Virgin Trains A Class 390 Pendolino at Lancaster in 2017 Overview Franchise(s) InterCity West Coast 9 March 1997 – 31 March 2020 Main route(s) London - Scotland London - North West London - West Midlands London - Chester Other route(s) London - Holyhead London - Shrewsbury London - Wrexham London - Blackpool Fleet size 56 Class 390 Pendolino sets 20 Class 221 Super Voyager sets Stations called at 48 Stations operated 16 for consoles and pc Rolling stock[edit] Current fleet[edit] A Class 221 Super Voyager at Rhyl, bound for Holyhead First Class aboard a Class 221 Super Voyager Class Image Type Top speed Carriages Number Built Notes mph km/h Class 221 Super Voyager DEMU 125 200 5 20 2001–2002 Set numbers 221101-221118 & 221142-221143 Class 390 Pendolino EMU 125 200 9 21 2001–2004 2009–2012 390033 stored and partially scrapped after Grayrigg derailment. Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo) refers to tilting trains. 11 35 Class Image Type Top speed Built Withdrawn Notes mph km/h Class 43 Diesel-electric locomotive 125 200 1975-1982 2003 Went into store, now operated by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway, London North Eastern Railway & Network Rail Class 47/8 Diesel-electric locomotive 95 153 1962-1968 (converted into 47/8 1989) 2002 Originally hauled Virgin CrossCountry services, retained for Thunderbird duties & Crewe to Holyhead services replaced by Class 57/3s Class 57/3 Diesel-electric locomotive 95 153 1998-2004 2012 Thunderbird locomotive (re-built from Class 47s), previously used to haul Pendolinos on Crewe to Holyhead services until all services to Holyhead until replaced by Voyagers, transferred to Network Rail, Direct Rail Services and West Coast Railway Company Class 86 Electric Locomotive 100 161 1965-1966 2003 Replaced by Class 390, some exported to Floyd Zrt., Hungary, 86259 owned by Les Ross & preserved by West Coast Railways Class 87 Electric Locomotive 110 177 1973-1975 2005 Replaced by Class 390, although withdrawals slower than expected due to problems with the newer trains, most exported to Bulgaria, 3 preserved (87001, 87002, 87035) Class 90 Electric Locomotive 110 177 1987-1990 2004 Replaced by Class 390, transferred to one Class 220 Voyager DEMU 125 200 2000-2002 2007 Transferred from Virgin CrossCountry to Arriva CrossCountry upon change of franchise Mark 2 Coach Passenger Carriage 100 160 1964-1975 2003 Preserved, scrapped or exported to New Zealand Mark 3 Carriage Passenger Carriage 125 200 1975–1986 2005 Replaced by Class 390 and Class 221, loco-hauled carriages transferred to one, HST carriages now used by CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway & London North Eastern Railway Driving Van Trailer 110 177 1988 2005 Replaced by Class 390, transferred to one Mark 3 Pretendolino[79] Passenger carriage 110 177 1975–1986 2014 Charter Train & Spare Train, was refurbished in 2009, formed of 5 TSO, 1 RFM, 3 FOs & DVT 82126, transferred to Abellio Greater Anglia. Driving Van Trailer 110 177 1988 2014 British Rail Class 221 Super Voyager Virgin Trains 221115 departing Edinburgh Haymarket in July 2011. The interior of Standard Class aboard a Virgin Trains Class 221 Super Voyager In service 12 April 2002– Manufacturer Bombardier Transportation Family name Voyager Replaced Class 43 Class 47 Constructed 2001–2002 Number built 44 sets Number in service 44 sets Formation 4 or 5 cars per set Fleet numbers 221101–221144 Capacity 26 first class, 162 or 224 standard class per trainset Operator(s) CrossCountry Virgin Trains Specifications Car body construction Steel Car length 23.85 m (78 ft 3 in) driving end cars 22.82 m (74 ft 10 in) other cars Width 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in) Doors Swing plug at vehicle ends Articulated sections Flexible diaphragm within unit only Maximum speed 125 mph (200 km/h) Weight 227 t (223 long tons; 250 short tons) or 282.8 t (278.3 long tons; 311.7 short tons) per 4 car trainset Traction system DEMU Prime mover(s) Cummins QSK19 of 560 kW (750 hp) at 1800rpm[1] Power output 560 kW (750 hp) per car UIC classification 1A'A1'+1A'A1'+...+1A'A1'[2][3] Braking system(s) Rheostatic and electro-pneumatic Safety system(s) AWS, TPWS, TASS Coupling system Dellner[4]
It would be nice to know the limits of TSW in terms of distance, is it like many flight simulation software in that there is no distance limits apart from the size of the file as the content engine constanly loads and offloads scenery depending on where the train is. The title is TRain Sim World so I guess they are looking at railways around teh world and not just UK
Agreed, but DTG are a UK based company so I'm sure they find it easier to gather research on UK routes. Not familiar with flight sims, but in my head, once you are at 35,000ft doesn't everything look pretty similar and empty no matter where you are in the world? With this in mind, I would think that the level of detail per mile is not so onerous in a flight sim. It might be useful for DTG to pin the approximate limitations of TSW in terms of length, complexity etc. at the top of the forum. This might save people the time of proposing routes that don't fit with those limitations.
Matt has said in the past that with Unreal Engine you can have whatever length route you want pretty much. The issue is that it takes months to create just a small section so a longer route could take years for them to do
Okay. That's useful. So it's a DTG preference based on cash flow I guess. Nothing wrong with that. Investing in years of development before being able to recover the costs is a big financial commitment and risk. So some pinned guidance on this from DTG would be helpful.
There ARE no limits per se, this has been stated in dev streams a few times The limits come in that DTG are the ONLY people putting content out, they are making much of it from scratch whilst also trying to go back and fix the stuff which either ballsed up before or where they went too complex and ended up ballsing up in another way So it can take ages to make things, do it properly, make it look like it should and WORK like it should.
See all the recent comments on "no US route"... It's not just cashflow, but pressure from users to keep content relevant to them and their wishes coming out.
So again it would be useful if DTG pin some guidance here in the forum as not everyone here watches the dev streams or has waded through all the comments and snippets of information.
Nah, people would just ignore said info and ask anyway, and if they DID pin such info people would question and cajole as they usually do. In the end what does it matter, if you aren't seeing new content then it's not available and that's that
Well there's no accounting for stupid, so you may have a point. Some of us may actually read it and take it into account before making a route suggestion though.
I think the concensus right now is 40 miles or so, but remember that DTG have their own ideas which can be completely left field
