Set in the heart of the Black Country, the Birmingham - Crewe West Coast Mainline serves West Midlands commuters as well as being part of the main line that runs from London Euston all the way to Glasgow Central.
This is All Aboard Studios’ first TSW route, and after a few teething troubles, what a debut it is! Featuring modern passenger services from the cab of the versatile & varied BR Class 350 EMU and the Class 220 from the Riviera Line that came as a stock route with TSW6.
The West Coast Main Line was built by several small companies during the birth of the railway era, but the central and oldest section of the route was the Grand Junction Railway. Perhaps one of the oldest long-distance railways in the World, the GJR was designed to link Liverpool & Manchester to Birmingham. The chosen route weaved out of Birmingham to Stafford via Wolverhampton, before heading up to Crewe, where six railway routes converge.
Playing a significant role in the development of the industrial Black Country, the line saw a massive boom in traffic. With the eventual merger that created the LNWR (London & North West Railway), and later LMS (London, Midland & Scottish), the route became a vital and extremely busy section of the WCML, Britain’s busiest main line.
The Class 350-1, 350-2 & 350-3 cruise at 100 mph very comfortably, and have very good brakes, making them an absolute pleasure to drive. The 350 comes in two different presumably unlicenced green/white liveries as they look very familiar but have no markings.
The Class 220 looks very smart in its Arriva CrossCountry white, silver, and red design. This DMU cruises at 125mph, but you won't be going that fast on this line for long.
It's probably worth mentioning that, while we haven't tried it as we've been trying to wean ourselves off the old generation for three years, according to many it doesn't run very well on the Gen 8 consoles (PS4 & Xbox One).
As well as the now standard choice of driving or acting as conductor on several timetable services there are some interesting scenarios, including coupling and uncoupling 10-unit consists, wheels spalling (wheels damaged by flat spots), encountering rough track sections and broken toilets!
The trains sound as authentic as ever and the automated PIA (Passenger Information Announcements) really do help the immersion. Allowing for TSW's ever-present Achilles’ heels (texture/LoD pop and frame rate stuttering) the route looks really nice and is typical of English railways, with the trains themselves as usual being visual highlights.
Without doubt our favourite TSW6 route so far, this one comes highly recommended for British railfans.
Many thanks to Dovetail Games & Indigo Pearl