Route proposal: JT Chiltern Mainline extension to Worcester (Snow Hill line)

[ItsChris]

I do not personally own the JT Chiltern Mainline as of yet but I am a local to the Snow hill line so I was quite disappointed when JT announced their Chiltern Mainline route that they only took it as far as Birmingham Snow Hill. I have been ranting about this route for some time but I have finally managed to compose it as a post for public opinion.

Unlike the Chiltern Mainline, the main operator on the snow hill line is London Midland. However it has been announced that London Midland's lease is running out very soon and that stock replacements will be happening on the WCML and Snow Hill line. Due to Train Simulator not having a route which contains the 172 stock used and due to the short period of time left for London Midland's life, this grows very high demand for this line to be modelled before any unknown, potential big changes happen. There is a current 172 reskin available from superalbs (credit to him) which requires the Brighton Mainline (or offically known as London - Brighton).

I would prefer if JT modelled this route as this would make it blend in with the Chiltern Mainline route and (sorry to say DTG) JT seem to model routes a bit more better than DTG. So here is what I just said and a slight bit more but narrowed down to make it more easier to read:

- Route: Snow Hill line (Birmingham Snow Hill - Worcester)
- Format: Preferably an extension to the JT Chiltern Mainline
- Why this route?: London Midland's lease is due to run out and it has been announced that stock replacements will be happening on this line and the WCML aswell as the new brand "West Midlands Trains" to be taking over which could bring new liveries. Considering the WCML has already been made along the Trent Valley section with a Class 350 in LM livery and the recent announcement of the license DTG now have with Virgin Trains, this (in my mind) makes the WCML a less appealing route but I would still like to see this at a later stage
- Route opportunities/ideas:

• A scenario running a class 153 and 2 car 170 from Tyseley Depot to Worcester Depot and visa versa (which often run frequently).
  
• A new locomotive - The Class 139 "Parry people mover" LM livery (which runs on the SBTB)
  
• A new rail vehicle - The Urbos 3 Tram (which runs for the MM)
  
• A new rail vehicle/implementation of an existing reskin (superalbs) - The Class 172 Turbostar
  
• Up and Down stopping service scenarios (Class 172) to Dorridge/Worcester Forgate Street, Stratford upon Avon/Kidderminster, Whitlocks End/Stourbridge Junction
  
• Up and Down express service scenarios (Class 172)
  
• Up morning peak services (Class 68/82 DVT) to London Marylebone and down evening services to Kidderminster (Class 68/82 DVT)
  
• Down service scenarios which have terminated at Birmingham Snow Hill and are returning to Stourbridge depot (they go into platform 2/3 and then change ends and head to the headshunt where they change ends again to reverse into the yard) (Class 68/82 DVT)
  
• The Friday night Cross Country service from Paignton to Birmingham New St (to start at Droitwich Spa and to end at Langley Green "to be taken over by another driver" through Galton junction into New St (Cross Country 220/221 Voyager, preferably the JT one)
  
• AI GWR Class 43 HSTs, Class 150s and Class 166s departing Worcester Forgate Street to head off into a portal along the NCL (and also towards Hereford, like in real life)
  - Stations (in order, excluding non rail connected stations on the Midland Metro):
  
  • Birmingham Snow Hill (MM: St Chads)
    
  • Jewellery Quarter (MM)
    
  • The Hawthorns (MM)
    
  • Smethwick Galton Bridge (WCML)
    
  • Langley Green
    
  • Rowley Regis
    
  • Old Hill
    
  • Cradley Heath
    
  • Lye
    
  • Stourbridge Junction (SBTB)
    
  • Hagley
    
  • Blakedown
    
  • Kidderminster (SVR)
    
  • Hartlebury
    
  • Droitwich Spa (SBL)
    
  • Worcester Forgate Street (NCL)
  
  MM = Midland Metro, WCML = West Coast Main Line, SBTB = Stourbridge Town Branch, SVR = Severn Valley Railway, NCL = North Cotswolds Line (for Worcester Shrub Hill), SBL = South Birmingham Line (don't know the name specifically)
  
  EDIT: Would also like to see some of these station signs implemented (e.g. Rowley Regis): here [www.railsigns.uk]

[Cat]

Nicely written piece but have you suggested this to JT?

[JJTimothy]

Stourbridge is my home town although my memories of it are from the '70s and early '80s. Compartmented cattle-truck DMUs of some sort took passengers to New Street (Snow Hill was closed) and the Dodger, the service to Stourbridge Town now run by the Parry People Mover, was in the hands of a Class 121 or 122. Every so often we'd go to see Dad at work in Birmingham and of course I always wanted to sit behind the driver. On one of the very few occasions we went the other way, travelling to Oxford, I recall seeing Diesel-hydraulics at Worcester.

I'd need a good reason not to get this if it was available.

[ItsChris]

Originally posted by Cat:

Nicely written piece but have you suggested this to JT?

Gonna email them today 😏😉

[ItsChris]

Originally posted by JJTimothy:

Stourbridge is my home town although my memories of it are from the '70s and early '80s. Compartmented cattle-truck DMUs of some sort took passengers to New Street (Snow Hill was closed) and the Dodger, the service to Stourbridge Town now run by the Parry People Mover, was in the hands of a Class 121 or 122. Every so often we'd go to see Dad at work in Birmingham and of course I always wanted to sit behind the driver. On one of the very few occasions we went the other way, travelling to Oxford, I recall seeing Diesel-hydraulics at Worcester.

I'd need a good reason not to get this if it was available.

Oh right lovely. I think I remember reading about trains into New Street then. I wasn't on the face of the earth at that time, my home town is Dudley so we're not really localised to any stations

[JJTimothy]

Someone was having a go at building the Stourbridge Town line in TS- pre Beeching so double track and running through to the canal basin. It is easy to find with Google and looked promising but the last mention of it is several years old so I don't know what, if anything, happened.

I remember we went to the SVR several times and always got the 'bus to Bridgenorth (we had no car). I didn't think about it then but, looking at the map now, I must ask Dad why the hell we didn't just take the train three stops to Kidder'?

[ItsChris]

Originally posted by JJTimothy:

Someone was having a go at building the Stourbridge Town line in TS- pre Beeching so double track and running through to the canal basin. It is easy to find with Google and looked promising but the last mention of it is several years old so I don't know what, if anything, happened.

I remember we went to the SVR several times and always got the 'bus to Bridgenorth (we had no car). I didn't think about it then but, looking at the map now, I must ask Dad why the hell we didn't just take the train three stops to Kidder'?

Haha. I shall have a look at the SBTB for TS and maybe I shall expand it with the owners permission

[ItsChris]

Hi all, I have some rather disappointing news about the whole JT build the route thing. Earlier today I received a reply from Justtrains stating that they receive hundreds of route requests every week and they're concentrating on the current routes in development. Now if you read the whole article above, you will notice that London Midlands lease is due to run out and a new provider is taking its place. This means that if the route is done, it will probably be in the era of West Midlands Trains. This is a disappointment to me but hopefully WMT won't make any changes to the current lines. I would take it upon myself to build this route, but the amount of custom objects required would make it a poor, low detailed and pointless project to go for. However, I shall have a go and maybe I can pass it to someone else to do all of the custom objects/stations required.

[ItsChris]

Hi again, just today i had a go at designing the modern look of SBJ. the track work proves impossible to match with the google maps overlay and i have no means of obtaining any track gradient data. very sorry if i got peoples hopes up earlier, but i will build something similar which hopefully could be published

[Cat]

Chris, I hate to dampen your enthusiasm but I'm not surprised at JTs reply. Also, building an actual route requires a lot of research into the environment even before you lay any track.

Routes sold on TS are made by professionals who can spend years creating them.

I suggest you get some practice creating a fictional route before you embark on such an ambitious project.

[ItsChris]

Originally posted by Cat:

Chris, I hate to dampen your enthusiasm but I'm not surprised at JTs reply. Also, building an actual route requires a lot of research into the environment even before you lay any track.

Routes sold on TS are made by professionals who can spend years creating them.

I suggest you get some practice creating a fictional route before you embark on such an ambitious project.

cheers, (sigh) I guess I had better just make the most of the route in real life :( . Anyway thanks to everyone who said they wanted to see this route made, it could be made yet, i never had a yes/no