Just love a sale, grabbed this beauty from Caledonia Works for £12.74 (25% off) SR U Class https://caledoniaworks.com/product/sr-u-class-pack-1/
Routes: West-Rhine Koln-Koblenz,Dresden-Leipzig,Semmeringbahn,WCML south,Chatham Mainline. The best of my pictures. I personally liked them the most from routes I have and based on your feedback. What do you think? *this will be updated in the future*
Continuing my exploration of long-neglected TSC routes, today I revisited Hamilton Branch Line Steam Workshop route. A fictional British line, I choose to think of it as being in Scotland, there being a Hamilton there. That being the case, what better to run on it than the CW CR123, seen in Caledonian Dark Blue livery. It pulls three CR carriages on a stopping service that runs the length of the line, from Hamilton to Walton, a roughly forty-five minute excursion including station stops. This image was captured early in the run: Not long after the above, I realized I was growing tired of midday runs under bright skies. Remaining images are from the restarted run, set to begin at 0615 under cloudy skies, which I drove to completion: To be continued . . .
Due to various reasons I got delayed again and no new shots this week. So it's all from the pool. Happier with this than last week's, hope you enjoy it, too 1) Class 47 on old East Coast Main Line 2) Alco RS-11 on Donner Pass 3) EWS railtour on Settle-Carlisle 4) MoW train on North London Line "over the 3rd-4th rail" 5) DB Schenker Class 67 with tanks on Portsmouth Direct Line
A weekend of trains..... Loco swap at Warrington, a 92 for a 60 60028 Lostock - Warrington Arpley gets checked at the down slow loop at Acton Bridge for a passing pair of 86`s At Arpley to collect the yard shunter.... 86401 on the mail train Warrington RMT - Stafford RMT platform 37116 parked up at the maintenance shed at Crewe on a Derby RTC test train Stafford - Crewe via Stoke Loop...
More captures from a recent stopping passenger run from Hamilton to Walton on Hamilton Branch Line, a fictitious British Steam Workshop route. Motive power is the (CW) Caledonian Railway 123, in CR Dark Blue livery, a singleton 4-2-2 tendered steam loco. It pulls three CR coaches. The CR123 is one of two CW locos offered free of charge. According to its sales page, it will eventually be updated to SimNation Locomotion 2.0 scripting, yet remain a free download.
CR123 was preserved by the LMS. It is I believe in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. In the 1960s it was used on some special Trains in CR livery being based at St. Rollox works (later called Springburn Works), before going into the Museum.
Route: Dresden- Leipzig Train: IC2, DB BR 101, CD 380. A unique site in Germany. A czech locomotive pulling an eurocity from Leipzig from Prague. 1) A trainspoter's shot caught on the mainline. 2)An IC2 service meeting with it. 3) The CD 380 getting passed by a DB BR 101 also heading for Dresden. 4) The CD 380 passing the Leipzig depot. 5) A nice bridge shot.
I hadn't planned to take advantage of the ongoing (as of 21 Sep 2022) Caledonia Works sale, thinking to hold out until SimNation Locomotion 2.0 scripting appears. Then I read that GAD's Purbeck route is being replaced by Dorset Coast. While route requirements are unchanged, Dorset has a few new scenario requirements, one being the SR U class 2-6-0. Assuming this to refer to the CW U class, I bought it yesterday afternoon. Here it is, during its maiden QD voyage on GAD's West of England Mainline. Unlike with previous recent runs, the early daylight setting worked against me here. I captured few images, this being the best of them. First impressions? Its sound set, supplied by SteamSoundsSupreme, recorded from SR 1638, is impressive. While driving, it felt and sounded powerful. At higher speeds, going over rough stretches of track, cab shake can become suitably intense. As with a number of recent CW loco releases, user manipulation of the Brake Ejector is required, even in F4-HUD mode. More than this I can not say until I've spent more time behind the reverser.
Route: Dresden- Riesa Train: DB BR 189, DB BR 1442, DB BR 261, DB BR 442, DB BR 415 ICE T, DB BR 101. Random Leipzig action.
Yet another visit to a long neglected Steam Workshop route, the short but scenically pleasing Yorkshire Dales Railway. The train is powered by a freeware Wayside Works Manning Wardle H class 0-4-0ST in Cambrian Lined Black, a good match for the route. It hauls a string of GWR passenger carriages: Bonus image; The CW SR U Class, now in SR Maunsell Green, hauling a CW SR van and a string of MT/SSS Pullman Coaches. It is again seen on GAD West of England Mainline freeware route: I intended to do a complete run from Exeter to Axminster. To my surprise, I soon found myself missing early daylight lighting, so restarted the session with start-time set to 0615 (and a weathered BR Black U).
I have been waiting in anticipation for the release of the Hope Valley extension to the JT MML and OMG it certainly has not disappointed. The detail and content is absolutely stunning.
A series of captures from a recent early daylight GAD West of England Mainline passenger run headed by a newly acquired CW SR U class 2-6-0 tendered steam loco, seen in weathered BR Black. Conceived as an Express excursion, it ended up as a semi stopper, stopping at those stations large enough to comfortably fit the entire train:
Semi-stopper... I tend to do the same, it can get fairly boring to just chug end to end. I have a special brain. Here I was, thinking my E18 shots are generally dark and lo-fi, so I should have a go at better chances. So for my third run now, I decided to have some gloom after all, on München-Augsburg, and given matching weather, it felt nice to shot it. Well. It's better, but... no matter, one more run planned sometime in the future anyway. One thing for sure, E18 liveries look best in Autumn. To prove the point, I took the picture with the greenest possible foliage. 1) Rear of a Union Pacific hopper hopper train, having just arrived at Granite (DD35 pack) 2) Sprinting towards Faversham with hoppers 3) Cool freight on the Seebergbahn - A blue-beige BR 151 brings Ibbhs vans upgrade 4) Royal train with a fitting claret Class 67 at Appleby 5) A blue-beige E18 with a matching string of UIC Type X coaches from München to Augsburg
Another early-daylight stopping passenger run, this time on the scenically pleasing Stoke Ferry Branch Steam Workshop route. It's a relatively short line, but provides decent running times when paired with smaller, less powerful locos like the freeware Wayside Works W4 Peckett 0-4-0ST, seen here in Photo Grey. This is a new install, different from Pecketts seen in earlier posts. Unlike the other DL, it sports customs cab lean-out cameras, a major plus for me! If you like Pecketts you'll want both DL's, to own a greater variety of liveries. In any case, this was an enjoyable drive. I recently took a chance on a 2hr35min late-afternoon to nighttime run. The combo of route, time of day and train made for a thoroughly enjoyable drive, which yielded a decent number of post-worthy captures, enough for what I hope will prove to a pleasing four-installment series. My problem with that run is that every drive I've attempted since then pales in comparison. <sighs> There are worse sins.
I find darker shots to work better on certain screens and of course in a dark room. Sometimes I put them on the TV and to my surprise, find even crappy ones fairly nice. Driving in gloomy conditions is a different matter, I like it very much.
Still loving the GP9 pack released (finally) earlier this year especially the BN version. Here seen heading North out of Delray with a local on the ACRR on a fine day in late Autumn. The DTM GP30 is another favourite and not too tricky to repaint. Here a pair of CNW liveried GP30s haul a freight South from Banks for Delray, on the ACRR. A wet miserable early Autumnal day. Scenes from the Adriana County RR ( a Steam Workshop route although a more up to date version is in the RWA library). These scenes from the later version.
Installment one in a multipart series of captures devoted to a stopping passenger service on DTG London to Brighton route. It begins at London Victoria Station at 2000 on a cloudy late-afternoon summer day and ends in darkness, some two-and-a-half hours later, at Brighton P6 (Fast). The train consists of (CW) Southern Railway U Class No.31625, hauling a short rake of three Bulleid Carriages. No.31625 was chosen due to it be a Preserved loco, thus appropriate to run on a modern day railway. It is also the only U Class to sport what CW terms “High Intensity Lamps”. Image one, captured only a stop or two into the run, under a late-afternoon sky: Sun inching ever lower, this otherwise middling image shows the effects of the U's “High Intensity Lamp”: Later in the run, I discover that the High Intensity Lamp does not illuminate tunnel innards, where it ought to be at its best. Driving British Steam exclusively (which almost never sport illuminating lamps) I do not know if this is normal in TSC, a fault of loco scripting, or faulty route tunnel programming. Whatever the cause, it is the only blemish I can levy against what is otherwise the most enjoyable session I've driven in quite some time. To Be Continued . . .
Route: WCML south Train: Class 319, Class 66, Class 221. We seriously need the WCML for TSW 3 mostly with the armstrong powerhouse 66 now in TSW3 and some older british EMUs like the 319 and DMUs like the 221. Or am I asking for too much? ( yes i know i used one of the pictures already in this thread)
Installment two of a series of captures documenting a recent two-and-a-half hour late-afternoon through early-evening stopping passenger service from London Victoria Station to Brighton P6 (Fast). Motive power is preserved (CW) Southern Railway U CLass No.31625, a 2-6-0 tendered steam locomotive. It hauls three Bulleid coaches. Two scenic sunset images: Two views at East Croydon. I quite like the lighting here: To Be Continued . . .
I have returned from holiday so it is time for some more screenshots from me! It was fun catching up on some new screenshots in this thread that I missed while I was gone. All of them are excellent. 2 Clinchfield GE U36Cs, '3600' and '3603', pull a heavy and long coal train through the Appalachian Mountains from Allen to Elkhorn City during a bright Autumn day. Loco: GE U36C Route: Clinchfield Railroad: Elkhorn City - St. Paul
Installment three of a series of captures documenting a recent two-and-a-half hour late-afternoon through early-evening stopping passenger service from London Victoria Station to Brighton P6 (Fast). Motive power is preserved (CW) Southern Railway U CLass No.31625, a 2-6-0 tendered steam locomotive. It hauls three Bulleid coaches. This installment sees the train travel under late-twilight / dusk skies. Images are now largely confined to station-stops, it being too dark for effective captures travelling "in the wilds": To Be Continued . . .
Caltrain MPI MP36PH-3C '927' pulls Caltrain's 'Baby Bullet' express passenger service from San Francisco to San Jose in the late afternoon and has only 4 passenger stops between San Francisco and San Jose to do in just under an hour. Loco: MPI MP36PH-3C Route: Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - San Jose
Route: London- Faversham. Trains: Class 375, Class 395. Royal Blue Class 375 compilation. It's either passing other trains or just cool shots.
Weekly selection time 1) A pair of CN/IC SD40-2s taking a mix of coal wagons across Castle Rock 2) A Comet V leads a late NJ Transit train on a New York Night Shift 3) EWS 33 030 pierces the winter fog on its way to rescue a broken down railtour 4) A general gray Class 33 takes a moderate rake of MFA wagons on a cloudy autumnsday 5) CP Train 200 snakes uphill from Revelstoke to Glacier
Fourth and final installment of captures from a recent late-afternoon through early-evening stopping passenger service from London Victory Station to Brighton P6 (Fast). The three-coach train is headed by preserved SR U Class No.31625, a 2-6-0 tendered steam locomotive sporting a "high intensity lamp" for mainline qualification: Now only a stop or two from terminus, night proper, like my stomach, has fallen: Having reached entry speed, the train now approaches Brighton Station, regulator closed, coasting on its own momentum prior to reengaging the brake to begin final slowdown/stop: As mentioned, this was a heck of a fun drive. If and when I tackle it again (with this same combo of time-of-day and loco/consist), I think I'll set myself a 2230 Brighton arrival time. That should be easily doable, since I won't need to spend extra downtime at stations composing hopefully-postworthy images.
ScotRail Class 170 '170427' leads service 1L55 14:03 Edinburgh to Arbroath however Markinch station has been closed due to an incident currently being dealt with so trains heading to Perth, Inverness, Aberdeen and Arbroath will be terminating at Kirkcaldy. Loco: BR Class 158, BR Class 170 Route: Fife Circle Line: Edinburgh - Dunfermline
DB Railion Class 294 '294 800-8' heads as a light engine from Iserhagen to Vinnhorst to couple up to 11 Shimmns Wagons where it will then take the Shimmns Wagons to Nordstadt to decouple and run around the wagons and recouple once again to take the wagons to Nordhafen. Locos: DB Class 101, DB Class 294, ICE 2 Route: Hamburg-Hanover
Wayside Works recently released another freeware small steam loco, the Manning Wardle F Class 0-4-0, here in ROD black. In this first capture, it is seen at or near the start of a passenger run on Alternate Heathfield Heritage Line third-party freeware route. The drive ended almost before it began, due to Out of Memory crash, if memory serves: I moved on to Merthyr, Tredegar, and Abergavenny Railway, again from Steam Workshop. No technical issues here: The Class F proved somewhat under-powered for the route's climbs while hauling three passenger carriages, as it has every right to be. In the worst case, the train gradually slowed to 0.7mph, with no end of incline in sight, before I finally hit on a combo of regulator and reverser that allowed it to not only hold steady but gain speed, admittedly at a snail's pace. It made for an exciting ride! To Be Continued . . .
Have been raiding the RSSLO sale and OMG what a stunner this beauty is. The Cold Start procedure is definitely not for the faint hearted or a newbie to TSC. I class myself somewhat experienced in cold starts but even I had to resort to a You Tube tutorial to get it moving.
A late summer evening in 1987 sees 37011 working the last train of the day to the Kyle. Having departed Inverness at 1755, the first shot is taken from the down platform at Garve, as we await departure time. Some time later, we're skirting the edge of Loch Luichart as the sun begins to set. Any passengers on board have a stunning view across the Inner Sound towards Scalpay, Rassay and of course Skye as 37011 wends its way slowly along the shoreline towards Kyle of Lochalsh. And here we are, just a couple of minutes after the booked 2047 arrival time. The loco has run round and now shuts down in platform 1, ready for tomorrow morning's 0710 departure back to Inverness, as night settles over Kyle. Incidentally in 1987 a traveller could depart London Euston on the 0730 to Glasgow Central (arr 1308), nip across to Queen Street for the 1335 to Inverness (arr 1715) and connect into this train, arriving just after teatime. The return journey the next morning involved changing at Inverness 0950-1030, onto the 'Clansman' direct to London Euston arriving at 2131. Not a bad way to spend a couple of days!
Second/final installment of captures devoted to a recent stopping passenger run QD on Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway third-party freeware route, featuring Wayside Works recently released freeware Manning Wardle F Class 0-4-0: Were I to do this run again, I'd remove one coach. The F would likely still struggle on the inclines, but that adds to the fun (up to a point). As to the route, I like it. Much of the distant landscape is left bare, but it's well done nearer the tracks.
It's still 1987 and an unidentified 37 heads across Glenfinnan viaduct with the 1850 Mallaig to Fort William. Consisting of five coaches plus three empty fuel tankers, this was one of, if not the, last true 'mixed train' operated by British Rail. The TTAs supplied fuel to Mallaig's fishing fleet and (amusingly) the loaded wagons were transported on the rear of the 1620 Fort William to Mallaig school train. Health & Safety would have an apoplexy nowadays.
Having done the E18 I moved back to take some 151 shots. Green first, blue-beige will be next. Finally figured a season where these liveries look nice: colorful autumn, matching yet complementing the green-brown of the trains. Also got some night shots during Guildford 70C but they are too dark for these forums. Great atmosphere though. 1) NJ Transit F40PH on the Coast Line 2) NP Transit GP40PH on the Coast Line 3) PRR F7 pulls a lengthy passenger on a gloomy winter evening (AI, looks underpowered otherwise) 4) NSE Class 47 in original scheme on the point of a tank train on the Portsmouth Direct Line 5) A green BR 151 with brown Gbs254 vans passing by a clearing from München towards Garmisch
BNSF EMD SW1500 '3432' in Ex-Burlington Northern livery is at Kalispell, where it will couple up to 7 Centrebeam freight wagons and take them to sidings at Plum Creek, where it will connect to 4 boxcars to add to the freight consist and continue on to Columbia Falls where it will stop. Loco: EMD SW1500 Route: Marias Pass
Captures on Heathfield Heritage Line Revisited steam workshop route. The train is headed by a CW L&Y Class 5 2-4-2T:
DB Class 101 '101 121-2' is on the last part of the journey to Siegen, it is pulling a 5 coach long passenger train in the afternoon from Eichen and will stop at Siegen. There is also a maitenance train in front of the train so it will be travelling carefully a long the line until it passes a broken signal that workmen are fixing. Locos: DB Class 101, DB Class 294 Route: Ruhr-Sieg
Unfortunately only a single screenshot from me today due to the scenario I was running with the Southeastern Class 395 being too dark and gloomy for screenshots but I managed to get a pretty good one which I will post here. Southeastern Class 375 '375915' crosses a bridge over the high speed line as Southeastern Class 395 '395020' approaches Ebbsfleet International after coming from St Pancras International with it's previous stop being Stratford International. After this the train will continue on to Gillingham (with stops at Gravesend, Strood, Rochester and Chatham in between) where it will terminate due to damage to the line because of the harsh weather conditions. Locos: BR Class 375, BR Class 395 Route: London-Faversham High Speed
Route: Inseldbahn Train: DB BR 155, DB BR 143, DB BR 204. Apparently an 80 minute scenario can offer some nice shots.
We're back on Heathfield Heritage Line Revisited. The train is now pulled by a CW LBSCR class D1, seen in a fetching SR livery. This is a different branch of the line than what's seen in my previous HHLR image set: