The Scottish Capital Express route for MSTS by MakingTracks takes you onto Scotland’s premier express route, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, at the start of the 1980s.

The route is one of the principal travel corridors in Scotland connecting the two principal cities and as such has been home to often unique trains and high service levels to compete with road competition. From the Swindon built Inter-city DMUs in the 1960’s through the push pull sets top and tailed with Class 27s to Class 47/7s working with Mk2F DBSOs, the route has always strived to increase efficiency and passenger comfort.

The Route

Starting from the semi subterranean Glasgow Queen Street Station the train climbs a stiff gradient through tunnels until bursting into the daylight to continue through the suburbs. Passing Cowlairs carriage sidings and Eastfield depot the train is soon past Cadder Yard and into the countryside. Eastfield Depot is one of the main sites depicted in the route that cannot be seen today. This depot housed many Locomotives, both steam and diesel in it’s life, although probably better known for the diesels. All kinds of Diesel class would be seen around Eastfield many adorned in the late 1980s with Easfield’s trademark west highland terrier.

Hills, bridges, cuttings and tunnels predominate as the train speeds towards Edinburgh. Before long Greenhill Upper Junction is reached where the choice can be made to either follow the mainline through Falkirk High Station and Falkirk Tunnel or turn left towards Falkirk Grahamston.

The Falkirk Grahamston branch is the location of the Carmuirs Junctions where trains to Stirling and the North would diverge. Further along Grangemouth Junction is the location where oil trains from the Grangemouth Refinery complex join the route. The branch would be used as a diversionary route for Edinburgh to Glasgow trains if the Falkirk tunnel was closed due to engineering works.

Very soon Polmont Junction is reached where the two routes round Falkirk join company again. The train runs through another stretch of countryside alternating with deep cuttings and tunnels until the outskirts of Edinburgh begin to appear. In what seems no time at all we see the complex concrete and steel of Murrayfield stadium and are drifting past Haymarket Depot once home to the famous Deltics, almost immediately we pass through Haymarket Station and into the long tunnel beyond. Breaking out into daylight brings us into the walled section through Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle high up to our right. The Mound Tunnel acts like a portal into the complex track work and myriad platforms of Edinburgh Waverley Station where our journey ends.

Rolling Stock

The package features a variety of older rolling stock types long since gone from today’s route. Including locomotive classes 08, 26, 27 and 47 and DMU Classes 101 and 107 along with a wide selection of coaching stock allowing you to form prototypical regional services, and both the push pull services using Class 27 diesels at each end of 6 mark 2 coaches and the later services using the unique class 47/7s with mk3 coaches and specially converted Mk2F DBSOs. A selection of freight stock is also included to help recreate the railway scene in lowland Scotland nearly 30 years ago.

If you like driving fast express services, local stopping trains, shunting stock or hauling freight this could well is the perfect route for you.

Screenshots

‘Drivers Eye’ screenshots of the route can be found here.