I think that the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway would be a great addition to Train Simulator. As far as I’m aware, other than the Corris Railway, there is no other narrow-gauge lines available. This line is 7 miles long and a great tourist attraction all year round. There is also lots of different ways to set up the railway with 3 passing loops, many carriage sidings and the main shed and workshop. History: The line was originally built in 1875 as a 3ft gauge line from Ravenglass to Boot village, the line was originally built to carry iron ore from around boot. The first passengers were carried in November of 1876. The 3ft gauge line survived until 1913 when it was officially closed. In 1915, W.J. Bassett-Lowke opened a 15-inch gauge line from Ravenglass to Muncaster as a small passenger line. In 1917, the whole line to Boot was converted to the new 15-inch gauge line. The locomotives on the line were built by Bassett-Lowke and some from Sir Arthur Heywood’s Duffield Bank & Eaton Railways. The line also carried granite from Beckfoot to Murthwaite where it would be crushed and then transported to Ravenglass using either the 15-inch locomotives or the standard gauge branch to Murthwaite. In the mid-20’s the line was extended to its current terminus of Dalegarth. After World War II, the Keswick Granite Co. bought the railway for exporting out the granite from Beckfoot. This lasted until 1953, when the quarries closed down and the line was fully dependant on its passenger traffic. Many attempts were made to sell the line from 1958 onwards until 1960 when the railway closed and was put up for auction. A preservation society was set up to save the line. The line today is in the hands of a private company and the preservation society that saved the line is still going strong, with 3 locomotives owned by them. Locomotives: I propose that the 5 main steam locomotives and 2 main diesels are to be included in the base pack. These are; River Irt (0-8-2) River Esk (2-8-2) River Mite (2-8-2) Northern Rock (2-6-2) Whillan Beck (4-6-2) Lady Wakefield (Bo-Bo) Douglas Ferreira (Bo-Bo) Coaching Stock: As there are many pieces of rolling stock on the line, only the main coaching stock should be added. These are; Open Coaches Red Variant Blue Variant Closed Coaches Normal Disabled Guard Semi-Open Coaches Eskdale Belle La’al Ratty Coach Observation Coach I think that the price should be around £24.99 as it isn’t a long line but the scenery and locomotives are brilliant.
That's an excelent point. I've already made an RH&D route suggestion in its approriate TSW subforum, if you want to check it out. A 15 in gauge route would work very well in TSW, I'd reckon.
One of the greatest appeals with any 15in gauge route would be its track gauge. Having official 15in gauge track would kickstart the making of Minimum Gauge and garden railway routes.
