We're almost there folks... It's Semi-Final time and boy do we have some good ties in here. Tie 1 Dresden-Riesa vs Niddertalbahn DRA saw off stiff competition from the divisive WCML South to get here, with Niddertalbahn helping to eliminate the United States from the competition by seeing off San Bernardino Line. Rush Hour or Quiet running through fields? Tie 2 Salzburg - Rosenheim vs Blackpool Branches Salzburg - Rosenheim gets the obligatory Austrian representation - the first non-UK/US/DE nation to reach the Semi Finals! Can it see off 2023 Champion Blackpool Branches and get Austria into the final? Tie 3 Southeastern Highspeed vs Cathcart Circle Line It's a battle of remasters! The reincarnation of Southeastern Highspeed, with HS1 to Ashford and the NKL to Dartford, up against the Cathcart Circle. Both have wonderful desiros as DLC, both have been revived from TSW. One will be a finalist. Straight to the final... WCML Over Shap will go straight to the final, as the only route to crack 80 votes in R3, it's the top performer and will join the winners of the three other ties in the Final! As always: Have fun.
I wondered where WCMLoS had gone then read the rest of the thread. Yes WCMLS, or WCCL as Matt refers to it (!) definitely gets the early flight home and no lap of honour. Thank goodness.
No if you read the thread it sort of automatically qualified. It must be the odds on favourite to win, too.
Too bad that SEHS is beating CCL. I'm not overly fond of either, but SEHS with that endless tunnel section and the subsequent bus service is very tedious compared to Cathcart which is a compact little network with more variety and an impressive terminus in Glasgow Central.
Both SEHS & Cathcart are good routes but I can see why Southeastern is winning, you’ve got Highspeed, long and short commuter runs, more freight, rail tours and you get more use out of the ROG 37 and RHTT DLC’s. In comparison Cathcart gets quite repetitive.
Just to clarify this again: OldVern is right - WCML OS will be in tonight / tomorrow's final, but isn't here in the Semi-Finals. We only have 7 routes still standing but because of how we do this one has to either pass or, alternatively, we do a play-off between two routes to bring it down to 6 that way - which is a pain. So, WCML OS isn't out, it's an odds-on contender to win at the moment based on it's run so far.
TSW since its inception has never reached such high peaks as in the WCML Preston-Carlisle. A masterpiece in every part (from the nameplates of the locomotives/trains to the very diversified composition of the convoy, with carriages arranged in different orders). The route is then beautiful and evocative (including stations). With all the DLCs and therefore also the Pennine freight traffic it becomes a truly sublime work. For me it already won on day one.
