Just Trains - Blackpool - Preston - Ormskirk Official Thread

The more i think about it the more i'm really looking forward to driving the class 142, i can't wait to see the timetable in detail for it and also the scenery on this route looks outstanding!

 

Of course the icing on the cake for this route would have been a run down Class 104. Memories of being wedged in the vestibule of one from Preston to Blackpool. With a reskin and different colour seats it could have layered into PFR too.

 

Yes a 104 would be epic.

 

Really pleased to have a new BR Blue era route in the game, I don't know the area other than the occassional trip to see the illuminations but it looks superb from the screenshots and I love the more challenging trains to drive above the modern EMUs.

Now we just need someone to fill in the timeline void between BR Blue and Privitisation, InterCity Swallow, Class 58 Railfreight Coal etc. would be my dream.

 

its popular for all the wrong reasons, I think the best way to sum it up is to say that it’s infamously iconic in the UK.

 

This will be a day one purchase for me, just a shame it's set before the Big One was built!

 

Well, sort of in the same way as Trabants in an East German traffic sim

 

This may be a day 1 pucharse from me, however that depends on my parent's amount of money!

 

Cracking route but I got to buy TSW4 then buy this aswell to access it. I was expecting it to release on TSW3.

 

Definite Day one purchase of the deluxe edition for xbox and steam and the JT route for both. Costs a bit , I know, but I like to have the option to play on both devices.

 

Trying to think what my longest journey was on a 142. Either Exeter to Barnstaple or when I lived in South Wales they used to turn up on the Coryton to Maesteg services now and again (usually a 143) so from Cardiff to Bridgend.

I also had an (official) cab ride from Carmarthen to Pembroke (and back) on one of them while working for W&W/ATW. Bouncy bounce! But good forward view out the cab compared to a 150 or 153.

 

oh please grow up TSW4 brings a whole load of new updates and 3 brand new routes and if you don’t have the money now just wait for a sale. But don’t cry like you are owned something

 

Lancaster to Leeds I think was my longest (although all concept of time is lost whenever you have to get on one on a winter rainy day).

It’s actually scary to think that most sprinter served lines in operation could have been (and very likely all were) operated by a replacement pacer at some point.

These days I think it’s crazy that TFW run 150’s on Holyhead to Cardiff services, can only imagine a pacer on that run.

 

Back in my WW etc. days, it was not uncommon to use a Class 143 (traction knowledge permitting), to work forward a service from Cardiff to Milford Haven which released a 158 to go back to Manchester or Portsmouth and avoid a cancellation.

Prior to arrival of the Pacers, the Valley Class 116 units occasionally got requisitioned similarly though as most had no toilets (just the C396 and C397 which were hybrid 108's) not so suitable for that purpose. And of course, the Valley Controller wanted them back in time for his evening peak!

 

Nice one.

 

I am looking forward to this one, the just trains team did an amazing job on train sim classic so looking forward too see how well they make this route. I am sure it will be brilliant.

Looking forward to driving the pacer too, hope it sounds like a bag of nails (in a good way of course)

 

Can I ask how you've achieved this? It's clearly not a scenario as the Class 40 doesn't come with the pack, but I can't figure out how the substitution with the DMU might work given that a pilot release or some kind of positioning maneuver would be required at the Blackpool end.

Or is this service one that simply wouldn't turn up if you didn't have NTP?

PS. In the image below - pigeon is misspelled on the poster (noticed during the livestream, it's less clear in this photo). unplayable



Cheers! Actually can't wait for this, looks incredible.

 

So in the timetable that diagram is always loco hauled with 3 coaches.
We noticed from doing research that it was a commonly subbed diagram so decided to make it loco hauled as something a bit different.

 

This route looks incredible. I'm really looking forward to getting to drive it. I'm just a few stations down from Ormskirk (on the Merseyrail side) so even though it's set in a era before my time, there looks to be a great variety to get my teeth into!

If JT ever wanted to start a new route from the electric side of Ormskirk station... well, that'd be just fine by me too

 

Looks really good!

Looking forward to the pacers. Albeit layering is a tad pricey but expected - I plan on grabbing the BR routes soon anyway (maybe there's a br route bundle for steam who knows.. )


Stunning. Probably not a on day purchase but will grab as soon as possible.

 

The second I saw the era of the route it was a purchase but by 'eck is it looking bleedin' brilliant. If you hadn't already guessed I think it is a great choice of era and love them or hate them the Pacers will be great to have. I am, however more excited to be using my existing BR diesels (especially the peak) on another route. Looking really great and credit to everyone involved in it's building so far.

I am going to be sorted for the next year with this and the ECML!

 

You are interested in this route and era but you have not yet got NTP or TVL!?!?
I am stunned

They come with some of the best locomotives in the game. They don't show their age much but because they are old you can pick them up nice and cheap.

If you have to choose one, go for NTP with the heavy freight pack if you enjoy passengers trains.
If you prefer freight then go for TVL and the class 31 and 20 add-ons.

Both routes have a mixture of both anyway and you get some excellent locomotives in either.

 

I have to echo the class 31 is a beautiful piece of dlc! Fast becoming my most played at the moment! The brakes are a challenge but a good one! Same with the 101!

 

The class 31 has excellent sounds and excellent physics. It was famously weak in real life and it is very much true to life in the game

Back in the days where we got a selection of locomotives with a route and some solid dlc to fill it out.

 

So nice to have a BR Blue route again and the iconic Pacer.

British Rail = The age of the train

 

Regarding Blackpool - Preston, I think it’s fair to say that gradients aren’t the particular highlight of this route. It’s gently undulating, but with no really steep or sustained gradients which will make much difference to running.

On the Blackpool North line there’s a bit of a summit West of Kirkham, with 2 mile climbs of circa 1 in 300 on either side. From Poulton to Blackpool North is a bit of a climb, with very short sections as steep as 1 in 110/129, but the average much less than that.

On the Blackpool South branch you climb initially out of Kirkham, then descend quite steeply for about 2 miles, with nearly a mile at 1 in 119.

Aside from that, there’s nothing of note.

The gradients on the Ormskirk line are more sustained, at least. Leaving Ormskirk you descend for 4 miles at an average gradient of around 1 in 200, with some sections at 1 in 150. After a flatter section you then climb for 5 miles at an average gradient of around 1 in 250 to Bamber Bridge where you join the West Coast Mainline. Interestingly the steepest part of all is actually the short section of the West Coast Mainline itself. From Bamber Bridge Junction to Preston is a significant descent, around 2 miles averaging 1 in 120, before a very short final climb into Preston station. In steam days that would have made for quite a challenging start from Preston in the Southbound direction - but I don’t think the Pacer will notice it much.

 

To be honest just never had the want - it's only recently where I decided I got Into BR.

 

I agree entirely. My train driving (sim) life started on PC with MSTS and moved on to TS Classic. I owned much Just Trains disc based content and it was always excellent, the great quality and attention to detail showed throughout

Nowadays the PC is long gone (Mac for my general needs) and I have a PS5. I have wished for a long time that Just Trains would produce content for TSW, much of which that has gone before being far inferior to the detail and quality I yearn for. And the day is dawning, we now know what JT’s first route for TSW will be. I am beyond excited. I look forward to many more routes and vehicles from these talented people

 

How much will this DLC be? I was hoping it would been available on TSW3.

Also I already own the class 47 and 08 wouldn't I be duplicating what I already have?

Apart from that it looking at the screenshots it looks fantastic. I was born and bred in Preston.

 

Chances are standard prices: 29.99 pounds. Unless they've raised or lowered prices.

 

My favourite era - looking forward to this route.

 

Apart from the 47 and 08, all the rolling stock is wrong for this route, in this time period (BR Blue). You hardly ever saw 101s, and you hardly ever saw Peaks. a Peak was a very rare visitor to Blackpool. To be accurate, this route needed (in addition to 47s) 40s and 104s, as that's pretty much all you would see on this route in the 1980s... 47, 40 and 104. Other less common traffic, but still quite regular were Craven units, Park Royal units, and Swindon units. In summer, with the excursion traffic, you would see 37s as well sometimes, and an occasional 25, but 31s and 37s were not regular visitors on this line until the later 80s heading into the 90s, and almost all loco hauled trains were 47s and 40s until the mid 80s when 40s were withdrawn, and early Regional Railways period, then it all died away when Sprinters were introduced. The only other exciting time on this route was the early to mid 90s, when the club trains were running, and 31s and 37s were more common than DMUs. We also had cross country traffic using HSTs. Unfortunately, it is now the most boring line in the world, with nothing but 195/331s on it. Such a shame.

I'm not a fan of TSW, and not used it since TSW1. Can you create my own scenarios in 4, and put whatever train I like, from whatever route I like on it? Can I use assets from one route in another route? Can I now create textures and skins in external applications and import them into the game like I can in TSC? If not... I'll not be using TSW4 either. This is a shame, as this route looks really nice (apart from the unrealistic rolling stock), but I ain't buying TSW for one route, and if the game still doesn't do what TSC can do, then it's not for me.

 

It’s not such a jarring clash as was done with the classic layer on WCL. All the locos could have been seen at some point, unlike a Class 40 working services in West Cornwall.

I for one am quite happy with the slight liberties that have been taken with timescale to give us an excellent classic diesel experience. This route will be a much needed refreshing change from the one handled electric commuter routes we have seen of late, nice though they be.

 

With the new PC editor all things are possible, you can even build a 104 if you like (I'm sure the community would love one to use on this route and PF). Just be prepared for a massive increase in difficulty / compexity as you essentially need the skills of a games developer.

 

So I can import photos into the texture editor?
Sorry, but the FAQ is pretty useless at answering most of my questions.

 

This may help you:

https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.26/en-US/

 

Being bred and buttered in Preston I may be slightly a bit more hyped than usual for this one

 

I must admit if we had selectable layers I personally would deselect the class 40 as I am quite a purist but I can live with seeing it as I believe the experience overall will be very immersive and the route will be of very high quality.

I don't know that much about the loco hauled workings, I agree the 101 would have been a rare sight as there were barely any, if any allocated to any of the Manchester depots in 1986. I think they started being allocated in the area around 1988 and of course were the dominant first generation DMU in the end. Chester and Neville Hill would have been the nearest allocations, I would imagine some likely could have worked across from the Leeds area. This really is because DTG have ticked their "lets include a first generation DMU" box for the sim and unless we get another period bespoke route where another type would be dominant I suspect that is what we shall be left with. DMUs have been under represtented in all the sims and in the model railway world.

If we get a class 104 for PFR maybe it could be reskinned into BR blue and layer in.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60539...9g-cuCAmo-YeGQ17-2jCEbk5-YL8yZ3-ou37s8-cuE4uw

101s did get to Blackpool a fair bit in the 80s. 108s and 104s probably more frequently but a 101 certainly not out of place.

The 40 is the most licence used and is stretching the accuracy by a fair bit. Also the type 4 traction was gaining high intensity headlights by that time and the rolling stock was still commonly mk1 on the extras. 37/0s were common up until the mid 80s from Sheffield also.

 

The complete refusal to produce further stock from that era has left us with the 101 and nothing else. It doesn't sell etc....

 

A simple reply would actually be more useful rather than being handed the entire UE4 documentation. This makes me think that I need to own UE4 in order to just reskin a train using external imagery. In TSC, I can just make textures in Photoshop, and import them into the game using free, third party apps. I just want to know if TSW4 will allow this or not.

 

We agree ref the Class 31, that's why we wanted to make sure it saw some use in this route. I drove it on one of the Illumination special a few weeks ago, returning from Blackpool North about 11PM, the immersion was some of the finest I've ever experienced, that 31 is really good.

 

So you can actually 3D model from scratch?

 

Oh I know, I wasn't stating they would never have but when I was making scenarios for the TSC South Lancashire and Cheshire route set in the 1980's I noticed that neither Longsight or Newton Heath had an allocation or not one worthy of the name until around 1988. Again in TSC, apart from the class 105 (which had largely gone from the Manchester area by 1986) or pretending the old IHH 107/114 was a 108, you really only had the 101. The 117 being even more unsuitable of course.

 

They were not common at all, and if the only 1st gen DMU in the route is a 101, it would be very out of place.

 

Sounds great, I can't wait to experience this. The class 31 is definitley one of the most immersive trains in the sim and a little wasted on TVL.

 

Totally agree that first generation dmus are under represented. So far we have only 1 out of the 30 classes that made up the first generation dmu fleet. Although the Class 101 managed to get almost everywhere in its lifetime, there were many other types to be found, some of which fit the routes we already have. We need a massive influx of types to improve realism.

 

Appreciate the post, unfortunately picking a route and hoping to do all the stock correctly just isn't possible, we can only afford to do one train, and it has to be a train that will appeal to the masses. I do agree a 104 would be great, however, the class 104 coupled to this route would not outsell this route compared to the Pacer, of that we're certain. The 142 appeals to a cross section demographic, particularly the younger generation. If it was a 104 it's quite likely a portion of these would probably say "What's a 104?".

There is nothing to say in future that we, or others cannot make additional stock for the route, to suit.

I do disagree with one of your points though, Peaks were not "very rare" to Blackpool, they weren't as common as 47s by any means but they did run there throughout the 80s, including 1986.

The idea is to provide a semi-hybrid route that is not correct for The 21st July 1986. It's better veiwed as set in 1986 (certainly the route scenery is set directly in 1986) but more an appreciation of the line in the mid 1980's as it is possible within the realms of TSW. The biggest issue that faces us when making these products is stock. If we made it and only added services that we have the exact stock in TSW for then we'd find ourselves with just the 142 running and a few of the extras, then people would say it's bland and boring with the services.

As for the 101, they are not used at all times on the route, the 142 is the focus train, the 101 is added in to appear occasionally. As I said earlier, if money was no object we'd build a 104, 120, 108, the whole lot, but then we'd be out of business within a week..

I will refer to an old adage we exists from TSC: "Make the route and the stock will come". It's quite possible that this route in future may encourage further stock and timetabling etc that is correct for the route and the year.

 

Looking very much forward to this route. Day 1 for sure !!

My wish, jt will use the opportunity to bring the class 20 / 37 in br blue livery.

 

Actually peaks got there quite a bit on adex’s, summer Saturday trains & normal service trains. And 101s got there a bit.