Is there a Route connecting London and Bristol

[akmatov]

As I understand it, the Great Western Mainline runs from London-Paddington to Bristol via Didcot, Swindon and Bath. But as far as I can find there is only half of this available in the so called DTG Great Western Mainline from Oxford-Didcot-London. Please tell me I'm missing something available.

[DPSimulation]

https://www.justtrains.net/product/western-mainlines

[akmatov]

thx, I guess the STEAM Great Western Mainlines was a waste of money

[DPSimulation]

Originally posted by akmatov:

thx, I guess the STEAM Great Western Mainlines was a waste of money

Well if you didn't already own the Euro Loco & Asset pack that would have been bundled with the Steam GEML and that is required for the JT route.

[VanZan_75]

Originally posted by akmatov:

thx, I guess the STEAM Great Western Mainlines was a waste of money

In the workshop , there is an extension that takes the line as far as Swindon , and is actually excellent ( sorry , no link , away from PC at the minute ) . I don't use this anymore ( steam version ) as I purchased the Just Trains version .

[allancrowley]

Great Western Mainline was, I believe, the first route built in the first version of Railworks, and only ever ran Paddington to Oxford.

Western Mainlines cover the whole route from Paddington to Cardiff/Bristol Temple Mead, and onwards to Exeter. As said earlier, you'll need Euro Loco and Asset Pack but if you already have other routes it's possible you already have that anyway.

For Western Mainlines, Project 43 is a free package of modular scenarios covering the whole route form Paddington to Cardiff and Bristol Temple Mead. The modules are Paddington to Reading, Reading to Swindon, Swindon to Bristol Parkway and Bristol Parkway to Cardiff as well as others from Swindon to Bristol TM via both Bristol Parkway and via Bath Spa. And they're all reversed, to, so you can drive in the opposite directions. The only minor downside is the limited amount of AI, but hey, you can't have it all ways. At least they're free.

Then, for Western Mainlines there are various other addons taking the route to Penzance, and other destinations. All payware, but it does give you the option of driving from Paddington to Penzance, for example.


Cornish Main Line Extension
South Devon Main Line Extension
Oxford to Bicester Extension
Paignton Extension

However, the section to Cardiff has now been electrified but the Western Mainlines route doesn't yet reflect this.

[Cyclone]

BTW, you may think that older routes that are followed up by newer routes covering them are a waste of money, but the original Bristol-Exeter is still used for workshop scenarios quite regularly - possibly mainly because the Western Mainlines version is not available on Steam. You have to get that version on Just Trains, and its assets will NOT work on the workshop. You also get a nice scenario pack on the Bristol-Exeter version, so it's not necessarily a waste. Just get it on sale if you get it.

[akmatov]

Wasn't intending to sound so negitive. The Great Western Mainline was bought on sale and I quite like it for what it is. However, if JT Western Mainlines goes on sale I'll be pouncing on it. The many kind comments here have nudged me to look into JT Routes a lot more and I'm thinking their Routes may be worth investing in, slowly, they seem more comprehensive. I've just discovered 1st Gen BR mechanical transmission DMUs, augmented with the only one AP addon. The need to shift gears is nice (sounds improved by AP), the fact that gears have top speeds makes speed management somewhat easier, and the older full width windscreen view is marvelous (I have the more modern D/EMUs with the gangway snouts, the broom closet sized driver cabs and the only front view through a keyhole based on subway/underground stock. In Britain it seems design went from the porthole view of the steamers to the expansive early diesel cabs with great views forward and to the side (part of the fun of TS for me is as a tourist viewing the countryside) and then back to looking through a porthole.

[allancrowley]

The only thing I've found with JT routes is that the speed limits are often misleading. I've had many occasions where there's been a reduction in speed limit but often it's reached before the indicator on the 2D view, resulting in a "Speeding" indication. And often no warning of reduced limit over crossovers.