New RSC Route: Somewhere around Dawlish

[mrant1981]

I reckon there won't be any new stock for it, would like class 180 but doubt it

[tomtrain]

Despite that however, given the lack of Hertford Loop on the ECML and lack of Sudbury or Harwich on the GEML my money is on Exeter to Plymouth, no branchlines.

The GEML did include the Felixstowe and Braintree branches though, so RSC aren't necessarily averse to including branchlines. Paignton would be a good choice, or the Avocet line to Exmouth. Or maybe the Gunnislake branch at the Plymouth end.

HST a no brainer
158 ?

Do 158's still run on the route?

A Class 143 would be appropriate, I always see lots of them when I'm down that way.

Tom

[Anthony061]

So lets start the speculation on what trains will be packaged with the route .....

HST a no brainer
158 ?

Depends on the era of course... I'm not usually this optimistic however, there is also a large chance that the 57/6 will be included. Who knows, we may actually end up with a 150/1!!! 153/Voyager is already done by JT, RSC have a 150/2 and 158 so any of them could get in, even a SWT 159 if this is modeled in the early 2000's-I'd be well chuffed if a 180 comes with it however unlikely that is... Or, we could end up with the HST, a Virgin 47 and a DBS 66...
Regards
Anthony

[rfletcher72]

My money is also on Exeter to Plymouth no branch lines. People have been begging RSC to include branch lines in their new routes since day one and they almost never do it unless it's something tiny and insignificant. I think we can safely rule out Paignton, Dartmoor or any of the Cornish branch lines.

Not necessarily so. GEML has the Braintree branch. KHS, GEML and ECML all have/had unscenerised branches/lines from the outset. In the case of KHS, the Sheerness branch was completed and sold as extra DLC with the 466. I would put money on something similar happening with the Harwich branch and Hertford loop. It gives RSC/DG an opportunity to generate additional income, whether we like that or not.

[michaelhendle]

Hi
What a shame it's modern era some us are old enough to remember Castle's King's Hall's Manor's and in summer some of the 2-8-0's were used on passenger trains.other Loco's Britannia, Prairie and Pannier Tanks

Summer you would have a procession of trains one after the other the main train and relief trains as well and some times they could be a couple of hours late.

At Newton Abbott passenger trains heading for Plymouth would have a banker attached at the front,freights would be banked from Aler Junction to Totnes,reverse direction light loco's from Totnes to Aler Junction,double headed passenger trains would have the pilot loco removed at Newton Abbot Station,freights would stop at Aler Junction to have the brakes un pinned.

There was also the Tein Valley route which also went from Newton Abbot to Exeter via a inland route.

Now what do you get FGW HST,156,Pacer,which I reckon were the worse DMU ever invented after Travelling from Exeter to Penzance in one.

Mike

[karma99]

Great, CLASSIC route................................WRONG ERA!!! Anything other than the 2000's would have done. Ideally steam era of course!

Indeed.
On the one hand, a tragic waste of a classic western route opportunity. On the other hand as DTG seem to hate steam routes (despite having never done a proper one!), at least having this and WSR available as DLC the door is open for an excellent Workshop remake in the era when it was worth driving on.

[mrant1981]

I aint a fan of steam era and i aint a fan of old era either, they just dont interest me at all and bore me to be honest

[220389]

Great, CLASSIC route................................WRONG ERA!!! Anything other than the 2000's would have done. Ideally steam era of course!

Indeed.
On the one hand, a tragic waste of a classic western route opportunity. On the other hand as DTG seem to hate steam routes (despite having never done a proper one!), at least having this and WSR available as DLC the door is open for an excellent Workshop remake in the era when it was worth driving on.

I have to agree. Any steam route would be great really. For Dawlish for period doesn't really bother me, just got to get some failed voyagers on it, during rough weather

Chris

[31160]

it would be a real shame if it didnt include Newton Abbot to Kingswear and Totnes to Buckfastliegh if it doesnt that would be in my opinion i massive cop out

[pacerfan]

For me I appreciate both Steam and the Modern era for routes as I have a mix of both. However, as we have seen in recent years DTG have went with a more modern approach due to the higher amount of revenue compared with older based routes. Some may want to criticise them for it but "modern plastic" is what sells. Besides we have third parties like Krossrails to provide excellent vintage routes to drive on. Now one piece of stock is a given in the form of a upgraded HST ala ECML, so the stock to look out for would be the DMU providing stopping services.
Being a tad biased in taste I expect it to be a Class 143, which can then be used to educate steam workshop in good traction

[karma99]

However, as we have seen in recent years DTG have went with a more modern approach due to the higher amount of revenue compared with older based routes. Some may want to criticise them for it but "modern plastic" is what sells.

I would argue that they actually have no idea how well a 60-80 mile, fast, well built steam era route sells as they've never done one! Short branch line with the wrong aspect signals, mid-era with an unusual electric loco, 2 preserved lines and...???

[mrant1981]

Looks like cats out of the bag, i just been reading on Engine Driver article and the route this sounds like it is, is Exeter to Penzance

[firstborn]

Some speculation:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that i think this will be just Exeter St Davids to Paignton... if we are really lucky it will include the Dartmouth Steam Railway to Kingswear

It will be sold under the name of The Riviera Line

Some evidence:
This Engine Driver blog article = http://www.engine-driver.com/article/sh ... viera-line

This Wikipedia entry = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riviera_Line

Some reasoning:
1) While this will only be a short route, I do not believe it is the length of the line that determines their routes, but rather that amount of time and assets required to create the route... and this will be a custom asset heavy route - There is a reason this is the most photographed stretch of railway in the world, which is that it changes vastly literally every couple of miles and at every turn - Which is going to take some serious modelling (unlike other recent routes which can be stretched much longer through endless miles of identical fields)

2)If it includes the Dartmouth line, then the route appeals to both modern era fans (who can run their locos along one of the most picturesque sections of railway in the world) AND steam era fans (who can run both the preserved line and the summer rail tours, such as the Dawlish Donkey) - Which of course increases the size of their target market

------------------------------

I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.... but, have to say, i will also be more than happy to stump up the cash just for this section of line

[jimmyshand]

Oh no, from reading the Engine Driver blog then it sounds like Plymouth is a no, it says throughout "Riviera Line" which is to Paignton only. This will mean that the route will actually be even shorter than we expected by not going through to Plymouth!

Major bummer if this is so. I would have expected Paignton AND Plymouth to be well within the expected scope of an RSC route. If it's Exeter to Paignton only then all you get is a short section of mainline and a short branchline with far more limited scenario scope.

[davejc64]

This will be a great route really looking forward to this will bring back childhood memories of holidaying in Dawlish Warren as a child with walks along the sea wall to Dawlish and the trains thundering by.