Just got it, I love the little commuter line feeling into big huge industry transition. Very good route! I got the chopper and the red apple aswell of course, which are also very high quality.
The atmosphere of the route is incredible, it feels bleak and industrial but the sheer scope of it all is awe inspiring
It's my favourite route. I like that it's not just drive from one end to the other, there are several possible routes and destinations and having the 31 and the 20 really bring it to life. You can start at Thornaby depot in the morning and take the empty passenger train to Darlington and then do an entire shift if you like, shuttling between Darlington, Middlesbrough and Saltburn. You can take the empty train back to the depot and shut it down at the end of the day. I hope more freight flows could be introduced in the future, possibly phosphate traffic from Saltburn junction. We only get one freight train from there in one scenario so it would be great for it to be used in the timetable more. The route feels like a network much more than Trans Pennine for example where you take over a train, drive it to the other end and hand it over. Maybe Trans Pennine could be improved by adding a few loco hauled services which start empty at Red Bank, pull into Victoria, run round the train and take it to Leeds. You could then uncouple, run round and take it back to Victoria. I hate that "please exit the vehicle" message and watching your train being driven off the map.