G'day everyone. I don't see many Australian route suggestions here, so thought I'd add one. I know it is currently highly unlikely for an Australian route to be made, but can't hurt to discuss at least. The Aussie suggestions I have seen tend to be in busier areas (both scenically and operationally), so I thought I'd take things in a different direction by suggesting the NSW Main South, specifically the section between Junee and Albury, set in the 1990's. The Main South is NSW's portion of the Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor, connecting the 2 largest cities in the country. The town of Junee lies 485km from Sydney, and is the end of the double track main. The line continues south as a single-track main until it reaches Albury on the NSW/VIC border, 642km from Sydney. This would give an in-game route length of around 160km (100mi). The line goes through farming areas with generally gentle rolling hills, and mainly small towns with the exception of Wagga Wagga and Albury. By setting the route in the 1990's, it would allow for a minimum number of train types to make the route playable, while allowing future expansion of train types as well. These would also be appropriate for most of the Australian standard gauge network, certainly the NSW portion. The line was also still using semaphore signals in this era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Southern_railway_line,_New_South_Wales Curve and gradient information can be found here: https://extranet.artc.com.au/docs/eng/network-config/cd/S00.pdf Track diagram and signal locations can be found here (note these show the current arrangements, not the 1990s arrangements): https://www.artc.com.au/uploads/OGW-30-29_NIB_diagrams.pdf https://www.artc.com.au/uploads/OGW-30-30_NIB_Diagrams.pdf Route Highlights Spoiler Junee Spoiler Junee is home to a sizeable railway station and yard, along with the largest roundhouse in the Southern Hemisphere. The line comes in from the North (from Sydney) as double track, and continues South as single track (towards Melbourne). There is also a junction here, with a single-track branch line towards Griffith. It would be possible to include the branch line as far as the Junee Subterminal to allow grain loading operations. Harefield Spoiler Harefield is the location of both a passing siding and grain loading siding. In the modern era, the daytime XPT passenger services are scheduled to cross paths here. I'm not sure if any trains were scheduled to cross here in the 1990's, but with a single track main it was certain to happen. It is also worth noting the long, straight approaches here, and the 160km/h (100mph) speed limit for the XPT. Shepherds Siding Spoiler Shepherds Siding is a small grain siding. I don't think it has seen regular use this century, I'm not sure if it was used in the 1990's. I have seen track machines (MOW equipment) parked there. Bomen Spoiler Bomen is a northern suburb of Wagga Wagga, and features a siding as well as a couple of industries. I don't know the dates of operations on all of these so that would need checking, but there was/is fuel industry (which had a dedicated unit train), concrete sleeper factory, and hardstand for container loading/unloading. There are also other industries in the area, but I don't know if these were ever rail served. Wagga Wagga Spoiler Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in NSW. Between Bomen and here, the railway uses a series of viaducts to cross over flood plains, the Murrumbidgee River, and some busier roads in Wagga Wagga itself. The Tumburumba branch used to come off here (closed 1974), and there is an out of use yard. In addition to the station, there is also a passing siding (the station is located on the siding track). Uranquinty Spoiler Uranquinty is the next town heading South. There is a station here (closed 1984), and passing siding. The XPT can again do 160km/h through here. The Rock Spoiler The Rock is the following town. It features a somewhat unique offset siding arrangement, with one siding used for passing trains and the other for loading grain trains. There is another branch line here to Oaklands, which is still active as far as Boree Creek. I would suggest including the branch as far as The Rock ABA Terminal, a second grain loading location which is on the branch's main track - there is no siding. Due to the proximity of road crossings, trains need to be broken up when loading here. It is also worth pointing out the high-speed approaches to the station here at The Rock - the XPT approaches from both sides at 160km/h, and braking starts before the town is even in view. Yerong Creek Spoiler Yerong Creek is a small town with a passing siding and grain loading facility. The station here closed in 1984. Henty Spoiler Henty has a passing siding ,active station (that is located on the siding track), and separate grain loading facility. The town is where the combine harvester was invented, and there is a small museum celebrating this located not far from the station. The town also hosts the Henty Machinery Field Days, a large farming expo. Culcairn Spoiler Culcairn is the last active station before Albury. And like the other towns, there is another passing siding and grain loading facility here. 2 branch lines came off the main here, one to Corowa (closed 1988), and the other to Holbrook (closed 1987). Gerogery Spoiler Gerogery is the next passing siding. The station here closed in 1984. The XPT set the (then) Australian railway speed record just south of here in 1992, reaching a speed of 193km/h on a test run. Ettamogah Spoiler Ettamogah is located just North of Albury, and is the site of a paper mill. Today only the hardstand is used, with paper being loaded in containers. The tracks heading towards the mill are often used for storage. I don't know if the mill was still rail served in the 1990's, or had already began being road served. Albury Spoiler Albury is a small city, and is where the change of gauge occurred. It has a large station, long 340m platform, and a sizeable yard. Before 2008, the back platform (for terminating Victorian trains) was still broad gauge. The line continued south into Victoria (towards Melbourne) as 2 separate single-track mains, 1 standard gauge and 1 broad gauge. In 2008, the broad gauge was converted to standard, and now operates as a bi-directional double track main, but this is beyond the scope of this route proposal. Rolling Stock Spoiler I have tried to trim this list as much as possible, keeping the bare minimum needed to represent the trains that would typically be seen on the route. Other trains could be added as future DLC's. By keeping the era to post-1994, the only passenger train needed is the XPT. Before this, many different carriage types were used and it would vastly increase the complexity and effort needed to show all these. Similarly, I have only shown the bare minimum number of different freight wagons needed. In reality there are many different types all mixed and matched together. Trainset - XPT Spoiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_XPT The XPT (eXpress Passenger Train) was introduced in 1982. It's power cars are based of the British HST, but are shorter (no luggage compartment) and feature different gearing to allow them to climb Australia's steeper grades. The carriages are based of Amfleet cars, but are a complete ground-up design. These trains operate of speeds up to 160km/h in service. On this route they started being used on the Riverina Experss (Sydney-Albury) in 1982. In 1993, after the introduction of XPT sleeping cars, they began use on the overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne (replacing the Sydney/Melbourne Express, previously Southern Aurora). In 1994 the daytime train was extended through to Melbourne instead of terminating at Albury. Locomotive - 81 Class Spoiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_81_class_locomotive The 81 Class is essentially the NSW equivalent of an SD40-2. They were used on both freight and loco-hauled passenger trains, and are still in use today. If the route was to be limited to having only 1 locomotive, then I think this should be it. Locomotive - NR Class Spoiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rail_NR_class The NR Class is equivalent to a Dash 9. On this route they are almost exclusively used on intermodal services, but in other areas around the country they can be used for hauling passenger trains (e.g. the Indian Pacific). As more of these entered service, they eventually displaced the 81 Class from intermodal work. They were and still are a very common site both on this route and across Australia, so I think they would make a good choice for a second locomotive. Wagon - NGPF Wheat Hopper Spoiler https://www.auscisionmodels.com.au/NGPF Grain Hopper.htm Introduced in 1977, these became the standard modern wheat hopper used across NSW, and are still in use today. Wagon - NTAF Fuel Tanker Spoiler https://www.sdsmodels.com.au/rtcweb.htm I don't know much about these, but they were used up until the fuel trains stopped running in 2009. Wagon - RQMY Container Flat & RCJY Coil Wagon Spoiler http://www.nswgoodsrollingstock.com/RCJY.htm These wagons are used in steel service. They are essentially the same wagon, just with different loads. The RQMY carries "butter box" containers, while the RCJY carries uncovered jumbo steel coils. Wagon - RQJW 80ft Intermodal Spoiler http://www.nswgoodsrollingstock.com/NQJW.htm As mentioned above, I am trying to keep this list as short as possible. A variety of different wagons could've taken this spot for use in intermodal service - from 60ft single unit wagons, to various articulated wagons. I chose the RQJW due to it's ability to haul 2x 40ft hi-cube containers per wagon. This means a lengthy intermodal train can be created using these, without needing a large number of wagons in the train. Services Spoiler The route would see 2x passenger trains each-way per day - a day XPT and overnight XPT. These typically consist of 2 power cars (1 on each end) and 5 carriages, but can have up to 7 carriages. I believe a test was run once with 8 carriages, but this wasn't in regular service. These trains operate at up to 160km/h (100mph) on this route. Superfreighter intermodals would be powered by combinations of 81 Class and NR Class locomotives, usually having 3 locos. Train lengths are typically 1500m, but can stretch up to 1800m. These trains would run through the route without doing any "work". Other shorter intermodal trains would have 2 locomotives, be around 900m to 1200m long typically (but up to 1500m), and would shunt at Ettamogah and/or Bomen. I am guessing, but I think there would be around 5 intermodal trains each direction per day. The intermodal trains run at a speed of 115km/h (70mph), unless there are specific wagons in the consist preventing this. The steel train operates once per day in each direction, loaded southbound and empty northbound. I'm not sure what locomotives it ran with in the 1990's, but in the 2000's I remember seeing it with 2x NR Class usually. It carries a mix of steel coils (both open and in butter box containers), steel plates, and clinker. I haven't specified a wagon capable of representing the carrying of steel plates, but NGPF grain wagons could stand in for the clinker wagons. This is another through service, and is typically a heavier and shorter train compared to the intermodal trains. The steel train is limited to 80km/h (50mph). The fuel train ran daily (I think), but only went as far South as Bomen. It was typically powered by 1x or 2x 81 Class locos. I don't know much about it in terms of train lengths etc. Operations would include shunting the loaded fuel tankers into the sidings at Bomen, and pulling out the empty tankers before returning North. I think it was also limited to 80km/h (50mph). Finally are the grain trains. These run as ad-hoc services and can have many trips per day during grain season (Spring to Summer), and some still run in the off season. The standard grain train consists of 2x 81 Class locos, and 39x NGPF grain hoppers. They run as shuttles to the Newcastle/Sydney/Wollongong area, loaded northbound and empty southbound. Operations include loading at the different locations in the route, running engines around the train to change direction, and potentially splitting the train up to fit into the different locations. Again, they are limited to 80km/h (50mph).
