About (based on modern day as i cant find info about 1970s) The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km). its southern terminus at London King's Cross station and Edinburgh Waverley via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain Rollingstock Class 08 Class 31 Class 47 Class 55 (Deltic) Class 125 (HST) MK 1 Carriges MK 2 Carriges Some first-gen DMU's also ran but I'm not sure what did
On the southern end, pre-electrification most of the suburban services were worked by Class 105 or Class 106 Cravens DMU's - not entirely suited to commuter operation. Peak services also produced Class 31's hauling non corridor Mark One stock, including Widened Lines services to/from Moorgate. Realistically the best we could hope for is a 50 or 60 mile section, but even just Kings Cross (and Moorgate) to Hitchin in 1972 or thereabouts would be a nice experience.
I do think that this era, for me personally, is the most interesting to see the ECML in (except maybe a LNER-era rendition, but the chances of that are low). The combination of rolling stock is just quite nice and varied.
York to Newcastle would be the best segment to make as a 1970's era route, where there's a nice mix of service types (express, stopping and freight), with layering potential using the locos from NTP. It would also be a nice homage to the original route from RailWorks back in the late 2000's (the predecessor to Train Simulator Classic). London King's Cross to Peterborough would be best set in the modern era as it better takes advantage of stock already in-game or under development (i.e. the Class 387 and Class 700, only needing the Class 801 and the Class 717 to flesh out a decent timetable). Peterborough to York is mostly express services with sporadic service patterns (only certain services call at both York and Peterborough, meaning fewer full runs in timetable mode if kept realistic), and Newcastle to Edinburgh is scenic but probably too much on the long side to be produced in a sensible amount of time. Although a Class 55 Deltic and a Valenta HST are must haves at some point, and a 70's ECML is the perfect setting for those two.
Any section of the ECML in the 70s would be perfect. I would obviously prefer it to have my home stretch from Peterborough to Grantham (York) but like I say any section in the 70s would be glorious.
Ditto on the Deltics. A Class 37 in BR blue would be nice to see as well. Perhaps some steam locos like the LNER A3 (Flying Scotsman) and A4 Pacifics (Mallard) could be added as a steam DLC or included in a 1930s-era version of the route.
Or a King’s Cross suburban in the ‘70s featuring the Deltic, Baby Deltic, and Craven — going from Moorgate to Hitchin and including the Widened Lines and Hertford loop and perhaps? The Class 31 & 47 could be layers.
I would love to see this route in any era at this point, although I am personally partial to the IC Swallow era. Any classic BR diesels would be a huge win in my book though.
