There are far too many steam locomotives I want to see in TSW2 to list, but being the Great Western fanboy that I am, the Castle Class 4-6-0s are the ones I want to see the most. They are quite possible my favourite class of steam loco out there, and every night I create a summoning circle and prey to the dark lords that they may one day appear in TSW2. (image taken from Wikipedia) They're not the fastest engines out there, nor are they the most powerful. As a development of the existing Star class they aren't exactly original and they aren't the prettiest either (although in my opinion they are certainly up there). They look pretty unassuming, and they weren't even the top dog express engine of the GWR for that long, for only four years after their introduction the much larger and more powerful Kings were introduced. Really the Castles were only an interim measure, a compromise (something they have in common with the HSTs funnily enough). And yet like the HSTs their reputation for high speed running was nothing to scoff at, and they had such a profound impact on other railways. Their iconic status makes them more than worthy of inclusion in TSW2. This post is not only to make a case for their appearance in the game, but just for me to share a small piece of their history, and why I love them so much. I suppose their reputation for outstanding performances began in 1924, at the British Empire Exhibition, when the brand new 4073 Caerphilly Castle was displayed alongside one of Gresley's mighty A1 Pacifics, an engine with the name of Flying Scotsman. Perhaps you've heard of it. Despite it's much smaller size, the GWR claimed that it was more powerful than the A1 based solely on the Castle's higher tractive effort. Naturally the LNER wouldn't let this claim go unchallenged so in 1925 exchange trials were arranged to compare the two classes. An A1 was sent to work on the GWR from Paddington to Plymouth, while a Castle was sent to work on the ECML, and their performance and economy would be compared against the Pacifics. https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmightycat/49985056062 LNER officials watched in amazement as 4079 Pendennis Castle hauled trains of well over 10 coaches up the bank out of King's Cross without even a hint of wheel slip, something they could only dream of their engines doing! On both the LNER and GWR the Castles not only proved themselves capable of equal if not superior performances, but proved to be much more economical engines, burning noticeably less coal. The reason for the Castle's superior performance was due to their long travel valve gear and higher pressure boiler, lessons which the LNER quickly implemented in their improved A3 Pacifics. These features then carried over to the iconic streamlined A4s, of which 4468 Mallard would attain the world speed record for steam of 126mph. More exchange trails followed in 1926, this time with the LMS, who were so impressed with the performance of 5000 Launceston Castle that they requested Swindon build a batch for use on the West Coast Mainline! Swindon's rejection of this offer eventually led to the development the Royal Scot Class, which the LMS internally referred to as "Improved Castles"! Then in the 1930s came the saga of the Cheltenham Flyer, which with a scheduled average speed of over 70mph for the 77 miles from Swindon to Paddington would claim the title of "world's fastest train". The Flyer was almost always hauled by a Castle, and in 1932 5006 Tregenna Castle achieved an average speed of 81mph on the journey, an astonishing feat for a line with no noticeable gradients. It was 4086 Builth Castle that had the honour of being the first (or second if you believe in City of Truro's record) GWR engine to be timed at 100mph, travelling down Honeybourne bank. While the Castle Class was surpassed by designs from other railways in the late 30s, they still remained very speedy and beloved by enthusiasts. The fact that a design from the 1920s was still being built up until the early 1950s, and still putting up remarkable performances, speaks volumes for their quality. The fastest authenticated speed of a Castle, complete with a double chimney, was 103mph, and who knows what unofficial records there may have been. Here's a photo I took of the pioneer engine of the class- 4073 Caerphilly Castle at the STEAM museum at Swindon. The lighting wasn't ideal but I tried brightening it a bit. I'd be more than happy if this got into TSW2 as a loco on it's own, with railtour scenarios over various routes, but if I had to pick a route I think Swindon to Paddington in the 1930s would be perfect, at the peak of their career on the Cheltenham Flyer. Obviously this would overlap with GWE, so I'm not sure how DTG would go about doing that. This post was more about the loco than the route anyway.
Assuming they can beat the bugs out of SoS (1) I would like to think a GWR or BR(W) steam era route would be top of the list for the next UK effort. A Castle maybe accompanied by a Hall would be a reasonable brace of loco types to include (well a Pannier tank variant too would be nice but let's not be greedy!).
Living along the ECML all my life I am very reluctant to say this but... Western locos have a certain presence and beauty that no other loco has and so I think it would be nice for that to be captured within the game.
This can also fit Great Central Railway since they have 7027 Thornbury Castle with 48305 8F from WCML Liverpool Crewe. Here is 48305 on GCR Another Suitable Route is GWML Bristol Swindon Didcot Reading 81 mi where Castle class provides Railtour steam Class 800 802 IET High-Speed services. Class 387/1 local regional runs
If they do a great central route I would much prefer it to be done in the lner or br era rather than preservation as it would add more interest.
What that is preserved? If so it is preserved between near Leicester and Loughborough and another section between near Loughborough and near Nottingham. The picture you have in your post is on the preserved Great Central section between Loughborough and near Leicester. Also they have started work to connect the two preserved lines to create one longer preserved line. If you want to find out more just search up great central bridging the gap into your favorite web browser. If I have completely misunderstood your question let me know and I will answer it appropriately.
I'm fairly certain they mean the current preserved Great Central, seeing as they mentioned 7027 Thornbury Castle, which is under restoration at the GCR and as I understand will become part of it's fleet. It's the only Castle that hasn't yet been restored in preservation. I'm not overly keen on preserved railways in TSW2, even with the Jubilee I've barely touched WSR, but it would certainly be a logical one to put in. As they mention the 8F is already in the game. However I'd be quite underwhelmed if a preserved line was used to introduce a Castle, or ANY prestige express loco for that matter. Could you imagine how disappointing it would be for example if we got an A4 Pacific in TSW2, but only 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley in wartime black, and the only scenarios are on the Severn Valley Railway limited to 25mph? I mean yeah we'd make scenarios for other routes, but it would kill a lot of the hype. That's why I hope that if they do another preserved line they use smaller engines where they'd feel more at home.
