The Narrow Gauge Main Line: Brisbane To Ipswich

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by Dan_Der_Man, Oct 28, 2019.

  1. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Although never represented in a Train Simulation from Dovetail, Australia is a nation with many unique and engaging railway experiences. It is an untapped region that could have great routes and locos made for both Train Sim World and Train Simulator 2020.

    Today I will introduce one of the nation’s more interesting but practical railways that I think would make a great addition to the Train Sim World collection. 1.jpg
    The Main Line Railway is a 3” 6’ mainline railway between Toowoomba and Brisbane. It opened in sections between 1865 and 1867 and was the world’s first narrow gauge railway. Whether or not this was a good decision is still up for debate, but I won’t get into that here. At a length of 161 km it winds it way through the suburbs, then on to the great plains of the Lockyer Valley where locos could get up to eyebrow raising speeds and then finally up the Great Dividing Range, which runs the length of the country, up to the magnificent, scenic town that is well regarded for its flowers, Toowoomba.

    This route is significantly long and would take many, many hours to traverse. Therefore, it would not be practical to represent the whole route in Train Sim World. I instead propose the Suburban part of the line which runs from Brisbane Roma St to Ipswich.




    The Route:

    Brisbane has many rail lines, both passenger and freight, zig zagging through the capital. The route we would follow would start at Bowen Hills. This is because of the Significant TMD located a few metres north. Train services can realistically start here because Bowen Hills is both where many Trains and Crew Changes start. Bowen Hills is not Brisbane’s Main station though, neither is the deceivingly named Central, it is in fact Brisbane Roma Street. The other terminus of the line would be a short few kilometres from Ipswich, Wulkuraka Station. There is both a station and another TMD here. The station is not serviced on the same line as the one proposed though, but it would be practical to see AI go past. Both these points are logical end points for the route. I will explain each station in detail in the Route Profile section below.


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    Distances measured in Kilometres, Meters from Central station.


    Key:
    Orange = Core Route
    Green = Possible additions to core route/future addons
    Yellow = Not practical to be represented in core route but may work as future add-on
    Grey = Other lines that are not practical to be added as an add-on for the foreseeable future
    Blue = Brisbane River


    On top of the other diagram I have made above I have also created an interactive map in google maps which can be seen here:
    https://drive.google.com/open?id=11AfOq2LOR5e-gqER0_GNTLAQe-NkdHnT&usp=sharing

    The black lines is the core route while purple are other lines of significance which I have included for refrence.


    Queensland Rail also has data, diagrams and drawings avalible for use, these include Track digrams, Level crossing locations, Speed limit locations, Track Data & Grade Diagrams, Sectional Running Times, Rollingstock Gauges and many other peices of useful information:
    https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/business/acccess/Documents/Brisbane Metropolitan System Information Pack - Issue 3 - October 2016.pdf
    https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/b...ensland Rail - Network Ownership Diagrams.pdf
    https://www.queenslandrail.com.au/forbusiness
     

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  2. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Rolling Stock:

    1720 class

    4.jpg
    Dating back to 1966 these venerable locomotives were an evolution of their earlier 1700 class. They were built by Clyde Engineering Company under license from General Motors USA and subcontracted to Commonwealth Engineering in Rocklea, Brisbane. They were the first locos in Australia to be fitted with the new (at the time) 8-cylinder EMD 645E engines. A number of new features were included, such as hydrostatically operated louvres for cooling, a switch to enable high acceleration for suburban train duties and such. A total of 56 locomotives were built with the last unit entering service by the end of 1969. Each unit was numbered consecutively from 1720 through to 1775.

    [
    5.jpg
    These locos could be (and still are to an extent) found anywhere on the system from Forsyth in the Gulf land down to Wallangarra and Brisbane in the south. The locomotive is relatively lightweight, a total of approximately 60 ton with an approximate 10-ton axle load. This allowed Queensland Railways to operate them on lightweight branch line or suburban passenger train services. These locos are truly the go anywhere, do anything locos of Queensland and can be found hauling everything and anything, including, but not limited to:
    Coal
    Cattle
    Grain
    Intermodals
    Long Distance Passenger Services
    Tourist operations
    Railtours
    Infrastructure stock
    Shunting
    Banking
    and
    Electric unit transfers/rescues
    6.jpg

    With the passing of time, this class of locomotive has truly earned it place in the top performers division, in regards locomotive rolling stock.


    These locos would fit right in hauling coal trains from Ipswich to Corinda, Intermodals from Bowen Hills to Corinda and possibly some rescue/electric stock transfer scenarios. The twice weekly Westlander also runs from Roma St (With the loco and carriages coming from Mayne) to Charlivelle (777km west of Brisbane) but these services might not be worth depicting due to its comparative scarcity.


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  3. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    NGR (New Generation Rollingstock)

    The New Generation rolling stock is a class of electric multiple units being manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Savli, India for the Queensland Rail City network. The first units entered service on 11 December 2017. As of October 2019, All of the 75 sets ordered have entered service. They are Queensland Rail's largest fleet of electric trains at 450 cars. The design is completely new, and the trains are fitted with nose cones to resemble the existing Electric Tilt Trains for improved aerodynamic performance as opposed to the exposed Scharfenberg couplers used by the existing fleet.


    8.jpg The body style differs using flat steel panels on the sides, while retaining corrugated panels for the rooftop. The first arrived at the Port of Brisbane in February 2016. In October 2018 these units were introduced on the Ipswich Line (Not on the Rosewood Shuttle though). The NGRs are maintained at a purpose-built depot to the west of Wulkuraka station. The NGRs feature high-backed seats, safety straps for bike storage, luggage space underneath the seats unlike the Interurban Multiple Units that have luggage racks, mobility toilet with baby changing table, Wi-Fi and CCTV.

    9.jpg
    Each NGR set comprises two driving motor cars (prefixes 3 and 8) at each end, coupled to two trailer cars (prefixes 4 and 7) and two intermediate motor cars in the middle (prefixes 5 and 6, with Motor car B currently featuring the toilet module).

    The six car configuration are as follows:

    DMA—TA—MA—MB—TB—DMB

    10.jpg
    As they are permanently coupled six-car units, passengers are able to walk the entire length of the train, consequently eliminating the need to couple with another unit. Guards travel at the rear as opposed to the middle with the existing fleet, where two three-car units couple to form a six-car unit. Utilising the same traction equipment based on the British Class 345 Aventra trains as well as being compatible with the European Train Control System, the NGR will be the only train permitted to travel in the Cross River Rail tunnels. They have provisions for automatic train operation, and extension of the body to 9 carriages.
     
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  4. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    And/or
    IMU 160/SMU 260

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    In 2005 15 SMU260 class sets and 28 IMU160 series sets were ordered from Downer EDI Rail, Maryborough to cater for increased demand. They are based on the Transperth B-series train. The first set entered service in August 2008. In March 2009 an additional 20 sets SMU260 were ordered. These units are identical in design to the IMU 160 series with the exception of toilets and luggage racks. Because of its interoperability, they can also be found regularly operating on the Sunshine Coast line. Most services on the Gold Coast line have been displaced by the faster NGR fleet which are readily equipped with a toilet.
    12.jpg
     
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  5. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Potential Future Add-On 1:
    2300 class + Rosewood line and Ebenezer mine

    Great Western Express (GWE) was around 57km, which is also how far Rosewood is from Central, this means that it could be practical for a route to extend this far as it has been done before. If the core route is successful and an expansion could be warranted it could be practical to add the Ipswich to Rosewood/Ebenezer. Rosewood is as far west as the electrification goes on the suburban network and there is a hourly shuttle service between Ipswich and Rosewood that is usually formed of 3 cars, it is possible, but scarce to see a 6 car service or NGR do this quieter route.
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    The route is not quiet at all though when it comes to freight. A line to a coal loading balloon loop at Ebenezer was opened in 1990, junctioning from the Main Line west of Thagoona station. There are also coal trains the come from further west off Toowoomba which could be depicted coming from Toowoomba loaded and returning empty (with you driving as far as Rosewood in game)

    Rolling Stock for this Expansion:

    2300D Class:
    15.png
    The mainstay of the western lines along with the 1720 class is the 2300D class. These locomotives were overhauled from the older 1550 and 2400, 2450 and 2470 class locomotives. They were rebuilt from 1997 to 2002 with Dash-2 electronics, Turbocharger (in place of the Rootes Blower), Maxi-cab (fitted with a DTC computer, fridge and more). These locos are well liked by the crews that operate them. This was not all though, 35 of the locomotives received further overhauls for West Moreton coal traffic as the 2300D class. These locomotives, with larger fuel tanks and a toilet at the end of the long hood now weigh 96 tonnes and are restricted to operation on the coal routes. They include numbers 2301D-2315D, 2320D-2323D, 2330D-2334D, 2336D-2337D, 2339D, 2346D-2348D, 2350D, 2352D, 2359D, 2364D, 2366D and 2388D. The former 1550 class locomotives in this group (2301, 2304-2307, 2309-2315 and 2320-2322) were upgraded with modular (Dash 2) electronics when they were overhauled.

    16.jpg
     

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  6. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Potential Future Add-On 2:
    XPT


    17.jpg
    Introduced to service in 1982 the XPT, short for "express passenger train", has an aerodynamic design based of the British HST and travels between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Dubbo, Grafton and Casino.

    The XPT power car features a Paxman VP185 12-cylinder, turbo-charged diesel electric engine boasting 1492 kW or 2000 horsepower. It works with the same principal as its British counterpart with the power cars push and pulling on each end. The carriages are different, they are based on a Budd Design.

    In October 2016, the NSW government announced the XPTs would be replaced as part of the NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project. A contract with CAF was signed February in 2019, with the XPTs to be replaced from 2023.


    Power Car:
    18.jpg
    Sleeping car

    Seating capacity: 18 (sleeping) or 27 (seated)

    19.jpg
    Saloon - first class car

    Seating capacity: 56
    20.jpg
    Buffet and saloon - first class car

    Seating capacity: 21 plus one wheelchair space. The accessible toilet is in this carriage.
    21.jpg
     
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  7. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Saloon - economy class car (XF)

    Seating capacity: 68
    22.jpg


    Although running an early morning train from Roma St to Sydney this Unit could be very useful for potential future routes while being a somewhat easy unit to make since it is based on the existing HST found in the Great Western Express DLC. This XPT though would probably only work as A.I. as the player would not have a stopping point.


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    This concludes the extent of the post on the Fourms, Although this is not the full extent of the proposal, I have also included a word document that includes the Route Proflile, please give this a read as well because it contains important information.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pv-O8RAmcQ3OgT6b30jeAE9xBFK1Ga4E/view?usp=sharing
     
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  8. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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    Last edited: Oct 28, 2019
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  9. Dan_Der_Man

    Dan_Der_Man Active Member

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  10. DaveTrain99

    DaveTrain99 Well-Known Member

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    Ah yes narrow gauge also known as toy gauge in many Aussie rail fans circles But all Jokes aside this would make a very nice route for TSW
     
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  11. docsnyder1911

    docsnyder1911 Well-Known Member

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    Very nice proposal.
     
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