Our first route for RailWorks currently has a working title of FenRail and aims to bring some well known Fenland locations to RailWorks for the first time and should be available in the final quarter of 2010.

Overview

Set in 1980 FenRail is planned to run from Peterborough across the fens via March and Ely to Cambridge and will include the Fen Drayton branch. Key locations along the route along with the stations should include Whitemoor Yard and TMD, Chettisham Grainstore, Ely Sugarbeet Factory, Ely loop, Fen Drayton sand terminal and not forgetting the famously long single platform face at Cambridge with its scissors crossover.

At the present time we're also considering adding in an extra few miles of track taking in the GN&GE Joint Line from March to Spalding and back to Peterbrough via Werrington Junction. If time permits we may add some other pieces of track too...

There are also plans in the pipeline to include a piece of contemporary classic rolling stock to help bring the East Anglian experience to life.

We've chosen to set the route in 1980 as it fits well with our current stock building portfolio and makes for a more interesting experience throughout the area. Cambridge is still semaphore signalled as is the majority of the route to Ely where multiple signal boxes control the traffic including the myriad of junctions at Ely North. In the March area too semaphore signals still prevail with an odd colour light sneaking in here and there. The GN&GE is still open and home to both freight and passenger traffic. At Whitemoor the up hump is still open and the majority of track in the down yard is still in situ. Colour light signals and traditional gated level crossing abound across the fens to Peterborough where the fully modernised station and ECML contrast with what has been seen before.

In general the route will be more than happy (with a few concessions) seeing any traffic and scenarios from the early 1970s or before, right through until the wires came to Peterborough.

Get involved

We're more than happy for more people get involved in the development of this route and in return for 'substantial' assistance we'll be more than happy to let folks have a free copy. If you have a collection of photographs from the period, contemporary documents or plans, spend a lot of your time at one of the locations on the route and want to take digital photographs from every angle or have memories you'd like to share we'd love to hear from you via the contact us link in the first instance.

With this route and a few others about to begin production we still have a few spaces left for asset creators to feed the voracious appetite of the route builders. If you have experience of creating RailWorks assets in 3DS Max, 3D Canvas, Blender or Sketch-up and fancy joining this fast growing dynamic team while making yourself a bit of cash give us a shout via the contact us link.

Follow progress here:

Our second route under development for RailWorks Train Simulator 2012 takes us firmly into the industrial heart of the country.

Set in the Stoke-on-Trent area in the 1970s this is no high speed passenger route but more the bread and butter of the railways: Coal Mines; Quarries and Power Stations with a supporting cast of remote yards and junctions, single track and some challenging gradients. Forget any ideas about breaking the speed record, with some very low line speeds, extreme gradients and unfitted trains the only thing you'll be worried about breaking is the string of wagons behind!

Route Overview

North Staffs Minerals covers the former lines of the North Staffordshire Railway as they were under British Rails Ownership in the 1970s.

The hub of the route is Stoke On Trent, headquarters of the Stoke Division of the London Midland Region, within Stoke are Stoke Yard, Cockshute Yard and Cockshute Holding Sidings, all local freight traffic originates from the two yards and serves the Collieries located along the former Biddulph Valley line and the North Staffs Colwich to Macclesfield Line.

Sand traffic is conveyed from British Industrial Sands quarry at Oakamoor Sidings on the former Leek Brook to Uttoxeter line and Stone traffic is loaded at Caldon Quarry on behalf of Tarmac, these two traffic flows enable the Milton Jcn to Leek Brook Jcn freight only line to remain open. Other freight flows are Iron Ore to Shelton Bar Steel Works, Gravel from Cheadle , Chemicals to Carless Solvents Sdgs Longport, L.P.G to Esso Sdgs Longport. Sundries traffic was handled by Stoke N.C.L depot, Stoke Glebe Street Goods and Longport Goods.

The Screenshots

It's still early days, but as you can see from the map the majority of track is in place.

Please Note: The images above are very much work in progress and may include scenery items that are being used as place holders and rolling stock that will not form part of the final product.

Follow progress here: