[WIP] Rhondda Electric to Cardiff

[pacerfan]

My route based on the TVR mainline and branchlines to the Rhondda Valley, now by the title some of you will be the thinking that this is going to be set during the futue during valley's electrification....sadly you are going to be dissapointed. After doing a bit of research I found out that the Taff Vale Railway had gained a act of parliament to electrify its network, although it never done this in real life the act would have applied to the GWR upon grouping but only on the Taff Network, unless it gets amended which in my timeline it eventually does

So my route is going to depict a small change to history, the TVR begins a electrification program of i'ts main passenger routes (Cardiff-Merthyr Main Line plus the Rhondda Branches and the City Line) around 1911 after observing the Tyneside Electric program of the NER, due to unfamiliarlity with the new system the third rail only reaches as far as pontypridd for the duration of the First World War and after only reaches Merthyr and Porth due to the maintenance backlog caused by the war. Gropuping comes and the GWR finishes off the ongoing electrification project and monitors it till the mid 1930's where goverment grants to get the unemployed working are taken advantage of to finish electrification to Treherbert, Aberdare and Maerdy, with the former Rhymney Railway network joining due to the original act of parliament being amended to enable It.

Fast forward past the second world war and nationalisation and the modernisation of the network with 2-HAP units taking over form the previous TVR/GWR stock and a multitude of cuts nicknamed the "valleys rail bonfire of 52" where the BTC elimanates duplicate routes in the area but thanks to the electrification some branches get saved unlike "our" reality (for example the Maerdy Branch) but casualties include the line to Port Talbot due to rural nature beyond the rhondda and the dilapidated (and damp) nature of the tunnel.

[pacerfan]

Requirements for the route are going to be the portsmouth direct and the ukts freeware packs, you can also not have portsmouth direct if you have rw tools-just swap the thirs rail for the IOW one as it is identical. Signalling is going to be John Yelland's LMS/BR semaphore pack..... I know that there is the GWR kit bit it is tedious placing the signlas themselves on the posts and they do not work well when put on a semaphore gantry

first release is going to cover Rhondda-Cardiff bay and the second Coryton and the City line (and the mess that is going to be cardiff central and canton). I am using the middleton press valley lines series as a base on track diagrams and of course gradient profiles. traffic is going to be provided by the ukts freeware packs (the 2-Hap/Taff units) and 3f in the earlier era up to 37's and rats (Cl24/25) to ease up on the payware, I will be making scenarious featuring the 56xx where it belongs in a separate pack so nobody is forced to download it. I would like this to be fully freeware but since there is no freeware third rail to my knowledge I have no choice but to use Portsmouth Direct

[btvboxer]

There is a freeware third rail (http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 8&t=116804). Also I can help on the Cardiff Canton TMD if required. PM me if you need any help.

btvboxer

[boody227]

will you be including the Maerdy branch and colliery?

[pacerfan]

The Maerdy branch is included with signalling being bi-directional, one line dedictaded to passenger operations with a single 2 hap shuffling up and down, and the line opposite used by the colliery trains. the existence of a freeware third rail means that this will not have any payware dependencies now (thanks btvboxer for the heads up). the rhondda mainline portion to cardiff is being worked on first so there is going to be a bit of a wait for the maerdy branch.

[boody227]

Oh glad to hear that it will be made eventually, now to wait

[pacerfan]

Here is the routemap/Loading screen for the route, the City line, Penarth, Rhondda. Aber and Coryton branches are going to feature. The lines leading to Rhymney, Merthyr and Aberdare are going to be represented by portals... It will save the fps count and on top of that I have only managed to get gradient profiles for the above routes.
[album 248356 Valley Railway Network.jpg]

[btvboxer]

[album 248356 Valley Railway Network.jpg]

Happy New Year!
btvboxer

[pacerfan]

That should have appeared on It's own, strange that it did not, still I can get on with track laying now, I finally worked out the details in my head. the route is going to be set from the start of BR blue up to early privatisation (1968-2003) so the junctions can be a little less complex, the only change rolling stock wise is going to be a mass of 37's instead of tank engines on coal duty. Passenger duties are going to be handled by 2 HAP and later Cl454 (3 car class 455 units, DTSO-MSO-DTSO)

[btvboxer]

You just have to put %20 between spaces in the filename. As below, just change the curly brackets wth the square ones.
{album 248356 Valley%20Railway%20Network.jpg}

btvboxer

[pacerfan]

Status update for the route
No the route it not being abandoned I had re-sit exams this january so real life took priority. with the release of woodhead this route will now require payware dependancies

Falmouth Branch=for the station canopies, signs and dockyard scenery
Woodhead=this is the electric part, EM1 in great western brunswick perhaps? and the footbridges are too usefull.
56XX=how can the taff lines be made without this, It will have a diminished role but there are going to be unelectrified sections