Background Information
The Class 180 was built between 2000 and 2001, entering service in 2002 with First Great Western on the Great Western Main Line. A total of 14 trainsets consisting of five vehicles was constructed by Alstom in Washwood Heath, Birmingham. The units didn't get off to a great start, being plagued with problems and inefficiencies so much that First Great Western decided they didn't want it anymore and gave it back to the leasing company. However, the trains were soon brought back into service, and are now again operated by First Great Western along with the two open-access operators First Hull Trains, and Grand Central.
The Class 180 is one of the DLC add-ons for Train Simulator 2015, specifically for ECML London-Peterborough, though that route is only required for the default scenarios that come with the train. Reaching a speed of 125mph (200km/h) does this train race up to standards, or has been built too quickly for it's own good?
What's Included?
The Class 180 comes to Train Simulator like any train DLC with the standard consists and some scenarios for a certain route. The Class 180 comes in the Grand Central livery with three scenarios for the route ECML: London-Peterborough, two of which are actually one whole scenario split in two parts. The third one being a short return to Bounds Green depot, despite no units being based there in real life. These scenarios aren't entirely creative, but that is where the Workshop comes in with some user-created scenarios for players to download for free.
Pros
Well to start off, the Class 180 is very nicely detailed in the cab as you can see on the image above. One thing I love about it is the interactivity with some of the controls. The log-on computer screen is a nice little touch, and something that is actually a first with this train, and hopefully not a last in general. Another thing worthy of praise is the fact that the DSD can be toggled, which means you can enjoy and outside or passenger view with the emergency brakes disrupting your journey. The coupling hatch can also be toggled open and closed, and it does so in a realistic manner that it's quite fun to watch. I personally like to leave it open.
The passenger view itself is also very nice, and looks very, dare I say this pun, Grand. To add to that, there is a computerised destination board on the inside that gives off advertisements you would see in real life such as www.grandcentralrail.co.uk and it just adds to the realism. I also like how the inside and outside feel more together, by that I mean when you turn on the cab light in the cab, it will also shine when you are outside, and you can even see it turn on and off outside as if you are watching someone else do it in real life. I love driving this train at night becuase of the lighting effects and the lime green lighting on the speed-o-meter in the cab.
Cons
Well unfortunately, like the units in real life this add-on came with some problems. When you would open the doors, some of the orange lights on the carriages would shine, but some wouldn't. This didn't help when the doors closed and you would see the lights that didn't shine now shining, which would mean the doors weren't locked, but you had to put up with the glitch just to drive the train. However this was fixed in a patch release, and in a way it depicts the real life efficiency of the trains. Consider it maybe a "ProCon"?
Another personal issue I have is that while the passenger view is great, it is backwards. I personally like to go forwards when in my passenger views, and it serves as a great setback when I first sat in passenger view only to find I could only go backwards. Of course in scenario creating I could always switch the train around and have it go forwards, but that brings another problem. There is only one vehicle with a driver. While this is realistic, it does serve as a con for me because I have OCD in that the driver must be at the front, and so with either a backwards passenger view or no driver at the front, it's a no-win situation for how you drive this train, and you have to sacrifice one for the other. I suppose it's more realistic with a backwards passenger view, but it still sets the train quality back a bit. ED: Have you not considered either rotating the passenger view coach or just swapping the driverless vehicle with the driver one in the consist?
The train also only comes with one livery (Grand Central), even though DTG have a license with First Great Western, and I don't think it would've have been violating anything to put in the First Great Western livery, though there may be more reasons which I am not aware. Additionally, though a little nitpick, the Grand Central Class 180 is not referred to as the 'Adelante', but rather the 'Zephyr". Though it is more known as the former by train enthusiasts, it is kind of a misnomer when it comes to the marketing of the train. One thing everyone also complained about is the nose is less steamlined than real life, but when the angle is right you really can't tell, at least I can't. ED: Adelante is the Manufacturer's designation and not that of the Train Operating Company.
Overall
Do not be put off by those nitpicks. Reskins are available for this train, and they aren't at any extra cost, so if you really want more liveries for this train, then you can go and get some. The Class 180 was a highly anticipated and highly requested train for quite a while in Train Simulator, and it does not disappoint after all the time waiting for it.
I would recommend this train, particularly if you have ECML: London-Peterborough, or if you have ECML North-East from the Steam Workshop, because then you can get more scenario potential, and you can feel more at home in the train when you spend just four minutes at full throttle getting the train to 125mph (200km/h). This train was definately not rushed in production, and it indeed races up to one of my favourites of TrainSim DLC.
The Grand Central Class 180 'Adelante' by Dovetail Games gets 4.5 Stars out of Five from Fringe Stalin. Thanks for reading this review, and let me know what you think in the comments. Cheers...