Hello folks, We hope you’re all excited for the impending launch of Spirit of Steam: Liverpool Lime Street – Crewe. We can’t wait for you to try it. Before you do though, here are some things you might find useful to know, all in one place. We've split this thread into individual posts for easy navigability. 1) Route previews, articles, and helpful links We have a broad collection of live stream previews, articles, and resources for you to check out to help you get all the information you need about Spirit of Steam. Streams Live stream preview #1 (Xbox Series X) Live stream preview #2 (PC) The Audio of the Spirit of Steam stream Beginner’s Guide to Train Sim World 2 (fully timestamped) Let's Play (with guides on inclines, braking, and manually removing the brakes from mineral wagons) Articles Spirit of Steam coming soon! - introductory details Spirit of Steam rolling stock The Sound of Steam - with developer diary video The LMS 8F Spirit of Steam driver guide (coming soon) Stuck? Head here! Head to our dedicated Support Page, with details on how operate the loco, the key controls you’ll be using, and a video Quick Start guide.
Steam locomotive operating guide for TSW2 and Quick reference guide Beginner's guide to operating Steam locos on TSW2 Quick reference guide British Railway Bell Head Codes http://igg.org.uk/rail/3-sigs/bellhead.htm
What's coming As part of the release, to be up-front about what you can expect from us in terms of upcoming improvements to the route. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully provides an idea. When these are released, we will remove them. Short-term (within 1-2 weeks of launch): Livery Designer support for wagons and coaches for 9th-gen platforms [DONE] Fireman is invisible on some player services (but still operational) Passengers aren’t moving around at Edge Hill station [Xbox One/PS4] A shed is not showing at Crewe [DONE] Defaulting console players to Auto-fireman when first playing - if you're playing and struggling to reach higher speeds, please check in your settings you're not on 'Assisted' mode [DONE] Wheel radial blur on Xbox Series S|X not being present (under investigation) 10:58 service Edge Hill to Edge Hill goes out of bounds [DONE] There are two formations in service mode which have mineral wagons against the locomotive, and bauxite after, which means their brakes won’t come off and the train won’t move. As a workaround, you can remove the brakes manually by pulling each wagon’s cord until a fix is implemented. Below is a picture of where you can see the cord for the dynamic brakes. You can also see a quick tutorial here. Longer-term (no time-frame as of yet, but the team are investigating): Heavy braking at low speeds can occasionally cause a derailment when pulling freight wagons (fix found, in testing stages) - it is more harsh than we would like, and the derailment animation physics aren't accurate.[FIXED - although investigating knock-on impacts across the route] You can see a guide here on how to manage braking: Track-joint sounds [DONE] Manual fireman operation (in development) Lack of coal on shovel is also being looked into as a separate improvement Areas such as Rush Hour passengers (not currently in the release build) will be reviewed in relation to performance and feedback.
8th-generation vs. 9th-generation experience Due to optimisation work on the route, 9th-generation platforms (Xbox Series X and Series S, PC platforms, and PS5) are likely to get an enhanced experience on their devices, due to their memory capacity and usage. To create as smooth a gameplay experience as possible, here are the key things you need to know. Number of playable services and their gameplay are unchanged. Where we have made changes to improve performance and memory usage for Gen8 we have strived to ensure the level of gameplay itself is not affected On 9th-generation platforms, there will generally be lots of loose stock, and engine sheds will have additional locomotives in them. On 8th-generation platforms, you will see emptier yards, and in some cases, empty yards. We have, where possible, left in formations close to the player – but in a lot of cases, looking out of the extent of the yard will look empty. 9th-generation platforms will have the full variety of available freight wagons. On 8th-generation platforms, wagon formations are limited to one wagon type (generally the 5-plank wagons), plus the brake van. Scenario planner makes use of the full variety of wagons on all platforms, however 9th-generation will have access to all coaching stock. 8th-gen will be limited to the maroon types, and some formations will have reduced types of coaches in them. 9th-generation will have the full complement of AI trains available with the route. 8th-gen will see a reduced number of these. 9th-generation will have full access to Livery Designer and Scenario Planner with Spirit of Steam locos and rolling stock, with your creations substituting in*. Livery Designer substitution of your repainted vehicles won’t work in 8th-gen – you can however repaint them and still use them in Scenario Planner. It is worth noting that, as with all content, there will be reduced texture sizes and graphical quality on 8th-generation platforms. Rush Hour passengers will not be activated on the route at present for any platforms. *Spirit of Steam wagons and coaches will not be supported on Livery Designer for Service Mode for 9th-gen consoles. This will be activated in a post-release update, as mentioned above.
Helpful videos How to get up the steep incline outside Liverpool Lime Street - BritishAce Loads of great tutorial videos from TrainSimulatorDriver, including... Regulator and brake management Manually releasing brakes from mineral wagons Gently braking at low speeds to avoid derailing:
