Something that I don't see talked about anywhere near enough is the lack of variety for coaching stock on UK routes. We have precisely three types which can be selected, that being the commonweath bogied MK1s from West Somerset which run vacuum brakes, the B1 bogied MK1s from Spirit Of Steam which also run vacuum brakes, and the MK2a stock from Northern Transpennine, all air braked. Along with these we do also have a dual braked BG from NTP, and there are also the GWR and EMT MK3 coaches but as these can't be accessed seperately from, nor even decoupled from the HST sets, I personally don't count them. I would happily see either one of two options added, and this may perhaps be more of a JT thing to look at seeing as they've said that their plans for the future almost entirely consist of blue era content. So first suggestion: Dual Braked MK1s Every railfan in the country knows these units, and they are nothing short of versatile with over half a century of mainline use. We already have vacuum braked variants in the game, so what I would like to see would be the full MK1 collection released in their later updated conditions. These included dual brakes, the replacement of the B1 bogies with Commonweath bogies, electric heating, and the repainting of the full fleet to the blue & grey colour scheme. It would also be a perfect opportunity to add in some missing coach types, such as the kitchen cars (BRK), second corridor (SK), perhaps even rarer types such as the post office coaches or the XP64 coaches that prototyped the development of the MK2s. As an extra note, these could be released in two liveries. The main idea is for them to be in Blue & Grey, but for the sake of modern railtours they could also feature the maroon livery. The vast majority of railtours use coaching stock owned by West Coast Railways, something I thing DTG have tried to emulate by the amount of times the maroon stock is used for railtours. WCR's fleet is almost entirely composed of MK1s in their updated states, with the Commonweath bogies and dual brakes, with the older colour scheme being their only backdated feature. Even the interiors still feature the greys of the blue days, so while the WCR logos might be absent it would still be much more appropriate for railtours to make use of the updated coaches regardless. MK2d/e/f Sets Let's be honest for a moment. Pretty much any appearance of the MK2 coaches following NTP could have been later models than the MK2a, or for that matter should have been such as with the WCL layer. Sure the MK2a was pretty common, but the later MK2 types were even more so. When you think of BR Blue era express trains that pre-date the HSTs, you think of a big locomotive with these behind it. Their bodywork was much the same as the MK2a, with the most noticable difference being the shape of the windows. The segmented design from the MK1s was gone, replaced by modernised single panes. Following the MK2d they also omitted the suptypes featuring corridors, instead opting for all classes to be open designs. These marked the point at which British Rail had finished modernising their railways and their locomotives and were now starting to modernise the coaching stock, being the first major departure from the classic layouts since the corridors were first introduced. When MK2 coaches are used on diesel railtours today, if the tour is Intercity themed, they are almost always the later types. The MK2s on West Cornwall Local's layer should have been these, as by the 90s as far as I'm aware, most of the earlier models had been retired. The same goes for the MK2s now being featured in Blackpool Branches, while featuring the MK2a stock is not incorrect in any way, later models would also realistically be there as well. There is also a sizeable opening for reskinning potential with these coaches also. Not only did they dominate the era of Inter-City Swallow livery, but they survived well past privatisation. In the 00s they were in service all over the place with companies like Arriva, Anglia and Virgin, with some even still in service to this day. Noteably several are still used by DRS, who frequently employ them on their nuclear flask transports as well as leasing them out, such was the case for many years on the Wherry lines in Norfolk which is even depicted in TSC. As an honourable mention, one bonus I would thoroughly enjoy seeing purely for the sake of railtours is: The K-Type Pullmans These coaches are considered by many (myself included) to be the ultimate point of luxury on UK rails. They created such a legacy and became such an icon for their LBSCR inherited liveries that newer builds of them continued to be made on both the MK1 and even the MK2 frames, though the latter was less common and eventually adopted a different coat of paint. The K-Types can be seen on vintage railtours in all corners of the country, most often for the high paying passengers who decide to book first class dining seats. Ultimately if all of these suggestions were released, I could see them being released in two packages. Firstly, what I'll call 'BR Blue Coaching Stock', featuring both the blue dual braked MK1s and the late model MK2s. This pack could be used to add greater variation to all BR Blue routes using MK2 coaches, primarily being NTP, WCL, GWD, and BPO. Secondly, what I'll call the 'Vintage Railtour Coaching Stock', featuring the dual braked MK1s reskinned to maroon red, plus the K-Type Pullans. I am aware however that TSW doesn't necessarily follow the same release guidelines as TSC, most noteably the game doesn't really do rolling stock releases. Everything is either a route or a loco pack, which may also feature new wagons with it. With all of this new modelling work I can imagine adding a whole new locomotive on top of that would be a bit of a handful, so realistically I could see whatever locomotive is included in each pack being either a reskin or a new subtype close to something we already have. For the BR Blue pack this would be an easy decision, a blue Class 37/0. Matt even mentioned that it was something they could have considered way back when Diesel Legends released. For the railtour pack however this could be a lot more tricky as there is such a massive variety to choose from, and the Jubilee has had enough variants already. Perhaps a shiny and clean preserved condition Black Five would be a good fit with many things that could be carried over from the Jubilee and 8f, and it would also complete Stanier's holy trinity of LMS type 3 boilers with its LMS 3b fitting between the Jubilee's 3A and the 8f's 3C. It would also make it an easy job to reskin it into a much more dirty state for a future steam era route where it actually will work alongside its cousins in their hayday. That's all I've got for now, would love to hear from you folks.
The Pullman car in the photo is a loco hauled vehicle and wouldn't have a power car as such. The only Pullman coaches with power cars are the Class 251/261 Blue Pullman DEMU sets with Class 251 being the power cars and 261 the other vehicles. At a stretch you could count the Class 403 5BEL Brighton Pullman sets. Both of these are deserving of inclusion with the Blue Pullman sets added to DLoGW and PFV as these are period/location relevant,and the Brighton Pullman sets for LBN as historical throwback stock (unless featured as the current rebuild unit).
Seeing as there is a project to restore a 5-BEL going on, seeing one added for railtours on London Commuter would be brilliant.
My campaign for Mark One catering vehicles is well known! I really can’t accept DTG don’t have someone with the skill and a few hours of available time to knock out a RMB or RBR. Look at what the likes of Matrix Trains have achieved for TSC, a one man operation probably in spare time.
Exactly this. It would just be perfect to look at whatever BR Blue era route comes next and see a loco hauled express train pulling out of the station, MK2 coaches behind it and in the midst of them a MK1 kitchen. Maybe even another MK1 coach towards the back of the train too, a backup to raise the number of seats during rush hour. This is what I'm talking about with my post. JT have very accurately reduced the usage of the Class 40 on their timetable given that most if not all were withdrawn by that time period. So if it wasn't for the fact that the Peak could be there because of the region, if we were looking at the south or west, then right now every single long range express train we would pass would be a Class 47 pulling the exact same set of MK2a coaches. The subject of the locomotives available is a different issue, one that I believe is covered decently by many people on here. But I think the subject of coaching stock is equally as important for the experience. You just know that if these other coaches existed already, in the absolutely amazing thing that JT are building they would have been all over these coaches.
Exactly my point. 5BEL Trust are doing a superb job of making a unit suitable for modern operations. I have previously suggested charitable dlc packs to help raise funds to complete projects like this with several currently planned/ongoing.
Catering vehicles are so desperately needed and would improve immersion immensely. With visual details available on platform vendors such as Sandwedge and Liquid Bean, Cafe, it shouldn't be too hard to bring this detail to existing Mk3 buffet interiors as well as future catering cars with the former looking like a boarded up high street with all the shutters down. This would be a absolute must for Pullman vehicles too.
Its not far off being ready IRL too… Although it hasn’t got much in common with the original units at this point it will be great to see it running
For both Spirit of Steam: Liverpool Lime Street - Crewe and Peak Forest we need some Ex LMS period 3 coaches for local trains as the Mark 1's were usually only used on long distance trains
I think I remember reading an update on the project's site that they were planning to make the units able to sync up with Class 73s, perhaps to use as almost a third rail push-pull set. Might not be at all like the original Brighton Belle itself but it's a pretty good idea actually, creates two units rather than just one and the 73's diesel mode allows the set to tour far beyond the south and southeast's third rail network. I could see them being added alongside a loco like an Ivatt Class 2. Side note, would also be a perfect opportunity to give the game its first tank engine if they did the 2-6-2T model, plus very realistic as if I'm not mistaken large tank engines like that were used on many locals due to their need to run the loco around and reverse in the other direction along the many branch lines.
It will definitely be used off third rail for tours in some form or another, whether it is push pull or just dragged by a diesel. Its currently being gauged for a trip to Chester to drop the shoes
