Introduction Hi, welcome back to my series "Improving Lineside Industry". I'm going to be looking at various routes in Train Sim World and highlighting what we have, and what we could have, in regard to railways that serve the various industries along them. I find these to be very interesting, and I think maximizing opportunities for players to use them in TSW would greatly enhance our game. I've tried to limit any suggestions to what is just about already within the scope of the route, and might just need some extra modelling of scenery, and perhaps a few new wagons. It must be said that I haven't been a railway fan for very long, and I'm from Australia, so I'd love for you to add your knowledge about these far-flung routes and correct anything I get wrong. I have speculated at times, as information can be hard to come by. (Some of the screenshots here of the in-game map are rather poor-looking as I couldn't do any better with their resolution when zoomed out. Some areas do not have 3D buildings on Google Maps so only some locations will have those images included.) Route In this post, I'll be looking at Great Western Express. I believe the route is set in 2015, so there are unfortunately some differences between what I am looking at and what is realistic for that time period. Here is a map of the route as represented in game, numbered with each location that I will be highlighting. Industries Location 1 Beginning in the west of the route at the branch line in Colnbrook, Total has an unloading facility for trains supplying aviation fuel to Heathrow Airport. Players could bring TEA (more accurately TDA) wagons to the site before running around the train and splitting it in half for discharge. Location 2 Also in Colnbrook is Wilson James' logistics centre, which is served by rail for the purpose of delivering construction materials. Whether it was used during the period in which the route is set is hard to determine. If it was, then players could bring PCA wagons or FKAs with tanktainers of cement for airport construction and shunt them below the overhead cranes. Location 3 Aggregate Industries has a rail-served depot in Colbrook too. Using an unloading pit and conveyor system, they receive various types of aggregates. Players could run trains of HKA wagons over the pit. Location 4 Ashville Aggregates accept trains of aggregates at their compound in Thorney Mill. However, this location appears to have been out of use during the period in which the route is set. In 2014, the former pit and conveyor system belonging to Bardon Aggregates was demolished and the site was only reinstated for Ashville Aggregates around 2019. Location 5 In West Drayton, there is a siding that seems to be used for maintenace of way operations. During the period in which the route is set, it was used to load and unload ballast and track sections for renewal of the mainline. Players could run MFA wagons of ballast and YAA wagons carrying track to and from here.
Location 6 Hanson has an asphalt and aggregates plant in Hayes that receives materials by rail (also by barge). Players could run trains of HKA wagons over the unloading pit and conveyor system, something which requires splitting the train due to space constraints. Location 7 Tarmac also has an asphalt plant in Hayes which takes in aggregates by train. Players can currently shunt HKA wagons over the unloading pit and conveyor system. Location 8 In Brentford, Day Aggregates has a rail spur into their depot. Players could run around the train and shunt consists of HKA wagons over the unloading pit and conveyor system. Location 9 The Brentford Waste Terminal takes household rubbish and loads it into containers for transport to power stations to be burnt for electricity. Players could bring in trains of KFA wagons with empty containers and depart with full loads. Location 10 Aggregate Industries and Yeoman Aggregates share a yard in Acton that completes unloading by both pit and conveyor system and bucket. Players could arrive, shunt and depart with HKA and JNA wagons. Conclusion I hope this was interesting. Please feel free to add to this and let me know what I've got wrong. Thanks for reading! Further References
Yes a billion times to this suggestion which I have made on many previous occasions. As long as the passenger branch lines are also added. A point of note is that.... Brentford used to be a passenger line until around 1939 with freight services going beyond into the old docks. The Colnbrook curve used to serve the passenger lines to Staines West until 1965 and Uxbridge Vine Street until 1962. The line to Bourne End used to reach High Wycombe until around 1970. Both Windsor Central and Henley on Thames used to have much larger stations than can be seen today. Perhaps one day we might get a version of these long gone and removed vintage GW branch lines. There is a fair amount of reference material available to help recreate these lines. Lastly, although not on this route strictly speaking, there used to be a branch line from Denham (Chiltern Mainline) to Uxbridge High Street served by passenger trains until 1939 and freight until the early 1960s.
I think that freight in general is a missed opportunity on all UK routes. Lineside yards have been laid out and then not used... One thing DTG will want to look at first is the AI issue where the AI character is in the wrong cab at certain points on their route, but that should be fixable by determining the "travelling face" of the train rather than using an active cab reference (usually "where is forwards at the end of the scenario") This might also mean that you wouldn't need to split up a delivery into five sections for back and forth moves which IRL would just be "shunt these wagons here, here and here, then drive off"
