North Tyne Circle Line (train simulator)

[West_Stanley]

Here's something I'm very impressed with. Okay, it's a very basic interpretation of the line, but most of the junctions are fairly accurate, bridges seem to be in the right place and the general layout (not the finer points) of most of the stations are correct, e.g., Whitley Bay with its overall roof. There are a few dumb errors on the operating side of things, such as the use of the wrong platforms at Newcastle, Heaton, Manors East and (again) Newcastle

There are some nice touches to it, such as the wooden GPO sorting office at Newcastle (now demolished, I believe), the tall signal box at South Gosforth East, the concrete footbridge at Longbenton and the wooden platform at West Monkseaton. It seems to be set in the early 1970's

I'd like to think that it is made in a format which can be updated so that a generic building can be replaced with a recognisable one and other improvements made over time. There seems to be a lot of potential to turn this into a 3D map of how it used to be, and maybe it is possible to give everyone - with the necessary knowledge and skills - a chance to chip in with improvements, a bit like building a model railway. Perhaps by 2028 it can be truly astonishing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RGx_cgJu9g

[Albert Hill]

A reasonable start but numerous issues, South Gosforth, Cullercoats, Wallsend, Heaton stations in particular, footbridges required at Cullercoats and Tynemouth,

[West_Stanley]

@Albert Hill:

Yes, they'd do well to make themselves an NER footbridge template. Lots of issues, but it's a start

[52D sub shed]

They managed to get St Georges church at Cullercoats spot on.

[Caledonian]

Interesting - its the North Tyne Loop of course not circle.

Once you get used to the generic buildings and bridges it is indeed recognisable and its good for example that Backworth was included. I think the biggest issue for me was that the houses and other buildings are located far too far away from the tracks. Most if its an urban railway and relatively claustrophobic with narrow cuttings and houses and gardens backing directly on to the lineside.

I appreciate that there are limits to the software being used to create it but I can't help feel and in the not too distant it ought be be relatively straightforward to import images of actual buildings

[Albert Hill]

The station building on the up platform at Backworth was still extant upon closure, it is not present in this simulation, the ticket office structure on the over bridge was wooden and not the strange 5 window brick effort displayed.
The coastal church is fine however the distinctive Park Hotel is missing as is the park opposite and the path that ran along between it and the railway.
Nevertheless it is an evocative effort overall.

[Trestrol]

Yes I can only agree with the previous comments. Some things I picked up on were:-
Hotel at Newcastle stretches too far.
Standalone stone building missing(TAN building)
No platform outside wooden parcel building.
No run off sidings at Manors.
Missing footbridge next to the tall signal box at south Gosforth.
Missing footbridge at Longbenton.
Missing colliery overbridge in Backworth station.
Wrong type of overbridge at West Monkseaton.
Wrong platform shelters.
Missing bay platform at Monkseaton.
Signal box should be after the footbridge at Monkseaton not before.
Missing platforms coming into Tynemouth.
I may be nitpicking but on the whole it’s a very reasonable representation.

[sturrock]

Talk about not seeing the wood for the trees.
What a fantastic effort by someone ( West_Stanley? ) Gives a great view of the past.
Now I'm hoping the skilled people use this great technology and undoubted expertise to give us a view of the steam powered past of the 19th and early to mid 20th century.
Congratulations on showing us the exciting historic possibilities -in both senses of "historic".
What a great effort!

[Trestrol]

No don’t get me wrong Sturrock you are right it is a great first effort. I wish I had the time and the knowledge to have attempted it myself. One person only has so much knowledge and they need people on forums like this to fill the gaps where their memory fails them. This is what this forum is good at.

[JASd17]

I found several minutes of this very interesting, I did not watch it all.

My son is working on computer games animation, I think he will find this level of finish not up to the highest possible standard, but remarkable given the programme used.

One thing is for sure, the way 'games' are presented will change.

I too can see this being a way forward when modelling is no-longer possible. My other half would like a virtual garden already.

Along side the real thing at present!

John

[third-rail]

He has one from st Peter's to Newcastle via tynemouth, mind point pleasant has a grand sta not the cinder covered platform with the two very small timber ticket offices.it also has a fine turn of of speed up the hill towards bentonover 70mph

[PinzaC55]

Regarding the comments on realism and so on I did my own simulations a few years ago on Trainz 2012 simulator and it's worth mentioning that although Trainz for example has over a quarter of a million assets (trains, buildings track etc) you can very rarely find something which is exactly like the item or place you are modelling unless you can make it yourself or have someone make it for you. So, you need to be a bit charitable to the people who make these things and share them for free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFi-rmGuLgs&t=552s

[West_Stanley]

Regarding the comments on realism and so on I did my own simulations a few years ago on Trainz 2012 simulator and it's worth mentioning that although Trainz, for example, has over a quarter of a million assets (trains, buildings track etc) you can very rarely find something which is exactly like the item or place you are modeling unless you can make it yourself or have someone make it for you. So, you need to be a bit charitable to the people who make these things and share them for free

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFi-rmGuLgs&t=552s

One thing they could add to their quarter of a million assets is an NER footbridge! I'd make one for them if can find a way to do it. How do you learn to do those things?

A full, 20 or-so of route miles is too much for one person. A team of people is needed to create a virtual model railway, the same way that a team of people contributes to a large layout at a non-virtual model railway club

@Pinza: Whilst I don't know the Leamside route as well as the route to Tynemouth, I really enjoyed your Youtube clip. Coincidently, Ernie, of "Ernie's Railway Archive" has just posted 4 photographs of Leamside stations on his excellent Flickr account, so be sure to have a look

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 0854215997