Swindon is on the high speed line from Paddington to Bristol, South Wales, and the Cotswolds. SimSig Swindon lets you take control of the entire area that Swindon covers - some 60 route miles - plus view of the immediate surroundings, which are controlled by Swindon B (Didcot), Gloucester, and Bristol powerboxes.

Sharing the tracks with high speed trains are coal trains between Avonmouth and Didcot, stone trains between the Mendip stone terminals and Wootton Bassett and others, freightliners from and to various parts of the country, and local passenger services.

Most of the track is bi-directional twin tracks, allowing for flexibility during engineering works. The Thingley Junction to Bradford Junction single line is included (8½ miles), as is the singled Kemble line (12½ miles) before it re-doubles again - a serious bottleneck when delays occur.

The trackwork around Swindon station is quite complex, with tracks leading to and from various depots, yards, and sidings. The station platforms are offset to one side of the through lines, meaning that down trains have to cross the Up Through line to get to a platform - which can be quite restrictive at times. With just two through platforms and one short bay, it pays to plan ahead before platforming a late- or early-running train to ensure it conflicts with as little as possible.

No Automatic Routesetting is included in this simulation. You are in full control at all times - you must set all the routes for all the trains and type in terminating trains' new descriptions when they arrive at Swindon.

The current 2004 layout, with the new platform 4, is modelled in this simulation.

Click on a screenshot to view full size.

Multiplay!

• Link with Didcot, Westbury, and (soon) Bristol!
• Suitable for one person operation

Key Features

• Complex trackwork
• High speed running
• Long single lines

Difficulty Rating

• Passenger traffic - medium/high
• Freight traffic - medium/low
• Layout complexity - medium
• Overall - medium