The Tyne Valley Line is a 58 mile rural diesel route located in the far north of England, connecting the cities of Newcastle and Carlisle. The route dates back to 1834 and roughly follows the course of the river Tyne with scenic views of the historic Hadrian's Wall and the Pennine hills. The line is strategically important in that it provides a diversion route for East Coast and West Coast Main Line services should parts of either line be closed. This would allow for many interesting diversion-based scenarios and potentially an alternative 24-hour timetable simulating such abnormal operations. Services operate every hour with Northern Trains, with additional peak time services operated by Scotrail primarily using Class 156 Diesel Multiple Units. Historically the venerable Class 142 Pacer was a common sight on the line, with Class 158 Express Sprinters now also commonly appearing. There are two main depots, Carlisle Kingsmoor used for diesel locomotives, primarily those owned by Direct Rail Services, and Newcastle Heaton depot, used by passenger operators such as Northern for maintenance and overnight stabling of multiple units and coaching stock. There are also two large freight yards at either end, Carlisle Kingsmoor Yard and Newcastle Tyne Yard. As a result, the line sees plenty of freight, light engine and railtour movements in addition to the regular passenger services. Class 37, 57, 66, 68 and 88 freight locomotives are commonly seen by DRS, potentially allowing for a new freight locomotive and operator in-game as a second train type. The route is somewhat comparable to the iconic Settle and Carlisle line, albeit shorter and taking a different path east across to Newcastle rather than south to Leeds when departing Carlisle. The trains and scenery are very similar, both routes having historical significance with numerous landmarks to look out for. The main benefit of the Tyne Valley Line is that the more modest length would make a full length route more achievable, thus allowing a complete end-to-end journey built within a more sensible development time. TSW could also do with a few more modern diesel routes, currently we only have GWE and MML representing this category. The Tyne Valley Line would be an ideal choice, given we now have Northern in-game as licensed operator, and existing models of the Class 158 and upcoming Class 142 to work from. Route Map Newcastle Metrocentre Hexham Haltwhistle Carlisle Bridges at Newcastle All thoughts and additional ideas welcome.
I really like this idea! I personally would love to see more modern era uk diesel routes. i think the north definitely needs more representation, and this route would be perfect. Newcastle especially would be a very welcome addition (and we could even get lner 801 ai added in now) overall this is a definite yes from me!
