London Overground Mildmay line: Stratford - Willesden Junction
We announced this route as part of 2024’s Season of Reveals, including information from Developer Johannes Hartmann, who is working on this route as a solo project under the banner Incredible Trains.
About Incredible Trains
We introduced Johannes from Incredible Trains in our November Roadmap as one of the latest Partner Programme Developers to join Train Sim World. They are the sole developer at this brand-new studio and got into game development by modding for Transport Fever 2, creating UK rolling stock and asset mods.
What began as a side project during a PhD, using the PC Editor and learning Unreal Engine, has since grown into gearing up to release their debut Train Sim World route add-on!
The Route
This packed, dense and highly detailed route covers 12 miles of the Mildmay line (previously known to some as the North London Line) between Stratford and Willesden Junction.
What is now recognisable as the Mildmay line was built across two decades of staggered development and expansion between 1846 and 1869. Avoiding central London, the route is vital for cross-city connections while avoiding the busy core and is also a vital freight artery as it links multiple main lines together.
Much like the rest of the London Overground network, the North London Line was due an upgrade through the 90s and early 2000s, and in 2007, TfL took over the line and overhauled it to be a modern commuter line with reliable and frequent service.
With TfL’s naming of all London Overground routes, the North London Line is now officially known as the Mildmay line, honouring the small charitable hospital in Shoreditch that has cared for Londoners over many years, notably its pivotal role in the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which made it the valued and respected place it is for many, particularly the LGBTQ+ community today.
Along the part of the route depicted in the game add-on lie plenty of familiar locations and landmarks to admire, including the ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
18 stations in total make for a style of gameplay where there is very little time to rest! Willesden Junction will make use of the high-level platforms situated above those used in West Coast Main Line South and other stations will have names familiar to locals and tourists alike, such as Hackney Central, Camden Road and Hampstead Heath. As a product licensed by TfL, all stations will be adorned with the relevant TfL branding.
Beyond the rails, the road traffic will include vehicles that represent London’s iconic black cabs and red double-decker buses. There will also be AI DLR vehicles at Stratford that operate in a similar way to the AI trams seen on Edinburgh – Glasgow / Fife Circle route Add-ons.
The route’s location across London also sees it cross and intersect with snippets of lines from other Train Sim World routes, with the HS1 tunnel entrance visible from Southeastern High Speed and Route Hopping available for easy access to other London routes in your collection.
These include:
- Stratford / Stratford Intl (Southeastern High Speed)
- Gospel Oak (London Overground Suffragette line)
- Willesden Junction (WCML South or Bakerloo Line)
London Overground Class 378 ‘Capitalstar’
Players of other UK Train Sim World Add-ons will be familiar with the Electrostar family of trains, which are widespread across the south of England and run a variety of different services using variants of the same style of EMU.
The following ‘Electrostar’ variants are already available in Train Sim World:
- Southeastern Class 375 in Southeastern High Speed
- Southern Class 377/2 in West Coast Main Line South
- Southern Class 377/4 in East Coastway / London Commuter
- Gatwick Express Class 387 in London Commuter
Their simpler controls and combined power / brake handle make them perfect to pick up for first time Train Sim World players, whilst more experienced players can interact with safety systems, PIS displays via the interactive screen and in the Class 377, speed controls.
The Class 378 ‘Capitalstar’ variant of this EMU first entered service in 2009 on London Overground routes to replace the ageing Class 313. Since 2010, the Mildmay line has been operated by the Class 378; originally delivered in 3-car formations, a 4th car was quickly added, and all were expanded to 5-car trains by 2017.
Visually, there are many differences from its ‘Electrostar’ relatives including its cab end doors which can be opened in case of emergency but are otherwise not used to interconnect multiple trains together in service.
Inside, passengers sit opposite one another with longitudinal seating much more suited to high density commuter service and this interior is adorned with the moquette style and distinctive signage of the London Overground.
The cab also has a new layout compared to the ‘Electrostars’ and dual voltage functionality is available – both overhead AC and third-rail DC.
Timetable, Service Layers and Gameplay
London Overground services will run at 8-trains-per-hour with frequent stopping patterns at all stations featured on this section of the line. Freight traffic and AI utilising other Train Sim World Add-ons will run on multiple mainlines that intersect and cross over or under the Mildmay line.
Efficient driving and quick reaction times will make or break a run to ensure all the stations are served within the confines of the timetable.
Additional Service Layers
Players with other Add-ons in their collection will be able to see and operate additional services along the route.
These include:
- London Overground Class 710 services from Suffragette line
- (AI) LNER Class 801 Azuma trains from East Coast Main Line
- (AI) Thameslink Class 700 services
- (AI) HS1 services from Southeastern High Speed
- (AI) EMT HST services from Midland Main Line
- (AI) Class 350, Class 377 and Bakerloo Line trains from West Coast Main Line South
- (AI) Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolino services
In addition, a selection of reskinned and unlicensed AI layers representing trains not currently available in Train Sim World are also available.
These AI services are formed of:
- Reskinned Class 710 trains from Suffragette line, representing Elizabeth line services
- Reskinned Class 710 trains from Suffragette line, representing Greater Anglia services
- Reskinned Class 166 trains from Great Western Express, representing Chiltern Railways services
- These services can be seen at Stratford and Hackney Central.
Train Sim World 5: London Overground Mildmay line: Stratford - Willesden Junction route Add-on will release on 4th March for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Epic Games Store, and Steam for £24.99/€29.99/$29.99
Preview Steam – Wednesday 26th February!
You’ll be able to join the Railfan TV team on YouTube and Twitch on 26th February for a preview of Mildmay line.
Mastery Posters are coming!
You may have noticed a new addition to the Mastery Rewards UI - Posters. We're excited to share that the Mildmay line will be the first route to launch with this new reward type, and once unlocked it'll start to appear across all TSW5 UK routes!
We're not ready to share exactly what the Mildmay line reward looks like just yet, but additional posters for existing routes will be rolling out shortly afterwards - here's a reminder of how some of our German route posters will look in game:
