Set between 1980 and 1984, this route would cover the 62 miles of line from Nottingham to Leeds, as well as an extra mile or 2 to include Tinsley depot on the route, which was a well known haunt of the everpresent Class 45, in addition to Ratcliffe Power Station & Toton depot & freight yards, another location largely associated with the Class 44, 45 & 46 throughout their working life. This route during the 1980s was quite a fascinating place, with the local service provided by Class 108 DMU's which ran all the way through to Leeds (hence it's inclusion in this route), Class 56's on coal trains from Ratcliffe Power Station and Class 45's working the top link expresses into Nottingham & Sheffield from London, as well as some good AI traffic at Leeds Proposed Rolling Stock Class 108 in BR Blue/Grey livery Introduced in the early 1960s, these 2 car DMU's could be found in most places across the north of England for a good 20-25 years before the Sprinters came along and turfed them off, with some units ending up working for Network SouthEast. Like all 1st Gen DMU's, they had a gear system, a power output of 300hp and a top speed of 70mph. Class 45 and 46 in BR Blue Livery Whilst there are some minor differences between them, the 45 & 46 are essentially the same loco. The main differences are that the Class 46 was only vacuum braked, with the Class 45 being dual brakes, and the Generator & Traction motors on the Class 45 are provided by Crompton Parkinson, with the same equipment on the Class 46s being supplied by Brush. 50 of the Class 45s were fitted with ETH equipment, with the other 77 45s and all of the 46s only providing steam heat. On this route, they would provide fast services between Chesterfield & Leeds on both MML and CrossCountry workings, with the HST being done later as a DLC. They also found employment on most freight workings in the area, including a train once a day to & from the Freightliner terminal at Beeston to Coatbridge. They would also provide AI traffic at Leeds & Nottingham. Class 56 in BR Large Logo Large Logo was actually first tested out on a Class 56, this been 56036 from August 1978. As a result of this, the last 30 or so locos were delivered in Large Logo livery rather than BR Blue. They were built for use on new MGR freight flows, including those out of Ratcliffe Power Station near to where East Midlands Parkway is today. Some of these workings headed up the Erewash Valley route, hence their inclusion with this DLC.
Yes this is the best suggestion I have seen in a while and would be nearly the perfect route. Although I am from Deltic territory I have always adored the Peaks and have many fond memories of them and they were my bread and butter in the early days of my career when I spent a few years on the LMR. The 56s are also really good and powerful locos which absolutely deserve to be in game. Brilliant suggestion!!!!
Great suggestion just wondering if it would be a good idea to add 22 extra miles to the route so it can include leichester but overall a great suggestion that could merge with NTP. Also freight and passenger stock from the line could layer in and I just researched this but hsts were introduced to the line in 1983 so would the line be set before then.
Leicester yes that would be brilliant but I would personally prefer it to be pre HST so the the Peaks were still on the top link expresses as I don't feel like NTP gives us the opportunity to properly stretch their legs due to the speed limits.
True, have we actually considered what rolling stock like coaches and wagons would be added by the route but also what layers in orr out.
I really like your suggestion, we need more br classic diesels. Quick correction on the technical side, the 46 were also converted to a dual brake system (between 1971/73), wiki is good but not perfect unfortunately. I got you the technical sheets directly from the br diagram books. Beside the traction equipment the 46 had some different steam boiler types even inside their class (stone vapor / mkiii swirliflo)
Bring it on and also consider Huddersfield Line the NTP as layer to the route. Also why not make Erewash Valley line a must for railtour players since it also comes with Class 45 & Mk 2 coaches. Also Class 45 can use both air and vacuum brakes as seen in this 2021 video when Matt discussed the procedure from Air to vacuum brakes
