Rail Simulator - Newcastle to York Modernisation

Warley Show - 21st November 2009

2009-11-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

I attended the Warley Model Railway Exhibition on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in and around the Just Trains stand. The "Modern" route certainly attracted a lot of attention, much more than I had anticipated and the demonstration of the route had a lot of people standing and watching, some for fairly long periods of time.

I think overall, the show was a success for the Railworks platform itself, even to the point that Railworks and Rail Simulator sold out!

I have included some photographs below although I must apologies for the quality. My particular favourite was the one with many people glued to the screen and even a young child having to sit on his dads (probably!) shoulders to get a view, it's just a shame Alex was probably driving at the time and had the equivalent of a car drivers lead boot!

Practicing

2009-11-13T09:46:00.001-08:00

Thanks For The Support!

2009-11-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

Some comments so far, all very much appreciated:-

Very impressive from what little I've driven so far and a huge departure from the original. It's like revisting your childhood neighborhood 30 years later. You know it's the same place, but are lost in all the changes.

Fantastic add-on!! so much more than just Newcastle to York with wires! loving the totally re-vamped feel and look of the route. It really does feel as though you have transported 30 years forward in time from driving the original route.

Just bought it as well - from having a first play, looks very good, well done Darpor!

I bought it and gave it a ran. Loved it.

The route is first class and a credit to you. I managed to complete the TPE scenario this morning before going out an enjoyed it immensely. Approaching York was an absolute pleasure seeing all the new additions and I can confirm to anyone who is thinking of buying this that its far more than a makeover of a default route.

Newcastle to York "Modern" - Now Available

2009-11-11T02:19:00.000-08:00

The Newcastle to York Modern route has just been made available for download from the http://www.justtrains.net website. It's priced at £19.66 with a bonus of 500 Reward Points instead of the normal 200 (for a limited time only).

Donation Button

2009-11-06T06:56:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have noticed a donation button to the left of my blog. Don't worry, it isn't a mistake but it also was intended.

Although much of my work is freeware, building real life routes to the standard I want doesn't come cheap and the main cost behind developing a route, for me, is research material and research trips in particular.

For instance, during the building of Newcastle to York "Modern" I did 17 dedicated research trips in all which I have now calculated to a grand total of £414.70. This is without the costs I have incurred for the building of custom objects, reskins and extra scenarios to be built. Of course, the route being payware, I might have a chance of making these costs back.

On the other side of the coin (no pun intended), there is the Darlington to Saltburn route which has had 9 research trips so far. Fortunately, Northern Rail do a Tyne Tees Day Ranger for £17 which means I can travel as much along the route in one day, however, things change and I still have to go out now and again to update my research photos.

Now, I am not asking everyone to donate, nor am I asking for large amounts of money. It is entirely up to you, if you feel the desire to donate something to help me in my research, go for it, if not, I understand.

RW Decal Tool Now Available

2009-11-06T06:41:00.001-08:00

Jim Nobbs (Nobkins) has made available his excellent RWDecal application to enable you to convert multiple Google Earth decals in one go. This excellent program saves much more time and can help the decals be placed much more accurately.

The product is Donationware (a minimum of £1 is required for the full license but well worth it) but you can download the evalution version in order to try out the program with restrictions.

http://www.rwdecal.co.uk/

Boxed Cover

2009-11-06T04:02:00.001-08:00

The Friday Update

2009-10-16T11:43:00.001-07:00

Postal Strike

2009-10-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

Whilst finishing off the route, tidying up and modifying/fixing slight errors, I have also been working on more scenario ideas. Some will be included with the route itself and some will be released separately by myself either on the day of release or shortly after.

Darlington Revisited

2009-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

For this weeks teaser/update we revisit Darlington in early winter as the sun rapidly sets while the 16:26 service to London Kings Cross awaits departure.

A Modern Darlington

2009-10-05T04:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things that a lot of people said to me when I originally took the project on was that they would like to see the stations have more life. Here are a couple of screenshots taken in Darlington.

Cresston V2 Released

2009-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce the release of Cresston V2. The route is available here:- Cresston V2 This will require to sign up for the forum.

If you have a previous version of Cresston installed, it is suggested to install it using the Package Manager and also load up the game and delete the route from the route list manually using the "delete" button.

The original low level route of 11.8 miles is still included with the following stations and industry:-

* Cresston
* Oakbridge Low Level
* Stonedale
* Brunswood (Disused)
* Oakbridge Power Station

The high level electrified main line route is around 40 miles long incorporating the regional loop and includes the following stations and industry:-

* Bell Mill University
* Oakbridge High Level
* Micklow
* Telbury Manor
* Lanyeard
* Hanswell Container Terminal
* Deerview
* Halbrook
* Laynewalk Hill

Finally, the heritage line that diverges from Lanyeard is 15.8 miles long and includes the following stations:-

* Lanyeard
* Hatterby Junction (Heritage services/Railtours reverse or turn around here to continue to the coast)
* Thwaite
* Breskerr

That brings the sum total of the route to around 68 miles with many passenger and freight options available. The route can be used in independently in the three different sections or scenarios can be made to bring all three together.

For full effect, there are three additional downloads required for the route, Slant Fencing, Palisade Fencing and Chainlink Fencing. All can be downloaded from the following locations:-

http://www.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=18080

http://www.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=21632

http://www.uktrainsim.com/filelib-info.php?form_fileid=21695

There are also two very basic scenarios included for the purpose of enabling the user to drive the route immediately. More are planned in the coming days from myself and the community.

Finally, this is a copy of the V2 route map.

Announcement Time!

2009-09-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

After months of keeping my mouth shut I can now finally announce that Newcastle to York "Modern" will be released soon in conjunction with Just Trains. Full release information is available here:-

News

In Development

Simon's Blog

"Inside Looking Out"

2009-09-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

Aboard 1S03 - Leeds to Aberdeen as it approaches Newcastle.

Lightning Fast

2009-08-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Scott for making me aware of the lightning effect, a video featuring bits and bobs a few hundred yards north of The Sidings Hotel, Shipton.

Tursdale Possession

2009-08-20T09:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some scenes taken from what may well form part of a scenario included with Newcastle to York "Modern". :)

Glistening in the early morning sunshine, 43319 leads 1A11 - Newcastle to London Kings Cross. The service is being given the road on to the slow lines at Tursdale due to over-running weekend engineering works on the main line.

Passing under "Metal Bridge", the name given to the nearby group of houses and the small bridge that passes under at this point and not the newer concrete structure passing overhead although it also is locally known by the same name. The eagle eyed of you will note that this was not present in the original route.

Snaking off the main line and obeying the 30mph limit, Metal Bridge and "The Poachers" public house are visible in the background. Some years ago, there was a small ride along railway in the garden of the pub.

The cause of the problems, could it be that there was far too much tea drinking going on overnight?

A Class 220 "Voyager" passes in the other direction. The delays caused by this over-run are not too bad at the moment but unless things are cleared up, the services will start to stack up due to there being only one track on both entrance and exit of the slow lines. Despite this, 1A11 can still expect to arrive in Darlington 4-5 minutes late.

Meals On Wheels

2009-08-17T05:59:00.001-07:00

An NXEC HST storms past the Sidings Hotel, Shipton.

Power To The People V2

2009-08-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

Just another shot of the real life catenary at Durham to hopefully whet your appetite for this up and coming release.

York Screenshot Update

2009-08-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have done quite a few screenshots of the York station area showing various workings. Rather than post 20 images in this blog, they can be viewed here:- RS-Trainsim

Durham Intercity

2009-08-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

Set in 1991, this video features a variety of traction in the heyday of the Intercity Swallow livery. Aplogies for the quality, it doesn't seem to have translated well at all, especially using an autumn evening setting.

"Power To The People"

2009-08-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

A GNER HST approaches Durham on a dull autumn morning but there is a difference in this picture, can anyone see it? Answers in the comments section please!!

Modern York

2009-08-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

A busy day in a "modern" York

Skins And Scenarios

2009-07-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Recently I have also been producing some reskins of the excellent new Class 60 locomotive from Just Trains. This can be purchased from www.justtrains.net The three reskins below can be downloaded from www.rs-trainsim.co.uk/forums/ All that is asked of you in order to download these and many other reskins is join up for free and a word of thanks in the forums is always nice to see!

I have also produced two Railworks scenarios for the default Newcastle to York route entitled "1N07 - Northallerton to Newcastle" and "Required Track". These can both also be downloaded from www.rs-trainsim.co.uk/forums/

Track On The Tyne

2009-07-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Tyne Yard in fact. Just a few screenshots of the area upgrade in the Tyne Yard and Low Fell area.

Track Renewal

2009-07-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

An area that hasn't been covered much in my previous screenshots is Tyne Yard. There have been a couple of previews of the new entrance but not a great deal from in the yard itself, the main reason being that there isn't that much left of it any more! If anybody did need to satisfy their urge of Tyne Yard, here is a screenshot of the lower, most widely used section near the main line.