This will probably be a controversial suggestion, but hear me out: Covering the 41 mile segment of the historic Settle and Carlisle Railway between the principal stations of Appleby and Settle, discover the scenic wonders of the northern Pennines with the synonymous Class 158 Express Sprinter. Route Map The Route The route includes notable landmarks such as the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct, Blea Moor Tunnel and Dent station (the highest in England), all picturesquely located in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The Settle and Carlisle Railway being of historic importance for having been threatened closure as late as the 1980's, with local campaign groups successfully preventing its closure. Nowadays the line is a busy tourism hotspot seeing frequent railtours and charter trains. The line also acts as a diversion for when the neighbouring West Coast Main Line is closed, and sees a variety of freight services with numerous sidings and industries along the way. Settle station, the traditional start point of the Settle and Carlisle line. Dent station, the highest in England. Local passenger train service at Ribblehead with a timber freight train in the adjacent sidings. HST railtour exiting Blea Moor Tunnel The Trains Included stock would be the Class 158 in both 2-car and 3-car configurations (with the addition of a non-driving intermediate car). A second item of stock could include the Class 66 (preferably with a different operator, such as Colas) or a historic steam/diesel locomotive for use on railtours. Layers could include many freight and railtour combinations, such as with the Jubilee railtour from West Cornwall Local and the upcoming Flying Scotsman with the new ECML route. The timetable typically sees 1 train every 2 hours operated by Northern Trains, calling at all stops. The journey lasts approximately 55 minutes with a line speed up to 60mph. Services would then continue onto either Carlisle or Leeds. The line is predominantly double track, with a short single track segment crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct, allowing for the possibility of adverse signals. Jubilee Railtour Class 158 Express Sprinter in the current Northern Trains Livery Conclusion Why only Appleby to Settle? Primarily this route is being pitched as a shorter A to B route encompassing the most interesting part of the line. Settle and Appleby are both key stations where the majority of services would call at. Appleby is a common stopping point for steam railtours due to the presence of a working water tower there. Settle is a tourist hotspot where many railtours start and end from. Continuing onto Carlisle and/or Skipton would more than double the route length and journey time, with far fewer places of interest located on these segments. The route itself would be a good place to drive a variety of train types with some stunning scenery and challenging (but not painful) gradients, with service durations that are modest (45 minutes to an hour) but not exhaustive. L - Licensing (Northern Trains) already in-game. A - Anticipation with the inclusion of another place to use the fantastic Class 158. M - Mix of service types and stopping patterns and plenty of potential layers. P - Prominence from the notoriety and historical significance of the route. My only concerns would be the perception of us not getting the full route, which for those who support my argument above may still approve. It would be most similar to the reasoning behind Peak Forest; a shorter route containing the core segment, allowing it to be fitted into the development budget. Ribblehead Viaduct Please feel free to share your thoughts below.
I think the route would definitely benefit going the full length into Carlisle. Could also squeeze in the Pacer in the old Northern livery for a more varied run
Accident idea overall and if I were you go all the way to Carlisle just like the train simulator classic version did pretty much this was a requested train simulator Classic route that must be made for TSW4. Look at the Vorarlberg Bahn that originally started in train simulator classic as the three Country Corner route
It would be great in the steam era as well, but do we really need a third LMS region steam route? Some of the other big four could do with some attention IMO.
The Pacer would be good. It always amused me when seeing all the tourists try and squeeze onto a Pacer at Carlisle for the 2 hour trip to Settle
I'd love to see this route in Train Sim World! I feel it'd be a big ask for the whole of Leeds-Carlisle route through Skipton, Settle and all the way up to Carlisle that way. This route operates the Class 158's.
Absolutely brilliant suggestion! I agree with keeping the route to the shorter Settle to Appleby section as the route would be very boring if it was the full thing. This route would make a lot of sense and would allow some amazing scenery to be portrayed in game.
It would be fantastic to do the full journey, but realistically most people wouldn't do the full 3 hour journey in one sitting (at least not frequently). The southern section of the route as part of the Airedale line from Skipton to Leeds would be a good alternative however, with the Class 158 and the Class 333
Exactly why I chose this section, it's the most interesting part of the line and the bit I most look forward to when driving it on the TSC version. It's just a nice laid back rural route with a good choice of stock, like the train sim version of a Sunday afternoon drive in the car!
