Hi guys today I’m gonna be suggesting the Transport for Wales between Pwllheli to Barmouth. The train in the suggestion will be the Class 158 in TFW Livery. Let’s start with the Class 158. The British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger train. It is a member of the Sprinter series of regional trains, produced as a replacement for British Rail's first generation of DMUs; of the other members, the Class 159 is almost identical to the Class 158, having been converted from Class 158 to Class 159 in two batches to operate express services from London Waterloo to the West of England. Each carriage is 22.57 m long. The Width of this unit is 2.70 m. The Height of the Class 158 is 3.73 metres tall. These trains can go up to 90mph (145 km/h). Well the weight of the train is 38.5 tonnes (42.4 short tons; 37.9 tons) per carriage. This is the exterior of the train. The livery is different to the one we have on the Midland Main Line. These trains used to be Arriva services which means they used to have a blue and cyan color to the livery. These trains go further than Barmouth to Birmingham but I shortened it as far as Barmouth because if you go further than Barmouth to Birmingham it would take 2 hours so I made it that it’s only an 1 hour journey from Pwllheli to Barmouth. This is the interior of the train. The seating maquette has a little bit of dark red and also has black and gray colors for the maquette. The train is Diesel just like the MML. These trains entered service in 1989 and 1990 on a railway that is now owned by a different company. It was called regional railways. This railway used to do class 150 services in Cornwall. While in The midlands it did services to places like Birmingham and other places. It was one of the best trains to enter service on the Regional railways. Now let’s have a look at the driver cab. This is the TFW Class 158 Driver cab. There is a very big difference to the MML one. The MML Version has a lot of dark blue in the driver cab but the TFW version has a lot of grey and black color in the cab. Also in the route I think it would be good to get a driver code on the GSMR. Now let’s move onto the route. This picture is from google maps showing the route between Pwllheli and Barmouth. It has 18 stations on the way.
This is Barmouth station in Wales. After a train departs towards Birmingham it will Switch into a signal track going across a bridge and the AI driver in the game will continue the journey for 2 hours to Birmingham International. This is Llanaber Station. The station only has 1 platform which means that only 1 train can stop at this station at a time. The station is quite empty and small but it would be in the route to make it accurate. This is Talybont Station. It is like Llanaber but with a longer platform. But it’s still empty like Llanaber. There’s a road bridge that goes over the tracks and the platform. This is Dyffryn Ardudwy station. It is still like Talybont and Llanaber but the platform is shorter than The one at Talybont. There are trees behind the platforms aswell which cover most of the platform. If you look on the left of the picture of the station you can see that there used to be a 2nd platform of the station but that was abandoned years ago. This is Llanbedr station. It is even more isolated as there are just fields and small mountains around it. Well there’s a road and a train crossing at the station just like at Barmouth. There’s no stones on the train tracks it’s just all grass. It only has 1 platform aswell.
This is Pensarn (Gwynedd) Station. It features 1 platform aswell. It is a little bit isolated being around these trees and there’s also a car park at this station. The platform is actually curved and is longer. If you look on the right side of the picture there is a tiny appearance of a British telephone box which could be nice scenery if the route came to TSW 3. Near the station there is a small river that goes into the sea and there are a lot of boats docked on the side of the river. This station is Llandanwg. Only 1 train carriage can fit into the station which means you have to be on the right side of the train to exit the train. It is isolated as there are a lot of empty land of fields around it. This station barely gets any passengers due to how isolated it is. This is Harlech station. Finally it has 2 platforms which means 2 trains can stop here at the same time. This station has been here for a long time with 2 platforms and has never been abandoned. This station is not really isolated as it’s actually in a town surrounded by houses and shops. There is also a castle on the left hand side of the station on big hill. The castle is called Harlech Castle. There is also a footbridge that goes from one platform to another. This is Tygwyn station. It is another station with only 1 platform but has a train crossing and roads connected. The station does feel empty but still used by passenger trains in the present. This is Talsarnau station. It is once again isolated with 1 platform but still used by passenger trains. As you can see there are big mountains in the background. Some mountains in Wales are actually volcanos. There is a small footpath on the tracks if you look closely a couple of yards after the station.
This is Llandecwyn station. It has a modern single platform with modern fences. If you look on the left there are big chunks of water that goes to the sea. There is a fence preventing trespassers falling into the water aswell. I would say that this is the best single platform station so far as how good and detailed it is. This is Penrhyndeudraeth station. The name of the station and town is quite a long word but the station is not isolated and it’s in a town surrounded with houses and shops and small hotels. It has got a single platform aswell which is curved a little bit. This is Minffordd station. It has one signal platform but curved a little bit. The bridge going over the tracks is actually a miniature railway that runs steam engines for special events. The steam railway has a separate Mindfordd station to operate at.
This is Porthmadog station. It has 2 platforms with a brick station building which has been there for a very long time. The station is in a town called Porthmadog and is this is near the North Wales Coastal line for TFW which is different. The station has been through a lot of history in the past. This is Criccieth station. Another single platform station that’s curved. If you look on the left this station also used to have another platform but was abandoned years ago probably due to the lack of passengers. The town this is located in is Criccieth. There is also a castle called Criccieth Castle and it’s on a big hill on the shore. There is also a beach in the town on the seaside. Near the town there is a small tennis club next to the tracks behind trees so that could be good scenery for TSW 3. This station is Penychain. It is located near a lot of houses in a holiday park and small shops near by. There is a building and area near by it has a big swimming pool inside alot of lakes around it and a lot of climbing frames. The station only features one platform like the others but is still used in the present. This is Abererch station. It’s another isolated station as it’s surrounded by fields and bushes. There is also a holiday centre near by with a small beach at the shore. It’s also located in the town called Abererch. Now here we are at the last station known as Pwllheli. It is in a big town called Pwllheli and has a very long beach. Well this terminus station only has 1 platform. Nearby there are a lot of houses, hotels and you can even see the shore while in the town. Well there are alot of shops which are useful in the area. Well that’s all of the stations covered. Thanks for looking at this suggestion, have a nice day and remember to put your thoughts in the comments below.
Nice suggestion. I would love to see this in TSW however I feel it would be better to go to Machynlleth at least and include the Aberystwyth line. It is one of the those routes you would imagine will appear at some point as it is probably one of the most scenic stretches of railway in the UK and is an interesting and maybe almost iconic route.
Yes it would be welcome but really needs to include the full length from Machynlleth to Pwllheli to maximise the sparse timetable. This is a route it would be nice to see in BR Classic days too. Various DMU types on passenger services (101, 108, 120), Class 25's on freight and of course summer Saturday through loco hauled trains with the Euston to Northampton "Cobbler" Mark One set.
37181 and 37431 on The Pwllheli to Euston train at Porthmadog Yes its a nice scenic route I've been on it a few times , thanks for your suggestion tho not sure I' would pay £29 pound for it tho with just the 158. I think we need it in BR days with the summer Saturday Loco hauled services this would make it more interesting.And also it probably would need the Aberystwyth line included too
This would be a great route I've done this route as my grandparents live in Barmouth and it's very scenic hopefully we can see it come one day
