Now I've seen various suggestions for the Great Eastern Main Line, West Anglia Main Line and the Fen Lines and these are all wonderful suggestions but what I am going to suggest is something different and a little smaller in scale. The Ipswich to Ely line with the Felixstowe and Cambridge branches. The Ipswich to Ely line is approximately 24 miles long with 14 (I think) stations across both the Ely and Cambridge lines. The Felixstowe branch meanwhile would add another 5 stations across an addition 12+ mile section of track. Today passenger services on these lines are served by the Class 755 Stadler FLIRT bi-mode multiple units which are either 3 or 4 carriages depending on the variant such as the example below at Ipswich last year. The second train is the Class 66, to operate intermodal traffic from Ely to Felixstowe as well as intermodal services going to and from Ely via the Great Eastern Main Line via Ipswich. The main reason I recommend Freightliner in particular is because Freightliner are the main Freight operator in East Anglia. Freightliner are the main users of the station sidings at Ipswich (see below) as well as Ipswich Upper Yard, where Freightliner are constructing a new depot. In terms of playing the route there will be a reasonably limited variety in passenger services in terms of express versus stopper as these will be pretty much entirely limited to stopper services however there will be network style gameplay with passenger services running from Ipswich to Felixstowe, Ipswich to Ely and Ipswich to Cambridge. Services between Cambridge and Ely could also be modelled, however due to the short length these might be better off simply as AI services. In terms of non-passenger services things are more interesting. Intermodal traffic can be run between Ely and Felixstowe via the so-called Bacon Factory Curve and Ipswich and Felixstowe. Light-locomotive movements between Ipswich Station Sidings, the Upper Yard and Felixstowe are very common. On top of this, Freightliner allocated a shunter, 08785 to the area last year which carries Freightliner's orange and black 'Tango' livery which would be a nice extra inclusion for shunting services although Class 66s are perfectly capable of performing this role also. In terms of the long term future of this route I recommend as a potential locomotive add-on the Direct Rail Services Class 37. DRS are responsible for the Rail Head Treatment Trains in East Anglia which are operated from Stowmarket D.G.L. which would already be included in the route. In the Autumn months these are a regular sight, multiple times a day on the East Anglian rails at almost any given point. On top of this, should either the Great Eastern or West Anglia be added to the game (which I sincerely hope is on the cards at somepoint) then this route can greatly benefit from extra AI traffic. Class 745s running express services along the GEML through Ipswich whilst the Class 321 can run into Ipswich. On the West Anglia side Class 317s and 379s would represent services. The Class 720 Aventra meanwhile would make sense on either end of the route. On top of this, should Freightliner Class 90s make it into the game then they could run intermodal services to Ipswich via the GEML where they are swapped over with Class 66s which take the wagons down the non-electrified Felixstowe branch. In all, whilst end to end services would only be approximately 36 miles in length this route would provide network style gameplay, a mixture of passenger and a range of freight related services. The route is an important part of the East Anglian railways, providing the only link between the WAML and GEML between Stratford and Norwich. I believe that this is the perfect introduction to the railways in East Anglia and would pave the way for the GEML and WAML to be added to the game with the major stations of Ipswich and Cambridge already being modelled, saving a fairly significant chunk of work should those routes be added at a later date. Apologies for any spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes, I'd usually type this on a PC but it's a tad borked so I have to use my phone instead.
Yes I completely agree with this especially for the flirts, the power change to diesel/electric at Stowmarket will add a very fun gameplay experience, was you wanting the /3 or /4 Class 755?
Interesting question, obviously I'd like to say both but that's not necessarily realistic. If it's a case of one or the other I'd go for the /4, simply because there is more of them. Plus you get twice the number of diesel engines which is fun.
Yeah that makes sense, my personal choice would have been the /3 because if the route is set in 2019 you could have Class 170s sub in for them which would add train variety
I have a feeling that TSW would consider them 4 and 5 car units due to the power pack vehicle so I'm not sure if that would work
Yeah I didn’t think about that, maybe they could one day do it as a separate timetable, either way would love to see it as a route in TSW
Is part of the lines Electrified? If so then you can have a technical difficulties scenario like RRO to which you must activate diesel mode on Class 755 to continue the Journey due to pantograph Failure. Hard difficulty if made
Part of the line is electrified as this route follows the Great Eastern as far as Stowmarket which is where it changes power
That means we can have a Class 755 Ipswich Felixstowe service to which Pantograph failure has occurred before Stowmarket and complete the service on Diesel power
I mean we could but the Felixstowe Branch is before Stowmarket and all services that leave for Felixstowe stay on diesel power, but there could be scenario where you change your service once you reach Ipswich
Here's some more photos from my trip to Ipswich last year. These first photo shows the sidings at the station populated by a Greater Anglia Class 755 and Freightliner Class 66s. Also note the tanker wagon, I believe a TDA, though TEAs are also used. These come down from Lindsey Oil Refinery near Immingham Docks, these are usually short rakes of tankers, I believe to fill up the locomotive refuelling point in the sidings. A nice little extra variety for freight services I think. It is also worth noting that the Class 08 was also present here but was largely obscured from view. These two photos show the refuelling point itself, as you can see it can be a busy location. The other set of sidings contained four Ex-Greater Anglia Class 90 electric locomotives, all now in Freightliner service in their Orange and Black livery.
Absolutely to the route and the Flirts (which are coming to TS classic soon). The Intercity ones are pretty cool, I'm really stoked that my line (Clacton branch of the GEML) will be getting the Airport ones later this year. Stadler Bi-modes are coming to South Wales too so they would be useful if we get the South Wales mainline in TSW. And with some minor cab adjustments and some extra cars it can do for any future GE routes.
In 1963 Ipswich shed had an allocation of 55 diesel locos, consisting of 7 different types. 1955 there were 79 steam locos on Ipswich shed of 14 types. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipswich_engine_shed
I’d love to see it. Bi-mode flirts would give some much needed variety. However the length of the route you’ve stated is out. Felixstowe to Ipswich is 15miles, Ipswich to Ely is 52 miles and Ely to Cambridge is another 14miles. 81 in total would surely be a stretch too far considering the number of stations to model, plus Felixstowe docks with 2 terminals at 3+ miles each, 2 yards at Ipswich, Potters at Ely, etc. Not wanting to poo poo your suggestion by the way. Anything GEML or even East Anglia based would be good as long as it’s not a route with the same old EMUs!