Although the first of the UK routes on TSW, I feel that GWE has been left out in the cold when compared to practically every route since. There have been very few large scale improvements to this route as well as no real DLC. As time goes on, it seems that GWE will only ever slip further behind the quality of more recent releases. The choice of 2015 for the setting was a bit of an oddity as it would've worked better if set pre 1994 (pre electrification) or up to date (fully electrified). 2015 was a strange limbo period on this route. Also is the fact that every branch, both freight and passenger, between Paddington and Reading was left out and really should have been included in my opinion. Then we come to the lack of realistic DLC. This should, at the very least, have included the Class 165/1 and Class 180 dmus, perhaps even another freight locomotive such as Class 59/0 & /1 variants. I just wondered if anyone else felt that GWE was somewhat neglected?
I think the time has now slipped by and like most routes over six months old, DTG have firmly lost interest in it. In terms of extending the route well frankly they would be better starting from scratch, whether that's setting currently or going back to before the wires started to creep west of Stockley Junction. A newly realised 1970's era GW would be my dream - Paddington to Oxford with a mixture of loco hauled and HST's on Class One services, Class 117's with maybe the odd 119 on the suburban services and all the branches (including freight) covered too - Class 121 bubble car and trailer.
DTG has said a few times but GWE is too Old for an Expansion, in which case they're forced to create a whole new GWE
The are other more recent routes that deserve attention over this; BML, SOS and WCL to name a few. Although any update to restore the timetable to its original 30 second timing intervals (along with most other older routes since they were last updated) would be most welcome.
They can’t keep going back updating old routes. It will just take too much time. It’s probably safe to say that GWE has had its day for now.
Oh yes, I'd pay good money for that pipe dream. One thing, though. While some are complaining that it's a boring A-B route, I think it compares well with recent one trick pony offerings like BCC and EDG. It doesn't have much plastic or push and go electric and it has a variety of diesel traction, including the terrific Class 101*, even if it's a little out of place. And for a 2020 route, it's just as well modeled as those 2022/3 efforts. * with the Legends add-on.
There are so many other routes that I'd want to see first, before GWE again. Each to their own, I find the power up to 125 and sit there for 30 minutes boring as heck, but loce the 385 'plastic'
Really like GWE the way it is actually. Yes, compared to new routes you feel that it was one of the first ones but on my old PS4 its a route that performs really good compared to new routes in general. The only thing im a bit mad about is that they removed the possibility to 'sneak into the PC timetable' which was possible on TSW2 (and actually worked problem free on Gen8). At least they added the Greenford Services.
While GWE always has a special place in my heart as it was my first-ever experience with TSW, nowadays I don't even play at all it due to the very empty timetable and quite dull route in general. As mentioned by the OP, it's 2015 timeframe seemed an odd choice, thus I think I'd rather see a completely new version of the same route (like SEHS) with a lot more rolling stock and any extension rather than just an update to the existing version - but, unless the timetable was amazing, it might still feel a bit boring after a while. Wasn't there quite a few preservation updates to GWE though, including additional freight etc? There are other UK routes which have pretty much had no proper gameplay update, ECW is a good example, fair enough it got a new loco DLC (but no actual additional timetable services), but the route in general, whether extra AI traffic, scenario planner update, missing London services and still having an older version of a train that's since been updated elsewhere, are still very much lacking. While that's a very fair point, though I'd argue that some of the most popular and exciting routes which many players still enjoy would be worth it (though maybe not GWE) instead of always having a possible lackluster brand-new route.
Since I got TSW2 a few years ago I felt like it's been neglected and forgotten despite receiving a preservation crew update. I personally believe the next tsw instalment should do a extension and change the setting of it from 2015 to 2019 so we can get both diesel and electric trains running at the same time.
Before I got LGV Marseille to Avignon, Great Western Express was my most played route in both TSW1 and TSW2. Very well modelled, and the HST services were just the right length for me as I struggle to concentrate with things longer than half an hour usually unless I have something else to do. Funnily enough there was a DLC planned for it - the Class 08 first introduced with the Heavy Freight pack was meant to be a GWE DLC. It was discussed on the forum many years ago. Here it is in EWS livery. This was the livery intended for the GWE DLC. As for deeper details of the DLC I don't know, my memory is quite hazy.
GWE is like a race track. I usually play it after a long 'boring' day at work ( HR sessions, basically :P ) You just thrash the Western at notch 8 and relax with Spotify in the background & a drink of your choice. It's a meditation session at 90mph. That's my way of enjoying it !
I remember finding that on skyhooks website. They should really dig it up and try releasing it again because DB Cargo have always been very on board with TSW
Route that old getting any kind of major overhaul is pretty unlikely. You have my sympathy. I'm a Clinchfield fanboy and have come to accept we are probably never getting a GP7 DLC with switching services for it, although in all honesty that would probably be more likely than some kind of in depth GWE rework.
No way they gonna do something else for the route especially knowing the fact this came out in TSW OG so like others said, it has to be rebuilt from scratches but we can say the only love it got was the Diesel Legends DLC
DLoGW was the only dlc for the route, and was not period accurate being set around 1971 (when the whole route was extremely different). Furthermore, there are many types that were in use on the route at that time that have not been included such as Class 22, 35, 42/43, 117/121, 123 and 128. If you spent a couple of hours around Paddington in 1971 you could've seen at least one of each of these classes. So many missed opportunities both on DLoGW and GWE.
Am I the only person that thinks GWE is fine as it is and should be left well alone and seen as quite an enjoyable route in its current form? The fairly recent update it got from the Preservation Crew was one of their better efforts and did a lot for the atmosphere on it. We know it can’t be added to in any larger sense because of how it was made and remaking it is the only option to add to it. It’s too soon for a remake as there are hundreds of other routes that could be added instead.
I agree. As I said earlier, it has held up pretty well in comparison to the recent crop of one train routes, especially if you add the " Legends " .
It is a superb route Stujoy. However if they could only go back and include the freight and passenger branch lines as well as the Class 165/1 & 180, I'd be so much happier. My main gripe being that, I can forsee no other way that the multiple branches can be included otherwise, likewise it is the perfect opportunity to include the two classes just mentioned, which would likely otherwise not be added.
We always want more than we get. I don’t think there are many routes that have enough content but I can’t see any of things people ask for for GWE being done because of what DTG have said in the past about it and remaking routes just isn’t their thing.
Really? Perhaps you mean 2020; since he was mentioning the 08 coming out, he was probably referring to the BR Heavy Freight or Tees Valley DLCs, which came out mid-2019. Or perhaps I'm remembering a different post.
It would be best for DTG upgrade/improve and fix current/older routes rather than creating new routes TSW needs to be in a better state with a lot of improvements/fixes before they can create new routes. (THAT'S WHAT DTG SHOULD FOCUS ON) for the rest of 2023 That's what should happen! (Kindness is key)
Indeed, most UK routes apart from maybe BML and WSR could benefit from an extension. However apart from the practical issues and without access to the editors we don’t really know how feasible it is to open up a baked off route and extend it, they probably reckon there is more money to be made from an all new route than putting extra legs on an old one. As regards bug fixes, well we were given the white lie last year about a pause and hiatus to lick the game into shape, but instead we got the money making upgrade to TSW3.
Nope... If you actually read the Quoted message i put you can clearly see when it was posted (idk why you think I'm lying to you). Also he's talking about the MFA wagon coming to Southeastern High Speed
I think GWE still looks good today however I rarely play it as it never feels very realistic. It should really have had a class 165 instead of or as well as a 166, there aren't enough class 166's run all the services. It is a good route to drive the 166 on, which is nicely modelled but for the HST it is over too quickly. Personally if they can't extend it I hope we get a new longer version in the future, whether set in current day or even better, for me set in BR days. Although there are other routes I would like to see built first. I also think the likes of ECW and TVL are just as deserving of any extensions as they are too short and the core services don't run to their final destinations.
Quoted text does not give the date of posting, and I'm not going to search through Matt's post history to find the date he posted it. I didn't think you were lying, I just though you'd made a mistake.
GWE is in a good state after all the preservation crew updates, but it’s simply not an interesting route to begin with. My understanding is that it would never have been planned like that in the first place… it was initially supposed to extend beyond Reading, but then the work was scaled back significantly, leaving us with the boring London-Reading stretch. No speed limits, no landmarks, no unique stations, no curves or inclines. The only cool part is basically the few hundred meters on the approach to the amazing Paddington station. So boooring!
It’s not a straight route but rather it is made up of long sweeping curves. It is flat but it is only the width of the four tracks that give it the impression of being straight. It isn’t straight at all. There are some landmarks on the route and it goes through several different kinds of scenic setting, getting more rural as you get closer to Reading. There are unique stations on the route, in as much as there are different styles of building and different platform layouts. There are also speed limit changes, more so on the slow tracks than the fast but they are there. I think some people have a couple of runs in the HST and then give up on the route. If you spend time on it there is quite a lot to enjoy there even without a huge array of rolling stock. It’s got three depots and a freight yard all with a selection of services that use them. Having it go past Reading wouldn’t improve the route much for those who find it boring now because all of the same would still be there but with more tagged on to the most boring end. I don’t understand how people can say something is boring and then ask for more of it, it doesn’t make sense.
I think there is a good point here. Reading to Oxford would be the most likely route for an extension and that wouldn't add much. Most HST services don't even get to Oxford so fans of the HST services like me wouldn't be that interested (not all express services stop at Didcot Parkway either so Reading is literally the best place for the route to end if you're into HSTs). Oxford would add more for the 166, but I find the 166 services long enough already.
As far as the route being flat, it was intended that way from the start. This is why it is known as Brunel's Billiard Table. There is a lot of variety and history along the route as Stujoy said, which could be much further added to if the branch lines were built, visiting places like Windsor, Marlow and Henley on Thames.
I do think the branches would add something, but even if DTG were building the route now I am not sure we would get any. The Greenford branch would be interesting in particular. I don't think the route is boring just too short to run an express passenger train on it. The route to Oxford adds something quite different, and Didcot is an interesting station with an interesting layout. Swindon could at least have been a better destination but is adding a fair amount more miles to the route.
Y'know if you press the little arrow next to the 'username said:' on the quote it takes you to the quoted message
I would love if they revisit London commuter and Great Western Express and some form of improvements or upgrade
It would be easy to recreate currently as there are no trains between Didcot and Oxford until at least June, because the bridge over the Thames at Abingdon is unsafe. Gives us a bit more traffic on my local Chiltern line.
Not really, it's just really old and despite its age, it's held up really well tbh considering it was the first Passenger route in Train Sim World. It's received the preservation crew update, it's had a lot of physics improvements over the years, I think it's one of the least neglected routes from back then.
With the HST and MML, and the likes of this thread, I decided to play GWE again (timetable mode) for the first time in years - and also the first since several preservation updates. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised how much I actually enjoyed it. While the services and actual route may not be the most exciting, the timetable seemed busier than I remember and was nice to see that, unlike MML, quite a few Class 66s and freight services too which is great overall.
Yes I must admit I have done the same and found the timetable to be much busier than I remember as well. I said this on another thread and it is such a well detailed route an doesn't feel as far behind newer routes as I thought it was.
Absolutely agree. Along with GWE, there's quite a few other older TSW routes that are of decent quality too. As such, I really wish DTG could improve some of these older routes (though I'm not too fussed about any TOD 4 updates for these) which are desperate for an update to their quieter timetables, plus some some additional loco DLC would be nice too, instead of just the constant stream of brand-new routes. I tend to play more TSW 2 and earlier routes than TSW 3 (with exception of SEHS, Bremen and Kassel-Wursburg) anyway.
Yes the old routes are very high quality, though, the timetables especially, are starting to show their age. NTP and TVL are my most played routes so far this month with GWE close behind so they still appeal to me even though I have covered many thousands of miles on them.
I have to say that GWE is a go to route for me when I have a spare half an hour. Mainly because it was my local route in the 80s s has great nostalgia value. I even ride as a passenger sometimes particularly on a train from Reading to Maidenhead. It’s just a shame I can’t complete my route to/from Bourne End. Scenery wise, it’s as good if not better than some more recent routes.
Indeed, it really is just the timetables and lack of AI traffic that let down older TSW routes; could you imagine how epic routes like NTP or TVL would be with a revamped, busy timetable - would actually feel like a new route thanks to new gameplay freshness - and even as someone who prefers modern content, I'd still very much would enjoy it. A great timetable is what makes an already decent route brilliant!
