After having a recent northbound S&C run with the 8F, I thought a southbound run was in order. I've had several steam runs IRL over the S&C and although the northbound climb from Settle Jn to Blea Moor Tunnel is more strenuous, the southbound run definitely has its merits particularly in the late afternoon. Steam railtours are generally allowed about 50 minutes for the 'warm up' run from Carlisle to the Appleby stop, whereon the real work starts with the 'Blue Riband' section from Ormside Viaduct to Ais Gill Summit separating the 'great' runs from the merely 'good' or 'competent'. In my fictional head-world, Tyseley's main-line certified SR 'Schools' class is today running as 30927 'Clifton' and is seen waiting for the right-away at Carlisle. She is at the head of the 11-coach rake including the water carrier and several Met-Camm Mk1 Pullmans. About 35 minutes after departure, she is captured passing Kirkby Thore. The peace and quiet of Appleby station... ... is broken by the arrival of the Cumbrian Mountain railtour. Appleby is the traditional water-stop but the water-column will not be troubled as 30927 brings her own supply of water - it is simply a task of connecting some hoses from GUV to tender and opening the taps. Route: Settle to Carlisle (DTG) Loco: SR 'V' Class Schools (Precision Loco Developments) Stock: Mk1 Pullmans (SSS), Mk1 & 2 coaches (AP) & Mk1 GUV (VP) Enhancements: Various AP lighting, signalling and vegetation packs
For me the enjoyment of Train Simulator is down (mainly) to two particular things: sound, and performance. Focussing on the latter, the subsequent run from Appleby is described by my on-train colleague. "We made a steady start from Appleby without not overdoing things, which kept any slipping to a minimum and allowed the fireman to prepare his fire and boiler without undue trouble. Once over the initial gentle hump, speed quickly rose on the short 1:176 fall to Ormside Viaduct, which was crossed at 51mph. At this point we heard the 'Schools' being opened up and the first section of 1:100 to Griseburn only saw a fall back to 46mph, a very encouraging start. Slightly easier gradients of 1:166, 1:200 to Crosby Garrett were combined with a further increase in noise and speed rose to an impressive 62mph as we reached Smardale Viaduct. If this could be maintained we'd be in barely believable 'Blue Riband' territory! The next 3 miles of 1:100 were chewed up and spat out at no less than 54mph as we roared through Kirkby Stephen. The reality of a Class 5 locomotive did return, as speed fell again on the 1:100, although the hard miles through Birkett were polished off at 50mph no less. Noise rose again as we skirted Mallerstang and we swept through the long curve at Ais Gill viaduct with 48mph on the GPS, which just touched 50mph as we dipped under the 3-arch bridge that marks the summit of the railway. Later confirmation from the footplate crew was that full regulator was combined with as much as 50% cutoff in the final stages of the climb to produce a maximum of approx 40,000lb/hr steaming rate, a truly outstanding achievement." Performance stats at Mallerstang - an outstanding performance from a Class 5 locomotive A couple of subsequent shots - approaching Garsdale at twilight: And then rolling down through Ribblehead as dusk falls. Where to next...
NJT Bergen/Main line service starting it's morning commute on track 2 at Suffern Station, located in Suffern, NY. This morning local service will terminate at Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, NJ. On track 1, we have a set of dual Norfolk Southern Freight units with TTX double stack cars waiting for the green signal indication to proceed as the NJT multilevel crosses ahead of it.
Installment 10 in a multiset chronological depiction of a cloudy Autumn morning passenger run QD between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Picadilly (via Warrington Central). The train consists of Caledonia Works' LNWR Webb Coal Tank No. 1054, in preservation livery, pulling AP MK1 coaches. All images are manipulated via Paint.NET (freeware image editor), Wondershare Filmora (payware video creator/editor), or both. This installment sees us stopped at Warrington Central and en route to Padgate. At this point in the journey, black & white, sepia, and "damaged" images become less prevalent but do not disappear. Most if not all images continue to receive subtle or not-so-subtle manipulation. Stopped at Warrington Central: Departing Warrington Central: En route to Padgate: as above: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies, image manipulation software as mentioned above TO BE CONTINUED . . .
BR 155 leads past this farm on its Andernach-Eifeltor journey: Clear Summer Day on the Horseshoe Curve line: Falmouth Branch scene: Dark and (soon) wet moments on Hagen-Siegen with an E18 and UIC-X coaches - a classic scene in every sense: End of the line (north end of Peterborough sidings):
Installment 9 in a chronological pictorial depiction of a stopping passenger service faux heritage rail-tour QuickDrive on AP's Wherry Lines - Norwich to Greater Yarmouth & Lowestoft, a somewhat recent purchase when these images were captured during mid-late April 2024. To it is added AP's route enhancement pack. This is the most consistently visually appealing primarily rural route in my possession. So pleasing that I drove and captured images of four passenger runs in rapid succession. This series showcases the first of those runs, from Norwich to Lowestoft. Motive power is Caledonia Works' "Single-Wheeler" GER P43 4-2-2 tendered steam loco, another recent acquisition when this run was driven, seen in its super-heated coal-burning variant. The train is, admittedly, not ideally suited for stopping passenger duty; the P43 primarily an express locomotive, the train overlong for the route's often small station/halt platforms. (Coach count is reduced for the remaining three runs.) Entering Reedham Station: Stopped at Reedham. We'll pretend that the lady giving us the once-over is the stationmaster: as above: Reedham platform scene: Departing Reedham: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Route Enhancement Pack TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Bit of a moody weekly. BR 155 with some silo wagons navigating the riverside on Köln-Koblenz: BR 101 with a container train on Hamburg-Hannover: Class 158 camouflaging on Somerset & Dorset: E18 / BR 118 in oceanblue-beige express colors with matching UIC-X coaches leaving München for Augsburg: Bombardier ALP-45DP, the new standard power of NJ Transit. on the NJCL:
Installment 17 in a seemingly endless multipart chronological depiction of a mid-autumn morning stopping passenger service faux Heritage Railtour QD, from London to Peterborough, on ECML London - Peterborough route. Motive power is Caledonia Works' GER T69 4-6-0 tendered steam loco, seen in LNER B12 Lined Black Livery. It hauls what QD terms the 1936 Queen of Scotland Coach Set. As such, I selected Queen of Scots for the loco's headboard. We travel the "slow" track, allowing stops at all stations en route. A rarety thus far in this series, this (rather mediocre IMO) installment sees the train between stations, those being Sandy and St Neots: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
DB Regio Class 440s '440 201-2', '440 510-6', '440 312-7' and '440 520-5' of the Alstom Coradia Continental model form a 2 4 coach EMU consist of 8 coaches total operating an RE service between München Hbf and Nürnberg Hbf in Bavaria, Germany (Bayern, Deutschland in German / Deutsch). I picked up the service at Regensburg Hbf and on the 100 kilometre journey northeast to Nürnberg Hbf 3 stops were made in between for passengers at Beratzhausen, Parsberg and Neumarkt (Oberpf) taking place over the Nuremberg-Regensburg Railway (Nürnberg-Regensburger Eisenbahn) during a late Autumns morning. Motive Power: Alstom Coradia Continental Route: Nuremberg & Regensburg Bahn Scenario: [440] 5. Through The Region Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade, Alan Thomson Sim AP Track patch for Nuremberg & Regensburg Bahn + Train Sim Community AP Track EP Updated Textures
Alabama, Tennessee & Northern Railroad Class 280-157 '201' conducts a rather out of place trip hauling 8 loaded coal hoppers with a caboose on the rear originating from Altoona, Pennsylvania in the United States of America headed 36 miles nonstop southwest to Johnstown over the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, modern day Pittsburgh Line during a wet Spring morning. The service was required due to an extra surge of power consumption in the region requiring an extra coal train to be ran, in this case I acknowledge that this probably means I should probably have set my class lights to white I think but oh well. I also dipped out of my comfort zone for this run having not driven steam traction developed by Smokebox or steam traction simulated this realistically before in general. The biggest challenge I found was to brake without the wheels locking up which happened quite often and I found that keeping an eye on the brake gauges and using the Independent Brake in conjuction with the Train Brake to prevent some of the brake gauge needles from reaching certain points mostly prevented the wheels from locking up if I was careful enough. Not sure if that's the proper way to do it, but I didn't get around to reading the whole manual regarding the braking systems so I may have missed something. Motive Power: AT&N Class 280-157 Route: Horseshoe Curve Scenario: [Lima 2-8-0] (Adv) Consolidating Power (Career) Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade
Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad S3A Class '230' shunts various assortments of rollingstock around the area of Butler, Pennsylvania in the United States of America while the busy main line services rush on past. About 11 miles was covered by '230' during the back and forth shunting works allocated to the locomotive. I'm not confident about the type of locomotive used in this scenario as I like to be specific about that sort of thing even if it's a bit unnecessary. According to a roster I found it seems '230' was classified as an S2A Class under the B&LE but in-game the classification on the side of the cab is an S3A Class, so not really sure what to label it as here. Oh well, maybe it can just be an alternate history scenario where '230' was built as an S3A Class instead of an S2A Class. Regardless of my nitpicking, genuinely an awesome freeware route from G-TraX as I never got it's payware steam release before it was delisted. There is too little steam era US content for the game and it's a shame since it's an interesting era to drive in alongside being enjoyable content to play around with in general. Motive Power: B&LE S3A Class Route: Pennsylvania Steam Scenario: Interchange Traffic Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade
Installment 2 is a multipart collection of images captured during a QuickDrive driven in late June of 2024, chronologically depicting a faux British stopping passenger service from Carlisle P3 to Castle Kennedy on a snowy winter day. Our train consists of two Caledonian coaches pulled by Caledonia Works' 2023 remake of its CR123 4-2-2 single-wheeler steam locomotive with tender. To my happy surprise, the use of Winter cloudy-snow transformed the route's visually dated landscape into a thing of beauty. The result is possibly my largest screenshot series and a personal favorite. This installment finds us departing from Gretna Green and at Eastriggs. Departing Gretna Green: Entering Eastriggs Staion: Stopped at Eastriggs: as above: Departing Eastriggs: as above: RWE2 (gimped), APS&W2+Clouds TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Deutsche Bahn Class 185.1 '185 155-9' of the Bombardier TRAXX F140 AC model seen traveling light engine through Regensburg Hbf in Bavaria, Germany (Bayern, Deutschland in German / Deutsch) on a clear late morning in Autumn. Motive Power: Bombardier TRAXX F140 AC Route: Nuremberg & Regensburg Bahn Scenario: [440] 5. Through The Region Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade, Alan Thomson Sim AP Track patch for Nuremberg & Regensburg Bahn + Train Sim Community AP Track EP Updated Textures
Continuing the (what-if) theme of IC225s at work on the WCML in the late 1990s. INTERCITY's 15:00 Glasgow Central-London Euston passes through the scenic upper Clydesdale... Pauses at Carlisle... Roars through Lancaster... And finally several hours later, rests at London Euston.
British Railways Standard Class 9F '92243' hauls a mixed train limited to 45 mph consisting of 33 wagons and a brake wagon beginning at Dumfries, Scotland in the United Kingdom on the Glasgow South Western Line and travels 23 miles east to Gretna Green before crossing the constituent country border into England and joining the West Coast Main Line at Gretna Junction to run a further 5 miles south to Kingmoor Yard just north of Carlisle on a lovely Summers afternoon. Motive Power: BR Standard Class 9F Route: Western Lines of Scotland Scenario: [9F] Heavy Haul to Kingmoor Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade, Golden Age Developments Western Lines of Scotland - Track & Ballast Patch, Golden Age Developments Western Lines of Scotland - Realistic Wagon Colours
British Rail Class 04 'D2231' leads a small train of 5 wagons and a brake wagon from the fictional location of Elm Junction, England in the United Kingdom on an industrial branch line 5 miles east to Hatchet Hill Quarry on a driver training run during an overcast afternoon in Summer. Interestingly, the ThirdRails application pinpoints the coordinates of this fictional route just northwest of Sheringham half in the ocean and half on land. The nearest real life railway to these coordinates is the North Norfolk Railway running heritage operations and the Bittern Line commercially operated by Greater Anglia. Does that mean anything? No. It's just fun to look into. Motive Power: British Rail Class 04 Route: Hatchet Hill Quarry Scenario: 0] Mendip Aggregates Tour Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Reshade
Adriana County Railroad - latest addition to the roster EDIT: Now available in the RWA library as is Adriana County V2.0.
Mendip Aggregates Class 04s 'D2292' and 'D2227' both nicknamed 'Dalek' start their morning at the fictional location of Hatchet Hill Quarry, England in the United Kingdom and promptly shunt and couple up to a total of 14 wagons for transport 5 miles northwest along the industrial branch line to the main line at Elm Junction during a wet Summers day. This scenario was a bit of trouble, as with most of the scenarios from the now discontinued Hatchet Hill Quarry route it is impossible to complete as the coupling instructions to the wagons are not set correctly. So I simply just had to edit the scenario and make sure the coupling instructions were attributed to the correct wagon IDs, luckily a simple fix compared to other broken scenarios out there! Motive Power: British Rail Class 04 Route: Hatchet Hill Quarry Scenario: 5] Baptism of Fire Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade
British Rail Class 08 '08399' 'Great Central' spotted moving light engine at Brookside Sidings, England in the United Kingdom performing morning shunting work with empty hoppers being assembled with movements taking place between Brookside Sidings and Guide Bridge. Motive Power: British Rail Class 08 Route: Woodhead Electric Railway in Blue Scenario: [08] 1. Guide Bridge Shunting Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Reshade
Installment 17 in a multipart pictorial depiction of a mid-Autumn morning stopping passenger service Heritage Rail Tour QuickDrive, from Crewe to Holyhead, on North Wales Coast Line, acquired during Steam's Winter 2023/24 sale. Having belonged to LNWR in pre-grouping days, I power the train with a favorite steam-era loco, Caledonia Works' LNWR "Greater Britain", No.3435 "Queen Empress" to be exact, seen in Lilac & Cream livery. Though Greater Britain looks to be a conventional 2-4-2 tendered locomotive it is, in actuality, a 2-2-2-2 three-cylinder compound loco. It pulls four LNWR coaches, the last of them an observation coach, which I failed to capture adequately. This installment sees us en route to and at Bangor. En route to Bangor: as above: Approaching Bangor Station: Departing Bangor (where I apparently captured no post-worthy images of the train stopped): RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Railfreight Class 20 '20162' originally known as the English Electric Type 1 model drops off fellow class member Hunslet-Barclay Class 20 '20902' after having shunted nuclear flask FNA wagons around the fictional port area of Hedborough, England in the United Kingdom during a cold Winters evening. First of all, the ThirdRails application revealed that this "fictional" route (Hedborough North) is almost a replica of the real life rail yards and sidings in Immingham located on a branch from the Barton Line currently operated by East Midlands Railway. It appears to be almost identical in track layout to the area aside from a few noticeable differences. Secondly, this scenario was super annoying to complete. It had multiple issues that I had to fix to be able to complete the scenario, one of which only revealed itself at the very end of the scenario so it had to be replayed multiple times until I could complete it having to troubleshoot it along the way, it was mainly issues with coupling instructions. This scenario being included with the Just Trains Class 20 Advanced DLC is wild to me considering I essentially become a playtester for it! Motive Power: British Rail Class 20 / English Electric Type 1 Route: Hedborough North Scenario: JT 20 - Flask Trips Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade For anyone interested in my pure curiosity here is a comparison between this route and the track layout of the area around Immingham: As you can see it is almost identical in many places. The main differences being the line doesn't continue east, instead it heads straight south, the line ends at the siding just south of Immingham East Junction instead of continuing, no rail line continuing north at what is called Killingholme and finally the railway line doesn't continue north of Lindsey Oil Refinery which in the route is both an industrial yard but where "Hedborough North" station is. I wonder what the point of copying a real life track layout and then making it fictional was? Could be the fact it was simply just a fun experiment, to take an existing track layout and make your own version. But in that case, why an area so specific such as Immingham? Now I wonder if the other very old Railworks routes now made free on the workshop such as Castle Rock and Seebergbahn have a real life basis in the countries they are set in (United States of America and Germany respectively I think).
I have a suspicion that in that timeframe creators tried to be realistic but hit walls with licensing and certain realism issues. I didn't realize but Castle Rock is actually real, except buffed to double track and a few additional elements, and same with Ohio Steel which may have been fully exact many years ago but now happens to be buffed, too, pretty much by one track everywhere (removed 0->1, 1->2). One manual calls it proto-fictional. Part of the reasoning might be the development of so much terrain and landmarks, buildings. Fun enough NEC 2011 and NEC 2015 (NJCL) is sun and moon, industrial vs suburban. While Kuju Cajon isn't entirely realistic in terms of terrain and vegetation colours and diversity (it can be rather full of green and flowers), Castle Rock is massively greener than the desert version. Insert hint about global warming and the possibility of Castle Rock actually turning into a desert eventually.
Installment 5 in a multipart chronological pictorial depiction of a faux "heritage" stopping passenger run QuickDrive, from Southampton to Bournemouth, on Dovetail's South Western Main Line: Southampton - Bournemouth. Motive power is Caledonia Works' LSWR 700 class 0-6-0 tendered steam locomotive. It pulls a short rake of LSWR coaches, which, if memory serves, are from GAD's LSWR 6-wheel Carriage Pack 1, sold through CW (but don't quote me). This installment captures us between Totton and Ashurst New Forest. Not far beyond Totton Station: as above: A non-chancemet stranger encountered somewhere between Tooton and Ashurst New Forest: En route to Ashurst New Forest: as above: as above: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
