Living downunder I have always sort of hoped for some Aussie content and have thought about posting here in the past, but the release of TSW3 has prompted me to finally make a post given some new precedents it establishes; 1. The length of the Schnellfahrstrecke Kassel-Wurzburg route at 186km has established a foundation for longer, more 'full' feeling routes, such as a potential Sydney-Newcastle route. 2. The extension and upgrade of the Southeastern High Speed route has established the idea that the studio may look at past and future routes and make substantial upgrades and extensions to flesh out said routes, such as what has been done to the Southeastern route. Sydney to Newcastle, and the way it is interconnected with the remainder of the Sydney Trains and NSW Trainlink networks also has this potential. With that being said, I feel it is about to time to get the route itself and why I beleive it would be a good cantidate for a potential route in TSW. The line from Central Sydney Terminal to Newcastle interchange stretches 165.6 km (within the new potential for route lengths set by Kassel-Wurzburg) and is the entirity of the electrified network north of Sydney in the state. In actual operation, the line only sees 2 EMU sets running passenger services (with some diesel sets used for long distance regional operation) as well as a mix of freight operations. The 2 EMU types in question are OSCAR (Outer Suburban Car, entered service 2006) 'H' Sets and the older 'V' set type train (entered service 1970), which within the realm of TSW, would create a good juxtaposition of train technology. Similar to the relationship of the M3 and M7 for the MNR and LIRR, the two sets would allow players to experience Australian train design and the extent of technological development in the railways. The actual line passes through changing, and beautiful scenery, initially running from busy Central Terminal, through the Sydney Suburbs and out into the Central Coast region. Leaving Sydney, trains descend Cowan Bank, a challenge for drivers of freight trains (climbing and descending) and for players if freight is added. The line then crosses the Hawkesbury River Rail Bridge and snakes allong Mullet creek through Wondabyne (the only railway station in Australia with no road access) before charging onto the more commuter like area between Woy Woy and Wyong. Heading north from Wyong EMU trains reach speeds of 115 kph as they make their way to Newcastle, passing many small communities, power stations and mines. In service, the EMU trains make multiple runs per hour being either express or limited stops with express services mostly being taken by the V set trains, as the trains are longer than many platforms, the V set trains lack the door selection the H sets have. It is important to note that neither train has door controls accesable to the driver, which brings another point to light. The route and its trains would be an experiement with player controlled Gaurds (other countries call them conductors) who controll the door operation whilst an AI would drive the service. This role would allow players to experience a true train crewing model for the trains and allow players to test themselves in harsh weather, and knowledge of the gaurds indicators and other tools used to allow the Driver and Gaurd to run services. The second precedent I previously outlined would be important to this route, due to its afformentioned interconnectedness with other lines in the region. Whilst the baseline long distance EMUs and typical running destinations could be included, other extensions and EMUs can be added to make the route feel more 'real'. Waratah type A set EMUs could be added and run the Sydney suburban services, stopping at platform the H and V sets would fly by on their long distance runs. Locations such as Hornsby, Eveleigh and Flemington Maintenance centers could be added to allow players to prepare empty trains and run empty services (or pre passenger pickup) services on the line. Freight services between the Ports in Newcastle and the yards in Sydney could also be run using locomotives such as the C44aci or GT46ace (newest and mostoften the most abundant locomotive types), on that note also, runs to maintenance centers such as those at Cardiff and Broadmedow could be run. (Waratah A set trains often make runs between Sydney and Cardiff for maintenance as well on empty runs). I could speak about this for a long time, so Ill cut myself off here shortly, I know I haven't included every neccesary detail but I will end noting that I beleive the route from Sydney to Newcastle, one of the busiest in the country would be a fantastic introduction to Australian rail simulation, showcasing examples of Australian built trains on one of the most interesting interurban lines in the country. I encourage people to look at these links and other associated pages to find out more about the line and its operation, as well as taking a look on google maps (satelite mode) to see some of the locations I have spoken about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Coast_&_Newcastle_Line https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.3860288,151.3217312,9.31z https://nswtrains.fandom.com/wiki/NSW_TrainLink_H_Set https://nswtrains.fandom.com/wiki/NSW_TrainLink_V_Set https://nswtrains.fandom.com/wiki/Sydney_Trains_A_and_B_Sets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wondabyne_railway_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkesbury_River_railway_bridge (There is a high speed version of this video on this channel)
Well documented, and must agree whole heartedly its about time they stepped out past the Euro and USA base line and explored further horizons. This would be such a boost for the community to expand on the many other sceneries of railsim.
How about the D Set as DLC and the OHLE on the route dates back from 1927-1984 with Berowra Gosford January 1960 3 April 1982 Gosford Wyong this is written on a Mug/Newspaper June 1984 Wyong Newcastle. Spoiler: V Set Unique feature Passengers can stand behind the Driver Cab I did that on DKM 8143 1989 built V set Western Line Granville to Paramatta September 2002
I will note with regard to the D set type trains, since their operating model is pending, I have not mentioned it as simulating it will be impossible until we know how it will run with its train crew and physical drivers/gaurds control setups.
