Happy Christmas 2018

Steam Christmas Sale 2018

It's time for the Steam Christms Sale!
All of our Steam DLC is on sale from today until 3rd January with discounts across the board and all but the most recent packs are at half price.

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

Note: As usual in the first few hours of the sale Steam will have a meltdown as so many people try to access it with some sale prices not showing or the site being completely unavailable - you may need to refresh the page if it doesn't show some of the offers or maybe wait for tomorrow when it's settled down.

GWR 1000 County Class - 30% off

LNER Raven Q6 - 40% off

GWR Large Prairies - 50% off

GWR Large Prairies Lined Liveries (Requires GWR Large Prairies Pack) - 50% off

Stroudley A1/A1X Class 'Terrier' - 50% off

GWR Saint Class & Travelling Post Office - 50% off

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

USATC S160 - 50% off

GWR 14xx - 50% off

LNER Peppercorn K1 - 50% off

GWR Small Prairies - 50% off

GWR 56xx - 50% off

GT3 Gas Turbine Prototype - 50% off

GWR Steam Railmotor - 50% off

Southern Bulleid Q1 - 50% off

GWR Pannier Tanks: 5700/8750 Post Britsh Railways

Last week we left you on a cliff hanger.. 18 of the 5700/8750's were sold out of BR service. But where did they go?

Despite being electrified in 1905, the London underground network had kept a small number of steam locomotives for use on engineering and ballast trains but by the 1950's these engines were old, tired and expensive to maintain. GWR Pannier tank No. 7711 underwent trials with them from January to April 1956 and in May of that year they purchased it, along with No. 5752.

Numbered L90 and L91 they received a livery of London Transport Rail Red and the LT wording on the sides of the tanks.

Eleven more 5700 engines were purchased between 1958 and 1963 numbered from L89 to L99 (numbers L90 and L91 were reused after the original engines were scrapped) and they continued in use at London Transport with the last three being scrapped in 1971.

Five more engines were sold by British Railways between 1959 and 1965 to the National Coal Board (NCB) for use at coal pits in South Wales and No. 9792 even worked the Maerdy Colliery - a location familiar to many owners of Train Simulator. These purchases continued a tradition of the GWR selling withdrawn pannier tank locomotives to the NCB and the two 5700 variants and three 8750 variants were put to good use. They retained their original BR numbering.

The NCB locomotives received minimal maintenance and to save the costs of expensive overhauls were simply run into the ground.

No. 7754, was the last engine in industrial service and after working at Welsh collieries was moved to Mountain Ash in 1970 where amazingly an ex-GWR fitter decided to kept it working until 1975! Sadly a loose piston resulted in a blown cylinder cover but No. 7754 could still be seen on shed in 1980 after which the NCB donated it to the National Museum Wales who placed it on permanent loan to the Llangollen Railway.

And that brings us to the end of the liveries for the GWR Pannier Tanks. We hope you agree that it's a bumper pack with lots of options and uses for many TS routes.

Below is the feature list taken from the manual:

• Simple, standard and advanced driving modes
• Xbox controller support SIMPLE AND STANDARD MODES ONLY

• GWR 5400 Pannier Tank Locomotive
• GWR Green (4 logos)
• BR Black (2 logos)
• BR Black – Worn (2 logos)
• GWR 6400 Pannier Tank Locomotive
• GWR Green (4 logos)
• BR Black (2 logos)
• BR Black – Worn (2 logos)
• BR Lined Green (2 logos)
• GWR 7400 Pannier Tank Locomotive
• GWR Green (3 logos)
• BR Black (2 logos)
• BR Black – Worn (2 logos)
• GWR 5700 Pannier Tank Locomotive
• All GWR/BR liveries come with 2 variations that have either a combined brake or just a steam brake
• GWR Green (4 logos)
• BR Black (2 logos)
• BR Black – Worn (2 logos)
• BR Mixed Traffic Black (2 logos)
• NCB Green - Worn
• London Transport Red
• GWR 8750 Pannier Tank Locomotive
• All GWR/BR liveries come with 2 variations that have either a combined brake or just a steam brake
• GWR Green (4 logos)
• BR Black (2 logos)
• BR Black – Worn (2 logos)
• BR Mixed Traffic Black (2 logos)
• NCB Green – Worn

• Customisable engine numbers and shed codes
• Optional parts and fittings including painted or polished safety valve covers, chimney styles, lining, power discs, ATC, speedometer and much more
• Custom sound sets inside and out
• Realistic cab with multiple views, including dual head out and fully modelled firebox and coal
• Realistic wheel slip physics and effects ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Simulated steam chest ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Realistic train pipe, reservoir vacuum and steam braking ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Cylinder cock management  ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Boiler management with priming possible ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Realistic injector control ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Realistic “by the shovel” stoking with synchronised sound ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Dynamic steam and smoke colour and quantity
• Realistic boiler water gauges effected by gradient, acceleration and speed and with blow down test
• Opening windows (with rain effects), doors, weather panels and roof hatch
• Dynamic lamp setting
• Cab light effects including firebox glow, water gauge lamp and cab lamp
• Second valve regulator effects ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Atmospheric AI effects

• British Railways 63ft Autocoach
• Diagrams A38, A39, A40, A43
• Crimson Lake livery
• Maroon livery
• Driveable unpowered cab for any consist
• Period and Modern passengers
• Intelligent display of driver in cab
• Additional features when coupled to any Victory Works auto-fitted locomotive, including:
• Realistic simulated remote control, including steam chest of the driving locomotive ADVANCED MODE ONLY
• Whistle and gong alert
• "Intelligent" lamp setting

• 10 scenarios (spread over the following routes)
• Falmouth Branch
• J94 ‘Memories of Maerdy’
• Riviera Line in the Fifties: Exeter - Kingswear
• West Somerset Railway
• 76 Quick Drive consists

Sadly the Pannier Tanks won't be with you in time for Christmas however we'd advise keeping some pennies ready for the start of the New Year ;-)

GWR Pannier Tanks: 5700/8750 British Railways

On the 1st January 1948 British Railways came into being, taking over the assets of the existing "Big Four" railways companies - GWR, LMS, LNER and Southern.
Among the thousands of locomotives in their control were all of the Great Western Railways 5700 and 8750 classes and these continued in regular service performing the same duties as they had under the GWR. In fact they were so useful that from 1948-50 another 41 engines were completed and added to their numbers.

First up is the 5700 variant, fresh out of the paint shop in freight black and carrying the familiar "cycling lion" logo used from 1950-56.

8750 with the same livery.

Just as under the GWR some engines were built without vacuum brakes and steam heating, fitted with 3 link couplings and were only used for unfitted freight and shunting duties.

In 1956 this logo was changed to the "ferret with dartboard" and they carried this until withdrawal.

A small number of engines which worked as Paddington station pilots were also turned out in Lined Black livery and this has also been popular in preservation.

Over the years these engines, primarily used for freight duties, received little in the way of cosmetic care (a far cry from the times of their daily polishing with the GWR) and took on the worn look that is so popular with railway modellers (and us, it's a lot of fun to texture!).

And of course the matching cabs.

Withdrawal begin with limited numbers in 1956 however almost 600 were still in service in 1962 and over 150 were still in use at the beginning of 1965.

The 5700 and 8750's were actually the last steam locomotives used on the BR Western region and No. 9641 was working goods trains and shunting at Croes Newydd until November 1966.

However even the end of steam was not enough to kill off all of these workhorses as 16 were sold on.. and we will take a look at those next week in our final update.

GWR Pannier Tanks: 5700/8750 GWR

Our update this week contains one engine, two designs and covers a massive 852 locomotives!
The 5700 (and later 8750 variant) are one of the most iconic designs of 0-6-0 steam engine and we are delighted to be able to present the most comprehensive and complete models of them ever seen in Train Simulator.

We begin with the original 5700 as built in 1929. Very basically outfitted with no doors or weather screens, no top feed injectors and even lacking steam heating at this time.

Moving on to the 1934-42 livery, this particular engine number still lacks doors and weather panels although some were being fitted at this time as they went in for servicing.

By 1942 all engines had doors and weather panels and some were now fitted with injector top feeds.

And finally seen here in the 1948 temporary livery after the merging of the "big four" into British Railways. You may also notice that this engine has riveted tanks which was a feature of engines that were not built by the GWR in Swindon but were outsourced. Another feature (or lack of) for this particular group of engines is that they carry only a steam brake and no vacuum brake and so would have been used for shunting and unfitted freight duties only.

A view inside a cab shows that this particular engine has vacuum brakes and steam heating as can be seen by the dials and equipment. All cabs are set up to match the specified engines features.

We now move to the 8750 variant of the 5700 Pannier Tank. Featuring a redesigned cab with a higher roof, more akin to the 5400 classes style, these engines were built from 1933 and were fitted with vacuum brakes, steam heating, and ATC as standard where required.
Note: As with the 5700 there were some specific engines that were built for shunting and unfitted freight use only and did not require vacuum brakes or heating.

The 1934 livery and a view of the rear of the engine.

From 1942 onwards the 8750 had the same modifications as the 5700's, added over time when taken in for servicing. Here we see one with the improved top feed injectors.

 And in the temporary British Railways livery.

The cab here is for an earlier date as can be seen by the injector feed pipes on the front of the boiler backhead.
As you expect from Victory Works all cabs have fully working windows, doors, hatches, seats and controls with custom lighting and many realistic features like a wobbling water gauge and working lubricator.

All engines have multiple options available (which will be able to be set using the free tool we are currently working on) one of which is the popular polished safety bonnet. Although not officially used on freight engines many GWR crew would "uncover" and polish the bonnet on their engines and in preservation they are pretty much obligatory for every survivor.

That's it for today - we'll be back next Friday with a look at the 5700 and 8750's under the ownership of British Railways.