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EPSOM DOWNS ROUTE

The Epsom Downs route is the first major project of mine for BVE Trainsim. The route was first conceived by Nathan Phillips who laid much of the trackwork as far as Mitcham Junction. Sadly he felt the need to halt production, however he did kindly donate the trackwork and a selection of high-quality objects to me and I took the route over. At first I spent a few days fiddling with the trackwork and adding a few crossovers that had not yet been placed. Around 12 months of very limited activity passed before work was restarted on 10th October 2006 after 'SWTPete' displayed a video of his work in progress Class 465 'Networker' train on the Train Sim Central forum. I donated a cab photo of a Southern refurbished Class 455 which he quickly made into a semi-functioning BVE Trainsim train.

The first thing to do in October 2006 was to re-do the Epsom Downs to Banstead scenery which I had placed 12 months previously. After finding the branchline on the Google Earth utility I added a number of trees and reworked the bridge taking the railway over a road a short distance from the platforms at Epsom Downs. I was then satisfied with the scenery and moved onto the immediate area surrounding Banstead station. The builder's merchant yard had previously been a rush job so I opened out the area and started adding items of scenery that you would expect to find at such a site including piles of crates, large skips, road vehicles, lorries, JCB diggers etc. I also decided to add a few loose rails between the builder's merchant yard fence and the running lines, as you would expect to find in such a perfect cubby-hole!

Please check this page regularly for updates. I hope to release the first instalment as far as Mitcham Junction station in the not too distant future, with further instalments for both Thameslink and Southern services to Tulse Hill and beyond!

I would like to thank the following people for their help and guidance so far:

Nathan Phillips
Adrian Wyman - http://www.wymann.info/EpsomDowns
Steve Wright
Tony Haylor
Steve Green - http://www.trainsimcentral.co.uk
Tom Beevers - http://brj.rr.nu
Anthony Bowden - http://www.railsimroutes.co.uk
Dennis Lance - http://www.freewebs.com/dennislance
Last but not least a real-life Southern driver (you know who you are!)

SCREENSHOTS

When viewing these screenshots please remember that this is still a work in progress and some of the scenes depicted are not yet completed and subject to change. Some objects are not my own and were created by someone else.

Epsom Downs looking in the direction of travel.	We switch to the former 'down' line.
Some of Sutton's p-way gang on the bridge.	The railway curves along the edge of town.
The braking point for the station at Banstead.	The builder's merchant alongside Banstead station.