Hi everyone, I've recently taken an interest in UK routes and I must say I am loving North East Rails V3, especially the area around Consett Steel Works. So I was wondering, are you aware of any other route, payware or freeware, that has a similar look and feel? Cheers
If you're after industrial themed routes, then take a look at doncaster works, Return To Maerdy and Memories of Maerdy.
Consett Steel Works? I'd be surprised if they are in, not least as they've been closed for almost half a century! It's the steel works at Middlesbrough & Redcar that feature in NER. South Wales Coastal has steelworks at Llanwern and Port Talbot, though Port Talbot suffers from having the blast furnaces modelled by generic chemical works assts. As an ex-steelman it grates not seeing those very distinctive structures. However, Port Talbot does have the sprawling busy feel of real life. Glasgow to Edinburgh has Grangemouth chemical works.
I'm not sure Middlesbrough and Redcar are part of the route, perhaps you are thinking North East England V3? As for Consett, here's a scenario I just downloaded. So I'd guess it's in
Hatchet Hill is still available to buy (I have a thread called Ways of Buying Withdrawn DLC which gives details of getting it) which is a short quarry route with a Class 04. Not great but with modifications like AP weather it can be playable.
There was the old Headborough North route but I don't think its available now. The Nottingham Network route has loads of sidings and yard spread over not that big an area It is set in Steam days- late 1948 - 1965 but by changing the stock it could be made more modern https://store.steampowered.com/app/...r_Netherfield_Nottingham_Network_Route_AddOn/ Manual - https://store.steampowered.com/manual/562381
It is possible to buy unopened copies of RailWorks, RW2 and TS2012 to get it. I bought the former a few years ago to get the original versions of the three fictional routes. That said, all three including Hedborough North are available on the Workshop (uploaded by Mr Peddlesden himself) although as these are cloned versions, scenarios made for the original versions (DLC or otherwise) will not be directly compatible.
Τhanks for the info, looks like a nice little route. However I did read that it's got some annoying bugs that were never fixed. Some fixes were posted in a discussion on Steam but those links are long gone. Any chance they might exist somewhere?
Possibly, but I don't know where. Personally I wouldn't bother with the included stock (where the issues lie). British Locos Studios have a Class 04 reskin pack which is great (includes tram variants as well) but I don't know if it fixes any issues. Anyway, for a similar experience I'd use a Class 03 from one of the DLCs that included it (I've counted four) and pairing it with some kind of open wagon. I can't remember what sort you'd need for the route but I doubt it would be hard to find.
Sounds good. Hadn't heard of British Locos Studios before, looks like there's some quality content over there. Thanks for the heads up!
East Midlands Coal is the gold standard for freight/industral routes. It's a must buy!..... Joking . I wouldn't touch that route even if it was free.
Stainmore route doesn't have much industry but crosses similar terrain with heavy mineral traffic climbing up over bleak moorland and it comes with a large selection of wagons. The Vale of Neath freeware route meanders across the Welsh valleys passing numerous collieries along the way. It does however have a fair list of requirements including the aforementioned Stainmore. Both are essentially steam routes but could be used with early diesels.
Didn't they make China Clay for Export ? I didn't think that was too bad, or do I still have my rose tinted glasses on !
Yes, both routes were made by Creative Rail. I happen to like East Midlands Coal (and their East Coast Main Line York - Peterborough for that matter) but I seem to be very much in the minority on that. Never have quite figured out the reason for some of the poor reviews it has received.
I don't have East Midlands Coal, but I agree that the East Coast Main Line York - Peterborough is likable. It has its own art style, but I think it's quite convincing and it has a functional and slightly shabby feel that seems to represent the mid 90s on British Rail quite nicely. The extensive use of 2D trees doesn't bother me and it gives a frame-rate easy route which is what you need when you're high speed running along it. And above all, it is a route for long distance high speed running.
For East Midlands Coal and York to Peterborough, the scenery just isn't up to modern standards - they look like routes released five or more years before they actually were. The rolling stock included with East Midlands Coal is also poor, but its assets are brilliant and actually make the pack worth buying for route builders.
I managed to find it after all. It used to be on UKTS under file id 32998, now it should be on any UKTS archive, such as trainsim. This fixes the messy track audio and the black stripe running down one rail, as well as the Class 04 coupling issue.
Headborough North route is available for download at the Workshop, Its a fictional route but Its actually based on Immingham Docks.
From the Workshop, a limestone quarry route.........https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=655204382&searchtext=whatley+
There is even a town "Habrough" just one mile to the west of Immingham witch is similar to "Headborough" This route had potential to become a real life industrial route since it is short. I do not know why they made it fictional.
If you can settle for an American one, it's old, but Ohio Steel 2 might be a good one for you. Scenarios have you doing stuff around the plant, and there are a LOT of them.
Ohio Steel 2 also comes with a selection of withdrawn US DLC so it's worth getting it for that as well.
EMD SW1001 shunting at Whatley Quarry on a gloomy morning. That's exactly what this thread is about, amazing how a US switcher dwarfs UK rolling stock.
Didn't they only get the cut down cabs after they had a runaway or is even the cut down cab out of gauge with that tunnel down the hill?
