Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Thanks to everyone for your support in 2017. We hope you have a restful Christmas and a train filled 2018.

Christmas Sale 2017

You know what we were thinking the other day? We were thinking, hey it's been a long time since we had some kind of sale! And look what shows up!
This one is branded with Christmas so it will really make Santa smile if you buy a new train with an awesome discount on it, it really will. It runs from now until 4th January and will be the last sale until the next one!

Click this link to see all of our DLC on Steam or click on an image below to view a particular DLC.

Stroudley A1/A1X Class 'Terrier' - 30% off

GWR Saint Class & Travelling Post Office - 30% off

BR Saint & Travelling Post Office Livery (Marketplace - requires GWR Saint Pack) - 50% off

USATC S160 - 30% off

GWR 14xx - 30% off

LNER Peppercorn K1 - 50% off

GWR Small Prairies - 30% off

GWR 56xx - 50% off

GT3 Gas Turbine Prototype - 50% off

GWR Steam Railmotor - 50% off

Southern Bulleid Q1 - 50% off

16th December, Advent One Day Sale - USATC S160

We are delighted to announce that the huge USATC S160 locomotive pack is on sale for today as part of Train Simulator's Advent Sale.
It has its largest EVER discount, a whopping 50% off... but only for today so grab it quick from the Dovetail Games Store!

https://store.dovetailgames.com/uk/product/433118/usatc-s160-loco-add-on

If you're not aware of the S160 locomotive (or our largest DLC pack to date) then read on...

During World War II, it was realised that, if allied attempts to enter the European mainland were successful, there would be a shortage of locomotives for the mass movement of troops and equipment due to the state of the railways after years of war.

As a result, two locomotives were designed specifically for the purpose of heavy freight movements – the British War Department Austerity 2-8-0 and the USATC S160, the latter being designed by a committee made up of the USATC and locomotive builders Alco, Baldwin and Lima.

Despite this slightly unconventional method of ‘design by committee’, the S160 was a resounding success – a wide, riveted steel firebox driving powerful 26” pistons produced 31,490lb/f of tractive effort; a Westinghouse pump for air brakes mounted on the smokebox also gave the S160 its off-centre smokebox door design.

In total, more than 2,100 locomotives were shipped worldwide, every country making its own changes and modifications, and every one with their own livery. Of this mass production, 800 of the Class landed in the UK and were fitted with vacuum brakes, while 200 were built for the Russian loading gauge of 1,520mm. Named Ша (ShA), they were used to help the Soviet war effort, and after the war were taken into regular service. By 1957 50 had even been converted to narrow gauge and named Шy.

After the war, the S160s were scattered all over the world and continued to be maintained and used in almost every Allied country, including Algeria, China, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Spain and Turkey. Some of the Class were in use in daily service as late as 1997 – a considerable feat given the expected design life was just 90 days!

The USATC S160 for Train Simulator comes in a huge number of liveries representing their long and well-travelled history.

• USATC Wartime Black
• USATC Wartime Grey
• USA Alaska Railroad
• USA Army
• Longmoor Military Railway
• BR Preserved
• USSR Ша (wartime and post wartime)
• Poland Post-War and Poland Black Wartime

All are available with appropriate fittings: Hook/Vacuum (UK), Hook/Air (Europe), Buckeye/Air (USA), Willison/Air (USSR)
Also numerous optional historical parts allow thousands of combinations to be created.

Provided with Simple, Standard and Advanced driving modes there is enough to keep all sim drivers happy; for those who use Xbox controllers and HUDs to those who demand a full simulation of the engine and cab controls.

As well as all of these a large number of unique wartime rolling stock items are included:

• USATC 56 Ton Flat Car with load
• T34-76 (USSR)
• T34-85 (USSR)
• M10 Tank Destroyer
• Cromwell
• Char B1
• US6 Military Truck (Loaded as single or double, with 5 random variations of truck)
• 40ft Flat Car with load
• USSR Ша locomotive (1520mm gauge) delivery
• USSR Ша tender (1520mm gauge) delivery
• USATC 9900 Gallon Tank
• USATC Caboose
• Warwell with load
• Cromwell
• M10
• USSR 20 Ton Flat Car with load
• Katyusha
• ZIS-3 75mm Anti-tank gun
• USSR Brake Van
• Green and brown

Add to all of this 10 scenarios for 3 routes and 68 Quick Drives and this is by far the largest pack we have ever produced. In fact we think it's the biggest locomotive DLC produced by anyone so far.

Available today on the Dovetail Games Store with a fantastic 50% off, grab yourself an engineering hero with a unique history that not only played its part in the worldwide Allied victory in World War 2, but also helped many countries to recover from the damage of the war by providing hundreds of easy to run and easily modified locomotives when the fighting ended.

https://store.dovetailgames.com/uk/product/433118/usatc-s160-loco-add-on

Raven (LNER) Q6: Tender, and Everything

Not a huge amount to say about this one other than.. it's the tender for the Q6!

Plenty of detail on the front face for the player in-cab views.

And how it looks all together: engine, cab and tender

The next task is the tedious unwrap and then it will be time to have some fun and get out the paint brushes.

This image is rather inspirational for the final days but we'll be doing NER, LNER and Preserved liveries as well!