This suggestion is for a "Valleys Lines" DLC, specifically the lines from Cardiff Central via Pontypridd to Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and Treherbert Although the lines up into the Valleys may seem to be "a bit sleepy" Radyr sees 16 trains an hour throughout the day, rising to over 20 in the peaks. With routes starting at all three terminating ends, and "off route" destinations including Penarth, Barry Island and Bridgend as well as the depot at Cardiff Canton I think the route would offer a decent amount of variety as well as some "scalability" with the possibility of adding in former trains on the line The entire system comes in at bang on 50 miles, so well within the limitations of the game CARDIFF CENTRAL Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and is a hub for rail transport across the South of the country. On the South Wales mainline the station has 8 platforms from 0 to 8, but strangely is missing a platform 5... Essentially in two parts the "mainline" section of the station is from platform 0 to 6 with 7 & 8 being the main "Valley lines" platforms leading to and from the ramp which goes up to Queen Street. The western end of the station butts onto the bridge over the river Taff, and just to the South of the station is the famous "Brains brewery", in fact if the wind blows right the smell of hops and brewing infests the city. With the Millennium stadium about 100 meters away there's plenty to see from this century old station West of Cardiff Central is Canton Depot. Opened in 1882 this depot has acted as home depot for the South Wales fleet including steam, diesels and most recently electrics. There used to be a footbridge leading from the city over to the depot which was a favourite of the train spotter, but this closed in the early 2000s In game the depot would be used to stable the DMUs with the short drive from Cardiff Central being included in timetable CARDIFF QUEEN STREET Queen Street is a station at the Eastern end of Cardiff city centre and is raised above street level. With 5 platforms this busy central station sees trains from all over the city including the Bay shuttle. For several decades this station saw mainly the "nodding donkey" class 143 pacers as a regular visitor RADYR Radyr is a small town just to the North of Cardiff and once was a major junction station between the industrial areas of the Valleys and the docks at Penarth. Now the station has 3 lines with the junction to East and West just South of the station. Radyr completes the "City Loop" with trains either heading to Queen Street to the West or via Fairwater and Ninian Park to the West PONTYPRIDD Pontypridd acts as the gateway to the valleys and the station sweeps round a curve at the south of the town. Previously a much grander area this town was badly hit by the end of mining in the area and now only three platforms remain in use Treherbert line The Treherbert line goes from Pontypridd to Terherbert calling at several stations probably very hard to pronounce unless you're local including : Dinas Rhondda, Tonypandy, Llwynypia, Treochy and Ynyswen. Treherbert station itself is a single platform dead end Aberdare and Merthyr The line up through the valleys has stunning scenery with victorian cottages dotted along the line as well as views over the valleys in general. Whilst not necessarily "bustling with life" the valleys offer green rolling hills and deep valleys in every direction ROLLING STOCK If set in the 2020s Class 150/2 in Arriva Wales blue green (debranded) and Transport for Wales white & red would form the bulk of the valleys services, with the class 769 which is a converted class 319 to run under diesel power (in TfW white & red) The class 66 could undertake some works trains, or even a sightseeing railtour! POSSIBLE DLC If you go back not too far you get to a time of the Class 143 pacer. These trains ran the bulk of the services up the valley lines, with several liveries including "GWR dynamic lines", "Arriva blue and green", "Regional Railways grey and blue" or (my personal favourite) the Valley lines green livery... Going back even further you could do this as a steam line! https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/railways-south-wales-history
Good suggestion. Modern(ish) era probably best as the lines have been considerably rationalised with the closure of coal mines etc. and much simpler to put together. Downside though unless you include the Rhymney Line and the branch to Cwmbargoed, not much scope for freight.
Yeah, that is a downside, but then DTG have stated that the UK freight scene isn't what's being asked for and the last few releases seem to have gone out of their way to make sure freight isn't that represented (thinking BML with an actually interesting move that's been left out at Haywards Heath)
Probably one of the few Welsh routes that will feel complete without it being exceptionally long. The short branch to Cardiff Bay would be an easy addition as well. Some layers for the GWR Class 166 and HST at Cardiff Central would be nice also, even if not totally accurate when running alongside TfW branded trains.
Good suggestion and why not add a Stadler FLIRT Class 231 DEMU has a downloadable content train that way you have the correct 2022 to 2023 schedule for the route. Also Class 230 DMU