Sandymill to Invermay

© Robert Glass 2001-2004.

Sandymill to Balfearn was the first route in this series. The route started at Sandymill and carried on through rock cuttings and grass embankments to Ladykirk, a small two platform station with overbridge, situated near the start of a dense woodland area.

Approximately, one and a half kilometres from Ladykirk, is sited the second station, off the mainline. This is Greenhills and is known to Snow and Night Route Drivers. This station is served by Sprinters only and continuing along the the track will take the train to Greenhills Upper Junction Station and on to another destination. Return is via the same line, or trains can rejoin the mainline in the same direction towards Balfearn using a Triangular section just before Drumbracken.

Drumbracken is the first of two Island platform stations and has a stabling point for DMUs which use the lower portion of Greenhills Junction. From Drumbracken the line continues towards Balfearn. The entrance to Balfearn Station is led into with a 1 in 45 descent. Balfearn Station is a four track mainline station with four bay platforms, two for Southbound traffic and two for Northbound traffic. The station is 'H' shaped with the left and right most outer platforms being served by through trains.

Now for the extension...as the train leaves Balfearn, it crosses the Firth of Doon on a bridge which cuts through a rock in the middle of the water to cross into farmlands. The Line continues for some distance to join a once four-track section, where the outermost lines have been removed. Evidence of the four-track section still exists where two double-bridges are located along the length of this section. At these bridges, the mainline splits and converges either side.

Once clear of this section, more farmland areas are seen to be shortly replaced by the start of 'hilly' ground. At this point, the line is joined by the River Barratt on the left hand side. River Barratt continues to follow the line and opens up a short distance from Loch Barratt station. Loch Barratt is a small rural town and contains the second island platform on this route. Access to the station is via an underpass. At Loch Barratt, company for the route changes from river to road as the A910 joins the line and follows it up a slow limb from the station. Where the line meets a tunnel on this section, the road crosses above and is found on the right when the train emerges. Shortly afterwards, the road dips and crosses underneath this time, to leave the railway line alone .... for now!

This section is joined by the Fenwick Colliery Branch Line. Still in operation, this line is served by coal trains assembled at Pinwhirrie Yard after Pinwhirrie station. Pinwhirrie is small town with a mainline station which leads to more forests either side of the railway line. Look out for dear and stags!!!

Five minutes away, is the Urban area surrounding Newton Allan. Passed the station, the line heads under a newly built shopping centre and emerges into more farming areas, where it's journey is soon broken by the apperance of Markinch Station - another rural station. At the end of the platforms is a tunnel. Upon emerging from this tunnel, the line is rejoined by the A910 all the way to the outskirts of Invermay.

Invermay is the largest town on this route and is served by a four track station of the same name. Entrance to the station is via the Princess Gardens at the base of Invermay Castle. The station signals the end of this line.

(Robert Glass - 2001)

Steve Green (Train Sim Central) - Thanks to Steve, again for endless support, advice and ideas, including the Advanced Speed Restriction Warning boards you'll see along the route (not forgetting the 158!). Also, for helping me by adding objects and testing the route. Steve's very own HST and US Freight routes provided more inspiration to finish this thing.

Stephen Cross (OzRail) - Thanks to Stephen for originally converting Sandymill to BVE2 CSV format. Also for creating the 'four track section split' in the middle of the route and supplying the platform indicators. His changeover idea from the HST and 156 routes made the run through Balfearn possible without removing the buffers as I had originally intended. And for formatting the 'Readme' found in the download.

Bryan Dudley (Railtech) - Thanks to Bryan for the work he did in converting Sandymill to Balfearn into a Night Route. Also, for testing the route and supplying bitmaps, including the Stags, Highland Cattle and Calmac ferry! And I forgot to include the Bus in this route!!!

Simon Townsend - Thanks to Simon for correcting my Class 37 colour scheme. ;o)

Colin "Colster" Campbell - Thanks to Colin who also kindly tested the route.

And anyone else involved ...

Sandymill to Invermay

(1.7 MB - contains route files, objects, images and sounds.)

Please extract this file to your BVE folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\BVE\

BVE Track Sound Standard Compliant

A set of guidelines, to help new BVE developers avoid copyright pitfalls when releasing a new BVE add-on.

Requires HST, Sprinter (156) and Class 158 to run.

Developed and Tested in BVE V2, will not work with BVE V1.

All bitmaps 256*256 or less and 256 colours.

Due to the number of objects I've added to this route in order to make this thing look and feel just right (nearly 400!), some users may experience pausing at certain locations along the route. This is not a problem (well!), but I'm speaking (or writing) from my experience with a 266MHz and 16Mb VGA card. I don't know how it will run on your machine, so please bear this in mind! I have had this route tested on machines ranging from 233 MHz to 1 GHz and obviously different effects were experienced. But, nothing devasting was ever reported.

This add-on is compliant with the BVE Track Sound Standard [BVETSS], so whenever a train is used in combination with a BVETSS compliant route the correct track sounds are guaranteed to be heard.

To find out more, please visit the BVETSS site: www.railsimroutes.co.uk/bvetss

BVE and all it's add ons are freeware, but copyright © on all material belongs to the developers unless stated otherwise. So it is recommended that you seek permission before you consider releasing any work that contains, or is based upon, material created by someone else. For more information about this aspect of development, please read the following guidelines: BVE Developer Guidelines - A set of guidelines, to help new BVE developers avoid copyright pitfalls when releasing a new BVE add-on

These can be found at Anthony Bowden's website (Rail Sim Routes UK), and you can access the relevant section directly, by clicking on the banner below...

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