A fallen legend springs back to life in Train Sim World 5, courtesy of Athena Simulations. Experience 47484 in the ECML Diesel Railtour Pack, coming 3rd April!
The Story So Far
We've been working closely with Athena Simulations to give steady updates on the development of this Add-on.
So far we’ve covered:
- Introducing Athena & Announcing the Add-on in the August 2024 Roadmap.
- Dedicated Forum Thread by Athena Simulations
- New screenshots in the January 2025 Roadmap
- Further screenshots in the March 2025 Roadmap
Rolling Stock
47484 ‘Isambard Kingdom Brunel’
The hero of this Add-on is the newly modelled variant of the Class 47 locomotive: no.47484 ‘Isambard Kingdom Brunel’.
This retro loco, adorned in western green, was a rare catch in the British Rail days thanks to its ornate furnishings and distinct heritage livery. Despite declining into disarray, this fallen legend springs back to life for modern railtour duty, courtesy of Athena Simulations.
Built in 1965, 47484 was one of over 500 of the Brush Type 4s in British Rail service. Assigned to depots throughout the country, 484 spent much of its working years on BR’s Western Region and was aptly named after renowned railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
In 1985, in accordance with the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway, a striking coat of GWR green was applied onto 47484. Finished with stylish numberplates and pinstripe lining, 47484 stood out as an exemplary member of the fleet, was often used for special duties, and gained a following among enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, this stature did not secure a bright future. 47484’s green became grime, and its reflection turned to rust when it was eventually put into long-term storage, with no promise of when it may return to its former glory.
With Athena Simulations’ Add-on, this unique locomotive returns to the rails in a virtually restored condition. The model features custom 3D nameplates and number plates (including the unique brass BR logo) and the variations in each cab end, after the real locomotive was rebuilt following accident damage.
Inside the cab, the locomotive’s systems reflect those present before being taken out of service. As such, more modern safety systems that would be required for running on today’s tracks are not implemented.
Mk1 Coaching stock
Being hauled behind 47484 are variants of the ubiquitous Mk1 coaching stock in BR blue and grey livery. These coaches have been remodelled, coming in BG, TSO, BSO and FK variants that are both Air and Vacuum Braked.
This is the first release to include these Mk1 variants in this livery and that are Dual Braked – features that have been requested by the community to allow for versatility when creating loco-hauled railtours in Scenario Planner, Free Roam and Formation Designer.
Class 40 and 45 locomotives
Also included are the Class 40 and 45 locomotives previously seen in the Northern Trans-Pennine and BR Heavy Freight Pack Add-ons.
Players do not need to own previously released content to access these locomotives.
Scenarios and Timetable Gameplay
Scenarios – East Coast Main Line
The pack includes 10 Scenarios in total on the East Coast Main Line route Add-on. These feature depot movements, run-round movements and coupling as well as double-headed formations replicating special railtours along the East Coast Main Line.
At first glance, the inclusion of 47484 Isambard Kingdom Brunel on ECML may seem like an odd choice, but this locomotive was a regular visitor to Doncaster for regular repairs, servicing and repaints. The loco would often be placed on ad-hoc services from Doncaster or York to return the loco southbound. 47484 also spent a great deal of time on the ECML both on railtours and hauling the Royal Train northwards.
Some of the Scenarios have been loosely based on real life railtours from the past, such as the double-headed Class 40 in the snow paying homage to the famous Class 40 ‘Christmas Cracker’ railtours of the early 1980s.
Similarly, the ‘Isambard Comes Home’ Scenario is a recreation of the journey took when 47484 was painted in the GWR special anniversary livery and returned back home from Doncaster to London.
Timetable Substitutions on other TSW routes
In addition, a substantial amount of work has been done to implement the railtour services into the timetables of other Train Sim World route Add-ons as timetable substitutions.
The full list of routes impacted:
- East Coast Main Line
- Great Western Express (Diesel Legends timetable)
- Cathcart Circle Line
- East Coastway
- Northern Trans-Pennine
- West Cornwall Local
- West Somerset Railway
Implementation into the Diesel Legends of the Great Western Add-on places 47484 on the London Paddington - Reading route that it was much more commonly seen on during service, including stabling at Old Oak Common.
In addition, Athena Simulations have worked with Just Trains and the pack’s contents are also implemented into the timetables of both Blackpool Branches and West Coast Main Line: Preston – Carlisle.
In total, this allows the Add-on's locomotives to be substituted into some 300 timetabled services across all the above route Add-ons.
Train Sim World 5: ECML Diesel Railtour Pack will release on 3rd April for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Epic Games Store, and Steam for £11.99/€13.99/$13.99
*UK pricing will be £11.49 on the PlayStation Store
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