Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3554 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: First Class Simulations
• Released on: 2007-09-21
• Platform: Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
A route of approximately 120 miles from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. Includes a collection of challenging and varied activities.

Customer Reviews

Worth the long wait
At last the West Coast Express is here! With one or two reservations I do feel it has been worth the long wait. The first is that I had expected the maximum line speed to be 125mph but it seems to have been done under the old 110mph limit of the previous class 87's and 90's. This would have been OK but the first scenario involves a Pendolino from Euston to Birmingham and this allows 9 minutes for the 17.5 miles to Watford Junction. Even allowing for 125 mph running over most of that run it would be very difficult, if not impossible to keep to time. Having said that though the rest of the scenarios seem to involve class 43's and 321's and their timetables are much more realistic. The second, fairly minor quibble is that there are no freight wagons in the marshalling yards between Willesden and Wembley. I travel to Euston from Birmingham quite frequently and they are ALWAYS full and busy.

There that's got the criticisms out of the way! Over all I think this is another great Add on from First Class Simulations. The realism of the route is well up to their very high standards - the layouts around the large stations such as Birmingham NS, International, Rugby and Euston is, so far as I could tell, flawless. One thing I especially liked is that you can drive your train along the DC Metro lines from Euston to Watford; in fact one of the scenarios involves a class 43 being diverted over this route because of OLE difficulties on the main line!

Well done yet again First Class Simulations!!

west coast mainline
the game is very good. i love it. although it would be much better with frieght or different trains. as there is only the pendilino, HST, and class 321 to drive. there are underground trains which you can`t drive. also if there was more trains running past and around you during the missions. there are only 10 missions to do. also when in the stations like birmingham new street and london euston there could be more trains in the station. on the whole the game is very good and i reccomend it to everyone.

Almost as good as the real thing.
Comparing this simulation with the real thing, the difference is surprisingly narrow. Some of the speed restrictions and a few of the curves are a little 'iffy' but nevertheless the feeling that one is actually driving an express on the WCML is very real. The simulation also appears to be far less 'jerky' than some of its predecessors.
Worth every penny.