Newcastle to York - Including "Then & Now" Shots

[Darandio]

Well, not all of it!

I have been working on modernising the Newcastle to York route, not as an ongoing project, but as a test and a response to questions on other forums about whether anyone was actually doing it and whether the project was just too big. Some people may find the video tedious initially, but later on, when it gets to the Tursdale area, people who are familiar with the route will notice that things have been added and the junction has been totally remodelled to reflect how it looks today.

I also found, that by electrifying the part I did, that it can kill frame rates in places.

[youtube]EUOJH_RltXs[/youtube]
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Two more videos to show.

The first one shows a class 66 being routed onto the slow lines at Ferryhill South Junction which is represented as it is in 2009. As in the previous video, electrifying the route does cause it to suffer in the framerate department at times and some of the pointwork isn't up to scratch yet.

[youtube]4FTruxsMIA4[/youtube]

The second video is a short clip showing an NXEC HST storming through Metal Bridge.

[youtube]WhPBl7vU8O4[/youtube]
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hello all, thought I would post a few screenshots of the differences on the ECML from the Newcastle to York route. The shots marked "1979" are taken from the "out of the box" route and the 2009 shots from my modifications.

Haughton Road, Darlington 1979

Haughton Road, Darlington 2009

Darlington South - Saltburn Line 1979

Darlington South - Saltburn Line 2009

Ferryhill South Junction 1979

Ferryhill South Junction 2009

Ferryhill Station 1979

Ferryhill Station 2009

Metal Bridge 1979

Metal Bridge 2009

 

[Techniquest]

Some fantastic work there Darren, both on the videos and screenshots. It's surprising just how much some of it has changed.

Looking forward to one day beta testing the modified route!

 

[The Snap]

Excellent stuff there mate! As you've said on here and RS Train Sim, it's a shame that it won't be released or indeed completed in the near future. Still, great effort!

Care to share (or is that not allowed?)

Ta,

 

[Darandio]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Well, this calls for a video. I initially captured it to see how well the train behaved coming off the Yarm line and quickly edited the video so nothing special. Thought you might like to see it though.

It shows the arrival at Northallerton of the 13:38 Grand Central service to London Kings Cross which is on time if you look at the clock! There is still plenty of work to do in the Northallerton area but so far, platforms have been changed and re-lengthened and the siding has been put in which can be seen on the right hand side as the HST approaches.

[youtube]rqSufNBv_5M[/youtube]
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Some bonus screenshots. Does anyone recognise this place? Again, they are "then & now" comparison shots, definetely still WIP but there are recognisable differences already!

1979

2009

1979

2009

 

[Techniquest]

Looks possibly like Tyne Yard in the screenshots Darren.

Northallerton's looking good so far too in the video!

 

[Darandio]

Tyne Yard, correct.

Cheers for the comments.

 

[Darandio]

Well, the work on Newcastle Central is well underway, more "then & now" shots below. As you will see, the layout is quite different and there are many differences which will enable new scenarios that weren't possible in the original version of the route.

1979

2009

 

[MCR247]

Wooooww. Very nice shots. Keep up the good work

 

[Techniquest]

Very nice indeed! Fantastic stuff!

 

[Darandio]

Fulfilling a request by someone for a video at Darlington, I spent a "fictional" hour at Darlington and videoed what was about. It doesn't show a great deal of developmental work in the Darlington area as yet but does show that a small variety of traction can already be used on the route.

[youtube]ekiNNL6WEQw[/youtube]

 

[Techniquest]

Nice stuff, especially like how you pulled the power handle wide open on the NXEC HST at the end!

Quite a variety to be used on the route, fair dos!

 

[Darandio]

Cheers mate, I was quite happy how the video turned out.

 

[andylloyd]

Excellent videos there.
This route is looking fab now

 

[Darandio]

Cheers Andy, it is appreciated.

More shots now, again based on the "then and now" theme. The first two are of Northallerton which as you can see by comparing the shots, has undergone drastic change and I have to say that I am very happy with the way this is looking so far. The final two are of Thirsk which is something that I have started working on in the last couple of hours.

Northallerton 1979

Northallerton 2009

Thirsk 1979

Thirsk 2009

Comments are valued as always.

 

[Darandio]

As I have never taken any shots other than in beautiful summer sunshine, I decided it was time to have a look at what a winter theme has to offer. All are taken in the Newcastle Central area.

A Crosscountry Voyager heads over the High Level bridge to maintain the same direction of travel due to a faulty wiper at the trailing end.

A London Kings Cross bound NXEC HST awaits the road whilst a Northern Rail 158 arrives from Hexham.

A Class 66 with empty hoppers takes the road to the north of Newcastle Central Station.

A Grand Central HST heads off through to Heaton Depot for refuelling after travelling from London Kings Cross to Sunderland. (Forgive the fact that it's loaded with passengers!)

The London bound NXEC HST clears the King Edward bridge and heads south to the capital.

 

[Techniquest]

Fantastic stuff there Darren, things are really coming on well now

 

[andylloyd]

Absolutley Fantastic, keep at it dear boy

 

[Darandio]

Cheers guys, appreciated as always.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Over the past 48 hours or so I have been working on the York area. Still plenty to do but here is a video with screenshots to follow soon.

[youtube]09uLAWotatA[/youtube]

 

[andylloyd]

What a corker there!
Looking rather good

 

[Techniquest]

Very nice stuff there Darren, looks like you've been very busy there!

No doubt still plenty to do yet but it's looking pretty damn fine!

 

[Darandio]

Some screenshots to accompany the York video from yesterday.

An NXEC HST on service 1S19 departs York at 15:55 heading northbound to Aberdeen.

A Northern Rail Class 158 awaits departure to Harrogate.

A Freightliner Class 66 pictured on the outskirts of York heading north.

A Northern Rail Class 158 heads into York from Harrogate past some now redundant sidings.

A Grand Central HST passes shortly afterwards at the same point en route to London Kings Cross.

 

[andylloyd]

Stunning there Darren

 

[Darandio]

I haven't shown anything for a few days, not because no work is being done, far from it, I just felt I was giving a bit too much away!

Here are two WIP shots now though, both from the same viewpoint at Darlington, to show the vast differences between them, and also to show it isn't all about just sticking wires and masts everywhere!

 

[Techniquest]

Crikey, the difference is surprising.

And yep, it's not all just masts and wires, there's the new speed limits to put in for example. No good not being able to storm up the ECML at 100mph vice 125mph! Although going by the FGW HST on RS it would hardly hit 125 before having to slow down again!

Great stuff as always Darren, one query does spring to mind:

With the impending arrival of RS2 this summer, will your work be compatible with it?

 

[Darandio]

It certainly will be compatible, thats the assurance from RSDL both from their statements and personally.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Here is a video to accompany the shots. The area is very much a work in progress as can be seen but hopefully it gives an impression of the approach to Darlington under the wires.

[youtube]963KK3miXfM[/youtube]

 

[Techniquest]

Good to hear it!

 

[andylloyd]

looking fab there

 

[Darandio]

A video here from one of my timing runs, this one showing highlights between Darlington and Durham. I do quite a lot of timing runs, mainly to make sure that they are as close to real life timings as possible. Of course, I don't upload them all, that would mean everyone would probably see a drivers eye view of the whole route before they ever got a chance to drive it!

[youtube]tG3F8fvaNWk[/youtube]

 

[andylloyd]

Cracking there Darren.
You've made some great progress there
Regards
Andy

 

[Darandio]

Cheers Andy.

Another couple of "then and now" shots here, mainly trying to show some added detail at Darlington although this is very much early days in terms of station refurbishment. A big thanks to Paul (Sarc) for giving me some extra ideas to input into the project, I was struggling with a method to do the flowerbeds until he posted some shots from his project on another website.