It's nice to be able to visit various railways from around the world in the comfort of your own home, or even a railway from the 1950s that's still in use today. But what about the railways that are long gone? There's always the possibility that one could travel to visit the railways seen in tsw but its not possible to visit railways that are long gone. Set in a period when railways were the backbone of any country, when every village, town or city heavily relied on the railway. As for location? I'm sure you guys and girls at dtg can make that decision. Look at the UK before Dr beeching! There's 100s of lines to chose from. The routes can still be followed on Google maps, the national library of Scotland has hundreds of survey maps that can overlay Google maps. Video archive's, photo archive's. A lot of routes are now used as footpaths and cycle paths with the gradient posts still in place (if finding the data is a problem) bridges and other assets too. Not limited to the UK of course.
We have the Bloomingdale Trail, a.k.a. the 606, which is a linear park/recreational system built on 2.7 miles of abandoned railroad. According to Wikipedia, it's the second longest project of its type after one in Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomingdale_Trail https://www.the606.org/
Back before the lone on the Isle of Wight closed back in the 1950s the lsland had 50 miles of line now it only 13 that is both island line and the steam railway. I believe in the game the full railway network on the island is possible
That looks interesting especially being elevated. I might have to visit it one day. 2.7 miles is a bit short for a tsw route though. There must be disused railways in the USA spaning 100s of miles?
I reckon it's possible. Looking at a map I'm surprised at the amount of stations the island once had.
I ride over the trail a lot on the Blue Line, and it was quite something watching it transform from an overgrown, abandoned railway into what it is now. More detailed history with lots of old pictures: https://forgottenchicago.com/features/the-bloomingdale-line/ It is short, but it's also only a segment of the old Milwaukee Road. Possibly there's more length there that can be used.
Most of the Great Central line north of Aylesbury is now disused, apart from the heritage section around Loughborough. My favourite though which I did for MSTS years ago is the old Stratford on Avon and Midland Junction Railway. Ran from Blisworth on the WCML in Northamptonshire to Stratford, with offshoots from Towcester to Banbury Merton Street and Towcester to Ravenstone Wood Jn outside Olney on the also disused Northampton to Bedford railway. Then down in deepest Devon loads of scenic forgotten railways. Taunton to Barnstaple, Barnstaple to Ilfracombe and indeed the whole “Withered Arm” as it was known west of Barnstaple towards Torrington. East Anglia you have the whole M&GN network. Whether any of these would be viable for a TSW route… probably not. But we can dream or hope that one day DTG relent and release the editor for us to have a go at reproducing these forgotten lines ourselves.
I have suggested the abandoned branches off of the GWE route multiple times. As well as one or two others. I fully support this suggestion. Bring railway history back to life.
In Scotland you have the Port Road from Stranraer to Dumfries which DTG have already researched via Keith Ross for the TSC version. Callander and Oban line from Stirling to Crianlarich another fascinating disused railway. Balmoral branch on Deeside which, long before Greta and her acolytes, was the test bed for a “BEMU”, battery powered converted DMU. Although part of it now reopened, the Waverley Route from Carlisle to Edinburgh with its offshoots into Northumberland at Riccarton Jn towards Hexham. Jumping back to the south, you have the old Midland and South West Junction from Red Post Jn at Andover through Marlborough and Swindon Old Town, then on towards Cirencester, Andoversford and Cheltenham. In Wales the amazing Rhondda and Swansea Bay with its South Wales Mineral Railway spin off to Glyncorrwg and of course the famous Rhondda Tunnel.
From what I've seen in Northern parts of UK there's a fair few dissused railways that are frozen in time, all the tracks are still in place just waiting to spring back into life. Hopefully with the current policy on cars we may see some of these old branch lines make a comeback. I know a few have already. Unfortunately down here in the south its impossible to reinstate a lot of the abandoned lines as developers have built housing estates on them! That's not to stop dtg reviving some. There's always the unofficial editor. Last I heard track laying is almost a possible.
For anyone that's interested in old railways this guy has a lot of arhives https://youtube.com/c/AlanSnowdon
I'm all for it. The advantage is that it doesn't only provide rolling stock from another era, but a route from a different era as well- which I think is something Clinchfield satisfies (F7 and closed railway). I'm trying to think of some other routes here on the US side that might fit the bill, but it's actually hard to pick one because there's not many defunct railways that generate excitement. I suppose they're defunct for a reason? There's got to be something steam related on the US side that would knock everybody's socks off if DTG wanted to go there. Some random brainstorm of US stuff: Could do some steam stuff down in Death Valley. Some history at this link here. LIRR Rockaway Beach Line. Short route, basically an Isle of Wight: US version. IOW, is more scenic, mind you. It was used in varying capacity from 1880 until the 1960's. I think steam ran on it at some point, and there's also the opportunity to use early electrification here. Something based around Silverton, CO would be pretty scenic. Maybe something Pennsylvania Railroad related? Got to be something iconic there... (btw I'm sticking with US as that's where I am based + I don't have much familiarity with UK and German routes)
SPs Modoc Line, Tennessee Pass, the Sacramento Northern (West end is in TSC). The Milwaukee Road lines, the tons of logging railroads around the country. Various lines that closed due to mergers (Like the Western Marylands line that parallels Sand Patch Grade). Tons and tons of branch lines. Etc.
Easton, PA area Erie Lackawanna RR Old Road Washington to Portland, PA via Belvidere the Warren RR. Lehigh and New England Belvidere,NJ to Poughkeepsie,NY Maybrook Line CRRNJ High Bridge to Allentown, PA Hump Yard section is west of Bloomsbury Junction where it meets the Lehigh line. Abandoned in 1984 when the November 22nd 1989 completed motorway Interstate 78 was under Construction.
Back in the 1930s when Hoover Dam was being built, UP had a branch from Las Vegas to Boulder City, Nevada. I actually live in Vegas, so the Boulder Branch is local to me (only 30-40 minutes away). The Nevada Southern Railway Museum runs an excursion along some of the tracks of the original branch, but most of the line to the dam has been torn up. The four tunnels are still there, and you can hike through them (which I've done a couple of times). The UP Boulder Branch could be a fantastic vintage route. Players could transport building supplies, cement, and other equipment to the Hoover Dam building site.
