South Western Expressways to Reading V1.1
The Berks and Hants
Version 1.1 released 08/01/2020
This new Third Party route by Martin Masterson adds the 40 mile section from Pewsey to Reading,onto the existing South Western Expressways Route. This means that the long awaited opportunity to drive across a number of routes from Paddington to Penzance,via Newbury is finally possible!
The SWE To Reading route is based in the mid 2010's shortly before electrification reached Reading,and features 40 miles of rolling British Countryside,beautifully detailed as it heads for Pewsey.
Introduction to Martin Masterson:
My interest in railways has been from a very early age and I still have and run a large OO layout in the loft. In the past 25 years I have built live steam locomotives to run at my local model engineering club track in both 5” and 71/4” gauge along with traction engines up to 1/3 scale.
I was told about Train Simulator back in June 2017 and after looking at a few YouTube videos I decided To give it a try. It was much better than I had expected and the bug well and truly bit hard.
As I spend 4 weeks holiday a year in Devon and make day trips by train to Teignmouth from Paddington I wanted to reproduce the trip on TS. That is when I found I could not drive the normal route to Devon via the Berks and Hants because of the missing 40 miles between Reading and Pewsey. After contacting Just Trains to ask if it was going to be added and looking/asking on the forums it became obvious the only way forward was to build it myself.
On YouTube I found a wealth of information on building routes so I started the build In early September 2018. I lost the first 4 to 5 weeks of work when I decided to use the new 64 bit editor but that turned out good as the first build was a standalone route but the second build Was an extension the Just Trains South Western Expressways starting at Pewsey working along to Reading. I can’t say I found route building easy at the start, learning as you go never is but you just have to stick with it. 15 months later I hope you enjoy the drive to the West Country. Future plans may include adding OHLE down to Newbury and other improvements to the original route, I have already added gradient smoothing Pewsey to Exeter.
I have had a lot of help and encouragement along the way, Simon from RDC offered good advice in the early months of the build and I am not sure how I came to talk to Alex 55, Andy who built WCML South, who has become a very good friend and always willing to help and advise even at 2am! Thanks Andy.
My thanks to my route testers :-
Michael Christopher
Jamie Hunter (GWR driver on the real route)
Thanks also to :-
Mark Walker
Thomas Harrison
Callum Green
NOTE: This route is developed by Martin Masterson,it is not developed by Vulcan Productions
The SWE To Reading route is based in the mid 2010's shortly before electrification reached Reading,and features 40 miles of rolling British Countryside,beautifully detailed as it heads for Pewsey.
Introduction to Martin Masterson:
My interest in railways has been from a very early age and I still have and run a large OO layout in the loft. In the past 25 years I have built live steam locomotives to run at my local model engineering club track in both 5” and 71/4” gauge along with traction engines up to 1/3 scale.
I was told about Train Simulator back in June 2017 and after looking at a few YouTube videos I decided To give it a try. It was much better than I had expected and the bug well and truly bit hard.
As I spend 4 weeks holiday a year in Devon and make day trips by train to Teignmouth from Paddington I wanted to reproduce the trip on TS. That is when I found I could not drive the normal route to Devon via the Berks and Hants because of the missing 40 miles between Reading and Pewsey. After contacting Just Trains to ask if it was going to be added and looking/asking on the forums it became obvious the only way forward was to build it myself.
On YouTube I found a wealth of information on building routes so I started the build In early September 2018. I lost the first 4 to 5 weeks of work when I decided to use the new 64 bit editor but that turned out good as the first build was a standalone route but the second build Was an extension the Just Trains South Western Expressways starting at Pewsey working along to Reading. I can’t say I found route building easy at the start, learning as you go never is but you just have to stick with it. 15 months later I hope you enjoy the drive to the West Country. Future plans may include adding OHLE down to Newbury and other improvements to the original route, I have already added gradient smoothing Pewsey to Exeter.
I have had a lot of help and encouragement along the way, Simon from RDC offered good advice in the early months of the build and I am not sure how I came to talk to Alex 55, Andy who built WCML South, who has become a very good friend and always willing to help and advise even at 2am! Thanks Andy.
My thanks to my route testers :-
Michael Christopher
Jamie Hunter (GWR driver on the real route)
Thanks also to :-
Mark Walker
Thomas Harrison
Callum Green
NOTE: This route is developed by Martin Masterson,it is not developed by Vulcan Productions
Images along the route
Theale to NewburyBetween Theale and Newbury the line heads through Aldermaston,Midgham and Thatcham,whilst also passing the site of the Ufton Nervet derailment,which took place in November 2004. The memorial garden here is included as a mark of respect to the 7 people that tragically lost their lives as a result of the crash.
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Reading to ThealeFrom Reading with it's bustling station,we head south and pass Reading West and Southcote Junction before arriving into the Industrial town of Theale,with its array of terminals for aggregates and oil traffic. Theale has a 3 platform station and features a number of sidings,ideal for scenario creation and shunting.
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Bedwyn to PewseyProbably the most scenic section of this run,climbing from the town of Bedwyn,where there's a turnback siding for Class 166's to Reading and London,up past the famous Crofton Pumping Station to Savernake Summit before dropping down the hill to Pewsey,where Martin's section gives way to the original South Western Expressways.
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Newbury to BedwynBetween Newbury and Bedwyn the line passes through the towns of Kintbury and Hungerford,whilst running parralel with the Kennet and Avon Canal throughout,providing some very scenic screenshot opportunities along the way!
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Requirements for this route
Payware:
Train Simulator 2020
Just Trains – South Western Expressways
Just Trains – Western Mainlines
Bristol to Cardiff
Bristol to Exeter (Link is to JT version,but it’s also on on Steam)
Brighton Mainline
Riviera Line
European Asset and Loco Pack (Not needed if you owned Train Sim prior to Sept 2012)
Just Trains Common Library (Included with all JT routes released since December 2015)
Just Trains – Newcastle to Edinburgh
North Somerset
Freeware:
VP Grass Pack V2
All UKTS Free Asset Packs on the linked page
Chris Trains - NS Station and Object Scenery
All requirements considered essential for intended experience
Train Simulator 2020
Just Trains – South Western Expressways
Just Trains – Western Mainlines
Bristol to Cardiff
Bristol to Exeter (Link is to JT version,but it’s also on on Steam)
Brighton Mainline
Riviera Line
European Asset and Loco Pack (Not needed if you owned Train Sim prior to Sept 2012)
Just Trains Common Library (Included with all JT routes released since December 2015)
Just Trains – Newcastle to Edinburgh
North Somerset
Freeware:
VP Grass Pack V2
All UKTS Free Asset Packs on the linked page
Chris Trains - NS Station and Object Scenery
All requirements considered essential for intended experience
Version 1.1 Changelog:
- Signal links corrected on the Reading Feeder Main into Reading West.
- Signal corrections made on approach to Savernake where signals remained at red.
- Signal corrections made to Hungerford and Towney loops.
- Signal and track corrections made at Woodborough sidings and loops on original SWE part.
- Various scenery improvements and corrections made.
- Scenario 7C76 corrected and now will route correctly into Reading West.
