Fenchurch St To Shoeburyness

Discussion in 'Route Suggestions & Proposals' started by vaperstew2018, Jun 3, 2021.

  1. vaperstew2018

    vaperstew2018 New Member

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    Via basildon c2c train company class 357
     
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  2. steammaster4449

    steammaster4449 Well-Known Member

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    Got any further details? Like photos, videos, history, route map, etc.?
     
  3. NEC Railfan

    NEC Railfan Well-Known Member

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    It's an operating company in Essex that runs a lot of Class 357 and 387 EMUs. It runs from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness, via the London, Tilbury and Southend Line, a distance of around 40 miles.
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    It's what I get from a quick Wikipedia search.
     
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  4. trainbraint

    trainbraint Well-Known Member

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    This is a route I’ve travelled on a couple of times, and I agree it would be a great one to see in TS. So, here’s some more detail:
    The line was opened by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway along with the loop lines via Tilbury and Chafford Hundred (Britain’s busiest one platform station I believe), which rejoin the mainline at Pitsea. Part of one of the loop lines is already represented in TS, with the section from Barking to Dagenham in North London and Goblin Lines to allow freight services to Dagenham Dock, and Dagenham to Rainham (Essex) and Purfleet in London - Faversham because HS1 runs alongside. (Interesting thing I noticed, since Rainham (Kent) is also in London - Faversham, they used the Southeastern Rainham (Kent) station nameboards at Rainham (Essex).) Surprisingly for an Eastern route, it was taken over by the Midland Region, which is how it stayed. The route runs for 40 miles or so through south Essex, for a lot of it along the north bank of the Thames estuary. For the first part through East London it runs near the DLR, and alongside the Hammersmith and City LU Line as far as Barking, and the District all the way to Upminster (lots of scenario potential with the JT S7 stock). In the past, the Metropolitan and District railway ran railtours occasionally as far as Shoeburyness.

    4 trains per hour run between Fenchurch Street (the London Terminus - one of the smallest, if not the smallest with only 4 platforms. Also the only one with no direct connection to the London Underground - the closest station is a Tower Gateway I think) and Shoeburyness in each direction, 2 stopping and 2 express. There are a further two that run via Tilbury as far as Southend, leaving the main line at Upminster and rejoining it at Pitsea. C2C run occasional services into Liverpool Street, leaving the C2C lines at Barking, and running up a section of the Goblin lines through Woodgrange Park before joining the Great Eastern Main Line at Stratford. London Underground run frequent all-stops services along their route.

    The route is currently served by seventy-four Class 357 electrostars, and six Class 387 electrostars. The 357s came around the turn of the century, replacing old Network SouthEast stock such as Class 310s, 312s, and more famously 302s. There were also 317s hired in from WAGN for a period. The 357 was the original type of electrostar (a type of train that in my opinion has revolutionised rail travel in the South East of England), but looked different from all its successors, with a turbostar-style front end. The 387s in contrast, introduced a couple of years back to increase capacity, were the final type of electrostar to be built. The line is set to receive a delivery in the near future of some Class 711 Aventras. The whole of the LTS network has long been referred to as the Misery Line, but since C2C got the franchise at privatisation, in recent years they have topped the charts for punctuality.

    I think the route would be a good one for TS, not too long with a couple of good trains. Maybe DTG might be generous (if this were to be made) and throw in the Chafford Hundred loop, and maybe even the main line to Grays (considering this is almost all in the game already). The route would probably be most likely to be represented in the modern era, but maybe it might be nice to have an NSE heritage first gen EMU pack to go with it (considering these units were operating well into the modern day, a few years into the 21st century), like with Chatham Mainline and the Br Blue Diesel and Electric Pack.

    upload_2021-6-9_18-16-2.png
    (Map of the network. The line via Basildon is the one suggested here)
     
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  5. Wivenswold

    Wivenswold Well-Known Member

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    Perfect, there was a freeware one in the works but the release date has been "in a few months" for 5 years. It's not coming out.

    So yes, I had the pleasure of working on the LTS from 1990 to 1996 when we were the Southern Division of the EMU graveyard [waves at our Northern colleagues at Neville Hill and Longsight who were likewise afflicted]. Just out of the door of my office we had 302,305,308,310 and 312. All wonderful units to drive, though 310s never made the top four for some reason.

    From a TS point of view there's a good range of driving possibilities;
    C2C or LTS - mixture of slow and stopping commuter services (LTS Rail staff joke there), the old Ockenden branch, even Tilbury Riverside depending on when its set.
    London Underground - With C,D and S stock available in the sim a drive from Upminster to Bromley-by-Bow (or further) along the LT lines.
    Freight - Tilbury Docks are on the line, along with a number of fuel terminals, so freight possibilities are endless if that's your sort of thing.
    Make it an Extension of the NNL & Goblin and Freight fans will be delighted.

    Ideally you want at least the whole line though, just FST to Shoeburyness would not feel right. And it's already made down to Rainham! (See Goblin Line for details).
     
  6. Magic

    Magic New Member

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  7. steve.cunningham1980

    steve.cunningham1980 Member

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    It's been in development for over a decade. Like you, I'm sceptical that it will ever be publically released.
    I'm a little surprised DTG have still not produced this route, I've always thought it is a very obvious choice for a UK route.
     
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