Embark on a special journey as Thomas the Tank Engine makes his debut in Train Sim World 5 on 20th March!
A new adventure begins:
Naturally, the star of the show is Thomas the Tank Engine, with his friends Annie and Clarabel joining him. Adding an element of mischief is Diesel and the Troublesome Trucks. What will they get up to?
Unlike previous Add-ons, the gameplay here is entirely story-driven, with a fun narrative that follows the adventures of Thomas and his friends during their visit to the West Somerset Railway.
Introducing the characters:
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas is a cheeky Tank Engine and he often gets into scrapes, usually by being over-eager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Thomas' life and he is soon bustling about again, playing his part in the railway.
Lovingly recreated in Train Sim World 5, players can ride along with Thomas and make use of his signature ‘peep peep’ whistle! Whether shunting, moving passengers with Annie & Clarabel or just going for a ride along the scenic coastline, Thomas will have a great time having new adventures in Somerset.
Driving with Thomas has been set up to be as intuitive and accessible as possible for everyone to enjoy. Throttle and brake controls are simplified and Thomas, being so reliable and useful, has been given permission by the WSR to go beyond the real-world speed limits.
Annie & Clarabel
Annie & Clarabel are Thomas’ faithful coaches. Annie only carries passengers, whereas Clarabel is a composite coach. They are like twin sisters!
Diesel
Diesel is often the foil to Thomas and his other friends. He believes himself to be the most important and useful engine, even in Somerset! He believes steam engines are no match for diesels, but at the end of the day, he is an unlikely ally to the other engines.
Players will be able to step into Diesel’s cab for the very first time! Like Thomas, his controls are accessible with a simple throttle and brake. He won’t be as fast as Thomas is, but that won’t stop him moving things around during Thomas’ visit to the WSR.
The Troublesome Trucks & Brake Van
Based on mixed goods wagons, the Troublesome Trucks are rascals on the West Somerset Railway who take great delight in causing trouble for whichever engine has to pull them.
Though the stock includes trucks and a brake van, these will only be compatible with Thomas characters, which are uniquely modelled within the game to interact with one another. They will not be able to couple to existing Train Sim World locomotives and rolling stock.
Sir Topham Hatt
Sir Topham Hatt is the director of the Railway and is responsible for making sure the engines are always right on time. His biggest pet peeve is confusion and delay.
Sir Topham Hatt accompanies Thomas to the WSR following an invite from Mr Peters. He’ll also be keeping a close eye on Diesel!
Mr Peters
Extending an invite to Thomas and his friends to the West Somerset Railway is Mr Peters, a long-time friend of Sir Topham Hatt. Mr Peters has always wanted to meet Thomas, especially after being told how reliable and useful he is!
Scenarios tell a story:
Following an invitation from the mainland, Sir Topham Hatt has been asked if his engines can visit the West Somerset Railway for a special weekend where people can see the North Western Railway’s finest. Sir Topham Hatt has decided to let Thomas go and visit the mainland with Annie and Clarabel! Operate special trains along the mainland’s longest standard gauge heritage railway.
But wait! Diesel is being his mischievous self, and wants to join in on the adventure… He’s followed Thomas to West Somerset and is determined to play tricks on him and prove that he is Sir Topham Hatt’s most useful engine.
The adventures take place across 8 Scenarios on the West Somerset Railway. Be careful! Some of the Scenarios have two different outcomes, depending on whether players can successfully complete the tasks. The Scenarios are narrated by Mark Moraghan (narrator of television series 17 – 21) with subtitles available and simple cutscenes help tell the story between tasks completed by the player.
How will the adventures unfold? That is not for us to say. But hunting down objects, dealing with Diesel’s antics and preparing for a special event all form part of the story.
For those that want to get familiar with Thomas and Diesel before embarking on their WSR journey, Tutorials for each character are available in Training Center.
Additional Gameplay
On top of the narrative of the Scenarios, an alternative timetable will be available on the West Somerset Railway route with all the Thomas & Friends characters as well as the diesel Class 47 and Class 09 locomotives available to operate along England’s longest heritage railway.
Train Sim World 5’s Free Roam will also play a big part in the enjoyment for players with other routes in their collection. Bring Thomas and his friends onto any Train Sim World route Add-on. Take him across the world with routes from the USA and Europe and tell your own story by setting paths between stations and yards. You can even add Thomas and his friends to your own custom timetable with Scenario Planner.
Livery Designer is not supported for this content and whilst Formation Designer is, Thomas and his friends will only be compatible with one another and won’t be able to couple to existing Train Sim World trains and locomotives.
West Somerset Railway improvements
The West Somerset Railway route itself is also receiving a range of new updates to elevate the foliage and the landscape across the route, including bringing a range of improvements such as Conductor Mode for the Mk1 coaches and new suspension physics to all WSR rolling stock!
These updates will be free to all players with the West Somerset Railway route Add-on in Train Sim World 5.
Here are some of the new features you can expect:
- Improved foliage & landscape materials to TSW 5 standards
- Improved route & signal lighting
- Improved tracks to include TSW 5's long distance shadows
- Added suspension to all WSR stock including the Class 33 & 52
- Added conductor mode to the WSR Mk1's
- Replaced all benches with interactive ones for passengers
- Opened up footbridges for passengers and the player
- And many more!
We'll share a full list of changes when we release the update, but for now enjoy a selection of new screenshots to showcase the changes you can expect to experience coming for free to owners of the add-on later in March.
Add-ons and Bundle Info
Thomas & Friends™ Visit the West Somerset Railway will be available on 20th March for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Epic Games Store, and Steam for $24.99 / £19.99 / €24.99
Train Sim World 5 is required to make use of the Add-on. The West Somerset Railway route Add-on is required to make use of the Scenarios and narrative gameplay.
If you’re new to Train Sim World, you can get all of the above content in a Core Bundle.
Train Sim World 5: Thomas & Friends™ Edition will be available on 20th March for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Epic Games Store, and Steam for $39.99 / £29.99 / €34.99
You can catch the Preview Stream on Wednesday 19th March over on YouTube and Twitch
You can also read more about the release in our dedicated FAQs.