Furness Line: Lancaster to Morecambe and Barrow-in-Furness Description The Furness Line is a 35 mile rural diesel line running between Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness in northern England, including the 3 mile branch to Morecambe from Lancaster. The line follows the coast between Morecambe bay and the southern edge of the Lake District, giving the line some impressive scenery. There are 13 stations with numerous service patterns and train types currently operating. This route would be an ideal option should a modern route in the north ever be considered. Services -Lancaster to Morecambe & Leeds (Northern, approx. 2 trains every hour, some services continuing onto Leeds and Heysham) -Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness & Carlisle (Northern, approx. 1 train every 2 hours, some services continuing onto Carlisle) -Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport (Trans Pennine Express, approx. 1 train every 2 hours) Service duration ranges from 15 minutes to 1 hour. (Based on current timetable, more services may have operated historically). Train Type Options (Northern) -Class 142 (until 2019) -Class 153 (until 2020) -Class 156 (Present) -Class 195 (Present) -Class 37 or Class 68 + Mk2e coaches (2015-2018) * Hired from Direct Rail Services (Trans-Pennine Express) -Class 156 (2015-2019) *Borrowed from Northern due to stock shortage -Class 185 (Present) The primary train type would be the Class 156 in Northern Rail livery and the Class 185 in Trans-Pennine Express livery, which operate the majority of services. Other train types provide DLC options for added variety, including the option for modern loco hauled services and the new Class 195 CAF 'Civity' DMUs. This route would also be suitable if backdated, having used similar stock from the Northern Trans-Pennine route and the upcoming Spirit of Steam route. Layers West Somerset Railway stock can layer in at Carnforth to represent the West Coast Railways heritage stock depot there. Other possible layers include West Coast Main Line AI traffic between Lancaster and Carnforth, with any suitable future stock. Some Pictures (Typical route scenery with the railway bridge crossing over the River Leven) (Grange-over-Sands station next to Morecambe bay) (Barrow-in-Furness station with a Trans-Pennine Class 185 service) (Ulverston station with a Northern Rail Class 156 service) Route Map Thoughts welcome.
Would love this route.. however, you did mention that the WSR stock could be layered at Carnforth to represent the WCR HQ. The MK1s that come with WSR have been branded with the heritage railway's logo/crest. DTG have announced that we will be getting MK1s with Liverpool - Crewe and they will be more accurate as they will most likely be carrying the maroon livery as well as being BR branded. The Jubilee and the 8F could also be layered at Carnforth as the WCR operate an 8F (48151) as well as at least 2 Jubilees (45690 "Leander" & 45699 "Galatea").
Come to think of it that's actually a better idea, thanks. Maybe throw in some steam rail tours in the timetable as well.
Really excellent idea and if made you might find this combination Class 153 coupled to class 156. Reason for this is the BSI Couplers you can make a combined train using Class 150/2 153 156 trains. Calder Valley line if made can also give this route class 158s to combine with Class 153 156s
Great suggestion Alex, the route seems like a pretty one with loco diversity! So your suggestion matters more than AirbourneAlex ‘s suggestion. Pretty rude.
What I meant is this is is that if there was another Northern rail route that has sprinters then it can give this route another Sprinter dmu to run on and combine with
I agree, having more of the sprinter classes would allow for some fun variety in train formations. Not sure exactly if the Class 158 ever operated on this route, most likely on the Leeds to Morecambe services, or historically with Trans-Pennine Express before the introduction of the Class 185.
Good suggestion. Also scope for retro fun with Class 108's on the locals, 47's hauling the three hourly (I think it was) through services to/from Euston and at one point Regional Railways had a small fleet of Class 31's doing loco hauled alongside the Pacers and Sprinters, probably in the late 80's.
This looks like a great route, and a nice suggestion to go with. The line to Furness is one I've never been on however the variety in rolling stock and the scenery make this very appealing, to say the least. Good suggestion. ...yet you specifically mention your suggestion Whenever Northern Rail is mentioned they mention that suggestion. In fact, same goes for any mention of cross-border routes (Arnhem-Oberhausen or Strasbourg - somewhere are their examples), and so on. It's more a case of "my suggestions are better than everyone else's"
I think they mean well, even if it comes across wrong. Not everyone has the same faculties. Thanks. There are plenty other Northern routes that would be equally as good, just that this one hasn't really been suggested before. An underrated route IMO.
That would be nice but that's why we have the scenario editor. I was wondering if DTG would ever consider added the Jubilee and 8F to the railtour on services but the they probably won't because of the same problem to why the WSR fleet aren't on the roster: Vacuum Brakes.. The WSR fleet (and the steam engines) are vacuum fitted whilst the MK2s used on the railtour service are Air braked. To resolve this issue, I would like to see the new MK1s put on the service when the tours being headed by a vacuum fitted locomotive..
Just use the Mk1s included with Spirit of Steam, and reserve the Mk2s for the existing railtour formations using the diesels.
Excellent route suggestion, would very much like to see this in game some day, perhaps even as far out as Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Piccadilly. But Lancaster would be good too.
Thank you. Manchester is probably too far, maybe Preston at a push but Lancaster is most ideal given it is a major station where all services stop at.
I would love to see this route, I made a thread on it earlier in the year. I would like to see the short branch to Heysham included though from Morecambe. The driver has to swap the points over manually at Morecambe Junction which would be fun to do.(even if it is only one train per day). EWS/DB Class 66s could be used on container trains on the short WCML section between Carnforth and Lancaster. They can often be seen going from Daventry - Grangemouth / Seaforth - Mossend and their return journeys These would be AI only services though as they don't stop.
