Hi all, my Dresden timetable will soon be at a point where I have to do a lot of testing before I can continue working on it. How long this testing will take isn't really going to be limited by how much free time I have, but by how many services in a row I can play on Dresden-Riesa without losing my sanity. Therefore I've got time to spare and I really enjoy making timetables, so I've been looking for a smaller "side" project to do in this time. I picked up Peak Forest on sale a while ago. The route is super pretty and the topography is a fun challenge. However, I'm not having a lot of fun with the state of steam trains in TSW... I really enjoy driving the route with diesels in Free Roam though! So here's the idea: I'd love to make a "what if the Peak Forest Railway had survived into the Eighties?" BR Blue timetable. I think that would be super cool. Sure, the assets at the stations aren't quite right for the 80s, and if the route had survived, a bunch of track at the stations would probably have been ripped up by that time, but personally I'm happy to suspend my disbelief a bit in exchange for some good BR Blue thrash on the grades. How about you guys? If I do this, I'll need help. Making the TSW timetable itself is going to be pretty easy for me after all the experience I've had with DRA. However, I just don't know how to make a plausible early-to-mid-eighties Timetable for British Rail, as almost all my train operations knowledge is about present-day Germany. If you know a thing or two about how British Rail worked at that time and would be up for answering some of the many questions I'll no doubt have, please DM me! I also don't know a lot about the British train media landscape, so if you know some places on the Internet where I could find out about things myself, please tell me about those too. This is not a project announcement - I'd love to actually do it, but it'll only happen if at least a couple of other people think it's a cool idea, and, more importantly, I find people who can help me do it. Thank you, and I'm looking forward to hearing what y'all think about this idea!
This is a great idea! I would love to see an 80s timetable, even if it's fictional. Peak Forest has great potential for various types of services, including lots of freight sidings that are criminally underused in the current timetable.
Although I prefer the BR Blue period (it's the era I grew up in) I don't think BR Blue exclusive would fit into Peak Forest, though the transition change from BR Green to BR Blue would be perfect, I'd be all for that, a nice mixture of Green/Blue diesels and Blue Grey/Maroon coaches, mmmmmm lovely!
That's a good idea! We've got appropriate wagons and coaches obviously, but would any of the green locos fit on the route geographically? I'm guessing the WSR 47 would work, but the other green diesels are more at home in the southwest, aren't they? I'm sure there are console players who know about British Rail history too
more just referring to the fact it’s entirely based on modding of which when in the general discussion as well is unrelated.
Well, "would anyone like to play this thing if I made it" and "would anyone who knows about BR history like to help" don't really have anything to do with the PC editor, do they? And the second question is totally unrelated to what platform anyone's on. Rest assured that if and when this project happens, I'll make a thread about it in the PC Editor forum, where it belongs.
exactly that part, unless I’m mistaken and you are a member of staff or official 3rd Party, no one on console can play this hence the PC tag. I’m not trying to be the forum police but the title & poll is entirely that part
Yeah, the WSR 47 would be the only green "out of the box" loco, but a Blue Peak wouldn't look out of place, obviously not with the TOPS numbers so a bit of artistic license is required, we've also got the Black 09 which would do for shunting duties (though not sure if those diesel shunters appeared on PFR IRL)
maybe not but the want is Irrelevant when the possibility isn’t there. Want can be 100%, chance is always zero as it stands. Like I said not trying to be forum police just got completely thrown off when reading this how it was related to all and in general discussion and suggested a quick change.
Plus we're getting a new DMU and more BR green era appropriate wagons from SimTrack soon. And given that the entire timetable would be fictional, I'm sure people would be able to overlook the numbers on the blue locos.
I love ‘what if’ creations. I’d be very interested in this and happy to help. mkraehe#6051 I’ve dropped you a message.
Agreed. I think ‘late green, early blue’ would work well. That would allow use of plenty of TSW’s impressive array of blue diesels, without it feeling too out of place alongside the more ‘late-steam’ stations and infrastructure. If the Peak Forest route had survived it’s unlikely that it would have been significantly modernised in the period from steam to BR blue, so I don’t think too many compromises will be necessary.
The biggest gap we have is a lack of blue grey Mark One coaches. Reasonable to expect if the route had survived into the eighties it would have been operated as a secondary line similar to Bristol to Portsmouth, Birmingham to Norwich or Cardiff to Crewe with 5 or 6 coach Mark One formations hauled by a Class 31 or similar, unlikely to have seen Mark 2's unless of course you were to have the SW-South Coast/NW service via Derby towards Manchester rather than down the WCML.
A bit like this? (I'm still trying to get the hang of livery editor......can't seem to work out painting the door handles on the Mk1s at the moment). Maybe there could be double headed CL31s like the Norwich to Brum services in the past? Maybe even Skeggy seaside specials. (Now that's an idea for a formation).
Oh you got that to work!?! I created a formation of a Class 31 with a rake of 4 MK1 reskinned coaches (from SOS I think) and "an out of the box" Mk1 BG but I couldn't use the controls on the Class 31 so couldn't drive it when I put it in free roam, wanted to take it on a spin on NTP
I struggled when I put an Mk1 BG on the back of the rake. Everything was OK up to that point but the BG killed it. Try the CL31 with 3xTSOs (or an FK) and a BSO and see how you get on. That's what worked for me. (My formation has been dropped into a scenario rather than free roam. Don't know if that makes a difference?).
…Doesn’t work for me as it’s not historically accurate, yes it is a beautifully modelled route, it’s crying out for a Green Peak (Class 45) & maybe a 25 but I think it’s saving grace would be the Midland (Blue) Pullman !!…I’d happily pay for those & it may resurrect the DLC.
It should be pretty easy to set it up so that blue grey mk 1s sub in if and when anyone (DTG, Just Trains, a Modder) makes them. I used one of the class 47 + Mk 2 formations in free roam yesterday and replaced the 47 with a 31. That did have a BG and it worked... Maybe formation designer struggles with the dual brakes on the BG? Anyway, I drove a semi-fast service from Chinley to Ambergate with it (with realistic timings I found on timetableworld.com) and it was a lot of fun!
Oh yes there are plenty of examples of a CL31, some Mk1s and a BG working in-game but, I think, all of these have come from DTG. (Diesel Legends of the Great Western springs to mind where some DMU suburban services are replaced with CL31s). Like you I guessed that the brakes might be an issue with Formation Designer but I'll investigate so more just to be sure. Anyone ???? I have this one up my sleeve for Vern. (Not prototypical for the Peak District but this is an imaginary timetable after all).
I'm worried about you James so I will be reporting you for that post. Trust me, it's for your own good
I think you’re right, but if you will put things as beautiful as that on the forum, you can only expect people to start behaving a little oddly. I’ve always loved the look of the red stripe on the blue-grey livery. When did it stop being standard that first class is indicated by a yellow stripe, and a restaurant/buffet by a red stripe? It should be the law!
Absolutely! Actually if memory serves me correctly a few Mk1 BSO’s did have a micro buffet conversion and became known as BSOT (I think).
I have of course, and I'll probably do it later, but it wouldn't be super helpful at this point in the process.
Really? Or are you saying you'll ask for testers when you get to the point that you mention in the original post, that of having to test a vast quantity of services, and that you're not at the point where you have to do that yet?
Well, the point of this round of testing is to catch increases in driving time (due to signal speed limits and PZB) that I caused while making all the services play nice with one another. I tested them all the first time round and adjusted the times accordingly. If I now want to see what takes longer to drive than it did before, I'd better minimize variables such as driving style or experience playing on DRA.
If PFR had stayed open a bit longer then might this excursion have continued from Derby to Buxton? D1052 "Western Viceroy" running round
If you reread my post that you quoted, you will find that I in fact do understand this. If, afterwards, you still feel so strongly that this thread doesn't apply to you at all, the option not to interact with it is always available.
If someone were to make a diesel timetable for Peak Forest, they really should include an excursion service like that...!
Looks like you picked the wrong coaches Moritz Western Viceroy on the PRC Western Sunset If I had been a bit more thorough, first time around, I would've linked to this, The Railtour Files (sixbellsjunction.co.uk) Quite a railtour methinks. Anyway who would have thought that you could (nearly) justify including a Western in a BR blue PFR timetable?
It could be the game I want to play above anything else, but without the PC it's irrelevant. People saying they want something isn't the same as being able to have that thing. I wish it success, and I hope it's a success for you.
"I won't be able to play this because I'm on console, but it sounds like a neat idea" is exactly as relevant as "this sounds like a neat idea" to me because all I wanted from this poll was a general overview of the community's opinion. I don't think people with consoles are going to have significantly different opinions on how out-of-place a BR Blue class 101 would look at High Peak Junction from people with PCs. Similarly, whether someone plays TSW on PC or console makes no difference to whether or not they might be able to send me a link to a website where I might learn something about British Rail operations of the time. If console players aren't interested in this project because they won't be able to play the timetable, that's perfectly understandable. I don't really understand why everyone's so keen on telling me about it though. Oh wow, that website is spectacular! I'll need to have a good look through that.
