Deutsche Bahn Class 406 '406 460-2' and '406 460-1' on the rear form up a single ICE 3M set consisting of 8 coaches beginning at Augsburg Hbf in Bavaria, Germany during a terribly stormy night in Autumn. The train is headed southeast operating an express passenger service bound for München Hbf stopping only once in between at München-Pasing after having traveled 61 kilometres over the Munich-Augsburg Railway (München-Augsburger Eisenbahn in German) during the terrible weather. Motive Power: ICE 3M Route: Munich-Augsburg Scenario: Storming into Munich Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Armstrong Powerhouse Track Enhancement Pack + Train Sim Community AP Track EP Updated Textures, ReShade
and the coal yard into a colliery on the western branch plus a typical "re-instated" log loading facility (on the eastern branch)
Third/final installment in a three-installment series chronologically documenting a stopping passenger heritage run from Sittingbourne to Sheerness-on-Sea. The route is Chatham Main Line - London Victoria to Dover + Ramsgate. Motive power is supplied by a Victory Works A1X Terrier, seen in the appropriate SECR Green, acquired from Steam Sounds Supreme, not Dovetail/Steam. To it is added Golden Age Developments' "VW Terrier Enhancement Pack", which "corrects colors (both locos and coach stock), adds specular highlights and improves texture look". Coaches, if memory serves, are freeware from Wayside Works. This installment sees us at Queenborugh and Sheerness. Queenborough halt: En route to Sheerness-on-Sea: (as above) (as above) Driver-side cab lean-out: Approaching Sheerness Station. I believe there was once a third track between the two visible tracks, with appropriate turnouts allowing locos to "run around" trains in preparation for the return to Sittingbourne. Failing to capture an image of the train stopped here, this concludes the series. RWE2 (gimped), APS&W2+Clouds+Veggies THE END
NJ Transit EMD F40PH-2CAT '4126' operates a 3 coach long train consisting of 2 NJ Transit Alstom Comet IV coaches and 1 NJ Transit Alstom Comet V Cab Car on a northbound North Jersey Coast Line service originating from Bayhead, New Jersey in the United States of America. The train is seen picking up and dropping off passengers at Woodbridge on the northern end of the line during the morning rush hour period and afterwards sets off for a 21 mile journey to Hoboken Terminal. Soon after Woodbridge the train joins the Northeast Corridor for a stop at Rahway and afterwards Newark Penn before continuing nonstop to Hoboken Terminal during a lovely Summers morning. Motive Power: EMD F40PH-2CAT, Alstom Comet V Cab Car Route: North Jersey Coast Line Scenario: [F40PH-2CAT] 1. To Catch a Ferry Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Train Sim Community Headlight mod, ReShade
DR98008 surveying track on a very wintry day, just outside of Five Ways on the Birmingham Cross City route.
Southeastern Class 395 '395020' forms a 6 coach long single set passenger train beginning at St Pancras International, England in the United Kingdom during a late Winter evening. The train was originally due for Faversham however due to an oncoming snowstorm the service had to be terminated early at Gillingham after a 35 mile journey along High Speed 1, the North Kent Line and the Chatham Main Line once approaching Gillingham. The train made 7 passenger stops along the way at Stratford International and Ebbsfleet International on High Speed 1, Gravesend and Strood on the North Kent Line and finally Rochester and Chatham on the Chatham Main Line before making its final stop at Gillingham and pulling into the nearby depot sidings. Motive Power: British Rail Class 395 Route: London-Faversham High Speed Scenario: Frost Fall Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Armstrong Powerhouse Track Enhancement Pack + Train Sim Community AP Track EP Updated Textures, Armstrong Powerhouse Vegetation Enhancement Pack, Armstrong Powerhouse Signal Enhancement Pack, ReShade
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway EMD GP35 '3453' arrives westbound into the sidings at East Flagstaff, Arizona in the United States of America on the Southern Transcon with a manifest freight train of 14 wagons with a caboose on the rear for shunting around the local area. After performing shunting work in East Flagstaff the train heads further west into Flagstaff for more shunting in the local industrial sidings before terminating in the main yard of Flagstaff itself during a Summers afternoon in 1970 with a locally assembled train of tanker and hopper wagons. Motive Power: EMD GP35 Route: Arizona Divide: Winslow - Williams Scenario: [AT&SF 1.08] East Flagstaff Switching Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade
ÖBB 1189 Krokodil pulling some Silberlinge on Karwendelbahn (Mittenwaldbahn Revamp) Garmisch Ski jump
Class 37 about to couple to its train at Glenfinnan: Wintersday on Köln-Koblenz: Two GP9s at the head of some very underpowered Soldier Summit freight: Long distance train over Donner Pass: Autumn vibes at higher elevation: Glad to have upped my light levels since.
What is now a blast from the past. In the late-1990s the NRM's preserved Gresley V2 class, no.60800 'Green Arrow' was a regular performer over the S&C line on excursions. Nowadays sadly stuffed-and-mounted due to a fractured (and, unfortunately, unique) monobloc cylinder casting, the loco is seen doing what V2s did best; lifting several hundred tonnes over long and arduous gradients. Nominally a Class 6 locomotive, in practice locomen considered them almost equal to an A3 Pacific (Class 8) at all but the highest of speeds for pulling power and free-steaming capability. Roaring through Settle... Clanking across Ribblehead Viaduct... And pausing for a well-earned water stop at Garsdale. 60800 was the motive power for the steam legs of my first railtour on December 29th 1999. The return run was via the WCML over Shap.
Amtrak Bombardier-Alstom Acela Express (First Generation) power cars '2025' on the front and '2023' on the rear form a 6 coach high speed passenger service beginning at Philadelphia 30th Street, Pennsylvania in the United States of America and headed northwards for New York Penn, New York 90 miles away along the Northeast Corridor. 2 passenger stops will be made in between at Metropark and Newark Penn within New Jersey on a stormy Autumnal evening run through 3 US states. Motive Power: Bombardier-Alstom Acela Express (First Generation) Route: Northeast Corridor: New York - Philadelphia Scenario: Acela Express Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Train Sim Community Open NEC Engine Rescripting, ReShade
Continuing with Forest Rail testing I moved on to the West Branch which as previously mentioned has steeper gradients than the East branch. It is also longer but the Colliery is actually nearer to the junction than on the east branch. The "DD40" (Bernard Deschamps locotracteur 003) can manage 15 empty coal wagons plus a brake on the West branch but only just. Speed falls to 13.9kph on the long drag at up to 5.2% before it gets to the first spiral (see photo) where the grade drops into the 3%s and speed picks up. The colliery branch at Matsuishi has (in the original) a max grade (for a reasonable length) of 7.4%!!! but now I've regraded it is a max of 4.2% for a short length and is manageable with the test load and no run at it. The loadings therefore for the West branch are 15 +Brake empties up and loads down.
Caledonia Works recently released its take on the LBSCR class G single-wheeler steam loco, for roughly half the price of their other recently released locos. Being keen on older, smaller steam locos I grabbed it right away. Below are a few captures taken during my brief initial test drive. We see it on London to Brighton, starting at Victoria Station and ending at the first station stop. LBSCR coaches are Matrix Trains offerings, available at CW. Just outside London Victoria:
Good evening everyone, here are some pictures from the small world of the railway - especially the slate mining in two different smaller quarries
Thanks for liking it. I liked the idea of being able to get slate from a quarry on the Corris Railway - so I built it.
Burlington Northern Railroad EMD SD40-2s '8008' and '6333' lead service Burlington Northern Train 206 beginning with 46 hopper wagons awaiting a westbound intermodal train to pass through at Cut Bank Creek Siding, Montana in the United States of America during an Autumn morning thick with heavy fog. After the westbound intermodal had passed the train travels over the Cut Bank Trestle Bridge and quickly pulls into the yard for a pickup of a flat wagon loaded with an excavator where soon the train is able to continue nonstop westbound for the large railway yard at Shelby having traveled 26 miles since Cut Bank over the Northern Transcon. Motive Power: EMD SD40-2 Route: Marias Pass: Shelby - Whitefish Scenario: Burlington Northern Train 206 CS Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, ReShade, Searchlight Simulations EMD 16-645E3 Enhancement Pack
Installment 15 in a multipart pictorial depiction of a mid-Autumn morning stopping passenger service Heritage Rail Tour QuickDrive, from Crewe to Holyhead, on North Wales Coast Line, acquired during Steam's Winter 2023/24 sale. Having belonged to LNWR in pre-grouping days, I power the train with a favorite steam-era loco, Caledonia Works' LNWR "Greater Britain", No.3435 "Queen Empress" to be exact, seen in Lilac & Cream livery. Though Greater Britain looks to be a conventional 2-4-2 tendered locomotive it is, in actuality, a 2-2-2-2 compound loco. It pulls four LNWR coaches, the last of them an observation coach, which I failed to capture adequately. This installment sees us at Llandudno Junction and Conwy. Departing Llandudno: En route to Conwy: Approaching Conwy: Stopped at Conwy: as above: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
A middle of the day mail train from London to Holyhead passes Mostyn running on the bi-directional section of track to due to engineering works on the North Wales Coastal route. Seen by the spotters on route further down the line... More info on this route upgrade project coming soon.
Preparing to depart Penmaenmawr on the North Wales Coastal route early in the morning. This would normally be a Colas operated train, but for today its the duty of a Freightliner train and crew.
Cautioned at Rhyl Reversing into Mostyn Exchange Sidings The first departure of the day from the Junction, to Llandudno.
By a strange coincidence I have also been pottering around North Wales, in the 'BR Blue' version of the route from Backdated Trainsim. It's 1967 and a work-stained Stanier Class 5 is soldiering on towards the end, hauling a Warrington to Llandudno parcels train made up of a variety of mostly pre-BR rolling stock. Approaching Bagilt: Hustling through Holywell Junction at a fair old speed: Having made stops at Prestatyn, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay, the rear 2/3 of the train was then detached at the 'Junction to be forwarded to Bangor and Holyhead. The front vehicles continued to their destination, seen here trundling north from Deganwy: And shortly thereafter, coasting gently into Llandudno. I like this route, it captures the grime and feel of a railway in decline. The only thing missing is jointed track, which would have been pretty much universal prior to at least 1990. Route: NWC & Conwy BR Blue (Backdated Trainsim) Stock: Precision Loco Developments (BMG) Stanier 5MT, assorted coaching stock & vans Various lighting, track and signal texturing mods including AP Sky & Weather V2.
Properly working headlight flares after downgrading to TSC v75.8a. Here we have a Metro North P32ac-dm approaching Croton Harmon, which is where it's service will terminate for today's run on a foggy morning
First day on the West Highland Line Extension: Traversing Maschen near Hamburg: EMD SD60M emerges from a tunnel between Roseville and Colfax: Water paint vibes: EMD DD35 on its way to Bailey:
DB Cargo UK Class 67s '67006' of the EMD JT42HW-HS model with '67008' on the rear form up a push-pull passenger service made up of 9 British Rail Mark 2 coaches beginning at London Paddington, England in the United Kingdom during a foggy Summers morning. The train departs westbound along the Great Western Main Line stopping at Reading, Didcot Parkway afterwards joining the South Wales Main Line at Wootton Bassett Junction and continuing west stopping at Bristol Parkway before crossing over to Wales (Cymru in Welsh) in the Severn Tunnel (Twnnel Hafren). Afterwards the train travels through Wales stopping at Newport (Casnewydd) and finally Cardiff Central (Caerdydd Canalog) having traveled 145 miles since departure from London Paddington in England. Motive Power: EMD JT42HW-HS Route: Western Mainlines Scenario: (WML) Cardiff Rugby Special - DTG67 Enhancements: Armstrong Powerhouse Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack 2.0 + Armstrong Powerhouse Cloud Enhancement Pack, Alan Thomson Sim AP Track Patch and Replacement Signal Lens Textures for Just Trains + Train Sim Community AP Track EP Updated Textures, ReShade
Inbound M7A Hudson line local (train #720) at Phillipse Manor and Inbound Shoreliner/P32AC-DM Hudson Line express (train #816) headed to Grand Central Terminal
Installment 3 in a multipart chronological pictorial depiction of a faux "heritage" stopping passenger run QuickDrive, from Southampton to Bournemouth, on Dovetail's South Western Main Line: Southampton - Bournemouth. Motive power is Caledonia Works' LSWR 700 class 0-6-0 tendered steam locomotive. It pulls a short rake of LSWR coaches which, if memory serves, are from GAD's LSWR 6-wheel Carriage Pack 1, sold through CW (but don't quote me). This installment sees us at Redbridge and en route to Totton. Redridge: as above: as above: Departing Redbridge: En route to Totton: RWE2 (gimped), AP S&W2+Clouds+Veggies TO BE CONTINUED . . .
here are some of my pictures that i took for the last couple months. My first ever run on TSC, Freightliner Class 90 hauling Pretendolino set from Euston to Birmingham. Class 90 001 hauling MK3 and DVT (the one DVT that was once leased to Hull Trains at one point) on ECML South, Kings Cross to Peterborough. Class 68 hauling a Chiltern MK3 set (oddly enough i dont have a Chiltern route lol) over the shap. Preston to Carlisle Class 90 001 hauling LNER 225 MK4 set on WCML North. Carlisle to Glasglow Central. Class 67 001 along with a 5 car MK4 set on North Wales Coast line. Crewe to Holyhead. There is a part 2
Last 3 more pictures (hope its okay). A collection of all the 1st gen Class 377 gathered at Brighton. Right after I purchased AP's Class 375/377 EP. Class 86 401 and 86 259 Top and Tail a Mk2 set from Euston to Birmingham.
Passengers transfer from a disabled Hudson Line express (P32AC-DM) due to faulty blowers in the motors. Across the platform at Tarrytown, passengers transfer to an M8 (rescue train) to continue the journey north to Croton Harmon. At Croton Harmon, passengers can transfer to the next Poughkeepsie express
A workman observes this Class 37 entering the Aluminium Smelter near Fort William: EMD SD9 moving out of Provo on the UP tracks: EMD SD45 duo leads grain out of Roseville: Kawasaki M8 meet in New York: Johnstown view with an RF-11:
It is a crisply cold but bright afternoon, in late 1960. We find ourselves beside the West Coast Main Line, reclining against a dry stone wall. Sheep are bleating in a nearby field and a curlew is wheeling overhead. Let's wait for a few minutes and see what appears. It's just after 3pm and the telegraph wires are humming. Nothing can yet be seen but the sound of a Stanier locomotive is being carried up on the breeze from the south. It sounds like a Black Five... ... but it isn't. One of Stanier's earlier 5MT 2-6-0s, probably deputising for its larger cousin, slogs past with a parcels train for Carlisle. We hear the train climbing away towards Shap Wells and the summit. Almost immediately, a southbound freight is upon us, drifting down the 1:75 gradient towards Tebay under the charge of a grimy Standard Class 5 4-6-0.
A few minutes go by, and another northbound train can be heard. A grimy Ivatt 4MT hoves into view on a long rake of mineral empties, and it looks like there's a banker... ... which isn't any cleaner! This pair take a very long time to get out of earshot, clearly making heavy weather of the climb. Signals clatter back and there are a few moments of peace, before a pair of banking engines slip past, returning down to Tebay to await the next job. Finally, just as we're giving up and walking away, the mid-afternoon Manchester-Carlisle stopping train hammers up the 1:75 behind a very dirty Newton Heath 5MT.
Our walk doesn't take us away from the railway though, as a little while later we're observing a northbound express, probably the Birmingham-Glasgow, toiling over the summit behind one of Crewe North's 7P Royal Scot class. It's a big load and speed is barely more than 20mph, I imagine the fireman is grateful to have reached the top of the climb. Eventually we reach Shap station, just in time to see the Glasgow-Crewe 'Special Scotch Goods' raising the echoes with a Polmadie 6MT 'Clan' on the business end... The Up distant is 'on', so perhaps it will be recessed at Shap Summit for a higher priority Up train. Sadly, dinnertime beckoned so we didn't stick around to see what it was. Merry Christmas, I hope 1961 is a great year for everyone! Route: Stainmore, Shap & Eden Valley (Steam Sounds Supreme)
Sulitjelma Railway diesel locomotive departs Finneid (Fauske), Norway, with an evening mixed traffic train to Lomi on a cold winter's night:
A bit of rail cleaning on the MML London - Bedford Compared to TSW5 this Class 37 is in a different league. The physics of braking and accelerating in these slippery conditions compared with the same loco on dry track is insane. Well done AP Happy new Year to you all
