GENERAL
  
Darlington is situated on the East Coast main line, 44 miles north of York and 36 miles south of Newcastle. It has a long history associated with the railway industry, starting in 1825 with the opening of the world's first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington and later many main-line locos were built at Darlington.

As well as the main Darlington Bank Top station, with its distinctive overall roof, the even more historical North Road station is still used by trains on the Bishop Auckland line, one of several sections of the Stockton & Darlington Railway which are still used by trains.

A visit to the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum at North Road station is highly recommended

This simulation, though, is based on today's modern high-speed railway. The current signalling arrangements came into effect in May 1991, when the Darlington vdu-operated workstation was opened within the new Tyneside IECC (Integrated Electronic Control Centre). 

This took over control from the Darlington Power Box, which was opened by the L.N.E.R. in 1939, and modernised in 1972 with an NX panel. This brick-built building and its equipment remains in situ south of Darlington station.

Standard BR multiple aspect signalling is in use, with Track Circuit Block working.

Most main line expresses are push-pull operated, using class 91 electric locos, with some HST's on other fast services. Local services are mainly worked by various Sprinter multiple units, with Pacers also in use. A variety of motive power is to be seen on freight and parcel services.

RUNNING LINES

Full bi-directional signalling is provided on all lines in the Darlington station area, and on the Bishop Auckland line.
                        
Permissive working of trains of classes 1,2,3 and 5 is permitted on all platform lines, for trains which are booked to call only.

Non-passenger trains, including light locos, may terminate or originate from the Up Sidings and Down Sidings.

Freight trains scheduled to stop in the Darlington area may do so in the Up Goods Loop, the Up/Down Station Loop and the North Road Goods Loop.

PLATFORMS
   
The capacities of platforms are as follows:
    
         Platform         No. of Coaches (*)
   			 
            1                   16
            2                    7
            3                    8
            4                   18 
            4 (North)            8 
            4 (South)            3 
Note:
(*) Reduce by 1 for each loco on loco-hauled trains.       

These capacities may differ a little from the prototype.

ELECTRIFICATION

All lines in the controlled area are electrified using the 25kV AC overhead system, with the exception of the Bishop Auckland and Saltburn lines.

TRAIN REPORTING NUMBERS

     First Character (Train Class):

           1      Express Passenger  
           2      Ordinary Passenger       	
           3      Parcels  (Max. 90 mph+)  	
           4      Freight (Max. 65 mph+)      
           5      Empty Coaching Stock     	
           6      Freight (Max. 50-60 mph)    
           7      Freight (Max. 40-45 mph)    
           8      Freight (Max. 35 mph) 		
           0      Light Engine             	

        Second Character (Destination):

           A      King's Cross
           B      Kings' Cross district
                  York *
           C      Liverpool Street district
           D      Doncaster district
           E      Eastern Region (from another Region)
           F      Colchester district
                  Newcastle via Hartlepool *
           G      Special services
                  Newcastle via Main Line *
           H      Peterborough/Cambridge district
           J      Sheffield district
           L      Leeds/York district
           M      London Midland Region
           N      Newcastle/Teesside district
           O      Southern Region
           P      Norwich district
           R      Barking district
                  Hartlepool *
           S      Scottish Region
           T      Saltburn-Darlington-Bishop Auckland *
           V      Western Region 
           X      Special services
           Y      Ipswich district
           Z      Local Movements	        

       * for Class 2 trains to and from Darlington
           
Routing is as specified in the Working Timetable. 

Light locos and empty coaching stock proceeding to/from a booked working may carry the headcode 0 or 5, followed by the last 3 characters of the train concerned.

DESIGN COMPROMISES

The Simplified Bi-directional Signalling provided on the main lines outside of the station area is omitted.
Flashing Yellow signal aspects are omitted (signals 921, 923, 862 and 860).
