Sprinter (and Desiro) – I’m a Winner! HEALTH AND SAFETY WARNING: Lots of diesel traction - and fumes! Liverpool to Manchester a la Sprinter with Desiro garnish, a spiritual successor to WonterRail’s suggestion made back in October 2023 and EastMidlandsfan's September 2024 suggestion featuring the likes of Northern, EMT/EMR and TPE (!), along with re-runs of the Fifteen Guinea Special… Please welcome the former Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC), or Southern Direct line suggestion! Set in any time from the 2022/2023 to the current 2024/2025 timetables. Route A good 35 miles end to end. Featuring both local stopping and express DMU services along with railtours and reruns of the Fifteen Guinea Special. Stations Termini: TOP-BOTTOM Liverpool Lime Street, Warrington Central (some Northern services start and end here) and Manchester stations (Oxford Road, Piccadilly) TMDs: Allerton (stabling) Cargo terminus: Trafford Park Euroterminal Full station list: Manchester Piccadilly - MAN Manchester Oxford Road - MCO Deansgate – DGT Manchester United Football Ground (suspended since 2018/2019) - MUF Trafford Park – TRA Trafford Park Euroterminal - intermodal freight only Humphrey Park - HUP Urmston - URM Chassen Road - CSR Flixton - FLI Irlam - IRL Glazebrook - GLZ Birchwood - BWD Padgate - PDG Warrington Central -WAC Warrington West - WAW Sankey for Penketh - SNK Widnes - WID Hough Green - HGN Halewood - HED Hunts Cross - HNX Liverpool South Parkway - LPY West Allerton - WSA Mossley Hill - MSH Edge Hill - EDG Liverpool Lime Street - LIV The Cast – rolling stock new with the DLC Class 150/0 (units 150001 and 150002 at least, possibly 150003-150008 too) – Northern 150003 and 150008 being two 150/1 DMS and DMSL units with a 150/2 unit sandwiched between… Class 150/1 – Northern Livery options: 150105 ‘Bernie-Hutchie’ in debranded LNWR livery 150136 The Great North Rail Project Class 156, Washwood Heath’s Super Sprinter – Northern Livery options: Debranded EMR/EMT livery -> https://www.flickr.com/photos/aswans1234567/52036288205 156480 ‘Royal Air Force 100’ P.S. To DTG and/or any interested third-party (JT – wink wink!) developer keen on working with “mod-conned” BREL/Metro-Cammell Sprinters: a sincere request to develop a working iteration of TrainFX for this DLC on behalf of all members of the Sprinter [Run] Club… Class 185, Diesel Desiro – TransPennine Express Supporting Cast – playable layers LMS 8F and Jubilee (standing in for the LMS Black Five) on the Fifteen Guinea Special reruns - [a stopgap] catering for all the loyal steam enthusiasts on the forums! Class 37 – ECS/Thunderbird duties and RHTT (?) Class 47 – 47484, WSR BR Green examples and others on railtour services Class 66 – intermodal services out of Trafford Park Euroterminal, RHTT Class 150/2 – TfW and Northern liveries Class 153 – Dogboxes visiting Manchester Class 158 – EMT/EMR, Northern and TfW liveries – various services Supporting Cast – AI Class 313 – "Merseyrail’s Class 507s and 508s" at Liverpool South Parkway and Hunts Cross Class 323 – in and around Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street Class 350 – LNWR services out of Liverpool Lime Street Class 390 – In and around Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street Services – patterns and frequencies Northern: Liverpool Lime Street <=> Warrington Central 2tph Liverpool Lime Street <=> Manchester Oxford Road 1tph TransPennine Express: Liverpool Lime Street <=> Cleethorpes 1tph (driveable to Manchester Piccadilly) EMT/EMR: Liverpool Lime Street <=> Norwich 1tph (driveable to Manchester Piccadilly) Cargo Various intermodal services throughout the day, taking advantage of Skyhook Games' Cargo Line Vol. 3 Intermodal Pack Railtours and RHTT Fifteen Guinea Special reruns Assorted railtours – any contributions from fellow drivers helpful! RHTT with Class 37s and 66s. For those who like ECS runs to and from the local TMD: Allerton, just a stone’s throw away from Liverpool South Parkway. Scenario Ideas Bog Standard: Manchester Oxford Road to Liverpool Lime Street and back, all stops. Home Straight: Your otherwise quiet Sunday night shift is nearly over. Take control of the last Liverpool Lime Street-Warrington Central service of the day, and then proceed as an ECS back to Allerton TMD. Six Engines: As a spare driver you find yourself relieving a late-running Cleethorpes-Liverpool Lime Street service at Piccadilly Platform 14 to prevent another crew shortage-related service cancellation. Use all 6 engines to make up for lost time! TransPennine Local: Your routine Liverpool Lime Street-Cleethorpes trip is interrupted by an urgent call to make some unscheduled stops to pick up stranded passengers of two failed services at different points along the line. Thunderbird is Go: A Class 150/0 has suffered a gearbox fault and is stranded between Warrington West and Sankey for Penketh. Depart from Allerton in a spare Class 156 and drag it back for some much-needed TLC. You are our only hope, driver – keep the line clear! United Again: TfGM, Manchester United and Northern are considering whether match day services between Old Trafford and Piccadilly could be relaunched. Starting with a 150/1 from Manchester Piccadilly Platform 13, stop at Manchester Oxford Road and Deansgate to pick up the survey team on your way to Manchester United Football Ground. Drive back to Manchester Oxford Road, stopping at Platform 5 where it couples to a waiting Class 156 in time for the evening rush hour. Fifteen Guinea Sixty: The first rehearsal for the 2028 Fifteen Guinea Special re-run is today. Your turn in the driver’s seat for a double-headed run consisting of a LMS 8F and Jubilee. Haul a (fortunately) empty rake of Mark 1 coaches from Liverpool Lime Street to Deansgate, where another driver will take over. Collectible tasks Northern logos: rebrand the debranded station signs! Timetable stocking: paper timetables are back, but not for long! Eccles cake: feeling peckish? Public consultation notices: up to you to decide if Oxford Road gets a revamp! OR Bee Network posters: the dawn of a new era of transport for Greater Manchester! News flash! TL; DR L’pool Lime Street – M’cr Oxford Rd/Picc with 25 stations and one TMD; NT 150/0, 150/1 and 156 with 158 guest appearance, EM 158, TP 185; stopping, local and ECS pick & mix
Nice suggestion, even though the route runs in a circle from what i can see on the map, hope it come to tsw5!
Re collectible 1 - if LNWR branding ever makes it back into the game, DTG could make it a collectible and we have to go around the stations adding it back to signs etc. haha
The "circle" impression does come from the fact that the Northern and Southern Lines join together at Edge Hill as well as the Ordsall Chord in Manchester. In reality though, services from Manchester Victoria running on the Southern Direct Line would have to reverse at Deansgate or Manchester Oxford Road in order to continue towards Liverpool!
For this route suggestion, Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool South Parkway and Mossley Hill are served by LNWR Class 350s so that could be an option!
