Dovetail Games have brought to life a local Derbyshire railway line in the latest route Add-on for Train Sim World 3, featuring period steam locomotives.
Available to purchase now, Train Sim World 3: Peak Forest Railway: Ambergate – Chinley & Buxton will reconnect the now segmented railway line, allowing players to once again drive trains through Matlock and onto Hassop, Buxton and Chapel-en-le-Frith. Today the real-life railway is split into various uses – from an extant passenger branch line (to Matlock) to a heritage railway, a footpath / cycle track and parts of a dedicated freight line.
Running on the route is a new addition to the Train Sim World steam fleet – the LMS Fowler Class 4F. This locomotive, of which only three remain in preservation, represents the fading light of the steam era in Derbyshire. Banking operations appear in game, a unique feature for this route, helping the heavy limestone trains formed of ICI Hopper Wagons.
Also included in Peak Forest Railway are the LMS Jubilee, LMS Stanier 8F, Mk1 Coaches, freight wagons and 20t Brake Van from Train Sim World’s first steam focused route: Spirit of Steam.
Though significant portions of the route have since been taken up, Derbyshire locals and keen walkers may be familiar with several locations along the way. Between Ambergate and Matlock, the line is still in use as a branch line running through Whatstandwell, Cromford and Matlock Bath and from Matlock to Rowsley, is part of a heritage railway: Peak Rail.
Other stations had already closed by the 60s at Hassop, Great Longstone and Monsal Dale. Today, Hassop Station is a tearoom and café for walkers and cyclists along the Monsal Trail, which runs along an 8.5-mile stretch of this railway route.
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