## Description
### Steam Store Description
Delivering mail and hauling passengers was the Saint Class’ staple throughout
their operational lives, leaving London as the day comes to a close and
passing through the Riviera Line in the shadow of night. The Saint Class truly
was a grand example of Great Western engineering and is now ready for you to
enjoy in Train Simulator, complete with unique TPO rolling stock, courtesy of
Partner Programme developer, Victory Works.
After modifications to the Great Western Railway network, converting lines
into the widely adopted standard gauge, modernisation quickly came into
effect. New lines that shortened the distance between London and the West
Country were not seeing a dramatic change of journey times, services were
still being hauled by older and slower locomotives. New traction was clearly
required and G. J. Churchward, soon-to-be Chief Mechanical Engineer of the
GWR, sought to deliver.
After acquiring several experimental locomotives (and also designing his own),
Churchward, who was now C.M.E. ordered a prototype loco to be built at GWR’s
Swindon Works. This first prototype finished production in February 1902 and
was numbered ‘100’, later being named Dean, then William Dean in honour of
Churchward’s predecessor. This 4-6-0 prototype took into account of all
Churchward’s initial findings, however following testing further modifications
would be made to future models, leaving ‘100’ as a unique locomotive.
A further two prototypes were built in 1903, no. 98 and No. 171, each
developing on the last and also featuring a mix of 4-4-2 and 4-6-0 wheel
configurations (the latter of which was eventually proven to be the best, and
also chosen as the base for the new production locomotives).
A total of four different Saint Class production series would be built between
1905 and 1913. Each series was given its own name, these were; Scott, Ladies,
Saints and Courts. Multiple variants could be listed between the different
series, the main differences were in the frames, boilers and smokeboxes.
Combined, the four series came together to form a 77-strong fleet of Saint
Class locomotives.
The Saint Class proved suitable as passenger and mail haulers on longer-
distance journeys, being able to cope with just about anything aside from the
top link expresses. Once the Castle Class was introduced in the early 1920s,
many Saints (and their larger sisters, the Stars) were displaced to secondary
duties. However, a problem arose with the Saint class as their large wheels
were deemed ineffective for hauling freight.
While Churchward tried to rectify the lack of freight locomotives with the
4700 Class, his successor, C. Collett decided to modify the original Saint
Design and built out of 2925 Saint Martin a new prototype locomotive. This new
locomotive would become a success and soon be known as the Hall Class, which
in itself turned into the Modified Hall, Grange, Manor and County Classes. The
Saint Class was recognised as, ‘one of the most important steps forward in
railway traction of the 20th century’ by The Great Western Society, a
locomotive that in no doubt became the future of the GWR.
Despite the acclaims of the revolutionary Saint Class, no examples managed to
survive into preservation. All locomotives were withdrawn from service by 1953
and subsequently scrapped, leaving their successor locomotives to continue on
until the end of steam.
Thankfully, not all hope is lost for the return of the Saint Class. The Great
Western Society are currently in the process of reverting an old Hall Class
locomotive, 4942 Maindy Hall, into a Saint Class no. 2999 Lady of Legend. 2999
is a continuation of the Saint Class’ numbering and so Lady of Legend will
essentially be a ‘new’ locomotive to the Class (aside from being a Hall
conversion) much like 60163 Tornado is to the LNER Peppercorn A1 Class.
The Travelling Post Office
The Great Western Railway was famous for a service called the Travelling Post
Office. These trains would set out from London in the dead of night and
deliver the post to every major town, ready for the locals to open in the
morning. The trick to a fast and reliable Travelling Post Office is to have a
consist which does not need to stop, and the solution was quite revolutionary.
The concept of the Travelling Post Office first originated in the 1830s. Post
began to run across the Liverpool & Manchester Railway following an agreement
with the General Post Office, and within the decade it became mandatory that
all railways had to carry the mail in some capacity. It was in 1838 when the
concept of sorting the post on the train itself came to fruition, the Grand
Junction Railway was the first, with the post being sorted on the way. This
post service must’ve proven popular as by the mid-1840s it had been extended
up through to Scotland.
The services quickly became known as Travelling Post Offices, and could either
be formed of dedicated mail rolling stock or a mixture of mail and passenger.
Not only did this concept continue throughout Britain, it was also employed
across various Commonwealth countries and even the Army.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Travelling Post Office is the
rolling stock itself, and how it interacts with the world around it. The
Sorting Coach and Baggage Coach would’ve been built off of existing rolling
stock designs, be that local ‘Big Four’ or BR Mk1 etc. and would feature
dedicated ‘TPO’ interiors, complete with unique mail equipment. The Baggage
Coach would be fitted with a net and several mail bag holders, while on the
trackside similar equipment would be standing, ready to perform the mail
transfer.
At specific locations, workers inside the TPO would prepare the mail bags to
be hung from the side of the coach, and then these bags would be collected by
a trackside net. At the same time, any empty mail bags would be returned to
the coach by a similar process. This operation happened while on the move and
allowed for non-stop services throughout the night.
The first special Travelling Post Office was across the GWR network, London to
Bristol services started in 1855 and the lineside equipment was introduced at
Maidenhead and Slough just over a decade later.
## Scenarios
The GWR Saint Class & Travelling Post Office Loco Add-on includes four career
scenarios for the Riviera Line in the Fifties route:
* TPO Exchange Demonstration
* Great Western TPO, Down
* Local Mail
* Great Western TPO, Up
More scenarios are available on Steam Workshop online and in-game. Train
Simulator’s Steam Workshop scenarios are free and easy to download, adding
many more hours of gameplay. With scenarios being added daily, why don’t you
check it out now!
Click here for Steam Workshop scenarios.
## Common Key Features
* GWR 2900 Class (Saint) in Great Western Railways Livery (all 75 named members of the class and all logo versions spanning 1906 to 1947)
* Unique Travelling Post Office Baggage vehicle with operating mail catcher and associated lineside equipment
* Travelling Post Office Sorting coach
* Collett “Sunshine” Composite, Third and Brake Third in Great Western livery
* Accurate Simulation and Sounds
* Simple, Standard & Advanced Driving modes
* Realistic boiler water gauges affected by grade, acceleration and speed
* Opening windows and rain effects
* Tender water scoop compatible with Riviera in the Fifties
* Four challenging career scenarios for the TS2016 Riviera Line in the Fifties route
* Quick Drive compatible
* Download size: 125.7 mb
## Advanced Mode Key Features
* Realistic Wheel slip physics and effects
* Simulated steam chest
* Cylinder Cock management
* Boiler Management and priming possible
* Realistic injector control
* Realistic shovel stoking and synchronised sounds
TS Pro: GWR Saint Class & TPO