Recent reviews by Highball Simulation

Buy this game now before it gets delisted; mods will not work with the remaster.

This version of the Class 390 is pretty out of date, but is surprisingly useful (and cheap). There's also a Virgin reskin for it available at DPSimulation which is pretty much essential for operating this unit prototypically.

However, there is a much better Class 390 packaged with the WCML South route, itself a reissue of the long since withdrawn VT 390. If you happen to have a bit more cash spare, that's probably a better option-provided you own the Class 390 sound pack from Armstrong Powerhouse.

This route has several positives and negatives about it. I'm still giving it a thumbs up, but this is one of those cases where I feel a middle option wouldn't go amiss.

The route recreates the line from Leeds to Huddersfield as it looks in the present day, and the route visually looks good. So far I haven't encountered any stealthy speed limits or other such silliness, and I was able to get the route running consistently at a good framerate. The scenarios also run well, although the scenario text does contain some errors; the second Class 158 scenario contains an incorrect destination code as part of the briefing (the code given is 138, which is for Nottingham, not Manchester Victoria).

The rolling stock is a bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. The Class 158 included with the route is derived from one of the Armstrong Powerhouse Enhancement Packs, albeit only the Regional Railways livery is used. The 142 is the Provincial version released by DTG a few years ago, and the freight stock is fine.

The major selling point is the Class 47, which is originally from the long since discontinued Virgin Trains 1st Generation Pack. In terms of physics and sounds the model is very good, and is probably the closest we'll get to a Class 47 Enhancement Pack for the forseeable future.

The coaches, however, are awful. The MK2 and MK1 coaches have been ported directly from Train Sim World, and look terrible, with flat, cartoony textures. They also have unrealistic sounds. If you're going to get the route, I would suggest also getting the MK2 coach pack from Armstrong Powerhouse and swapping them in.

There is also a Class 03 and a Class 08, although neither come with any scenarios as bafflingly several of the major yards such as Neville Hill are not included.

The rolling stock variety is pretty good, but the limited range of liveries is a drawback. It would, for instance, have been nice for the developer to include a Class 144 in WYPTE colours, or GMPTE DMUs.

In summary, if you're looking for a relatively well done route, get it. I would, however, suggest investing elsewhere if you're looking for late BR coaches for scenario purposes.

This pack is one of those cases where I wish there was a 'mixed' option for reviewing.

This collection contains a selection of locomotive, passenger cars, and freight vehicles in the liveries of both ATSF and some companies that they shared trackage with, and also comes with a selection of scenarios showcasing them.

In terms of performance and playability, I didn't encounter any glaring problems or bugs when operating the engines. They handle fine, the physics were good, and the scenarios all functioned properly. The braking system is a little mind-bending at first, but when starting off you need to remember to move the Independent brake to Bail-Off first, or else your engine won't move.

As for the negatives; a lot of the content is not newly developed, but instead reskinned from older items. The GP35 included in the pack is a reskin of the older WP GP35 (at least they fixed the horn bug), for example. I suspect quite a bit of the freight stock has popped up over the years in other packs as well. Having said that, the paintschemes are pretty good.

The sounds are marmite. I'm not especially knowledgeable on the sorts of sounds these engines made in real life, but to me the engines sound fine. Some of the horns, sadly, are a bit pathetic.

I suspect scenario builders will get the most mileage out of this particular pack. If it's on sale (as it is at time of writing), it's worth considering, but I wouldn't recommend buying it full-price.

Canadian Mountain Passes is a visually stunning route, with spectacular scenery and accurate recreations of the local terrain (at least, based on my memories of the area). The rolling stock is also nicely done.

The negatives, unfortunately, come from the rolling stock physics, which are completely broken. The ES44AC included with the route has a different braking system to most Train Simulator versions of this locomotive, and it's so sensitive that the slightest application can cause wagons in your train to come flying off the rails exactly as wagons don't. If it really is as realistic as the devs claim, it's frankly a miracle that freight makes its way over the Canadian Rockies at all.

Don't purchase the unit separately, get it with GARL instead. GARL usually gets very heavy discounts during sales, and has scenarios for this unit. You're basically getting the 380 for free that way.

Thanks for the free gift DTG!

GT3 was one of three gas turbine locomotives tested by British Railways in the 1950s. Although the engine itself was fairly reliable, it was unable to compete against diesel traction and was sold for scrap in the 1960s-towed there, ironically enough, by a steam engine.

GT3 in Train Simulator is brought to us by VictoryWorks, best known for their steam loco addons such as the Saint and K1. The model is excellent (although the BR Blue livery is far too loud in terms of contrast), and the level of simulation is excellent. Additionally, you can choose to start the turbine manually or let the secondman do it for you.

The sounds are not recordings and were assembled using software, but this is understandable as at the time of release there were no operational gas turbines in Britain to record from.

I've only played one scenario so far, but the silly mistakes in the programming of that one doesn't fill me with confidence. The timetable requires the player to speed in order to hold the timings, and there's a hidden stop instruction that the scenario doesn't warn the player about. Whether the developer thinks we're clairvoyants or is just incompetent at making scenarios I have no idea, as these mistakes should have been spotted during testing.

The Class 156 had a bit of a rough start in Train Simulator. Initially released back in the murky days of Railworks 3, the model was later updated to make it drivable (as before 2016 the model was so broken it was only fit for use as AI traffic).

Is it worth it now? Yes, as long as you are willing to accept its shortcomings.

The positives are that the model usually gets 60-70% off when on sale, so can be snapped up very cheaply. It also appears a lot in workshop and 3rd party content. The modelling is good for the era, and there is a good selection of liveries.

The negatives, on the other hand, include wonky physics, bizarre sounds, and an outdated model. The model lacks TS20XX scripting, so you won't see rain on the windscreen, and the unit has a habit of alarmingly pitching backwards and forwards on tight bends. The Midnight Moon scenario has a situation where the unit can derail terrifyingly easily at Southall (a rather unfortunate fact given the fatal accident there in 1997).

Wait for a sale with this one, and if you have the cash, do yourself a favour and get Armstrong Powerhouse's version.