The Chiltern Mainline nowadays is a busy corridor between the Midlands and Birmingham, with services departing Marylebone every half hour bound for Snow Hill, Moor Street and even Stourbridge Junction on occasion. This is very different from the scene in the 1980s, when semaphore signals were still in place everywhere and there was a stench of decay in the air, with all that was really left to see on the line north of Banbury being the hourly New St - Paddington workings which are the main focus of this route. Class 116s and 117s would've been provided for the few remaining local services on the route, with Class 50s and 47s holding the reigns on Paddington workings. A little portion of the Cross City line would also be included at Duddeston/Vauxhall as there were some carriage sidings situated there, leading to many ECS workings to and from New St. This would also provide the opportunity to drive the Class 116 on Cross City services, even if it's only for a short stretch of the route. Proposed Rolling Stock Class 47/4 in BR Large Logo livery 182 members of the Class 47s were painted into Large Logo livery, with the class being prevalent on XC services to places such as Poole, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Penzance, Plymouth and Penzance. They were also fairly commonplace on New Street - Paddington services but the Class 50 would feature more prominently on these workings in game. They would also take up the bulk of the New St - Vauxhall ECS workings. Class 50 in BR Large Logo livery This class of 50 locomotives were originally built to operate from Crewe to Scotland on the WCML in the days before electrification, with them being the only class of BR Diesel Locomotive to never wear the green livery as they were introduced to traffic in 1968. They migrated south to the Western Region in the mid 1970s following electrification of the WCML to Crewe, which enabled the withdrawal of the final remaining diesel hydraulic classes. Following introduction of the HSTs in 1977, they commonly found themselves working services to Hereford, Worcester, Oxford & Birmingham New Street. They moved onto the Waterloo-Exeter following introduction of the Class 166s in the early 90s before being finally replaced by 159s in 1994. On this route, they would operate the majority of services to and from Paddington as well as the occasional Cross Country service and ECS to/from Vauxhall Carriage Sidings (next to Duddeston station) Class 116 in BR Blue/Grey livery 108 of these units were built between 1957 and 1961, with 14 members of the class being 2car units. They were primarily used on local services out of Birmingham Moor Street as well as Cross City services that would feature as AI at Birmingham New Street (although services that stop at Duddeston would be drivable). They would also be used on the Chiltern AI at Banbury as it would be a bit redundant to make a different class of DMU just for this purpose. Layers As with any good route, this one will have a lot of stock layering in from other routes to give the player a more realistic experience of Birmingham New Street in the 1980s. Class 20: Whilst they wouldn't work many services, the class would be well represented on Saltley depot. Class 31: These locos would be the most abundant of the layered in locos, with them making regular appearances on services to and from Norwich and Cambridge. They would also appear on most of the ECS workings from Vauxhall Carriage Sidings into New St. Class 40: Whilst 40s were by no means commonplace on this route, they were known to make the occasional rare appearance when locos were short. As such, there would be a very slim chance of their appearance on the Paddington services whilst standing in for a failed 50 or 47. Class 45: These locos would be commonplace on the Cross Country workings as well as being available for an appearance on the Paddington workings every now and then. They would also be quite a few members of the class that would sit around on Saltley depot in between Cross Country duties. Photo Gallery A view of Duddeston in 1982, with a Class 25 bringing some stock into the carriage sidings at Duddeston, with the 4 track alignment still extant at this point in time. In game, A class 31 would most likely be working this service in place of the Class 25 which has yet to be added to TSW A view of Saltley depot in Summer 1986, with representatives of Classes 25, 31, 45 and 50 visible A pair of Class 116s arrive onto Tyseley depot in February 1985 with the signs of winter all around and the sidings full of DMUs
Absolutely brilliant suggestion mate would certainly provide some interesting services and bring the 50s to the game in a very good manner. I think it would very unlikely for a whistler to sub in on a Paddington service (though of course not impossible) but I am sure that I remember multiple occasions where a 40 would sub in for a 31 on the Norwich services. As I say Brilliant suggestion mate and really do hope to see it made.
my main reason for posting this suggestion was the 50 as I always thought it was ridiculous that they left them out of DLoGW
Yes they are good locos. I remember when they were refurbished they used to be 'tested' on services from Kings Cross up to Doncaster way. Living along the line between Peterborough and Grantham meant I was lucky enough to see them on some of their first runs in their refurbed form. And then you have got the Summer holidays to Devon, where the noise they made along that seawall was just spectacular. Anyway I'll stop there because I have started to ramble!
Excellent idea and for the Chiltern Class 47 the game treats it the same as WSR Class 47 making Chiltern Main Line and an alternative to WSR for Star Tours 470 miles run. Same with Huddersfield Line to getting 470-mile achievement. Speaking of Class 116 can it run together with Class 101 or not?
