A very warm hello all, I'm sure I'm not alone in the love of all things narrow gauge as well as standard. I have built and driven narrow gauge routes in TS classic almost more than I've used my standard gauge material of late. The Corris route and locomotive were absolutely superb when released in TS classic, and the locomotive physics means she's a very realistic drive. Additionally freeware Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland is fantastic. My only wish is that the locomotives were more realistic to drive. As freeware though, they are absolutely superb. I wondered what the soundings would be like from the community to one day see something in 15-inch gauge, it is yet to be explored in TS. I know MSTS had a version of the Ravenglass and Eskdale and the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch via third-party content. I believe it was very popular. I think most, if not all, of the steam locomotive fans would probably be interested and I'm sure some diesel fans would purchase it out of novelty too. I have long been a fan of 15-inch gauge railways and the locomotives that run on them. I visited the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway nearly every year as a child and I would certainly love to see that in TSW or classic. However, With the 100-year anniversary of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway coming up in 2027, wouldn't it be superb to honor that with an add-on for TSW? "The one-third full size steam & diesel locomotives have powered their way along the 13½ miles of track" to quote the website, and a maximum speed on the line of 25mph a scale speed of 75mph. This certainly would be a beautiful and interesting route to drive too. Locomotives-wise, there are eleven steam locomotives and two diesels that run in regular service. A wonderful variety too, and I would think perhaps not too demanding to build the whole fleet eventually, as the five A1 style Pacifics could simply be copied, all sharing the same basic shape and then a few unique things on the models changed for their individual elements, whistles, tender variant, cab, etc. You'd then have the two mountain class engines, The Bug, Black Prince, and of course the two Canadian-style pacifics too. Then the two diesel locomotives too. It's a double track for most of the route until the single-track section from New Romney to Dungeness. There would be plenty of opportunity for scenarios and of course a great area to explore on foot if it were in TSW. I'd love to hear your thoughts, I think it'd be great for people to join the discussion with your ideas and whether you'd be interested, no matter if positive or negative. Now of course the steam simulation would hopefully have improved by then. Perhaps the Auto Fireman should remain an optional feature, but it would be nice to see firing and injecting water working more effectively in TSW and of course more user operational. Overall, I think it'd be an excellent tribute and 100th birthday celebration of the 'mainline in miniature,' not to mention, hopefully, sell very well and create profit for the company. Everybody wins. I've posted this in the UKtrainsim forum too. Best wishes to you all, W.
I would love more narrow gauge / minimal gauge railways. however, with Minimal Gauge railways (and smaller), the driver is also the fireman/stoker so automatic fireman would be unrealistic..
I absolutely agree. Having said that, it may be nice to give some players the option to have an automatic fireman, especially if they don't have too much experience with steam. I know it can put people off if they are new to steam and have to learn how to fire and control water levels as well as learn how to drive a steam locomotive if they aren't used to it. So very glad to hear more people would like more narrow gauge content, preferably in the UK is my choice. The Corris loco had excellent physics and I don't think there's another narrow gauge locomotive that has that style of the simulated steam chest. I'd certainly like to see more narrow gauge locos that are actually more accurate to drive too. I really hope to see more narrow gauge from content creators. If it's good, I'd certainly be there, wallet in hand!
There was a post elsewhere from a DTG guy involved in route building, that when they tried to include the Dresden Park miniature railway as an "Easter Egg" the track would not render properly. So that sadly probably rules out routes like the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch or Ravenglass. We know that metre gauge is possible from Arosa, the $64k question being, how low can you go!?
If this idea were to eventually come to fruition, there are two Canadian narrow gauge routes that would be great add-ons to consider... The first one being the White Pass & Yukon Ry (still in operation as a tourist railway) : "The only narrow-gauge system still in operation in the country is the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge White Pass and Yukon Route. The WPYR was built as a common carrier but closed in 1982 only to reopen in 1988 to haul tourists from cruise ships docking at Skagway, Alaska through White Pass on the Canada–United States border to Bennett, British Columbia, and more recently onto Carcross, Yukon. It uses some rolling stock from the now-defunct 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Newfoundland Railway after changing the trucks." And the Newfoundland Railway which has quite the interesting operational history (now defunct): "Construction on the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Newfoundland Railway began in 1881 and continued on amid recrimination and lawsuits until the line crossed the island to the ferry port at Port aux Basques in 1898. Since no roads existed, it was an economic life-line for the country to the rest of North America, but it chronically lost money.[citation needed] The Newfoundland government took it over in 1923, and the Canadian government transferred it to Canadian National Railways when Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949. After the Trans-Canada Highway was completed across Newfoundland in 1965, trucks took most of its freight service in the same year as CN instituted the first railcar ferry service to the island. Standard-gauge cars had their trucks switched to narrow gauge for movement on the island. Interchange with the North American system did not improve the traffic levels and even the CNR started to move its own freight increasingly by truck. The death knell came for both the Newfoundland and P.E.I. Railways in 1987 when Canada deregulated its railway industry and allowed railways to abandon money-losing lines. The Newfoundland Railway was the longest narrow-gauge system in North America at the time of its abandonment in September 1988. It was also the last commercial common carrier narrow-gauge railway in Canada, since the White Pass & Yukon had closed earlier in the decade." Both railways had very unique equipment and locomotives that would offer some very different train simulation operations and equipment options not typically seen in any of the current routes or add-ons. Quoted details from Wikipedia.
