wait in classic haha.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, however TSW biggest weakness against TSC is the sound channels available. I stand to be proven wrong but if they cant master the sounds in an engine they' built and have been using for 13 years, I wouldn't hold out much hope that they'll get it right in UE which they (and others) have struggled to get decent sound out of.
Network map here - presumably it'll be the section from Litchfield Trent Valley (centre top) down to Bromsgrove, plus the Redditch branch (the section from Bromsgrove to Hereford doesn't have power so far).
How? I've longed called for a West Midlands route and I dare say I'm far from the only one. Will be a shame if it doesn't include some other Midlands locos though.
not just pimply teenagers, I remember Sam doing a Derail video coming out of Cathcart (I think) with various trains like the ICE and trying to derail them. Not just teenagers old people too. For the route I agree with much that has been said, I welcome it and with a new train so can't be bad. Be great to see New Street, I hope they can do it justice. If DTG could bundle this with TSW3 I would be tempted to buy. I think my only concerns would be if they is only one train included. New Street is so large and going in there with one train would be a bit depressing. From what I remember of it, it used to be super busy and it would be great to see it as such in game with the other stations of course. I don't know what other trains would be seen on that route so I hope they got plans for more and even layer in some existing trains. Just for the record I asked for a Birmingham - Crewe route so I'm not disappointed although now I think on it Oxford - Birmingham would be a good route, travelled on that loads many years ago.
And of course, if that really was the problem DTG could just take visual derailments out of the game...
So near lol, Kidderminster is the line over next to this one, when I first moved to Kidderminster we used to get trains to BNS but now it is only to Snow Hill. Be great to see New Street in the game and be able to explore it on foot.
North of London itself isn't much better for variety except the long distance stuff. Still loads of electrostars in the vicinity!
The DLC announcement says there will be new TSW3 Starter Pack with BCC, if I understand it correctly.
Exactly what Factor41 said, so in this case you will get TSW3 with Training Center plus one route, which will be BCC.
Birmingham New Street with just one train will look ridiculous. They need to do a 170 or a Voyager. I don't understand why you can have 5-6 locos on German mainline routes but so few on the British. I don't understand DTG's priorities. Rather than produce empty mainlines they would be better to do interesting branches that are relatively self contained and where you can have an interesting experience building on existing locos. For example the Barnstaple Branch in about 1988/9 would allow passenger, freight and ballast trains with a 101, 150,, 31,37 and 47. Add one new loco (perhaps the legendary 50 for DMU substitutions) and you have a fascinating busy route but without much extra rolling stock work for DTG. There would be no unrealistic sprawling stations and yards with no stock. Exeter St David's could be populated by existing AI traffic without any issues. Surely a better experience than one train in a vast industrial wasteland?
We've got all those, people would complain Whilst this is true you're effectively relegating the game to being stuck in one place for a long time to come. DTG made choices and those choices may have limited them to either "making the same thing over and again" or "making lone locos in industrial wastelands" but that's the choice when you only make one train per route (something DTG have tended to do for a while) The Northern part of the Cross City line IS a self contained branch. Nothing else goes up there from what I have seen
They seem to have shelved the already existing BR fleet in favour of modern era. I do wonder if plan A was to build up BR blue era stuff like the red DB trains and have layering working well for UK routes. Maybe poor sales or the forums demanding stuff they see today has resulted in sparser UK modern routes than exist, although to be honest the BR routes could have done with filling out a bit especially Leeds and Man Vic on NTP. I'm half expecting Bristol to Cardiff next with just a repainted 150/2 and some 66s on freight.
I want new locos but why not build on what you've got when planning routes? Set the cross city line in 1994 and you can have a new 323 EMU AND you can also have a busy New Street - plus heavy freight banked up Lickey, 47 loco hauled cross country etc. That would be more fun and help DTG sell other loco and route add ons too. The current strategy just doesn't make sense from a playability or business point of view.
You aren't but those who don't like the choice seem blind to the fact that other people have suggested it or might dare have a differing opinion. Personally for extra interest I would have like to see the line extended at least to Worcester and a class 170 added however DTG do tend to plan their projects to be just enough and not to excess. For me it will almost certainly be a guaranteed purchase unless the stream shows up some howlers, for example the same level of sound implemenation in the as yet unfixed TSC version.
As I have said maybe it does make sense from business POV. If the big market is Modern era liveries then I get the logic as similiar happnes in modelling. Try getting a Provincial liveried 156 in N that Dapol made, Proper rare but every time they are announced its Greater Anglia or some Northern livery everytime! I think us BR fans need to accept the way things are market wise.
Perhaps historic routes don't sell but they seem to generate YouTube video comment so it's difficult to say. I did wonder why more steam hasn't appeared - DTG obviously spent a lot of time and money developing the steam technology and I was surprised there was nothing new in TSW3. I'm even more surprised that there has been nothing announced about new steam routes and loco DLCs. Presumably it doesn't sell...
I don't think it's that at all. DTG don't produce that many locos or MUs in general. If you look at how many actual locos or units we've had over the last two years it's quite few... I realise an MU can be several assets per unit overall but still... It seems that driving asset generation just isn't that quick
Haha of course but Birmingham is more than just the sum of its parts. Also the route is as much outside of the Birmingham city council area as much as it is in it. It takes in Worcestershire, Staffordshire and parts of what were formerly Warwickshire. I am sure the citizens of pretty villages like Burcot and Alvechurch, the town of Sutton Coldfield, the historic market town of Bromsgrove, the historic cathedral city of Lichfield would rail against where they lived being called an "industrial wasteland".
You say that as if people realise that London can mean "the city" or include places like Croydon (which is actually miles away) Most people who don't know a place are likely to lump in the surrounding regions Personally I quite like Birmingham as a place, and it smells a lot less like urine than it used to when I worked the 158 from Cardiff to New Street back in the early 90s