Hi, I have wanted to see a septa route for years and I think it would be a major hit with us players. Septa is the Philadelphia transit operator and operates 450 route miles of Commuter (Regional) rail. This system is split into two divisions, the former Pennsylvania lines branching out westbound from suburban station, and the former Reading division branching out eastbound and north from suburban station. For the sake of practicality you would originally model the reading division. The reading division is composed of six lines the, west Trenton, warminster, Lansdale/Doylestown, fox chase, Norristown, and Chestnut Hill East line. Running for a combined total route miles of 137.34. this system features a central main line between suburban and north broad station. Then the Norristown line brakes off, the line then continues to Wayne junction where the chestnut hill east line splits off. The fox chase line splits off at N. 10th St, the remaining lines run combined through Fern rock Stn, Melrose Park Stn, Elkins Park Stn, And Jenkinstown-Wyncote. The West Trenton line splits here. The remaining two run to Glenside and then split. You may be wondering what makes this system special. Well it has a very frequent schedule in the combined sections, features a wide range of scenery spanning from urban viaducts, to semi-rural running, and everything in-between. It features csx traffic on the west Trenton and fox chase lines, local and express running, a s-bahn style tunnel, and 2 very unique pieces of equipment. This route would feature the ge silverliner IV, and the Hyundai Rotem Silverliner V. The silverliner IV dated back to 1974 and are superbly reliable. They are close relatives of the arrow III and share a body sheel with minor modifications. The Silverliner V is a modern Emu unique to Philly and Denver. All equipment comes in both single car units and married pairs. They are powered by 25 Hz ac overhead lines. I hope this overview convinces you that this excellent example of modern northeast commuter rail is perfect for train sim. It features unique lines, unique equipment, challenging running, and a unique feel to the area is just begging to be brought to the game.
