Just Trains Next Route Predictions

Would love to a Modern day version of Crew to Liverpool Lime Street the one that Featured in Spirit of Steam

 

Exactly, it is quite possible to rebuild the route into a modern version

 

Crewe to Liverpool would be short by JT standards so maybe also Weaver Jn to Preston. Still got to overcome the skip stop 80's timetable though.

 

I’d like the Metropolitan Line into London just because it’s so different, the stock is new and they already have the research from TSC. Nothing from that Chilterns direction line either
But I wouldn’t turn my nose up for Settle to Carlisle or the Woodhead Line in blue either.

 

South-West Trains tops my List ( quite a few members of the Community are asking for it as well) Chiltern Lines, Great Northern Maybe

 

I (rightly) hear lots of calls for Settle to Carlisle, but there is the problem of lack of services in JT's (preferred?) era.
So, how about two timetables, a bit like MAC.
One timetable for the purists, which reflects what happened in 1986, and one for the fantasists which is chock full of all sorts of layers. Just a thought...

 

Yes that could be the hook for many scenic lines, a real timetable and a fantasy one. We see many calls for the West Highland Mallaig extension, but whether set in 1984 or 2024 the service is essentially four trains a day in each direction with a bit more freight to/from Corpach in ‘84. Even something like Middlesbrough to Whitby, which would tag nicely on TVL has some large gaps in the service. So again an enhanced timetable would be needed.

 

There was talk of JT doing a backdated WHL a while back?

 

Yep, looks like they're interested about the Oban-Crianlarich stretch. Very scenic and underrated!
Set it in 1982-83 or so, with those legendary "Rats" ruling the tracks !

 

You mean the old SW Trains like in TSC or the current SW Railway? Now nationalised of course, which should make getting a licence easier. Yes I’d quite like that too. Make Clapham Jct a bit busier.

 

As pretty as the West Highland Line is, it's not something I would enjoy in a sim, and I'm a huge fan of Scottish Railways.
From a sim point of view, single track with so few trains doesn't entice me at all.

As a kid, spent many a summer day at Arrochar & Tarbet station with my Dad and Uncle, having driven up from Dunoon. My dad could happily while away the time between trains, but it used to bore the living daylights out of me.

That experience has stuck with me for many years!

 

May I ask what makes it more complicated from what they already have done?

 

Apparently for such a long route the scenery at the Glasgow end would make a very complex DLC to make without disrupting their annual release cycle. I'm sure there would be plenty of complaints if they did it and priced it at £45-£50 because of the work involved.

 

I go by if the quality is there and for a long route I would 100% buy it.

 

DTG did a decent job of Central and the scenery is not that complex, especially not for the 80s. I did most of the scenery for the MSTS version of Glasgow-Carlisle.

I accept they don't want to do it, but I don't accept the reasoning. However, they're a business and they can do whatever project they want.

 

The more I'm thinking about it, I've been leaning towards GEML from Norwich to Ipswich and because they like to throw in a branchline on their routes, the branchline to Yarmouth is added.

Mid to late 80s so the 86 and Mark 2 stock would be added, a DBSO would be a new build asset.

Plenty of 101s Knocking around then as well, 31s and 47s on Norwich-Birmingham services as well...or set it a little bit later and have a new build 156 operating those services and services to and from Yarmouth.

The 87 could be included as a Railtour.

Plenty of freight as well.

 

While I'd usually endorse any East Anglian suggestion I think your idea is not workable.

*First of all, Norwich to Ipswich is the quietest part of the GEML, back in BR days it was one to two trains per hour with one or two stops along the way. A very sparse timetable back then because there was little commuter traffic up to East Anglia in the 80s. There were fewer early and late services too.
*Very few services would use the mainline and a rural East Anglia branch. By the late 80s holiday specials were a dying breed.
*Adding a branch to Great Yarmouth opens a can of worms as there are two routes there, both very quiet and mostly single track.
*Having the 31s and 47s on cross country services from the midlands to Norwich would only be AI only apart from a couple of services on Summer Saturdays, unless your one branch line is the Breckland line to either Ely or Cambridge. Again, a very sparse timetable.
*The most interesting period in my lifetime was during the electrification work when London to Norwich services would often run via Cambridge and Ely at the weekends. However, this also means there's nothing for a Class 86 to operate north of Ipswich.
*The DBSOs arrived from Scotland and started testing on the GEML in 1990 by which time the 101s were a fairly rare sight.
*In the 80s there was little regular freight north of Haughley Junction which isn't even half of the Ipswich to Norwich section and even less on the rural branch lines.
*The Class 87s only operated two railtours up the GEML (with the more modern DVT) once in 2005 and again in 2022. Well outside the era you're suggesting.

 

I've seen a fair few photos of 87s on freight on the GEML, in the sectorised era, though that is obviously mostly contained to the Southern end of the route. By no means a regular occurrence, but not as rare as I would've expected.

 

I don't think they were taken off WCML duties until well into the Virgin era. So I doubt they would have been about in the sectorised era up to the mid-nineties. I think I mentioned on here a while back that I thought I'd seen one at Colchester in the 2000s on freightliner duties but had struggled to find photographic evidence, I'll have a better look when I get to researching post-privatisation allocations.

I've definitely seen them at Stratford and Ripple Lane on freight workings to Tilbury.

 

Look, they might only have been on the GEML for a matter of minutes through Stratford but it still counts!

But yeah, now you mention it, all the photos I've seen were at Stratford, but I've definitely seen a couple photos, at least, captioned as being on Felixstowe services.

 

I think if it is to be the GEML, they'd put it in the early Anglia Railways/First Great Eastern period so late 90s. That way they'd get away with a sprinkling of 87s on freight, 86s on intercitys with a DBSO and freight and because of that, it would be the London to Ipswich section as that offers a very intense, varied timetable. The 66s would also feature. Not to mention that Anglia also used 150s (including a weekend working to Liverpool Street - I went on it, it was painfully slow) back in the day.

They'd probably include one brand new EMU, a Class 321 makes most sense and could easily be converted to a 320/4 for Scotrail and a 315 (possibly using the 3 car 314 as the base). Then offer an additional EMU later on in the form of the 312 as AP have recordings of its wonderful compressor sounds.

Given that we're talking about one of the busiest sections of track in the UK it seems like a huge project so I'm not feeling optimistic about it happening.