One thing I'd love to see is a pack (or packs) of prototype locos which either never made it off the drawing board or limited to just a few prototype locos. Theres a whole list of possible trains which could be really fun to drive APT The original tilting train developed by BR but due to budget and politics never progressed further until privatisation when Virgin Trains ordered the pendo. It was developed for use on the WCML to run at speeds of up to 162mph, and technologically years ahead of its time. LMS/British Rail 10100 - Fell In the running for the most ugly looking diesel train ever to grace the tracks, originally commission by London Midland Scotland railways prior to nationalisation this train hosted no less than SIX diesel engines and ran with a 4-8-4 wheel configuation. It was in service for BR for just 7 years of which it was out of service for over a year, its final demise was due to a fire within in the steam heating boiler. GWR/BR 18000 - Gas turbine Again this was initially ordered by one of the UK's big 4 pre nationalisation railways however due to delays caused by the 2nd world war again didnt enter service prior to the formation of BR. With a top speed of 90mph it ran exclusively on Paddington to west country services. It ended its BR working days just 10 years after introduction due to fuel costs, it was used as test bed for the International Union of Railways before becoming a static display in a research centre in Vienna. Currently owned by the Pete Waterman Trust it has returned to the UK and currently can be found at the Didcot Railway Centre. PRR FF1 - BIG LIZ Built in 1917 as frieght loco for a route which was never electrified across the Allegheny Mountains, Big Liz had 7,640hp from its motors although the converters of the era could only supply power for 4,600hp. It had 2 speed settings (10mph & 21mph depending on the motor poles). It sat unused until 1940 when it was finally cut up for scrape in 1940. Schienenzeppelin - the Rail Zeppelin. Neither a diesel or electric loco, this bad boy ran on petrol which powered 2 6 cyclinder aircraft engines which drove a propeller. Built in 1929 and copied the profile of the popular zeppelin airships which it borrowed its name from. 1931 saw it set the world record for a railway locomotive of 143mph and still holds the land speed record for a petrol powered rail vehicle. It never ran in service due to safety concerns and was cut up in 1939 for materials for the Nazi war machine. Ive just listed my 5 of my favourites here, but theres countless others, so which prototype would you love to drive on TSW?
Germany Deutsche Bahn predecessors Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn DDR DB BR 120 004 Red and Beige Steam locomotives DB 010 DR 18 201 for Dresden Chemnitz Tharandter Rampe. Proper documentation from Deutsche Reichsbahn DDR lists that as Karl Marx Stadt US EMD FT the prototype for The Clinchfield F7 CSX predecessor railroad Technical description is sourced from trains magazine which has a paywall UK Class 140 Pacer the Prototype for all Pacer DMUs Derivative Class 142 144 143 & 145 fit Tees Valley Line
What about the Alco/GE Gas Turbine prototype? That would be amazing for a vintage UP route (Sherman Hill in the 1950s, anyone?)
When it comes to which one i prefere, i would suggest the class 370 apt. It has the tilting. Not sure it has the atp (automatic train protection), but this could be developed also as upgrade for the hst.
Just remember that having one-off or rare locomotives in-game would likely result in fewer possible additions to the timetable, so would result in potentially less gameplay compared to other more common types.
Good point exception might be Class 140 Pacer on Tees Valley Line because the original intention by British Railways was to replace the Ageing Class 101 DMUs. Therefore Class 140 pacer will end up running the whole Tees Valley Line like Class 101 DMU or Class 31 Locomotive with Class 101 DMU
I'd envisage these would more appeal to off the rails and custom scenarios and imaginary timetables rather than additional layers on RL timetables.
In addition to the topic, i want take the opportunity and suggest the "lion", which was the BRC&W answer of the cl.47. Well im kind of happy brush Traction got the contract, but this locomotive was still 1-2 years in service.
Here another APT Project, developed at derby parallel to the HST Prototype. I could well immagine also prototype trains in tsw, just with focus on scenarios and maybe 1 service in time table mode as "test & research" run.
I've seen that before somewhere... Don't tell me... In fact the HST was developed by BREL in a remarkably short time as a response to percieved slow progress on the APT. It was a triumph of course and rather overshadowed the APT project but it was the APT that went on to benefit most if not all high speed rail projects the world over (including the HST) since. A valid concern but, although one-offs, most of these prototypes will still have covered thousands of miles in testing so one should be able to find plenty of opportunities to run them without stretching credulity much.
