Updating Fort Smith to Heavener

[wlenz781]

So far, just focusing on getting the track laid. I do have some roads placed down near the junction at Poteau, as well as slightly further north at Cameron, OK. There are some small scattered scenery items, as well as trees and grass at Cameron, OK. Even when I complete the connection to the yard at Heavener, it will be mostly a blank route with nothing more than 30+ miles of track.

[wlenz781]

Does anyone know what a BLT Method of Operation is? It would seem that the signaling for the Fort Smith Branch, KCS has it listed as a BLT Method of Operation. However, I am unable to find any information online as to how it operates. Once joined to the mainline, CTC operations take over except in the yards where it is by dispatcher. Check page 37 of the following PDF.

https://issuu.com/jackrobertson/docs/kcs_railroad_system_employee__timet

[jgvaughan]

Okay, I'm going to take a small poke at this. I believe BLT stands for Branch Line Territory. If I remember correctly this corresponds with the Dark Territory concept where signals weren't available. Try researching from that perspective, it may give you more of a hint. The only reason this sounds familiar is due to all the reading I did about 10-15 years ago on signaling systems in the U.S. and how they could differ based on track ownership, etc.

This is where timetables, train orders, etc. came in to play in controlling the traffic on a section of dark territory.

Check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_territory

[wlenz781]

Yeah, that was it. Thank you so much. This means that once you take the Fort Smith Branch line there will be no signals between Poteau and Fort Smith to imitate real life.

[BoostedFridge]

Yeah, that was it. Thank you so much. This means that once you take the Fort Smith Branch line there will be no signals between Poteau and Fort Smith to imitate real life.

Would there ever be two trains working this section of line in real life?

My suggestion as a scenario builder would be to place buried signals to separate the main line from sections of yard/sidings. This would allow scenarios to have an AI train and the players train at least interact on a rudimentary level. Just my $0.02

[wlenz781]

Today, the only train that takes this route is the once daily KCS Fort Smith Dodger. So, once you are sent to this line there is no traffic between the mainline and Fort Smith. It is single track and there are no sidings. It is 27 miles of track and a 25mph speed limit. Once you enter Fort Smith, there are lines for Arkansas and Missouri between Fort Smith and Van Buren, Fort Smith railroad between the Arkansas River and crossing the KCS yard in Ft. Smith headed down to the Planter's peanut plant, as well as industry along the way, and finally Union Pacific operating in Van Buren with clearance to deliver rail cars to Ft. Smith. All these areas will allow for AI trains and have signals.

[jgvaughan]

Since I've not really dealt with scenario creation since MSTS, when a route had this kind of trackage I would use pop-ups to make the engineer aware of the timetable and train orders. If they didn't stay on time then they would have a collision with an AI coming from the other direction.

Developing 'Dark Territory' would seem pretty simple, you would just have to design sidings for the trains to clear a section of track and wait. If I'm not mistaken, I don't think there are automatic switches inside the 'Dark Territory' so the engineer/conductor is responsible for clearing switches, etc. but I could be wrong.

[wlenz781]

I have completed all the miles of track from Van Buren, AR to Heavner, OK. This completes the segment that Rich Garber did in his route. I have added color coded maps that will show the access to each of the four railways on this route; Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern which is the main focus, Arkansas & Missouri, and Fort Smith Railroad. There are industries that can accommodate switching and delivery scenarios for UP, A&M, and FSR. The yard for the Whirlpool plant is mapped on the KCS line so that we can recreate deliveries dating before the plant closure.

There is just plain track so far with very little in the way of scenery. While some trestles span low areas, there are several creeks that I need to add to the scenery. I have part of the rail crossings, but am still short some roads. Hope to be able to make more progress soon.

Screenshot_KCS Heavener Subdivision_35.37879--94.42685_12-00-17.jpg

Screenshot_KCS Heavener Subdivision_35.37879--94.42685_12-00-28.jpg

Screenshot_KCS Heavener Subdivision_35.37879--94.42685_12-00-40.jpg

[BoostedFridge]

There is just plain track so far with very little in the way of scenery. While some trestles span low areas, there are several creeks that I need to add to the scenery. I have part of the rail crossings, but am still short some roads. Hope to be able to make more progress soon.

Take your time, and enjoy the process. The terrain appears to be of the rolling variety, so you should be able to use asset blocks for much of the foliage. I'm looking forward to seeing how the route develops

[wlenz781]

Does anyone know where to find the tunnel markers for the 2D map? I am looking to mark the tunnel entrances on the map.

[wlenz781]

Well, I was reinstalling Windows on my computer since it was locking up every couple of hours and required a reboot. I have a 320GB SSD and a 5TB hard drive where Railworks installed. I accidentally reformatted the 5TB drive and wiped it out. This means that I will have lost all the progress that I made over the last month of extending the route from the tunnel to the yard at Heavener, OK. This means that I will have to reinstall Railworks, along with all my DLCs and mods. Not sure how long all this will take me. I wish that I had made a more recent backup of this route.

[BoostedFridge]

Thats awful, I'm really sorry to hear it. If there is any bright side, you will probably lay all that track much quicker the second time through.