Atomic Systems

I am currently considering buying a route from steam, the routes I am considering are Portsmouth direct, London to Brighton or Settle Carlisle, I probably can only afford to buy 1, so given them choices which would anyone recommend?

also does anyone know whether there will be a summer sale any-time soon, because I may hold off until then?

Hi Dave,

I would think there will be a Steam sale next week, to coincide with July 4th celebrations, so, it may be wise to hang on and pick something up much cheaper.
I don't have the Settle route personally, so, cannot give you a consumer's review of that, but, either of the other 2 layouts are very good, modern-ish, both have superelevation and plastic EMU's, you can utilise your BR corporate blue locomotives and period rolling stock on either of them as well, you can view the relevant threads for both routes to make an informed decision.

Cheerz. Transport Steve.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the info, I will hang onto until the sale is on and depending how much the offer is I might be able to get 2 routes if I'm lucky.

regards,

Dave

Well, I'd wait till Thursday (at the earliest). Steam usually begins their summer sales on the last Thursday of June. You could also wait a bit longer and RSC might have a daily deal where you can get 75% off.
I'd say it all depends on what your interested in. London to Brighton is heavily passenger orientated with a few freights using the line. PDL has more freights and is heavily passenger orientated but with less services. Both routes have key locations and have some good speeds to really work your train. Settle to Carlisle is a slow line, with lots of freight and passenger opportunities, this is mainly because it is a key link up and is a very much loved railway line in Britain with plenty of rail tours going across it mainly because of that bridge. All of those routes offer something which other routes don't and that is lots of different things can happen.
If I were you I would get London to Brighton and then Portsmouth Direct Line and then Settle to Carlisle. But like I said at the start of my post wait a week or so and you should be able to get them much cheaper...

Unfortunately for me most of the stuff now is modern plastic. At a push I'm hoping the B1 and Robinson 04 are nearly done

Out of those routes I'll go for the S&C it's a nice little route.

L-B over PDL. Class 450 is still broken, and L-B must be one of the prettiest routes out there, with all the lush vegetation. The Class 377 is great to drive, despite the borked sounds. Can't comment on S-C but it's Steam Engines, DMUs and Diesel Locomotive freight. Good stuff but up to your tastes.

I have all three, london to brighton is simply stunning, so much atmosphere a joy to drive only downfall is its very intensive on fps especially near london Portsmouth would be my second choice its a nice fast route like the brighton one theres quite a few scenarios for it aswell as its the oldest of the three its not as demanding as brighton route. Settle and carlisle for me is my least favourite route its really slow and boring route, but you get a 66 and 158 with this so thats a bonus its Also very smooth aswell.

Dean

Plenty of food for thought, thanks guys, I will be waiting to see if a sale materializes and what that brings, before making my final decision, the interest I have in the settle and carlisle is purely based on the MSTS version even though it was based in a different era I believe, the PDL was part of the Dorset coast route for MSTS as well, there was a London Brighton route as well but I never owned that.

Should point out that rsc done a great job with the s+c and i find the route boring.

Dean

If a sale does materialise then S+C is a route that will probably be top of my list. That and perhaps L-B.

gavo01 wrote:If a sale does materialise then S+C is a route that will probably be top of my list. That and perhaps L-B.

I would be quite surprised if those routes get anything as generous as 50% off in the sale, being so recent. Maybe as part of a discounted bundle though?

The S & C line is available as a freebie and it is excellent.The L to B line is superb as is Just Trains's Scottish East Coast main line.

Dumps

The S & C line is available as a freebie and it is excellent.

I think they are talking about the payware one from RSC. However I agree with you about this! It's exellent.

The freeware one is set in 1960s and the payware one is set in modern day.

btv

transadelaide wrote:

gavo01 wrote:If a sale does materialise then S+C is a route that will probably be top of my list. That and perhaps L-B.

I would be quite surprised if those routes get anything as generous as 50% off in the sale, being so recent. Maybe as part of a discounted bundle though?

Last year I'm sure they released something two weeks prior to the sale and then had it all in the sale. I wouldn't be surprised if that is why they haven't released anything new lately except for the update and on Thursday the SD75 (?) will be updated - but no discount mentioned, possibly because Steam like it to come as a surprise (people have realised though). I myself am in London on Thursday for a day trip and when I return I will check Steam's twitter feed/forums I am on. If that's the case, I either go to bed early or stay up until stupid o'Clock to be able to get everything I want whilst Steam is quieter. I only go for daily deals too, then on the last day of the sale buy everything, as daily deals are bigger than normal discounts and there may be a daily deal for a game I want but it's on the last day. Good things come to those who wait.