The far north line is the most northerly line in Britain and similar to all lines in the Highlands is operated only by diesels. This section is the busiest section of the line but still has a maximum of around 15 services. To boost this service count to around 30 services I am including an extra timetable involving the class 37 set in the eighties. This line has 10 stations which are all some of the least used in Britain. The locos, Today only the class 158 operates on this line. This would come in first ScotRail livery and would operate all the services in the modern timetable. This is similar to the 150 but is not the same For the old timetable there would be the reused class 37. Primarily a freight locomotive this would operate the services in the older timetable with mk2s. There is an opportunity for some freight but not much Overall while it is a quiet route it has some beautiful scenery and is decently sized at 100km long. Each service also takes around an hour to complete but this would also include the Kyle of lochalsh line services as well.
Odd that you terminate the line at Invershin rather than Lairg The current timetable has services terminating at Lairg and it's only 5 miles further on In addition to new rolling stock in the 158, this line also operates a token system, which back in the day would be a literal "token" or item such as a staff or loop. More recently they'd use radio electric tokens on the RETB system, which could also be modelled (as in the AP pack for the 158 on TS1) A decent line, but very infrequent services might put some people off
I once got stuck at georgemas junction for over 2 hours because we had missed the token when I lived up here. I know the token only too well
People get snarky in TSW about having to wait 7 minutes for a light to clear... can you imagine a 2 hour blackade?
On my first trip up the Far North line in 1978 it was quite an adventure. Got to Lairg on the 0615 off Inverness and sat there for a while as the Up train running late. Turned out it was double headed 26 as they had pinched the Thurso branch engine to assist the other rather poorly loco. Another long wait at Helmsdale which never got explained and eventually terminated at Georgemas Junction about 2 hours late for a bus into Wick. Festered at Wick for the evening southbound which was a train but the whole consist ran from Wick presumably as it hadn't been possible to attach a second 26 on the 1110 off Inverness for the branch. It would make a lovely route in TSW with plenty of scope for layers and eras. Lairg would be the obvious end point as most of the freight operated south of there. If set in the mid 70's or thereabouts there was considerable freight traffic to Invergordon in particular along with Class 40's on the Muir Of Ord grain train.
Can I change my vote from "maybe" to "absolute definitely yes please with cherries on top". I do love this line absolutely stunning scenery
Of course the irony with the Far North Line is that the best scenery is probably the section north of Lairg, especially along the coast between Brora and Helmsdale then up the Strath Of Kildonan and across the moors to Georgemas. Unfortunately that is also the section with the lowest traffic density.
Would love this if it came with a split box 37 and a 26. A 158 would be great too but personally I prefer locos