Hello, I hope you're keeping well on this lovely winters day? I've got a small, but interesting route suggestion for Train Sim World. The Route: Newry to Bangor Criteria: 2012 The Line.... The railway line between the border city of Newry in County Down & Armagh & the harbour city of Bangor in County Down is a line that is filled with a vast history, yet, one that for decades has practically unchanged. I've chosen this line to be the suggestion of the first Northern Irish (Norn Iron) & Irish route for Train Sim World (TSW) as it's a route with a bit of everything. From fast passenger services, to commuter services, to engineering trains & the oddball workings. It really is a line that hosts everything, especially as it's the line that connects the two capitals of the Isle. of Ireland. The line is of course, a somewhat scenic one, from the viaduct of Newry, the towpaths of Moira, the iconic sights across Belfast City & the coastal paths of Belfast Lough from Holywood through to Bangor. It's not a long line, but it's certainly not short either, with a standard passenger service from Bangor to Portadown taking over an hour. Why 2012? In 2012, you had a vast variety of operational rolling stock across the Northern Irish network, which would be a good opportunity for DLCs & expansions of operations. By 2012, the CAF Class 3000 DMU railcars had been in service for for over five years, whilst the CAF Class 4000 DMU railcars were just entering operational service. The BREL Class 450 & 80 'thumper' DEMU railcars were retiring, being sent off with a bang on a major all network railtour. The newly re-built Titanic Quarter had just opened in place of Bridge End on the opening of Titanic Belfast, as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Titanic. Portrush Open services that ran via the Newry line on the Lisburn to Antrim branch What rolling stock could be included? DLC & included Personally, I would include three units with the route, then open to expanding the fleet with DLC's down the line. DeDietrich 900* Enterprise with BREL MKIII Genny & EMD 201 Class locomotive CAF Class 3000 DMU Railcar BREL 80 Class thumper (for SANDITE operations) For expansions DLC, the following could be done in packs. New Trains 2010 - CAF Class 4000 DMU Railcar (three car & six car) InterCity Railcars - Iarnród Éireann Hyundai Rotem 22000 Class ICR DMU railcar & CAF 29000 Class Commuter DMU railcar. For operation of Belfast - Dublin Enterprise services & fictional railtours. Castles - BREL 450 Class thumper DEMU railcar Thunderbirds are go! - EMD 071 Class & EMD 110 Class locomotives for Enterprise rescue missions Innealtóirí Express V1 - EMD 110 Class locomotives with ballast & spoil wagons for engineer trains between Poyntzpass, Lisburn & Belfast. Innealtóirí Express V2 - Geismar VMT with waterjet - for night time operations of leaf-busting! Conclusion.... Other-than routes created by fans for TSC & Trainz, including the very popular Dublin - Cork & Limerick route for TSC, no train simulator has had a proper Irish route made for it officially for now over two decades, that being the Making Tracks trio Enterprise packs for Microsoft Train Simulator, the great grand parent of TSW. I think it's about time that changed. In those two decades, players of TSC & TSW have been crying out for a route set in the Island of Ireland, from across the world & from those in Ireland who feel constantly left out. This can be seen on forums across the World Wide Web, including here & Facebook groups. I've recently done a few Norn Iron & Irish liveries for various stock (like the 170) & shared them in the Train Sim World Community group & Irish Railways Present and Past and other Interesting Railways group, they've been my most popular posts between the two, getting over 100+ 'reactions', with multiple people saying that we 'need' an Irish route. The Newry to Bangor route would be one of the perfect routes to set off the journey once more, it's not too long nor is it too short, it's a mix bag of country, sea side & urban, it has many touristy & landmark sights. Apart from a few changes here & there, the line really hasn't changed much & would offer the perfect opportunity to build further routes & expansions on-top of, such as Belfast to Dublin, Lisburn to Antrim, Belfast to Derry & so forth. Most of the suggested rolling stock still exists, with the 450, 80 & VMT being preserved at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, the rest are still in service. Media.... CAF Class 4000 passes Belfast Lough through Holywood on a service to Bangor CAF Class 29000 at Belfast Central (Layon Place) on a Dublin / Belfast service CAF class 3000 at Great Victoria Street EMD Class 201 pushes a DeDietrich Enterprise set through Moira on a Enterprise cross-border service to Dublin from Belfast BREL 80 Class thumper railcar passes through Lisburn on a sandite 'leaf busting' service from Portadown.
Absolutely second this. Northern Ireland has had such a strange variety of different rolling stock over the years. Could even add the 111s and the Gatwicks as DLC? Would love to see a drivable DBSO to pair and see what never was.
Definitely would be nice to see something Irish (north or south) in TSW. However, if the north would be nice to set it back when the Thumpers were still in revenue earning service, alongside the newer trains. For anyone who wants a taste of NIR operations, Video 125 do a superb cab ride from Belfast to Derry, including a side trip on the Portrush branch, with aforementioned Thumper.
Not to be that person.... but actually.... They are EMD, EMD was part of GM until 2010 when GM sold EMD to CAT. They (071s / 111s) carry EMD builders plates.
Which is why i picked 2012. The 450s where until later in the year still in service, the 80 was on Sandite. The 4000s where just entering service. Many variations!
Probably.... Although the Gatwicks were withdrawn in 2009 (?). But that's what artistic licence is for!
