EXTspotter's Screen Adventures

[ISA]

Everything is beautiful, but those rail fence wont fit in very good. Just my opinion no offense!

[EXTspotter]

This one isn't that good:

Slinborough Parkway is the main hub of the network, pictured during the morning rush, types include Class 25, 37, 158, 159 and 321. Platforms 8, 9, 11, 14 and 16 are occupied, with platform 4 booked for an arriving 150/1.

[EXTspotter]

Picture from new interchange at Hanpool. See more details on routemap:

[EXTspotter]

Current Map:

[EXTspotter]

Look at my special 6-way crossing:

Druntfingfield Transport, 14th Jan 1981.png (72.7 KiB) Viewed 4559 times

And the route network:

Druntfingfield Transport, 14th Jan 1981#1.png (24.33 KiB) Viewed 4558 times

[EXTspotter]

Just a screenie of my current UK game of the area just north of Crawley Three Bridges, where the East Grinstead line joins the main:

Southern, 27th Dec 2072.png (108.61 KiB) Viewed 4335 times

2 Southern 171s pull into one of the London-bound Redhill platforms during its journey from Uckfield
2 First Capital Connect 365s are also powering along the up main heading for its next stop; East Croydon on its journey from Brighton to Bedford via London Bridge.
A Southern 375 on loan from Southeastern travels along the down main on its journey between London Victoria and Lewes
3 FCC 365s pull off the down relief line onto the East Grinstead branch whilst 3 more await a green signal for proceeding to Three Bridges on its way to Brighton.

[EXTspotter]

New game:

Pilkington & Co started up their railway in June 1871 in order to transport the coal from their colliery in Formby to the nearby steel mill at a lower cost than previously charged by their contractors. One 4-2-2 spinner, 16 open trucks and a brake van were aquired cheaply (according to some sources via "5-finger discount" from a siding behind the engine manufacturers) and tracks laid.

Pilkington & Co., 29th Dec 1871.png (83.6 KiB) Viewed 4197 times

The line quickly came into profit and a second line laid from the steel mill to a nearby machine shop, another spinner was aquired, apparently form a more reputable source along with 16 new trucks, 12 configured for steel and 4 for engineering supplies in order to bring Formby Colliery ltd. into the 19th century with increased mechanisation.

Pilkington & Co., 27th Jan 1872.png (96.96 KiB) Viewed 4197 times

Do you like and should I continue with this story?

[bwong]

Just a screenie of my current UK game of the area just north of Crawley Three Bridges, where the East Grinstead line joins the main:

What train grf are you using? I love the shot, btw

[EXTspotter]

That game is using both the 2CC set (the yellow/green/white trains are from that) and then some of the BROS test GRFs that aren't released, specifically the yellow/white one is the class 375 and the blue/purple/pink are class 365s.

[bwong]

yes, those class 375s caught my eyes IMMEDIATELY!
hope BROS gets released.... soon

[EXTspotter]

The recent releases of UKRS2 and Nutracks inspired me to have a game. It is a shame that I can't seem to find a way of getting 3rd rail + OHLE, but oh well...

Our story starts in a fictional area of Great Britain. During the 1980s, the residents in the city of Chicester petitioned the city government to improve transport networks around the city. In accordance with this, the city created the Chichester and County Railway (CCR) and appointed a manager. Ground was broken at the city's main station, which was christened Chichester Curzon Street in late 1987 and the first line between Chichester and Morely, a sleepy market town nearby was opened in Springtime 1988 with services beng hauled by the only rolling stock the company could afford, a cheap, life expired 4 carriage class 101 set originally delivered to BR's North Eastern Region in 1959.

Black & Co 1.png (105.92 KiB) Viewed 4007 times

The cost of building the line crippled the company, with the 101 showing itself to be a "depot queen". The company petitioned the council for more money, which was eventually granted after a lot of anger from the city's population. Needless to say the local media had uncovered a number of embezzling scandals at the CCR and the people believed that they had been shortchanged for the service they had fought to create for many years. The CCR trying to improved their image created a master plan for a "modern lakeside loop line" circling Lake Oswestry, a large body of water around which a number of large towns, including Chichester were located. The line, which was built with a 3rd rail electricity supply, was begun in Autumn 1988 and the first section, from Curzon Street to Brighton - some 6 miles of track, was opened in 1989 using a class 421 sourced from BR's Network Southeast. The line did enjoy moderate success for a time, however with the early 1990s stock market crash, the CCR faltered and filed for bankruptcy in 1992.

During the mid 1990s the need for public transport in the Chichester area resurfaced, however with the city keen to prevent a repeat of the CCR, they sourced a private sector company to rebuild the area's transport system. In 1995, Black & Co. were announced as winners of the public transportation tender and were given access to a small loan from the city.

To begin with, B&C's progress followed a similar course to the CCR's, with the rebuilding of the station at Curzon Street and relaying of the track to Morely. The class 101, which had been languishing abandoned and heavily vandalised in the site of the old Curzon Street, was completely refurblished for its return to service with a mechanical overhaul and complete internal refit, offering a combination of table and airline seating with automatic sliding doors at either end of each carriage instead of slam doors to improve safety and downtime needed for broken locks and injuries caused by doors hitting ill-aware commuters.

Next, the company carried out a study of local citizen's travel needs. The majority of people said that if a line offering service to the communities on the shoreline of Lake Oswestry was built, they would use it heavily. With this in mind the company's next move was to build a line around the lake, which opened in several stages from Chichester Curzon Street to Brighton (1997), Hailsham (1998), Bootle (2000), Oswestry (2001) and finally to a new station in Chichester, Chichester Northgate which was inaugurated in 2003 at the same time as a line from Chichester Northgate to Stirling via Oswestry and St. Albans. After their withdrawal from use elsewhere, more class 421s were added to the fleet for the Lakeside services, which were later augmented further with a number of class 465 and 466 units. The Stirling line has been operated by new build class 185s since 2007, which have proved themselves to be highly reliable.

Black & Co 2.png (155.12 KiB) Viewed 4007 times

Another more recent addition to the company were Chichester's FART tram system - Fast Automated Rapid Transit, comprising of Metrolink trams on 2 routes, Route 1 (2004) Curzon Street - Russell Square - St James' Park and Route 2 (2006) Northgate - St James' Park - Crosskeys.

Black & Co 3.png (249.8 KiB) Viewed 695 times

[EXTspotter]

And a map (at 2009)

[EXTspotter]

And time for another resurgence. I have been playing on a map of the southern UK and I've been trying to get it to a better version of a game I played on this a few years back (see first page). Here is the London area of my current map.

[Pilot]

More please EXTspotter

[SquireJames]

You can use 3rd Rail and OHLE by using Pikkas Finescale Rails. Also, why did you choose a 4-2-2 Spinner on a heavy coal train? An 0-6-0 Long Boiler would have been better. Your choice, just surprised the spinner went anywhere!

[EXTspotter]

@SquireJames: That was from over a year ago when none of those things existed.

In terms of more:

Southern UK 1.png (209.82 KiB) Viewed 695 times

Here is a screenshot of Clapham Junction with its departures for the next 10 minutes (ingame time is 11:03, with one minute being around 3 seconds). I have labelled the trains so you can match them up with the departure board.

Clapham Junction is located a few miles away from the major South London terminii of London Waterloo and London Victoria. All trains from Waterloo pass through the station, all are operated by South West Trains (red). Many trains from Victoria go through Clapham Junction and all those which operate on this route are run by Southern (green).

455713 is arriving at Clapham on its journey between Sunbury-on-Thames and London Waterloo, arriving there at 11.18 before operating a service to Weybridge via Virginia Water.
377107 is waiting for a platform on the eastern half of Clapham Junction, this side of the station routes trains into London Victoria, the final destination for this train, which originated in Tonbridge. It is due into Victoria at 11.14, however due to the wait, is running 1 minute late.
450008 is also waiting for a platform, however on the western (Waterloo) half. The class 450, the mainstay of the medium distance South West Trains fleet, started its journey towards London Waterloo from Portsmouth and Southsea at 08.52, taking the route via Guildford before operating non-stop between Woking and Clapham Junction. It is due to arrive at Waterloo at 11.11, where it will be turned and operate a service to Weymouth and Bournemouth, splitting at Southampton Central.
455709 has departed Clapham Junction with a clockwise service on the Kingston Loop Line, arriving back at London Waterloo at 12:20.
455741 has departed Clapham Junction with a stopping service on the South Western Main Line to Woking, arriving there at 12.08, the journey between Waterloo and Woking on this service takes around an hour and ten minutes, compared to twenty-five on the express services (those to Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Bristol and Exeter) or forty on the semi-fasts (those to Haslemere, Alton, Basingstoke and Salisbury).
456008 is currently loading on platform 7 with a service to London Bridge (via Crystal Palace) on the Outer South London Line, due to arrive at 11.36, it is running 1 minute early.
455739 is departing from platform 3 with a service from Guildford (dep. 09.48) to London Waterloo (due 11.11) on the route via Cobham and Stoke D'Abernon. Guildford is one of the terminii of a number of Suburban routes operated (all by class 455s) out of London, with South West Trains services from London Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham and Stoke D'Abernon (1hr 20), via Epsom (1hr 35), via Woking (1hr 20) and to London Victoria via Hackbridge and Epsom (1hr 50) operated by Southern.
455747 has departed from platform 6 towards Victoria (due 11.10) with a service from Horsham via Epsom. A second, faster route via Gatwick Airport is also available from Horsham.
442403 has just departed from platform 5 towards Victoria (due 11.09) with a service from Eastbourne (dep. 09.37). A new addition to the Southern fleet, the class 442 units were acquired from South West Trains, where the new desiro (class 450/444) units had taken their place on long distance routes to Weymouth, Bournemouth and Southampton. They were acquired to run an improved service on the Gatwick Express (Victoria - Gatwick Airport non-stop), however have also found their way onto operating certain frequencies between Victoria and Eastbourne. The trains run from Victoria to Clapham Junction, then fast to East Croydon, before running non-stop to Gatwick Airport, after which they run an all stations service to Eastbourne, taking around an hour and forty minutes.
455715 is waiting for platform 2 to clear before arriving with a clockwise service on the Hounslow Loop Line, the other South West Trains loop line. The train is running 9 minutes late due to knock on effects of a 4 minute delay at Barnes on its previous journey. It is due back into Waterloo at 12.43.

[Pilot]

It's rammed. Why not UKRS2?

[EXTspotter]

Its running on a version of Chill's patchpack which is too old to support UKRS2.

[SquireJames]

I use Chills PatchPack and run UKRS2 just fine, unless you are using a particularly old version of it, and I can't see why you would.

[EXTspotter]

Another screenshot, this time from Redhill:

Southern UK 2.png (138.31 KiB) Viewed 3606 times

All 3 Train Operating Companies that go through Redhill are in frame

First Great Western's 3 carriage class 165 165107 has just departed towards Reigate on its journey from Gatwick Airport to Reading.
First Capital Connect's 2 sets of 4 carriage class 377s (led by 377505) are on the through lines through the station going towards East Croydon on its journey between Brighton and Luton.
Southern has 2 trains in frame. In the station 377106 is waiting for the two previous trains to exit the block for its short journey to its terminus, Reigate after its journey from London Bridge. Behind it stands 377115, which is currently operating an all stations stopping service between London Victoria and Brighton, it is arriving from Purley.