I thought it would be interesting to hear if anyone on here lives near or uses a train line that is in the game regularly. What is it like seeing areas you know in the game? What did they do well, what did they do wrong, etc. I’d love to have a local route in the game but where I live basically has no (interesting) train services that would fit into the scope of TSW so I doubt it will happen. I did visit the areas around Sand Patch Grade and Horseshoe Curve last summer and was pretty blown away by how close the game was, I felt like I had been to the places before even though it was my first time (see thread for SPG: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/sand-patch-grade-in-real-life.58421/ ).
GWE is quite accurate to what it was while the line was being electrified. Only thing is with the exclusion of branch lines, Heathrow trains, Class 180’s and the overall lack of traffic break the illusion for me. It was a good attempt but it remains a TSW prototype in my eyes. E: Could’ve built up York Road ground at Maidenhead, I guess there was licensing issues with that though.
I live near ECW and go through Brighton and over towards Eastbourne and up BML a lot. For the most part I think the scenery looks very good. Brighton station hasn't got the archways modeled as you leave the station on foot but the stations seem very close to my eyes. Just past Lewes in the countryside looks a little strange with a small road next to where the A27 is but thats nit picking a little on an old route
Sadly my line, the ECML, isn't represented yet, but during the football season I regularly travel over the MML from Leicester to Nottingham to watch the football. What I can say is that the route is a very good representation of the real life MML and I recognise a lot of the locations along the route so a massive thumbs up to Skyhook there! Apart from the MML there isn't a route I have travelled on enough to make a fair judgement on.
I live near Hamburg, and the feel of Hamburg-Lübeck is very good, especially Hamburg Hbf since Joe updated the timetable. Really well done.
Closest 2 routes to me are Peninsula Corridor and Cajon Pass. Peninsula Corridor is decent to its real life counterpart on the Caltrain sides of things, but lacks in the UP freight department. Also in reality the Bay Area would be.....well a lot more messy if you know what I mean but Id assume DTG isnt gonna model that. Cajon Pass on the other hand..... They completely missed the mark on that route. Missing UP traffic, odd BNSF train symbols, the dead, missing or lifeless scenery of the pass itself, it just doesn't feel like Cajon itself IRL......
My routes aren't in game due to having no license. Wmata & Marc. But I've ridden on amtrak several times so there are things in real life that aren't in game which annoys me a little bit but not a lot to push me away.
TVL and Transpennine are my closest, with Transpennine being my most used one. Very different of course to the route I am used to.
Rather embarrassingly, especially when I consider I was playing it last night, I completely forgot about TVL, but also the fact I actually drive through Darlington station. Overall it is very recognisable and even though there are a few oddities I would assume this is because TVL is set in the 80s before my time passing through there, so can't fault it too much.
I used to regularly use it in the early 90s. It's familiar enough to know it by sight. All the TSW stations have some glaringly "off" bits though, like the exits to Waverley being completely absent, with just plain walls, not even an invisible wall over a staircase to nowhere.
Yes the earliest I remember it is 90s and was last through there yesterday so it is certainly strange to see it more similar to how it was on my first visit in TSW when I have got used to how it is today. This is why I like the old routes though as it is like looking at old pictures of yourself. In fact it is the same sort of thing with Leeds, which again I have completely forgot about but it is one I both drive to in real life and exists in TSW. I am having a right mare with this remembering lark today so don't be surprsed if I have missed another out!
I used to use the bakerloo line often. The detail inside the train itself blew my mind, especially with regards to the damaged map above the passenger seats. The stations are also extremely well done, though I've never really gone past Marylebone on it so can't speak too tough of accuracy beyond that point. However I was severely let down by the quality of the train sounds. What I know with regards to BML is also pretty accurate, Victoria is on point and Gatwick is very well done too. Can't speak on the rest of the scenery though.
I live 50 metres away from the GWML and use it and the Bakerloo Line every day I go to the office. GWML is a great time capsule for how it was in 2016. While I miss HST's and Turbos, the Elizabeth Line service is a great improvement, particularly if you are travelling to the West End, the City or beyond. My only minor quibbles are that you cant see my house (there's a row of trees in the way), they missed out Station Jim at Slough, and that Southall Depot is a modern building rather than the traditional GWR building. Bakerloo Line is a terrific representation and I can't think of anything it lacks.
I commute from Providence (actually the new Pawtucket station, not yet modeled in-game) to Boston on the MBTA. Here’s my feedback thread from shortly after the Bos-Pvd route launched: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/th...mbta-providence-line-heres-my-feedback.44455/
I used to ride into Grand Central and on the LIRR a lot when I was a kid. Currently the closest I get is the Caltrain station near my company’s HQ. When I go to the office for business trips twice a year I can ride it.
Liverpool To Crewe, but it's set in a time gone by and the person who could have critiqued it was my late father who I lost a few years before it came out. He would probably wonder were most of the trains are and I would have to explain that.
For me the NEC Trenton to Boston route which I went in 2004 from New Brunswick Rutgers University/ RWJ Hospital stop to NY Penn round trip. Rolling Stock was on the Arrow IIIs which why I made them my profile picture. 15-25 minutes from Easton Pennsylvania where I live is the local NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line from both High Bridge and Annandale railway stations which has the ALP-45DP to NYC via Raritan and Newark Penn Station. In game you must use ALP-46 to NY Penn from Newark and ending it at Newark Penn Track 5 back to High Bridge by having your service pantograph down to let AI drive it. However the bridge at New Brunswick station isn't painted to the decals where it has Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson written on them.
I live on the same road as Gillingham station on the SEHS Loads of things "minorly wrong" with the route bus it's passable if you look at it in the big picture. Three examples: The Up yard at Hoo Junction is actually elevated above the running lines, so to go from the mainline into the yard you have quite a steep incline. In game it's dead flat Running from Higham into the Strood tunnels, the cliff above the tunnels is half the height in game that they are in real life The bridge directly next to the Gillingham level crossing is a wrought iron, black painted wooden stepped Victorian era thing in real life. IN game it's a blue metal box I could go on (don't get me started on the Swanscombe cutting...)
I live pretty near the Preston to Blackpool route which will presumably materialise at some time in the near future. Assuming it’s JT’s route it’ll look a bit different now given it’s apparently set in the 80s but think the stations themselves won’t be massively different. Live even closer to the WCML north of Preston, so hope that features one day.
Long Island Railroad in game is so badly made compared to real life. From scenery to sounds, it is definitely not a authentic recreation of the real lirr in any way, shape or form
Between 2005 & 2008 I used to live close to Longsight depot and worked in Glossop so used that line 10 times a week. Im also a Hull lad by birth so whilst living in Manchester would frequently travel across the NTP route to Leeds and beyond to see loved ones. Since then I spent 10 years in St Helens so Liverpool to Crewe was a local line to myself and would frequently take a train from Runcorn to London for work. Now Im living on the ECML in North Nottinghamshire so my closest route is probable a toss up between MML and NTP depending how I work out the distances and moored up.
I worked a train with my firm over the line from Rochester to Faversham recently and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I recognised! The Glossop line is mega local to me so I’ll be going through that with a fine tooth comb this coming week.
Used to ride LIRR daily. It captures the local vibe even though the actual buildings and traffic aren’t really that accurate. The stations look pretty good through, it was cool to see Forest Hills look as it does… that’s a pretty distinct looking station. Penn looks like Penn downstairs, just not enough traffic. I’ve taken NJT in recent years and the stations are pretty good, a lot of landmarks are missed but the vibe is usually correct and they’ve actually got the Prudential Center which is cool. Never rode metro north but that bridge that links Manhattan to the Bronx is spot on… I used to store stuff in the CubeSmart storage facility in the BX right next to that bridge. Was cool to see the trains go by.
I live on the Harlem Line and take it semi regularly! The timetable Joe did is incredible and really captures the unique operations on the line. For example, all 4 tracks tracks into Grand Central are reversible and do change direction about 6 times per day and the TSW timetable accurately portrays this with all the unique pathing on the route. The 2023 real life timetable is still pretty much the same as the 2019 TSW timetable so its awesome to take a train on the line in real life and then immediately play it in the game. The scenery is pretty solid overall. They went all out at White Plains to match the renovation that was completed in 2021 even down to the accurate signage on the platforms. The other stations look pretty accurate as well and many of the historic station houses are in the game (Hartsdale, Scarsdale, Crestwood, come to mind). At Hartsdale, they included the sculptures between the tracks depicting railroad workers. Other fun scenery details include: The ivy colored building at Botanical Garden (also the historic shelter on the northbound platform); a lone "Track 4" station sign in the dark tunnel just south of the current northbound platform where the old platform was located before it was day-lighted; a special "4" mile marker on the right side of track 4 as you travel north entering 125th Street station; the New York Yankees Louisville Slugger bat (a smokestack made to look like a baseball bat) that stands right next to the station; and the mastery reward which is a fun nod to urban myth of FDR private train car; in reality it is an old baggage car. I will say the distant scenery when entering Manhatten is one weakness of the route; there should be many more buildings and recognizable landmarks in the distance as you descend into the Park Avenue Tunnel at 97th street. Also the area just south of Scarsdale station has a large wall on the east side of the tracks in game that in real life is a street with various businesses and residences that gradually rises up a hill, which I suppose is why DTG went with a plain wall in that location. Not much has changed since the route released other than Metro North adding newer PIS displays at all of the stations, but the game does a good job depicting the line pre 2020. Crossing my fingers for a Hudson Line or New Haven Line route in the future to build on this route!
I’m lucky enough to have 3 in a way, actually. I lived in Brighton for six months, so I’m familiar with the IRL London Commuter and ECW. Honestly? I think they’ve done a fantastic job. Obviously, nothing is exactly 1-to-1 but the locations are well enough modelled that I can recognise them in-game easily. Walking through Brighton station for example is amazing. Or walking along the platforms in London Victoria, where I used to get off. Ironically, the biggest gripe I have with them is not the route itself, but the rolling stock. ECW is obviously missing a lot of London stuff in Brighton and BML is missing Thameslink. Seeing Three Bridges without a single Class 700 is quite frankly jarring. The other route is LFR, which is close-ish to me. Again, I think they did a good job. The stations look pretty much exactly what they should look like. I think they didn’t model the tracks on the right side of the Rhine though, which is a huge missed opportunity. Besides the landscape, one of the fascinating things about the route IRL is that you can check out what’s going on on the other side. Occasionally, you even end up ‘racing’ a train on the other side. So yeah, I’ve got three in a way. My actual local route is not in-game but LFR is linked to it and I was living next to BML and ECW for six months. Good job on all of them, methinks.
I live next to the Northeast Corridor in Rhode Island, approximately 20 miles south of Providence. I'm regularly around the track that's between Boston and Providence. Being close to it really helped when developing it.
I live not far away from Munich, so I frequently see the main station area as well as the huge “highway” of tracks towards Pasing. I’ve got to say that the atmosphere itself is replicated quite well, but there are shortcomings with the texturing and modeling, especially for the main station itself. The concourse behind the tracks is painfully inaccurate and simplistic. I reckon that, if we got this route as a new release in TSW3, it would be much more detailed.
I live about 15 mins away from Clapham Junction, and I pass through there almost everyday, and I must say it’s very accurate when it comes to station design, but very empty when it comes to services, I also commute through Kings Cross and sometimes pass through St Pancras to go to see family in Kent, and I must say DTG did a cracking job with the station design
Sadly I live near no TSW routes. I have been down to Minehead (about 14 years ago) and near Glasgow (about 8 years ago). Never got near any of the stations, though. I have also been to Leeds a few times in the past year.
Been on Cathcart many a time, incredibly accurate in its routebuilding, particularly for the era. Only tend to use it for International football, though. Edinburgh - Glasgow is, fairly surprising, quite an accurate route. Putting the 385 to one side, there isn't really anything about the route that is horribly wrong. The 314 on GCC is virtually perfect, the 385 is decent, needs fixes here and there but it's not the worst. So with the two closest routes to me, i'd say they've went well.
Northern Trans Pennine is my local route and Manchester Victoria is very well done apart from the footbridge which in real life was a subway. There was a bridge but it was accessed by lifts and used for parcels traffic. The other big omission is the class 25 which were always to be seen lurking round the station and waiting to assist trains up Miles Platting bank. I took the picture in January 1983.
Cracking picture. Man Vic is massively underpopulated by locos and units in the era simulated. The whole Manchester to Wigan/Preston/Blackpool service groups went that way not to mention all the Eastbound departures and Manchester to North Wales traffic. It has such potential but alas hasn't used it.
