Hi everyone. Before I begin; yes I am aware suggesting some sort of Australian DLC for Train Simulator Classic is like speaking to a brick wall at this point because there is no sign of it happening with releases on Steam and there is little to no Australian TSC developers out there but every now and then I get a sudden spur of energy to talk about what railways from Australia (specifically Queensland as I know the most about this state, and little about other Australian states and their railways) and sometimes just need to get it out. As you can tell from that "#1 Australian Railways in Train Simulators Activist" that I have enabled to be put on the bottom on all of my posts you can tell I am very enthusiastic about this sort of thing. I am going to bring up a variety of rail topics related to Queensland; it may even spur on a few separate posts in the thread so I can attach all the images I find necessary. We'll have to see what happens. Anyways people seem to overlook, forget or aren't even aware of how unique Queensland and Australian railways as a whole really are. If I had development knowledge and model making knowledge; you can BET I would be putting time and effort into making my and a few others dream of Australian content for TSC into a reality especially with all of the knowledge I have regarding some areas here that most don't know about. I will try and split my points, discussions and ideas into sections to make easier to read and make it more digestible if you are willing to take a look and read. Please see what I have to say simply as possible ideas, not fact or things like that as I am NOT a route builder and I just want to share my grand vision for what could be done with Queensland in Train Simulator Classic. I am aware routes takes months if not a year or more to make and only a few of my ideas would have a possibility of ever getting made in the first place. So like I said these are just fun ideas to think about. A Basic Overview First of all the basic rules of Queensland's railways need to be understood. Queensland's main rail gauge is 3ft 6in which is known by a few things. In Australia it is known as "Narrow Gauge" while other places refer to it as "Cape Gauge". Most of Queensland's Railway Network outside of Brisbane is mostly single track. Here is a map of Queensland's rail network which I created myself: Just a quick note: this map does map standard gauge here. Queensland Rail uses a limited amount of standard gauge in the very north and south. A small private mining railway in Weipa (seen at the top under Rocky Point) utilises standard gauge and then there is the Interstate Line marked in Brown in the bottom right. It connects Queensland's capital; Brisbane to New South Wales by rail as all other Australian states such as New South Wales use Standard Gauge. There is some dual gauge track between standard and narrow gauge in Brisbane because of this. It's also slightly outdated but not by much. For example I haven't mapped out the Carmichael Rail Line yet that branches west off of the Newlands System as it is brand new and I have not yet removed the Stanthorpe - Wallangarra part of the South Western System as that small section of the line closed only last week... Also Queensland's 2ft gauge huge and complex sugarcane railway networks along the cost aren't mapped here due to their complexity and it would look terrible mixed in with the 3ft 6in gauge stuff. But don't worry we will get to that later and I have my own map to show for that too. Anyway that's what our rail network in Queensland looks like. I believe it is either the largest or second largest 3ft 6in gauge rail network in the world it stretches well over 4,000 km in track total at least. The rail network is only electrified around the suburban areas of Brisbane and north to Rockhampton on the North Coast Line. Brisbane to Rockhampton is about 600 km long (372 miles). There is also another electrified section which covers most of the Blackwater and Goonyella Systems. Luckily for simplicity sakes in terms of colour light signals; it is very similar to the UK. It's known as RCS also known as Remote Control Signalling. On the left of this photo I took is an example of a typical RCS signal. They're mainly used in urban town / city areas. Things get different in rural areas though so this applies to most areas between communities. This is where Block Limit signalling comes known as DTC also known as Direct Traffic Control. It's sort of like a Token Block system that is used to a limited degree in the UK. Drivers have permission / authority to proceed up to a certain Block Limit sign. They either update on their position and receive permission to a further Block Limit sign or must stop at the Block Limit sign that they have received authority up to either for a passing train or a train ahead or an issue of some kind. This was done because installing wiring and electrical systems for colour light signals would be expensive and a pain to connect in areas that have vast areas of distance between large communities with fairly limited rail action in some rural places not really requiring signalling systems in the first place. These are Block Limit signs at a passing siding in Boogan in the north of Queensland from a photo of mine. Overview of the Rail Lines and Possible Routes Most of these route ideas range between 50-150 km of distance which is 31-93 miles. To start off I will mention route ideas for the suburban railways around the Brisbane area; Brisbane is Queensland's capital city. Brisbane Suburban Lines Brisbane, Queensland's Capital has a nice compact rail network through the city that could possibly be put into one or two routes which is fantastic considering that there are a few lines here. If split it into two routes I feel one would be the north side of the Brisbane River while the other route would cover the south side. Both routes would have their main station being Roma Street which is where every passenger service around Brisbane terminates. I'll go over these two possible routes. Luckily Brisbane Suburban Passenger Traffic is extremely simple. They are primarily in the modern day ran by 3 train types by Queensland Rail. These are the Queensland Rail New Generation Rollingstock (NGR), Interurban Multiple Unit (IMU) and Suburban Multiple Unit (SMU). The Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) is currently being retired and could possibly be included as a potential DLC pack for both the Southside and Northside routes I am proposing ideas for. Freight is mainly coal hauled by Queensland Rail 2300 Classes now under Aurizon ownership and also intermodal services mainly hauled by Aurizon and Pacific National. Pacific National utilises Downer EDI Rail GT42CU AC diesel locomotives to perform those duties where they classify them as the PN Class. Aurizon utilises Queensland Rail 2800 Classes for their intermodal duties. Brisbane Suburban Lines: Southside Brisbane's "Southside" of rail lines has a few to choose from. The southside of Brisbane sees various freight and passenger rail action. The Rosewood Line heads west from Roma Street to Rosewood and sees standard passenger traffic and coal traffic coming east into Brisbane primarily hauled by the Queensland Rail 2300 Class; most under Aurizon ownership now so that could do for freight for the Southside route as a whole primarily. This line also has the Redbank and Ipswich Workshops which are large rail yards for rolling stock and locomotive storage and an area to manufacture or rebuild trains. In between Redbank and Ipswich is also the connection to the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway at Bundamba, it's about 5km-10km distance and heads south from Bundamba to Swanbank and could be partially implented. For example maybe the track and scenery could be laid but loco DLC / scenarios would be made for it separately. The Springfield Line is a short passenger based line that branches off from this line at Darra off of the Rosewood Line and heads south to Springfield. The Interstate Line utilises dual gauge and heads south into New South Wales. This route would only really need to take the Interstate Line as far as Acacia Ridge; the main standard gauge yard. This line sees standard Brisbane passenger trains and the long distance luxury passenger train known as the Great Southern that terminates at Acacia Ridge. Long distance high speed XPTs from south of Queensland use this line also into Roma Street but the XPTs are now either being retired as of earlier this year. Intermodal freight from areas south of Queensland also utilises the line and these services usually terminate at Acacia Ridge. The short Tennyson Branch Line is also worth noting; it is basically a short straight rail line that runs between and connects the Interstate and Rosewood line if a 3ft 6in gauge train has to switch for any reason. There is a freight rail yard on this short branch. The first line that branches off the Interstate Line is the Cleveland Line which branches off east to Cleveland from Park Road. Passenger trains use this line alongside freight trains that head onto the Fisherman Islands Freight Line that branches off north from the Cleveland Line between Lindum and Wynnum North. There is dual gauge heading into Fisherman Island where a lot of mining freight is dropped off and some intermodal too. The last Southside suburban line would be the Beenleigh line that branches off from the Interstate Line at Salisbury and heads southeast to Beenleigh and it is a passenger line. Here is a list of stations, yards etc and distances on these lines. Rosewood Line; distance marked from Brisbane. 0km - Roma Street Railway Station 2km - Milton Railway Station 3.5km - Auchenflower Railway Station 6km - Taringa Railway Station 7.5km - Indooroopilly Railway Station 8.5km - Chelmer Railway Station 9.5km - Graceville Railway Station 10.5km - Sherwood Railway Station 11.5km - Corinda Railway Station 13.5km - Oxley Railway Station 16km - Darra Railway Station 20km - Wacol Railway Station & Rail Maintenance Rollingstock Sidings 21.5km - Gailes Railway Station 23.5km - Goodna Railway Station 27km - Redbank Railway Station, Yard & Workshops 29km - Riverview Railway Station 31km - Dinmore Railway Station 32km - Ebbw Vale Railway Station 34km - Bundamba Railway Station 35.5km - Booval Railway Station 37km - East Ipswich Railway Station 38.5km - Ipswich Railway Station and Yard; the branch from there to the Ipswich Workshops is about 1.5km long. 40km - Thomas Street 41.5km - Wulkuraka Railway Station & NGR Maintenance Depot 44km - Karrabin Railway Station 48.5km - Walloon Railway Station, in between this and Karrabin Railway Stations is a small siding into some warehouses, I am not exactly sure what is stored there. 52.7km - Thagoona Railway Station 57km - Rosewood Railway Station. In between this and Thagoona Railway Stations is a small branch to the Ebenezer Coal Loop which could be good for coal freight services hauled by Aurizon 2300 Classes. Stations / Yards on the Springfield Line; distance marked from Darra. 0km - Darra Railway Station 3.5km - Richlands Railway Station 12km - Springfield Railway Station 14km - Springfield Central Railway Station Stations / Yards on the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway; distance marked from Bundamba. 0km - Bundamba Railway Station 5km - Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway Storage Yard & Loop 7.5km - Swanbank Railway Station & Loop Stations / Yards on the Interstate Line (included in this potential route); distance marked from Brisbane. 0km - Roma Street Railway Station 2km - South Brisbane Railway Station 2.5km - South Bank Railway Station 4.5km - Park Road Railway Station 5km - Dutton Park Railway Station 6km - Fairfield Railway Station 7.5km - Yeronga Railway Station 8.5km - Yeerongpilly Railway Station 9.5km - Moorooka Railway Station 11km - Rocklea Railway Station 12km - Salisbury Railway Station, in between this station and Rocklea is a siding branch for what appears to be steel based freight? 15km - Acacia Ridge Railway Yard Stations / Yards on Tennyson Branch Line; distance marked from Yeerongpilly. 0km - Yeerongpilly Railway Station 1.5km - Tennyson Railway Yard 4km - Corinda Railway Station Stations / Yards on Cleveland Line; distance marked from Park Road. 0km - Park Road Railway Station 1km - Burunda Railway Station 2.5km - Coorparoo Railway Station 4km - Norman Park Railway Station 5.5km - Morningside Railway Station 7.5km - Cannon Hill Railway Station 9km - Murarrie Railway Station 12.5km - Hemmant Railway Station 14km - Lindum Railway Station 15.5km - Wynnum North Railway Station 16.5km - Wynnum Railway Station 17.5km - Wynnum Central Railway Station 19km - Manly Railway Station 21km - Lota Railway Station 22.5km - Thorneside Railway Station 25.5km - Birkdale Railway Station 28km - Wellington Point Railway Station 30km - Ormiston Railway Station 32.5km - Cleveland Railway Station Stations / Yards on Fisherman Island Line; distance marked from Lindum. 0km - Lindum Railway Station 9km - Fisherman Islands Railway Yard & Loop Stations / Yards on Beenleigh Line; distance marked from Salisbury 0km - Salisbury Railway Station 2km - Coopers Plains Railway Station 3.5km - Banoon Railway Station 4.5km - Sunnybank Railway Station 5.5km - Altandi Railway Station 7km - Runcorn Railway Station 8km - Fruitgrove Railway Station 9.5km - Kuraby Railway Station 13km - Trinder Park Railway Station 14km - Woodridge Railway Station 16.5km - Kingston Railway Station 19km - Loganlea Railway Station 22km - Bethania Railway Station 24km - Edens Landing Railway Station 26km - Holmview Railway Station 28km - Beenleigh Railway Station & Passenger Rollingstock Storage Yard Route Track Total: 167km (103 miles) I didn't expect this idea to be so long so maybe it could be split up with one route including the Rosewood and Springfield Lines, the Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway and the other route would include the section mentioned of the Interstate Line, Cleveland, Fisherman Island and Beenleigh Lines. Both would include their sides half of the short branch line connecting the Rosewood and Interstate Lines to the Tennyson Railway Yard on the Tennyson Branch Line. Route Map of this "Southside" Route: Red = Rosewood Line Orange = Springfield Line Light Blue = Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway (due to the colour it is a bit hard to see unfortunately but if you can spot the "Bundamba" text then it is the line that heads south of there) Brown = Interstate Line Grey = Tennyson Branch Line Blue = Cleveland Line Dark Blue = Fisherman Island Line Gold = Beenleigh Line Brisbane Suburban Lines: Northside The Northside has a lot more to choose from. First of all from Roma Street the Exhibition Line and Inner City Line head north both used by passenger services primarily and quickly after starting their separate ways from Roma Street rejoin into the Caboolture Line. The Ferny Grove Line branches west from the Mayne Railway yard where Queensland Rail keeps a lot of their passenger rolling stock and heads off to Ferny Grove and is serviced by passenger trains. Back on the Caboolture Line the short Doomben Line heads east to Doomben from Eagle Junction and is serviced by passenger trains. There is a small section of track that heads further east to Pinkenba also known as the Pinkenba Line but as of recent times is not used that often however did see some recent rare usage by freight trains due to maintenance works preventing them from accessing their usual unloading / loading points. Just north of where this line branches off from the Caboolture Line is where the Airport Line branches off east to Brisbane Airport. This line is very unique as the entire thing is suspended above ground by a very long bridge spanning about 8-10 km. Just north of the branch off point to the Airport Line is the branch off to the Shorncliffe Line that heads from Northgate to Shorncliffe; it is a passenger line. A while further north of that branch off point from the Caboolture Line is the Redcliffe Peninsula Line which heads from Petrie to Kippa-Ring and is serviced by passenger trains. The Northside route can have a final terminus at Caboolture completing the Caboolture Line that these northside branch lines came off of in the first place. The Caboolture Line itself sees passenger and intermodal freight services into Brisbane. Stations / Yards on Exhibition Line; distance marked from Brisbane: 0km - Roma Street Railway Station 3km - Exhibition Railway Station 4km - Mayne Railway Yard Stations / Yards on Inner City Line; distance marked from Brisbane: 0.5km - Central Railway Station 2km - Fortitude Valley Railway Station 3km - Bowen Hills Railway Station 3.5km - Mayne Railway Yard Stations / Yards on Ferny Grove Line; distance marked from Mayne: 0km - Mayne Railway Yard 1.5km - Windsor Railway Station 2.5km - Wilston Railway Station 3.5km - Newmarket Railway Station 5km - Alderley Railway Station 5.5km - Enoggera Railway Station 6.5km - Gaythorne Railway Station 7.5km - Mitchelton Railway Station 8.5km - Oxford Park Railway Station 9.5km - Grovely Railway Station 10km - Keperra Railway Station 13km - Ferny Grove Railway Station Stations / Yards on Caboolture Line; distance marked from Mayne: 0km - Mayne Railway Yard 1.5km - Albion Railway Station 2.5km - Wooloowin Railway Station 3.5km - Eagle Junction Railway Station 5km - Toombul Railway Station 5.5km - Nundah Railway Station 7km - Northgate Railway Station 8km - Virginia Railway Station 9km - Sunshine Railway Station, in between this and Virginia Railway Station is a small branch siding. 10.5km - Geebung Railway Station 12km - Zillmere Railway Station 13.5km - Carseldine Railway Station 17km - Bald Hills Railway Station 19.5km - Strathpine Railway Station 21km - Bray Park Railway Station 23km - Lawnton Railway Station 24.5km - Petrie Railway Station 29km - Dakabin Railway Station 32.5km - Narangba Railway Station 37.5km - Burpengary Railway Station 43.5km - Morayfield Railway Station 46.5km - Caboolture Railway Station Stations / Yards on Doomben Line; distance marked from Eagle Junction: 0km - Eagle Junction Railway Station 1km - Clayfield Railway Station 1.5km - Hendra Railway Station 2.5km - Ascot Railway Station 3.5km - Doomben Railway Station 7.5km - Pinkenba Loop Stations / Yards on Airport Line; distance marked from Eagle Junction: 0km - Eagle Junction Railway Station 7km - International Airport Railway Station 9km - Domestic Airport Railway Station Stations / Yards on Shorncliffe Line; distance marked from Northgate: 0km - Northgate Railway Station 1km - Bindha Railway Station 1.5km - Banyo Railway Yard 2km - Banyo Railway Station 3.5km - Nudgee Railway Station 6km - Boondall Railway Station 7.5km - North Boondall Railway Station 8.5km - Deagon Railway Station 9.5km - Sandgate Railway Station 11km - Shorncliffe Railway Station Stations / Yards on Redcliffe Peninsula Line; distance marked from Petrie: 0km - Petrie Railway Station 2.5km - Kallangur Railway Station 3.5km - Murrumba Downs Railway Station 5.5km - Mango Hill Railway Station 7km - Mango Hill East Railway Station 8.5km - Rothwell Railway Station 11.5km - Kippa-Ring Passenger Rollingstock Storage Yard 12km - Kippa-Ring Railway Station Route Track Total: 106.5km (66 miles) Route Map of this "Northsideside" Route: Dark Brown = Innercity Line Purple = Exhibition Line (up until connection to Innercity Line) & afterwards Caboolture Line Olive = Ferny Grove Line Cyan = Doomben Line Dark Green = Airport Line Mayonnaise = Shorncliffe Line Maroon = Redcliffe Peninsula Line This is Part 1 of my thread post about Queensland Railway possibilites for TSC. Feel free to add your own thoughts or ideas on what I have mentioned so far if you have anything to say. I plan to cover everything I can of Queensland's rail network. People might wonder "why would you write out such a complex and thorough plan of ideas for something that is unlikely to ever happen for TSC" well because it's fun that's all. I like to envision these sort of things for TSC which is my favourite simulator game. If anything; if Australian DLC was to be implemented into TSC the first DLC would probably be from the states of New South Wales and Victoria since they are more populated and Aussie trainspotters and railfans are for more active in those states than Queensland. But if Aussie content were to ever come for the game I would still very very much like to see Queensland. I will probably make the next thread covering further route ideas in around the next 24 hours.
The only way I could see this happen would be an activist assembling a team to build these routes, DTG will most certainly not do them.
I agree. Maybe one day I could take up the attempt to learn route building, model making, scripting etc but I am just not in a position to do so at the moment and have no prior experience with that sort of thing aside from tweaking TSC file coding slightly for AP Weather files as you have shown me. Assembiling a "team" would be a start; but the first hurdle... Where to find other Queensland TSC players / enthusiasts who would want to be involved in the first place! I only know of a single fellow active Queensland player (PhÜnKî_Rø0sTā) who plays TSC and posts here on the forums. Other than that I would have to go and try and persuade the aussie Trainz developers to get involved which I doubt they would want to leave Trainz but who knows. Maybe one day I will try and assemble that "team". If the day were to ever come where I am capable of making my own DLC for Train Simulator Classic I would be making routes based in north Queensland as there is where most of my knowledge lies. The 30km section of the Tablelands System from Cairns to Kuranda would be a good start; it's 30 km so it's relatively short but it has lovely mountainside scenery and 2 passenger trains that run (the Kuranda Scenic Railway and Savannahlander) but anyways I'll get to those later when I discuss that as one of my ideas. That section is also very popular with overseas tourists too so may be of interest to other people overseas as there is a higher possibility they would know of it than other Queensland routes.
Blazin, all power to your elbow mate. If I were younger I’d have a go but sadly I don’t have enough time for my existing projects. Your team do not have to be only aussies as with Google earth and dem software the terrain can be reproduced. Specific signals and track would be a challenge as would rolling stock. Anyway good luck and I hope you succeed.
Wow! Quite a comprehensive article on QLD railways Blazin While I don't think we'll ever see TSC Australian content, I applaud you on your research and writing skills.
Thank you! Hopefully more to come later as I’ll try and cover other railway systems in Queensland and their possibilities within the simulator.
I think TSC has a problem in that the experienced route builders are of a certain age now, and there's nobody taking over. The younger folks are turning to TSW. Except for the german TS scene, which is still going strong, even the TSW PC Editor forums are overwhelmingly filled with german route projects.
im 100% all for Australian Routes for TSC or TSW i would like to see anything that is commuter if it was Queensland then the Tilt Train from Brisbane would be great to see but would love to see Hornsby to Gosford along the Central Coast Line
I used to build routes constantly even starting with the pre MSTS sims like Jens Schubert’s original Railsim and the Amiga Emulator programme Train Driver 3. But somewhere along the line I burned out. Now it’s all I can do to try and make a sim version of a model railway plan in Trainz. And as discussed in another thread (it might have been for TSW), building a route for a region like Australia brings a host of logistical issues, not least who is going to do the 3D modelling. For starters you need a large collection of indigenous trees, gums and eucalyptus etc. and making trees is a step above even creating buildings or trackside assets. Not all route builders are competent 3D modellers so you then need to find people to make the assets which, again as I related the other day, is not as easy as it sounds as my experience doing Blackpool Tramway can testify to.
Of course, but you could also build the route using simple assets and placeholders first, a lot of buildings from other routes can be used (maybe NZ Midland), and if you're missing a certain type of tree you can easily update that asset later on. And it's better having a route with fast and shadow-baked 2D trees which are fairly easy to make than no route at all. Unfortunately, I don't have any skills in route building. I roughly understand how it works but I'm not that creative. I like to rework or fix stuff. Import some DEM/SRTM data, start laying track and just do it, there's no deadline or rush. You can fine tune and improve later, but you gotta make a start at least...
I wasn't aware you could import Digital Elevation Models into the route builder. That would make things a lot easier. I have some 3ft 6in gauge track I could use from either the Story of Forest Rail route or KwaZulu-Natal Corridor: Pietermaritzburg-Ladysmith route. Both are relatively simple track models as they are approaching a decade in age now but it's better than nothing. The Story of Forest Rail's 3ft 6in gauge track looks nice. However would be better to get more modern 3ft 6in gauge track models from the Tokyo Commuter: Keihin-Tohoku & Utsunomiya Lines route but I don't have that one yet. With this I could maybe just give some simple track laying a go on a Cairns-Kuranda sorta thing which I think might be fun.
I essentially did that with my Bell to Lithgow route, including the heritage zig zag line, just used the Kuju US ground texture set and various assets from UK routes. Was quite pleased with the result. Sadly various core changes and removal of some of the dependent asset content from Steam by DTG kind of broke it. Possibly still lurking over at Trainsim dot com after the rescue of stuff from the fall of UKTS.
You mean the Phorum assets? Can't they be replaced by something similar? (Just firing up the route) It's looking good Vern!
That is good news. Really I need to rework it so it can go on the Steam Workshop. The Phorum assets were only a small part of the route, hopefully not noticed if absent.
Just doing a freeroam full route run, some veg close to the track could be replaced with 3D assets, as the 2D rotation becomes too obvious on those large bushes, which is not noticeable for low 2D grass for example.
I feel like QLD is probably the easiest to start out the Aussie TS world. Since the Signalling system is incredibly similar to the existing UK system. Only minor modifications would be needed, Unlike the NSW or VIC signalling which would pretty well need to be made from scratch somehow.
Part 2 - Other Railways in the south Queensland [Part 1 / 2] Welcome to the second post regarding potential for Queensland's railways in Train Simulator Classic! For this post I am going to cover the other rail lines in the south of Queensland that I wasn't able to talk about in the last post. After this post it's time to head north. In this post I will be covering the Gold Coast Line, the rest of the Interstate Line, the West Moreton System, the South Western System and the Western System. Sorry for this one being posted later than within the 24 hour time period I aimed at posting this in! The Interstate Line: Continued For the rest of the Interstate Line in Queensland; heads south from Acacia Ridge to the border of Queensland in mountainous terrain. The Interstate Line is dual gauge between standard gauge (4ft 8 1/2in) and narrow gauge (3ft 6in) south until around Allenview where the line is entirely standard gauge for the rest of the way to the border. Interstate Line mainly consists of intermodal freight services from New South Waels led by SCT Logistics, Pacific National and Aurizon locomotives. There are also passenger services, these are the long distance XPT passenger services (XPTs are the Australian equivalent of the UK Class 43 HST) however the XPTs have started withdrawals recently. There is also the Great Southern; a long distance loco hauled luxury passenger train operated by Journey Beyond Rail utilising Australia's iconic NR Class locomotives. The intermodal freight trains will usually be terminating / starting from Acacia Ridge Railway Yard and for some reason the Great Southern also drops off it's passengers here it's a bit of an odd operation. The XPTs continue to Roma Street Railway Station in Brisbane where dual gauge finishes at (dual gauge also runs to Fisherman Island for freight related operations; so standard gauge trains must also occasionally do freight runs to there as well. Not just Acacia Ridge but I am unaware of the specifics). Further south than that isn't much for passenger operation; same for freight except for an SGT Logistics siding about 5-10km west of Beaudesert. I feel like the main appeal of this route would be the scenery as the journey to the border covers relatively green areas with surrounding mountains and then heads directly into them at the border and through a short tunnel. I think a proper Interstate Line continuation route should finish somewhere like at Kyogle in New South Wales; it's an extra 30 km from the border but would be a good southern terminus for this route idea and there is an interesting spiral rail loop in the mountains that trains have to take. If the rest of the Interstate Line were to be adapted in game it would probably be best split it into two route sections due to the total length from Brisbane to Kyogle being around 130-150km (80-93 miles). Here are my thoughts on these two sections: Interstate Line: Brisbane - Tamarookum Stations / Yards from Brisbane (Roma Street) - Tamarookum; distance marked from Brisbane: 0km - Roma Street Railway Station 2km - South Brisbane Railway Station 2.5km - South Bank Railway Station 4.5km - Park Road Railway Station 5km - Dutton Park Railway Station 6km - Fairfield Railway Station 7.5km - Yeronga Railway Station 8.5km - Yeerongpilly Railway Station 10km - Moorooka Railway Station 11km - Rocklea Railway Station 12.5km - Salisbury Railway Station 15km - Acacia Ridge Railway Yard 60km - SCT Logisitics Siding 63km - Bromelton Quarry Siding 77km - Tamarookum Passing Siding Opinion On This Section This section stretches from Roma Street Railway Station to Tamarookum. I choose Tamarookum as it is just south of the SCT Logistics siding and there is a passing siding in Tamarookum. Also please note the SCT Logistics siding is accessed through trains travelling north only due to the junction placement which will be mentioned later. This section would be able to accomodate for the passenger trains I mentioned and for freight as well. This route I think would be good to include the XPT services into Brisbane as well as Aurizon and Pacific National freight services to Acacia Ridge. Great Southern could be implemented as a separately purchased DLC for this route; and in the case the other part of it I will mention later were to be also made, could include scenarios for that too. The appeal of this route would probably be that interesting dual gauge operation into Brisbane and XPT operation and some basic intermodal freight. The scenery would be interesting too; transitioning from busting cityscape to green farmland and nearby mountainous scenery. Interstate Line: Allenview - Loadstone Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Allenview - Loadstone; distance marked from Allenview: 0km - Allenview Passing Siding 7km - SCT Logistics Siding 10km - Bromelton Quarry Siding 55km - Border Tunnel 60km - The "Cougal Spiral" 68km - Loadstone Passing Siding Opinion On This Section This section stretches from the Allenview Passing Siding; just north of the SCT Logistics siding. It's around where 3ft 6in + 4ft 8 1/2in dual gauge ends and could be a good position from southbound trains to start. Unfortunately this idea doesn't have many special landmarks on it but it's main appeal would be scenery around the Cougal Spiral (similar to something like the tunnel spiral in the Canadian Mountain Passes route) and Border Tunnel due to how dense, mountainous and curvy that area gets. The Loadstone Passing Siding is shortly after this where trains could come to a stop. I feel that SGT Logistics freight trains could be implemented into this route for services into their siding and maybe a similar XPT idea. Again the Great Southern could have additional DLC scenarios. Either of these ideas would be reasonable to make and not a total waste of time. That's it for the rest of the Interstate Line! The Gold Coast Line The Gold Coast Line is a passenger based rail line connecting Brisbane to the city south-east of the capital known as the Gold Coast. The line sort of "starts" after Beenleigh as that's where the Beenleigh Line ends but to no surprise Gold Coast Line services do start at Roma Street. The Gold Coast Line doesn't head directly into the city itself but instead on the outer suburbs and so has a connection with the tram service known as G-Link that heads directly eastwards into the Gold Coast. It could possibly be also implemented as it isn't too long of a tram line. I feel best if the Gold Coast Line would be some kind of extension like route for the Brisbane Southside route idea sort of like how the Suburban Glasgow route has an extension to Airdrie. Here are the details: Brisbane Southside: Gold Coast Extension Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Brisbane (Roma Street) - Gold Coast (Varsity Lakes) 0km - Roma Street Railway Station 2km - South Brisbane Railway Station 2.5km - South Bank Railway Station 4.5km - Park Road Railway Station 5km - Dutton Park Railway Station 6.5km - Fairfield Railway Station 7.5km - Yeronga Railway Station 8.5km - Yeerongpilly Railway Station 10km - Moorooka Railway Station 11km - Rocklea Railway Station 12.5km - Salisbury Railway Staton 14.5km - Coopers Plains Railway Station 16km - Banoon Railway Station 17km - Sunnybank Railway Station 18km - Altandi Railway Station 19.5km - Runcorn Railway Station 20.5km - Fruitgrove Railway Station 22km - Kuraby Railway Station 25km - Trinder Park Railway Station 26km - Woodridge Railway Station 29km - Kingston Railway Station 31.5km - Loganlea Railway Station 34.5km - Bethania Railway Station & Wye Junction 36km - Edens Landing Railway Station 38.5km - Holmview Railway Station 40.5km - Beenleigh Railway Station & Passenger Rollingstock Storage Yard Extension Starts 53km - Ormeau Railway Station 59.5km - Coomera Railway Station 68.5km - Helensvale Railway / Tramway Station 76km - Nerang Railway Station 85.5km - Robina Railway Station & Passenger Rollingstock Storage Yard 89.5km - Varsity Lakes Railway Station Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Helensvale - Gold Coast (Broadbeach South) - G-Link 0km - Helensvale Railway / Tramway Station 3km - Parkwood Tramway Station 5.5km - Parkwood East Tramway Station 7.5km - Gold Coast University Hospital Tramway Station 8km - Griffith University Tramway Station 8.5km - G:Link Tram Depot 9km - Queen Street Tramway Station 10.5km - Nerang Street Tramway Station 11km - Southport Tramway Station 12km - Southport South Tramway Station 12.5km - Broadwater Parklands Tramway Station 13.5km - Main Beach Tramway Station 14.5km - Surfers Paradise North Tramway Station 15km - Cypress Avenue Tramway Station 15.5km - Cavill Avenue Tramway Station 16km - Surfers Paradise Tramway Station 16.5km - Northcliffe Tramway Station 17.5km - Florida Gardens Tramway Station 18.5km - Broadbeach North Tramway Station 19.5km - Broadbeach South Opinion On This Route I definitely feel like this potential extension route to the Brisbane Southside one would be interesting. It appears the passenger trains are mostly dominated by Queensland Rail NGRs on the Gold Coast Line and it would be interesting travelling from the Brisbane suburbs to the Gold Coast suburbs. Tram scenarios would be interesting too; as we do not have much of that in TSC in the first place and it's a good option if you want to go directly into the heart of the Gold Coast and out to it's seaside. The West Moreton System The West Moreton System is a primarily freight based rail line that runs for approximately 300 km between Rosewood and Miles. Usually coal, grain and cattle trains run on this line. Coal is operated by Aurizon and their Clyde Engineering 2300 Classes (also known as the EMD GT22LC-2) and the relatively new 2700 Class (EMD GT38CU-3). Grain and cattle is often operated by Watco who use similar Clydes but also their very own WRA Class (also known as the NREC E2250CC) but I reckon Watco operations should be saved for another route. Additionally; there is the twice a week long distance passenger train known as the Westlander; a long distance train that runs between Brisbane and Charleville with 4 coaches and is often hauled by Queensland Rail themselves utilising various classes of Clydes, such as the 2400 and 2470 Class, (EMD GL22C-2) and recently the brand new 2900 Classes (EMD GL22C-2 / EMD GL26C-2) and have been trialled on this service as well. Occasionally ballast trains also run on this line hauled by these Queensland Rail Clydes. The West Moreton System transitions between greenery and then as soon as it's out of the Lockyer Valley and out of Toowoomba; it's quite dry and flat which may be unappealing and boring to some players as well the lien itself being mostly single track. Here are the sections I would divide this rail line into and my opinions on them as potential routes: West Moreton System: Rosewood - Toowoomba Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Rosewood - Toowoomba 0km - Rosewood Railway Station 13km - Grandchester Railway Station & Wye Junction [Often used only on heritage runs] 25km - Laidley Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] 40km - Gatton Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] 58km - Helidon Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] 75km - Murphys Creek Railway Station [Potentially unused but not sure; if it is used it's only on heritage runs like Grandchester] 90km - Spring Bluff Railway Station [Often used only on heritage runs] 105km - Toowoomba Railway Station 107km - Willowburn Railway Yard Opinion On This Route This route is quite lengthy; coming in around 110km total (68 miles) however I am at least aware it would be somewhat possible as the Canadian Mountain Passes route made in 2014; comes in at 250 km (155 miles) long so it is definitely possible compared to a route like that. Anyway I think this section would be the best section of the West Moreton System to adapt into a route. From Rosewood to Helidon it's sort of flat, dry but sometimes green land with surrounding mountains and after Helidon a scenic ascent into the Lockyer Valley begins and then descent into the city of Toowoomba. There is quite a bit of potential here for freight and passenger. Basic freight would of course be that of Aurizon hauled coal; and possibly the Westlander. But I feel the possibility for the heritage runs that take place on this section would be interesting. Every year Toowoomba has the carnival of flowers and either steam trains or diesels haul a special service into Toowoomba from the Brisbane area which could be implemented as additional DLC something like a Carnival of Flowers DLC pack maybe if not included with the base route which would make use of the stations on this section only used during heritage runs. Spring Bluff is an especially lovely station; it's in the Lockyer Valley and is a lovely well-kept station that is vibrant with colour and feel despite being in a relatively arid feeling mountainous area. Here are photos I took in Spring Bluff last year; I wish I took more photos of the surrounding gardens as my pictures don't capture all of it. It's a lovely railway station hidden within the mountains. It looks even better when they dress it up for the Carnival of Flowers. An Aurizon coal train hauled by two 2300 Classes seen here approaching with 42 full coal wagons (West Moreton System coal trains always appear to be hauling 42 empty / full coal wagons) after coming out of Toowoomba now heading for Brisbane. The Aurizon livery usually isn't like this, this is the ex-QR National "Eagle" livery which could be interesting to implement on a few of these locos if they were added to TSC. As I mentioned the 2300 Class is of the Clyde range and they all look very similar. It's also worth mentioning aside from basic Carnival of Flowers heritage rains; steam locomotives are sometimes transported by Queensland Rail diesel (usually by a Clyde mentioned earlier) on this section as sometimes the Southern Downs Steam Railway further south of Toowoomba in Warwick operates train services with Queensland Rail help from Warwick to elsewhere around Toowoomba and Brisbane usually. So if something like a QR Heritage Steam DLC was implemented (there isn't that much in our historical heritage fleet so it would be something of a similar size to the Settle Carlisle Specials DLC) say for example with AC16 Class '221A' and BB18 1/4 Class '1089' to start with would be a good idea to implement as they usually do their trips around here and like I mentioned are sometimes transported light engine by diesel around the area. To finish off this section; Toowoomba has a really big and nice railway station (for Queensland standards) used by the Westlander. Interestingly the locomotive hauling the Westlander must do some shunting moves to get into the correct position to travel further west on the West Moreton System and beyond to Charleville as continuing directly south from Toowoomba gets you on the South Western System. The continuation of the West Moreton System is in the opposite direction into the Willowburn Railway Yard owned by Aurizon where they keep a lot of their southern locomotive and rollingstock fleet. After that the West Moreton System continues west; which I will mention these sections as potential routes now. West Moreton System: Toowoomba - Dalby Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Toowoomba - Dalby 0km - Toowoomba Railway Station 2km - Willowburn Railway Yard 30.5km - Oakey Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] 31.5km - Oakey Cattle Siding 43.5km - Jondaryan Coal Loading Siding & Loop 49km - Malu Grain Silos & Quarry 83km - Dalby Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] & Wye Junction Opinion On This Route Not sure if this section as a route would appeal to many. It is dry, flat and mostly single track and very straight. It would probably appeal most to US freight fans who are used to driving trains through the middle of nowhere for long amounts of time. The most interesting things I can think of for this potential route is the coal loading operations at Jondaryan which happen practically everyday when these coal trains run. This is also where things start to get quite remote so Block Limit sign signalling is used heavily out here which might make things more interesting to some. Since this area is also almost entirely occupied by farmland and crops; I think having some random low flying cropduster aircraft flying around would be nice as it is not uncommon to see that out there and would make things a bit more interesting. Also to make scenarios a bit more diverse one of the things that could potentially be adapted is that when heat waves occur trains often have to be held back or outright stopped due to the heat becoming too extreme for the rails and trains to continue running. These heat restrictions usually occurs on 35+ Degree Celsius days from 12pm-8pm. Also there is an extremely odd looking level crossing nearby Jondaryan as it is one of two cableless / wireless solar powered level crossings in Queensland. If you want a visual example of the scenery here are some of my photographs of this section: This is at the wye junction into Malu; here is your typical Aurizon livery for these coal trains. It's called "Pineapple". Block Limit sign can also be seen on the right. As you can tell the scenery is flat and dry. This section as it's own route is a bit shakey as a possibility as like I mentioned it would only probably appeal to a niche audience of TSC players as there isn't that much to see out here. Also for reference the Westlander passes through Dalby heading west around 1am; and heading east to Brisbane passes through around 4:30am. West Moreton System: Dalby - Chinchilla Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Dalby - Chinchilla 0km - Dalby Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] & Wye Junction 25km - MacAlister Grain Silos & Coal Loader 47km - Warra Grain Silos 60km - Brigalow Grain Silos 81km - Chinchilla Railway Station Opinion On This Route This section is even more empty than the previous section! Most interesting thing on this route would yet again be heat restriction scenarios and probably some grain and coal related loading action around here. MacAlister especially with it's tall grain silos and nearby coal loader. Other than that there isn't much. This is between Dalby and Warra; as you can see there extremely flat and empty! Also here is MacAlister; grain silos obviously seen there and the coal loading area on the left. The rear of a block limit sign is also seen on the left. It's also worth noting if someone wants to go into detail making Queensland Diesels; mainly the freight ones owned by Aurizon, it will be a bit tricky as a lot have random livery related details on them not seen on other models. For example the leading locomotive above has a Cancer Awareness label over the Aurizon logo on the front. In the photo I attached for the Toowoomba - Dalby section; the second locomotive there for example has the Aurizon livery yet has "QR National" text instead. There are other various differences... such as the Aurizon text and logos on the side being in different places, a few locos have been equipped with a rather interesting "we are recruiting" advertisement on the side (this can also be seen on the leading loco in the photo above), one loco which I know is specifically 2308D has a mustache on the side I believe it was for the "Movember" event it is also the second locomotive in the photograph above. You can just see it on the side of the cab. Also on this locomotive for another just simply odd difference is that is a yellow band or strip on the base of the grey section of the livery on it's side if that makes sense? It is hard to explain. But some don't have those. There are also various other differences; some big of course like Aurizon locos still wearing the QR National livery seen in my photo at Spring Bluff while some are far more subtle like for example I have seen a locomotive in complete Aurizon livery yet still has a small QR National sticker label on the front of the locomotive. I have definitely gone off track here (no pun intended ) but just wanted to put into perspective that from freight diesel to freight diesel in Queensland there is often a few random differences compared to places like the UK having very uniform liveries with little to no differences in how their livery appears. Also there is never a time where you will find a clean Queensland coal wagon... they are always completed covered in graffiti on them which you can see clearly in the photos I have attached to this post. So if someone were to implement Queensland coal wagons into TSC, make sure they have a LOT of graffiti on them otherwise it is unrealistic! Anyway apologies for a lot of rambling there I get carried away sometimes. But Dalby - Chinchilla probably isn't worth making into a route. Let's finish off the West Moreton System now. West Moreton System: Miles Extension Stations / Yards & Other POIs from Chinchilla - Miles 0km - Chinchilla Railway Station 30.5km - Cameby Downs Coal Mine Loop 45km - Miles Railway Station [Used by the Westlander only when stop here specifically booked by a passenger] & Grain Silos Opinion On This Route This would probably work best as an extension to the Dalby - Chinchilla idea to finish off the West Moreton System; but yet again I don't think this one is worth it either. It is a little bit more diverse in scenery; as there is a lot more dry trees out between the Cameby Downs Mine and Miles. The Cameby Downs Coal Mine Loop is also commonly used by Aurizon for coal loading and is often the furthest west those Aurizon coal trains will go. But yet again I don't think this makes it worth it. Well I'm going to end this post here. There is still the Western System to cover; which continues further west from Miles all the way out to Quilpie. The Western System also includes the Dalby - Meandarra Branch Line. To finish off the southern railways of Queensland would be the South Western System. It is similar to the West Moreton System in freight; coal, grain and cattle where Watco would do best for included trains for this section. The mainline stretches from Toowoomba to Stanthorpe with branches to Brookstead and a very long one to Thallon. It's definitely more interesting than the West Moreton System and Western System as it is has better scenery and mountainous areas to traverse. There are no commercial revenue earning passenger trains on this line; only heritage runs here usually operated by Southern Downs Steam Railway based in Warwick but recently DownSteam Tourist Railway & Museum based in Drayton (a suburb in the south of Toowoomba) has been beginning their own trial runs. I will discuss the Western System and South Western System in my next post; which will be Part 2/2 of this one while being Part 3 of the thread as a whole so far... (confusing I know. I wanted to cover the rest of the southern Queensland lines in one post but wrote a lot more than I was expecting. So I will be making another post later on). So stay tuned for the next post if you are interested; and thanks for reading all my lengthy ideas so far. Feel free to reply with any additional comments if you have any.
If you were to do any QR route, I would suggest buying the South African, Japanese and New Zealand routes - at least that way you’ll have prototypical tracks to work with. Then use assets from, I would say Pretty much any UK route that uses electric traction – the signalling system and AWS ramps are basically identical to what we use in Brisbane
Theres a few differences in the signals, like flashin yellow meaning special caution (Similar to Low Speed) instead of Diverge ahead, but otherwise quite similar
Blazin, you have laid out an excellent presentation. As a Queenslander (near the Goonyella coal network), I too would love to see some Aussie DLC (I was surprised a few years ago to see Aussie content in other train sim brands) , QLD stuff — even more so. I keep hoping though, noting the old saying, "Never say never". Good luck on any project you may undertake.
Thanks mate; agreed I have some hope left in me too even if it’s little. I definitely have to get back to progressing this thread more I have lots more ideas to cover!
Love the idea of the GC line - you'd be able to get some good 140km/h (roughly 85mph) running. Also, now with Cross river rail, we're getting 3 new stations - one at Pimpama, Hope Island and Merrimac. If the Brisbane southside ones were to be created, there'd be a good backdating opportunity to have it set in the 90s
Thanks for your support on the idea and I agree; would be good fun! Also as a general important note apologies for not updating this thread consistently like I originally hoped to; it has been 4 months since my last round of ideas! One day, hopefully (no promises knowing me ) I hope to get back to it with various maps of Queensland railways I've been working on which will honestly be very useful for my thread of ideas. Here are a few of the maps I have done recently: I've been making these with various tools such as OpenStreetMap for background imagery, Google My Maps for creating the map "data" of the railway routes and Microsoft Powerpoint for making the labels. They are heavily inspired by maps of railway lines in the UK I have seen on Wikipedia made with background maps such as OpenStreetMap like I am doing here. I definitely hope to use these to back up my route ideas once I make more of them and hopefully, get back around to updating this thread sometime...
Power to your elbow. Having built and or modified a few routes for North America my advice would be to not be too ambitious. We all want to build the long busy route but the 30/40km route that is completed and works is far superior to the 300 Km one that never sees the light of day (and I have couple of them). The scenics of a big route tend to kill the early enthusiasm whereas success is the biggest stimulant. If a long route is the option split it into sections and release it in those sections. It will give the "audience" the chance to encourage and we all need some of that. Best of luck in your efforts.
Route building is well out of my expertise; and many new assets would have to be created due to how different Australian infrastructure / scenery can be compared to other places and I have no clue how to use programs like Blender so that is also well outside my area. For now all I have really been doing is laying out ideas as it can be fun to speculate these things; and maybe provide someone else with the appropriate skills the inspiration to give it a go and potentially make it a reality. I agree with your statement as well on making short routes before long ones; I believe the 30 km section of the Tablelands System from Cairns - Kuranda would be a great start. It's incredibly scenic mountain running (albeit can be very slow at times once in the mountains) with heritage coach and diesel stock. Shorter, now abandoned lines may also be a good shot as Queensland has many of those; or our few heritage railways as well too good examples could be an Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway route or a Mary Valley Rattler route.
All I can say, don't get excited!! The track is all completely levelled on a flat terrain for both routes I really need better track assets with much tighter curves than 100 degrees '40 perhaps, would be great' also ideal for Cairns to Kuranda Looking for curve and gradient diagrams 1) Airport line 2) Lota to Cleveland 'I have purchased the Park Road to Lota, Queensland Archives'. 3) Gold Coast line 'Central or Roma Street to Robina', I have purchased South Brisbane Terminal to Beenleigh, Queensland Archives'. I really don't know what I am doing when it comes to route building, but I gave it a try and failed! These are the results..
Awesome stuff mate. If you can’t find proper gradient diagrams have you tried importing DEM data as a rough start? I tried that with the Cairns region and was impressed with the results. Also, have you tried seeing if the track you’re using has specific “settings” that can allow for tighter curvature? I made a very rough track plan for the KSR from Cairns - Kuranda with 3ft 6in from the Story of Forest Rail route and often I found if I set the track option to something like “yard” it would allow for much tighter turns if I remember correctly. When I did that a few months ago now I took a screenshot of the results on the route map: For a rough track layout I was happy with the results compared to the real thing as mapped here: After I got this far I stopped messing around as I had no clue on what I was doing; or where I should start for making the route and making the track route better. I’ll probably have to get around to watching more route builder tutorials but even with those I genuinely just don't know where I should be starting or working on first; or the best way to do some practice. And as for the custom assets & rollingstock that would have to be made for the game; that is an even bigger task that I can't seem to find any proper tutorial or guide for doing.
In MSTS! I started at Cairns and only built as far as Stoney Creek, the grades are pretty much levelled at Cairns railway station. In TSC, I struggle to understand how to set the height of the railway station 'height above sea level' I just can't figure that part out, I have railway station heights for both NSW and Queensland, not all railway stations in Queensland just suburban. I think!! The track I used is from one of those Japanese routes, I'm not sure if there are any other 3ft 6in routes in TSC. And it's just not tight enough, if that makes any sense... My Cairns to Mareeba route for MSTS was planned to be set in the 1970s - 1980s, with the old Cairns railway yard and the second built railway station.. The current railway station is the 3rd! I do have some old maps, but can't upload here 'hence too large' and I think they are under copyright 'best to be safe'!!! I have Ferny Grove, Shorncliffe, Doomben/Pinkenbah curve & gradient diagrams as well as the free North Coast line Item: Gradients and Curves - Grade and Alignment Diagrams for North Coast Line - Brisbane to Cairns includes Brisbane to Gympie, Exhibition Branch, Gympie to Baddow, Baddow to Howard, Howard to Bundaberg etc - S11323 (78 Sheets) [see Description] (archivessearch.qld.gov.au)
