TSW5: London Overground-Mildmay Line: Stratford– Willesden Junction is the latest British DLC for Train Sim World 5 and the first route developed by third-party developer Incredible Trains.
Formerly known as the North London Line, it runs for 12 miles, passing through the boroughs of Brent, Camden, Islington, Hackney and Newham. It may be short by TSW standards, but much like the area of London it covers, it packs a lot of activity into those miles.
The featured EMU is the BR Class 378 TFL, whose smooth, aerodynamic lines are reflected by how easy it is to drive, and how well suited it is to the sloping, start/stop nature of the route.
You also get layers for the Class 710 (as used on the Suffragette Line) and freight services for the Class 66 in its various forms, and these add a bit of variety.
I noticed several new passenger animations/dioramas; some people with walking sticks, some using their laptop or phone, eating ice-cream or a sandwich, the occasional selfie-taking idiot, two passengers having a conversation, couples having a cuddle, even someone reading a newspaper or book! Sadly, in exchange for all this activity they seem to have forgotten their umbrellas, even on the rainiest days! Oh well, you can't have everything... Oh, and oops, there's an inexplicable and careless typo on the map, "Bransbury" (which should be Barnsbury.)
The route looks really nice for the most part, the Stratford area being particularly interesting with the London Aquatics Centre, West Ham's London Stadium and the spectacular Helix Slide ride being particularly noticeable, but it's hard to ignore the dodgy textures in the Finchley Road tunnel and some distinctive stuttering of the frame rate at various points on the route. As this is without doubt, the busiest TSW5 route yet, with tube trains, freight and InterCity trains making cameo appearances on adjacent lines, I'll forgive it.
The Mildmay Line isn't exactly spectacular or groundbreaking, but it's an interesting, bustling route, the second section of the London Overground network (following the Gospel Oak - Barking Riverside “Suffragette Line” route) that fills in a little bit more of the capital's uniquely complex rail network.
Many thanks to Dovetail Games and Indigo Pearl.