(This is an improved version of my previous steam route suggestion of the Southern Railway: London Waterloo - Basingstoke in the 1950/60s for TSW 3.) I am suggesting the first new steam route for TSW 4. The 79 mile section of the Southern Railway from the busiest London Terminus: London Waterloo to Southampton Central in the 1950/60s. The Southern Railway took a key role in expanding the 660 V DC third rail electrified network begun by the London and South Western Railway. As a result of this, and its smaller operating area, its steam locomotive stock was the smallest of the 'Big Four' companies. Locomotives of the Southern Railway: SR V Class (Schools Class) Top Speed: 95 mph (153 km/h) SR King Arthur Class (LSWR N15 Class) Top Speed: 90 mph (145 km/h) SR U Class Top Speed: 70mph (110 km/h) SR Q Class SR 4-6-2 Merchant Navy Class no. 35028 Clan Line 105 mph (167 km/h), now permitted to 75 mph (120 km/h) SR Merchant Navy Class Top Speed: 105 mph (167 km/h) SR West Country and Battle of Britain Top Speed: 90 mph (145 km/h) SR Q1 Neville Top Speed: 75 mph (120 km/h) BR Standard Class 5 SR USA Class Diesel SR Class 4 Sub (possible AI) Operations: The lines inherited in 1923 were divided into three geographical sections: The Western Section (former LSWR routes) included the South West Main Line, the Portsmouth Direct Line, one quarter of the West Coastway Line (between Portsmouth and Southampton) and the West of England Main Line, both serving destinations popular with holidaymakers. It stretched into Devon and Cornwall as the line ran via Exeter, Okehampton and Plymouth, and this circuitous route was known derisively as the Southern Railway's "Withered Arm" because the GWR had a stronger presence in this region. The Central Section (former LB&SCR routes) included the Brighton Main Line (the most profitable and heavily used main line), the East Coastway Line, three-quarters of the West Coastway Line, the Arun Valley Line and the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines. The Eastern Section (former SECR routes) included the South Eastern Main Line, the Chatham Main Line, the Hastings Line, the Kent Coast Line and the North Downs Line. Passenger Operations: Passenger services, especially the intensive London suburban services, constituted the key breadwinner of the Southern Railway. The railway also served Channel ports and a number of attractive coastal destinations which provided the focus for media attention. This meant that the railway operated a number of famous named trains, providing another source of publicity for John Elliot. The Eastern and Central Sections of the network served popular seaside resorts such as Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings and the Channel ports, whilst the Western Section catered for the heavy summer holiday traffic to the West Country resorts. Passenger services on the Southern Railway consisted of luxury Pullman dining trains and normal passenger services, which gave the railway a high total number of carriages at 10,800. Pullmans: Pullman services were the premier trains of the Southern, reflecting the pride felt towards the railway. These luxury services included several boat trains such as the Golden Arrow (London - Paris, translated as Flèche d'Or for the French part of its route), The Cunarder (London - Southampton Ocean Liner service) and the Night Ferry (London - Paris and Brussels), the Brighton Belle on the Central Section, and the Bournemouth Belle and Devon Belle on the Western Section. The Golden Arrow was the best-known train of the Southern Railway, and was introduced on 15 May 1929. The train consisted of Pullmans and luggage vans, linking London Victoria to Dover, with transfer to the French equivalent at Calais. The Brighton Belle, which had its origins in 1881 with the 'Pullman Limited' of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, which renamed the service the 'Southern Belle' in 1908. The train was steam-hauled until 1933 when electric units were introduced after the electrification of the London-Brighton Main Line. On 29 June 1934, the train was renamed the Brighton Belle and continued until withdrawal in 1972. The SECR had introduced a Pullman train called the "Thanet Pullman Limited" from Victoria to Margate in 1921. The service was not a success and ceased to run in 1928. The service was however re-introduced by British Railways as the Thanet Belle in 1948. Freight Operations: Passenger traffic was the main source of revenue for the Southern Railway throughout its existence, although goods were also carried in separate trains. Goods such as milk and cattle from the agricultural areas of the West Country provided a regular source of freight traffic, whilst imports from the south coast ports also required carriage by rail to freight terminals such as the large Bricklayers Arms facility. The railway operated three large marshalling yards for freight on the outskirts of South London, at Feltham, Norwood and Hither Green, where freight could be sorted for onward travel to their final destinations. It also handled a large volume of cross-London freight from these to other yards north of the river via the West London and East London Lines, which were jointly owned by the Southern Railway. As locomotives increased in size so did the length of goods trains, from 40 to as many as 100 four-wheeled wagons, although the gradient of the line and the braking capabilities of the locomotive often limited this. The vacuum brake, which was standard equipment on passenger trains, was gradually fitted to a number of ordinary goods wagons, allowing a number of vacuum "fitted" trains to run faster than 40 mph (64 km/h). While typical goods wagons could carry 8, 10 or (later) 12 tons, the load placed into a wagon could be as little as 1 ton, as the railway was designated as a common carrier that could not choose what goods it could carry. Conclusion: Overall, I think this would be a lovely steam route for TSW 4 because it will allow players to experience the variety of passenger and freight operations of the wonderful Southern Railway and its magnificent steam locomotives of all shapes and sizes. It will also allow players to experience the driving and firing of steam engines from another part of the "Big Four".
Perfect dlc. Would buy this if it does include my local route. Marhsalling yards would be very interesting to implement since we probably need new physics and a way to manually brake the trains. Would be nice to layer it with the current BML route and create a future possibility for the West London Line or Southeastern lines.
I would also like to see some Southern steam. I am not sure about Waterloo though. If you went to Waterloo in the 50s about 80% of the trains would be electric. For Waterloo in that era, I think I would prefer something like Waterloo - Portsmouth with the "slam door" electrics. For a steam-only route it might be better to move a little further west, perhaps Basingstoke - Bournemouth, or Salisbury - Reading via Basingstoke, or Basingstoke to Yeovil. I think Basingstoke to Exeter would be too far. The Schools class did not normally work on this line, they were nearly always used on the Eastern section and seldom seen this far west. The King Arthur class would be a much better choice for this line, and in many ways the King Arthur and Schools are rather similar, so it is probably not worth including both. I am also not sure about your choice of the "U", "Q" and "Q1" classes. For mainline freight it probably should be the S15 or H15, although these classes might be a bit too similar to the King Arthurs. They were, in effect, King Arthurs with smaller wheels. The 4-Sub class were electric, not diesel. You would have seen masses of them at Waterloo in the 50s. I would really like to see the Merchant Navy and West Country classes included. In those days people went to UK seaside resorts for their holidays rather than flying off to Spain. The volume of traffic on a summer Saturday was amazing. The Atlantic Coast Express sometimes ran to three portions, each one hauled by a pacific.
