Finding Content For My Favourite Routes

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by olsbyn, Jul 31, 2020.

  1. olsbyn

    olsbyn Active Member

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    After several hours on google I have to bother you all again.. don't be mad, I really tried :/
    Of the routes I own now my favourites are by far "Settle to Carlisle" and "Weardale to Teesdale", and now I feel I need more re-usable content for them, so what I'm looking for are more or less timetables and re-usable scenarios, e.g freight scenarios without special events like broken signals and engine trouble.
    I would also love more content from 1950-70, for Settle and Carlisle, let me know if you have any tips :)
     
  2. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    I have purchased lots of timetables from ebay, both passenger ones and working timetables. There are several online railway and general book sellers which have them.

    There is a guy on ebay working timetable reprints or (WTTreprints) who also has a website. I purchased a 1953 working timetable for Darlington which covers all the lines on the Weardale route. There is also on the NER association website a reprint of the working of local freight trains (these were non mandatory freight trains which don't appear on the WTT), these have been invaluable for reproducing realistic scenarios for this area.

    I would say stock wise the G5 from the Caledonian works website is a must as they were common in the area, particularly on the Middleton branch, the A5 from the same website would also be useful as a handful at some point were allocated to Darlington. The Victory works J21 from the Steam Sounds Supreme site is another must (they have a sale on at the moment) as they were another engine common in the area and would have been a regular site. Also on steam the Victory Works Q6 freight engine, the Meshtools J50 and the Victory Works K1 were also regular. The Digital Traction standard 2mt would also be seen in the area and the Just Trains 4mt. Also on steam sounds supreme the WD 2-8-0 were all over the country and some were shedded at Darlington. Coaching stock wise the Matrix Trains LNER teaks from Steam would be useful plus definitely the Matrix Trains GER/NER coach pack from Steam. I guess the Thompson suburban and corridor coaches would also have been in the area too. The Stainmore route is also worth getting from Steam Sounds Supreme as it carries on the line from Barnard Castle over the famous Stainmore summit to Penrith and Tebay plus has some extra mileage the other side of the WCML.

    There is a very nice freeware Settle Carlisle (well from Skipton actually) route on the Wotawally site by Jetgriff. It uses what was default content from the early days of Railworks but looks convincing and the scenery looks very nice. There is plenty of stock available for that route, some very nice LMS engines from Bossman games and again Matrix Trains is there with coaches for nearly every occasion!

    Digital traction is another useful site, especially some excellent wagon packs. For steam period Steam Sounds Supreme, Digital Traction, Caledonian Works, Just Trains and Bossman games are excellent sites plus there is some good stuff on Steam itself, some of the Victory Works, Bossman games, Just Trains and Matrix Trains add-ons are there, plus the Meshtools add-ons which are also excellent.

    I follow them on Facebook and Twitter as they are still developing, for example there is the useful Ivatt 2mt tank on the horizon.

    For the modern Settle to Carlisle AP and steam both have other sprinters available and various class 66's and freight wagons. Just Trains do a nice class 60 and some freight wagons. For BR blue the class 40 from AP would be suitable for the S & C and they have a mark 1 and 2 packs available. The class BR Blue part 1 pack from steam would be useful as would the blue class 24. If you want a class 47 there are some excellent reskins and minor modifications of the original old default Kuju blue ones on the Vulcan Productions website. There is also the BR class 101 pack from steam. I recommend the AP DMU sound pack for those.

    Apologies for rambling, sometimes I can't stop! I hope this helps?
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
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  3. Cat

    Cat Well-Known Member

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  4. olsbyn

    olsbyn Active Member

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    Ramble along,I'm not british, so all this information is very useful for me to get an authentic experience, I'm also new to TS, so I haven't gotten my hands dirty with the editor yet, but I guess I should rather sooner than later :)

    Cat : Thank you very much, I'm going to test this one out !
     
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  5. Cat

    Cat Well-Known Member

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    You're welcome. :))
     
  6. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    No problem I hope you enjoy getting stuck in.

    The scenario editor can be frustrating and will sometimes leave you bashing your head against a brick wall but isn't hard to use and can be very rewarding. Especially when trying a create a realistic historic experience.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  7. theorganist

    theorganist Well-Known Member

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    You are correct about timetable prices. I recently purchased a 1977 BR all line timetable for around £8 which I thought was good. I bid on a 1986/87 winter BR all line timetable, I stopped at around £12.00, it went for £41 in the end!

    There are people selling WTT for £30 but they don't seem to sell much, I find if you watch them they often offer you them for less.

    There is this site which has free mostly Western Region timetables, pretty much the full set from 1949 which I have found useful on the Riviera in the 50's route and the freeware Wycombe route from Steam Sounds Supreme, two more routes I heartily recommend. There is of course plenty of GWR stock available.

    http://www.michaelclemensrailways.co.uk/article/working-timetables/5530
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
  8. Cat

    Cat Well-Known Member

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    Re old timetables, many years ago a friend shared a flat whose owner collected old timetables, he had literally stacks of them. He was rather a strange chap! He's probably sitting on a fortune if he still has them.
    olsbyn, if you like late steam/early diesel routes I can highly recommend the Western Lines of Scotland (WLoS). A long route good for passenger and goods and comes with some decent rolling stock.
     
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  9. olsbyn

    olsbyn Active Member

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    I was going to invest in a full price route anyway, might as well be this one, I'm still in a process of learning steam locos though, I tend to blow stuff up :p
     
  10. JJTimothy

    JJTimothy Well-Known Member

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    I can't recommend it because I don't have it but I suggest you consider the Stainmore route from Steam Sounds Supreme (not in their current sale unfortunately). It includes a lot of rolling stock as it comes and anything you get to run on the Weardale and Teesdale would not be out of place. One idea would be a two part scenario using both routes running a service from Darlo' to Tebay. From what I've seen on YouTube there's a couple of slightly disappointing absences in Barney namely the old station (although the track seems to be there) and the castle itself which should be visible from the Tees viaduct but that is being picky and exactly the same can be said of the W&T.

    I really want it and I'm not a rabid steam buff. Course there's nothing to stop one running Diesels over it.

    Addendum: Second the WLoS- it's a fine route. A bit older so not as detailed as W&T nor so rich but has the same sort of largely rural atmosphere and lovely scenery albeit with rather higher line speeds. It's perhaps more like Settle-Carlisle come to think of it but with more to do.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2020
  11. Cat

    Cat Well-Known Member

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    I'll just add that the WLoS is often a requirement for many freeware routes.
     

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