Iskra
Established Member
Recently, Dovetail Games released their Train Sim World 2 and their future DLC Roadmap. While the roadmap is a nice idea and it is good that they are communicating what is coming and roughly when, I did express some frustration that the upcoming routes were heavily focused on the South East of England and all involved EMU's.
TSW2 routes are very detailed and for that reason can't be too long, say a max of 60-70 miles. Considering that, what routes beyond the SE of England would you propose?
For me, I would go with:
1) The Highland Mainline. I would do the Perth-Aviemore (circa 60 miles) sections to provide a good feel for the line, a number of stations/passing loops and it could allow the heritage railway to be included or added on at a later date from the Aviemore end. With this route I would provide a Class 170 and class 73 with the sleeper as new trains. I would also include the HST and Class 66 which are already in the game so could just be reskinned. Other locomotives could feature realistically using the scenario planner. I think introducing a sleeper train to TSW would be really cool. The line is very scenic, historic and atmospheric as well as having plenty of gradients to keep things interesting to drive. Of course, an Azuma could be provided at a later date to represent the Highland Chietain, or an LNER HST could just be used. The Highland Mainline also hasn't been done before in any of the DTG sims.
2) Lancaster to Carlisle. It's another really scenic route and the WCML just has so much variety. As much as it would be great to see a steam era route, I think that is unlikely so I would set this in the post-privatisation period where VT 47/HST/86/87/90 were making way for class 390's and Voyagers. I would include a class 90 which could be provided in VT and Freightliner livery to allow passenger and freight use, a class 390 and a class 142 for services at the Southern End. Pacers are recently back in fashion. 66's, HST's, 47's, 20's and 37's could feature as reskins as they are already in the game. Lancaster and Carlisle are also interesting junction stations. If steam ever arrives in the sim, there would be plenty of use for it here due to the WCRC base at Carnforth.
3) Reggio Calabria-Lamezia. I think something from a different country would be interesting. I would accept anything from Ukraine, Spain or Sweden too- anywhere with interesting locomotives and services. This route is really interesting, it starts in the shadows of Mount Etna by the Straits of Messina and so could include shunting onto the train ferry over to Sicily which is unique. The line then runs up the coast and through hills to the rail junction at Lamezia, the scenery is varied and dramatic. The line sees High Speed, Intercity, Regional, Sleeper and freight services. I'm no expert on Italian trains but I would like to see a mix of trains to allow different services to be operated.
TSW2 routes are very detailed and for that reason can't be too long, say a max of 60-70 miles. Considering that, what routes beyond the SE of England would you propose?
For me, I would go with:
1) The Highland Mainline. I would do the Perth-Aviemore (circa 60 miles) sections to provide a good feel for the line, a number of stations/passing loops and it could allow the heritage railway to be included or added on at a later date from the Aviemore end. With this route I would provide a Class 170 and class 73 with the sleeper as new trains. I would also include the HST and Class 66 which are already in the game so could just be reskinned. Other locomotives could feature realistically using the scenario planner. I think introducing a sleeper train to TSW would be really cool. The line is very scenic, historic and atmospheric as well as having plenty of gradients to keep things interesting to drive. Of course, an Azuma could be provided at a later date to represent the Highland Chietain, or an LNER HST could just be used. The Highland Mainline also hasn't been done before in any of the DTG sims.
2) Lancaster to Carlisle. It's another really scenic route and the WCML just has so much variety. As much as it would be great to see a steam era route, I think that is unlikely so I would set this in the post-privatisation period where VT 47/HST/86/87/90 were making way for class 390's and Voyagers. I would include a class 90 which could be provided in VT and Freightliner livery to allow passenger and freight use, a class 390 and a class 142 for services at the Southern End. Pacers are recently back in fashion. 66's, HST's, 47's, 20's and 37's could feature as reskins as they are already in the game. Lancaster and Carlisle are also interesting junction stations. If steam ever arrives in the sim, there would be plenty of use for it here due to the WCRC base at Carnforth.
3) Reggio Calabria-Lamezia. I think something from a different country would be interesting. I would accept anything from Ukraine, Spain or Sweden too- anywhere with interesting locomotives and services. This route is really interesting, it starts in the shadows of Mount Etna by the Straits of Messina and so could include shunting onto the train ferry over to Sicily which is unique. The line then runs up the coast and through hills to the rail junction at Lamezia, the scenery is varied and dramatic. The line sees High Speed, Intercity, Regional, Sleeper and freight services. I'm no expert on Italian trains but I would like to see a mix of trains to allow different services to be operated.
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It is being worked on for the former, so hopefully we'll see something soon, but until then:
