Spirit Of Steam Release Speculation

I think it would be sensible to assume that the first steam routes will be ones already made for TS, as most of the assets have already been done (so COVID rules would have made it harder to research routes) and many TSW routes already are. Here's a list of DTG-made steam-era routes for Train Simulator (for the UK, since it's likely the UK will be first):

• Falmouth Branch: Quite old, probably too short for a first route.
• Woodhead Line: A remastered version released a few years ago. A very popular route.
• Netherfield: A network, which had quite a lot of things to do. I'm not sure it was very popular, but I'm glad it was made. It's quite recent, so is a contender.
• Corris (Skyhook): One of Skyhook's best products - probably not the best for the first steam route, but certainly something I'd like to see in TSW.
• Riviera Line In The Fifties: Obviously. The golden era of steam, with iconic steam locos, on a beautiful line - this is the definitive steam route. If the UK SoS route is a returning route and isn't this one, I'd be genuinely shocked.
• Weardale And Teesdale: A brilliant network of routes that fits into the steam era. This would appeal to both the steam playerbase and the classic BR group.
• Western Lines Of Scotland: Old, but still a fun route.
• Somerset And Dorset: Among the oldest routes in TS, but one that has a large fanbase. I was surprised when I saw how many people said they'd like it back. It's long, and a bit too much of a branch line, but I too would love to see it back at some point.

 

I don't get where you're coming from saying it's too short, from a pure developer point of view it honestly would be a great first project. Only need to make one loco, and only need to make 12 miles of scenery, certainly a lot easier than most of the other routes. And to be perfectly honest if it was the first route with a steam loco on it probably would still sell like hotcakes.

If anything you probably want to do something like this early on for that reason. Something like this could sell pretty well early on when it doesn't have much competition, but it's gonna struggle when it has to compete with longer routes like the Rivera Line.

Also I think pretty much the same thing about Corris, so I'm just gonna mention that here instead of repeating myself later on.

One problem though, main motive power on the line is electric, Woodhead's a great route for sure, but really wouldn't be a great pick to introduce steam with in my mind.

Half the appeal of these routes was the huge variety of stock you got off the bat with them. And I can guarantee you they're not gonna make five new locos plus period appropriate stock for either of these routes.

So while they're probably doable in terms of length, I could honestly see them holding back for a little while so that they could include stock from other routes to help bump the value up. Granted could also see DTG making heavy cut backs to the number of locos and trying to get both of these routes out early on. So I go back and forward on whether they'll do these routes right away or hold off on them for a while.

There's no chance of getting those routes in full, especially the former, seeing as it's 200 miles long. Obviously could cut back the length, but considering there's already shorter routes to pick from I don't see them resorting to either of these for a long while.

The full line is long, but the original TS route is only a 40 mile section of the line, so it's comparable to the likes of Rivera and Netherfield in length. Honestly considering that and the comparative lack of stock compared to those two actually would make it a pretty good choice for a early TSW route.

 

My personal preference would be Weardale, but both the S&D and Riviera Line would be massive crowd pleasers.
Another possibility would be Settle & Carlisle though that in all honesty has been done to death in all the big sims.

 

I would love to see the Severn Valley Railway. Kidderminster to Bridgnorth.

Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse.

South Devon Railways Buckfastleigh and Totnes.

Crewe to Manchester (Great for watching steam).

 

As a Kiddy Boi I would also like the SVR
Would really like the setting that Sam outlined though from the CEO of DTG which was standing on Crewe platform watching steam trains go back and forth.

If we ever get Crewe and the mainlines through it I would love it to be in both modern and period setting so you can choose your era and trains independently.

 

Just speaking personally, but I've always found the version for TS Classic kind of boring, it's basically just a point A to B commuter route with no yards or branches to mess around with, I feel like it gets old pretty fast. Now if they extended the line to Skipton and set it in the 50's/60's when all the yards and branches were still intact like in Trainz I'd be all for that, that version of the route was pretty fun. But considering all the extra research and development time needed to do that I doubt it would ever happen with DTG at the helm.

 

I feel like out of all the British TS steam routes, I'd like the Riviera line in the fifties to come first. Partly because I just like the GWR 4-6-0's, but also because the route has a fast section and express trains, aswell as some beautiful scenery along the Dawlish sea wall. I have even made a suggestion for this route for TSW, which differs from the TS version (most notably in including the line to Plymouth).

 

While respecting the views of those who would like to see a preserved UK railway feature, while this might be nice eventually at the outset we need a period set main or secondary line where operations are not hampered by a 25 MPH speed limit.

 

This is the best suggestion I've seen so far. A Black 5 will always be the best loco to start with and this is an amazing route too

 

Riviera in the 50s would be marvellous. Superelevation at last!!!

 

An advantage to a 50s-early 60s setting is that DTG could fill out the traffic with its existing stable of vintage diesel traction.

 

Not without relivery and adding headcodes to them (for some things like the 45, that's not an insignificant task).

 

Well, there are the 33 and the green WSR 47, as well as the disc-variant class 40. And the Class 09 as well.

 

The WSR47 would need its headlight removing and the wipers changing

Image by Phil Sangwell.

The disc 40 would need to be put in green. Not sure if there'd be much point not modding the other 40 at that point, though.
The 33 needs its headlight removing also, and even the yellow warning panel if we're going back far enough.

The BR Green trains in TSW are in their preserved condition as they are now after some 30-40 years in service in some cases. Just because it's in green doesn't mean it's appropriate for a historic route

The blue ones are also modified from their original condition. Something like the 45 or the 37 would need a completely new nose (and even then there'd be other changes; the 37 would need its slow speed control removing and some grills changing, for example).

 

Since we are talking about layered trains, I think the goal is merely not horribly wrong, not completely accurate. After all, DTG was willing to put 422s on Köln-Aachen! And, more recently, the wholly-inaccurate 363 in DBB blue on Dresden.

 

What does that has to do with the title of the thread?

 

About the likelihood/desirability of setting it in the steam/diesel transition period

 

I don't think they can quite easily get away with a steam-era route with layered trains either in blue, in post-TOPS condition, or in preserved condition (ie, completely wrong era) - that'd be, as you put it, "horribly wrong", as it'd stick out like a sore thumb to most UK train enthusiasts.

The 422s on Koln-Aachen was (at the time) a fairly easy decision; S-bahn or no S-bahn. Not sure on the reasoning behind the blue 363, I'll give you that.

Having said that, they did put 40s and 45s on West Cornwall, when they'd both been taken out of service by the 1990s - hopefully they won't do it again

 

I agree, it would probably not be a good idea to advertise a new feature by adding it to a route where much of the stock is electric. Still, it's definitely one of the routes that should come to TSW.

 

I hope to see Falmouth, Woodhead and Settle Carlisle in TSW one day... Hopefully not in a shortened version compared to TSC...
Falmouth would work as an introduction to steam, it's an easy route to drive

 

There was a link posted today in this forum.

Anybody knows if this has something to do with tsw 2?

 

Nice model but it doesn't look much like TSW IMO.

 

Well at Frankfurt (Oder) yesterday I passed a DBB liveried BR143 (numbered correctly as a 243) and as a Blue 363 existed in reality up to not that long ago there's probably a prototype for everything.

 

No, it is a new programme being developed by IHH themselves.

 

No such thing. You probably meant a DR liveried 143 of which several exist. But the 243 was a DR loco, not a DBB loco

 

IHH have been developing a signal box simulator for several years now, which is most likely to do with that.

 

We've already got one loco for the Riveria in the 50s which could layer in. Give us a pannier as the included loco and then flog me a couple more as DLC. My wallet is already open in readiness for this route.

 

Looks like a saddle tank or austerity

 

This is indeed for IronHorseHouse's new game, Trackside, which is a signaling simulator. There is no relation between Trackside and TSW, and I actually think DTG's and IHH's relationship is quite bad, so it is very unlikely they'd collaborate.

 

Was this once called "True" (The Railway: Unreal Engine) that released as a tech demo a few years ago?

 

I thought so. This makes sense, dtg keeps me curious with the roadmap, so i doubt we get any infos on facebook pages of other developers.

 

Not that I know of, although there definitely was a demo of trackside released. jamesthepershing downloaded it if you have any questions. The observations that us two made were that the sounds of the trains were very poor, but a large chunk of the models were very high quality (including that 8F), albeit maybe not TSW quality.

 

I still believe that the Black Five will be the first steam loco... Which route? IDK, but I like the "hints" on BML billboards.

 

I agree and for Germany, we can get Wutachtalbahn with a Deutsche Bundesbahn 086 steam locomotive with Thunderbox coaches. Layers are RSN DB BR363 Cement wagons Red DB BR232 Roos-t Shimms TTU. For Black Five A WCML steam era route

 

What hints are these?

 

Slightly OT but maybe an avenue DTG could explore. Essentially a 3D version of SimSig or PC Rail, even the old SIAM games. Of course the downside is that in between trains you would have nothing to do, so the prototype would need to be chosen carefully. On a single line you could even walk out and exchange tokens with the drivers!

 

Flipping that to being a driver and having to pick up line tokens could also be great, though I'm curious to see how such a thing would be represented in TSW.

 

DTG have also made references to Beatles songs, that didn't mean they were adding in Ringo Starr to train sim though. I would really not take some billboards as a hint, I think it's just the art department having fun.

 

We know that at least one person at DTG loves to give hints. I remember they hinted Dresden-Chemnitz already on Dresden-Riesa. So if you find any hints, this could be of meaning.

 

A Black Five would be ideal (or the BR Standard 73xxx equivalent). Could be seen all over the network though smart money would be Somerset and Dorset for a possible route.

 

Does have many advantages for DTG's purposes: there were a shedload of them, they operated everywhere and pulled nearly everything, and they stayed in service through the 60's. Moreover, a half-dozen of them are running today, making research and recordings possible.

 

Though the black five could be a hint, I'm also taking into account that Matt pointed out the billboard in a SEHS preview stream, making it sound like the generic band name being that of a relatively famous was just a funny joke.

Who knows, may be a hint, may very well not be a hint.

 

If I believe my old SIAM Inverness 1954 traffic simulation, another great stamping ground for the Black Five would be something like Inverness to Aviemore where the heaviest trains were often double headed. In fact that in itself brings up an interesting point as to how Simugraph will deal with double heading as that could equally apply on the S&D - though the pilot loco tended to be a smaller 2P or 4F.

 

It would be the perfect first steam locomotive, defiantly my favourite locomotive of all time.

I love that route. There is also the oldest surviving Black 5 LMS 5025 at Aviemore who recently came out of a rebuild after 28 years out of service, I've been behind her and she is an absolutely beautiful locomotive and what a sound she makes as she leaves the station, it hurts you're ears if you're too close

 

Was also thinking about a black 5. Couldnt be more of a classic first steamloco for tsw together with a austerity maybe.

But all speculation

 

The release is not far away as next Sunday we have a stream. Maybe jumping the gun, but would expect it sometime before the end of May.

 

The stream could be just another "work in progress update" stream like the last one was. The very fact that there will be three hosts suggests that it will be talking about it, not driving it.

 

As I said before, I think it will be released sometime before the end of May.