Promontory Summit

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

TCRR Small.jpg

Hello everyone!

You may remember me announcing working on an amazing new route a while ago. Well this isn't it.

I will divulge that the other route in question is NG and I'm working with Smokebox to complete it (and that's all you'll hear of it till we announce it). We're waiting on some blueprints though for the locomotives and I'm waiting on some plans. And so here is the Transcontinental Railroad.

This is going to be a side project while we're waiting for everything to fall into place for the other one, since the Jupiter isn't a secret anymore (that didn't take long ) I figured I could start posting progress of the route.

I'll be going father than this but just to give an overview of the actual Promontory Summit area.

[SAR704]

Well if that's the route you're working on, I'll be looking forward to seeing more screenshots :)

[Ericmopar]

I didn't know the lines did cross. The roadbeds but not the actual track. I think...

The reason I say that is because of what I've read over the years. Apparently C.P. and U.P. tried to lay claim to land and built roadbeds but not track right past each other. Then congress had to intervene and make the meet at Promontory.
I

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

So there's only a grade there and no track?

[Ericmopar]

So there's only a grade there and no track?

IE they had to pick a roadbed and meet at promontory. The two roads were attempting to build past each other, but congress made them pick a line and meet at Promontory Point.

So a stretch of each of the two roadbeds on each side ended up abandoned. At least that's the way I understand it.
So, one roadbed on each side ended up abandoned and the other with track on it.

There are accounts of blasting from the two railroads killing and injuring people on the opposite line. They apparently weren't warning each other.
Capitalism at it's "best"...

[buzz456]

Your anti business attitude is showing again. This is NOT capitalism at it's best.

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

IE they had to pick a roadbed and meet at promontory. The two roads were attempting to build past each other, but congress made them pick a line and meet at Promontory Point.

So a stretch of each of the two roadbeds on each side ended up abandoned. At least that's the way I understand it.
So, one roadbed on each side ended up abandoned and the other with track on it.

That explains why I can only find pictures of track on one roadbed over the other, helps a lot.

There are accounts of blasting from the two railroads killing and injuring people on the opposite line. They apparently weren't warning each other.
Capitalism at it's "best"...

I'm not sure what capitalism has to do with people dying in the workplace, a lot of "non-capitalist" countries use slave (or close to it) labor and have extremely poor working conditions.


Anyhow...

I've laid track well past either end of the map in the 1st post. So it's coming along quite nicely. I might lay track on the abandoned roadbeds just to get the shape right then remove it. Hopefully some real scenery isn't too far behind.

[Ericmopar]

Capitalism comes into this for this reason.
Both companies were knowingly encouraging the "accidents" hoping the other side would abandon their competing roadbed and thus the land on either side of the right of way. (Remember, the actual track wasn't laid yet.)
IE the greedy suckers wanted more land grants, so while they were building past each other, both sides were trying to get the other side to quit and abandon their respective roadbeds.
It's why the U.S. Gov. had to finally intervene and tell them where to meet.
Leland Stanford felt so guilty in later years about what had happened during the building of the railroads, that he granted millions of dollars in later years to create Stanford University in the Bay Area.
I can't remember off hand if that money was willed after death or something he did before dying.

[buzz456]

Being a greedy capitalist I'm sure it was after he was dead and his children were trying to atone for their riches.

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

This is a new one...



While laying down the switch near Promontory Summit, I noticed that if I moved it to a certain position that it would do an extremely tight 180 to the other track. So I laid it down just to see what happens.

Let's get rolling


I don't think we're gonna make it


uuuuuhhh...


It's stuck


Honestly I was expecting it to do a quick 180 flip.

As far as the route goes I'm just waiting for a certain person to start a few assets for me so that I can begin to make it all pretty

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

I have received a nice new set of telegraph poles from Mike, here's a quick demo of them in action!

[mrennie]

I have received a nice new set of telegraph poles from Mike, here's a quick demo of them in action! ]

... and not forgetting that old-style harp stand

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

Just tested out the grade on the Union pacific side.

I gotta say, it's a rough and windy ride down the mountain from Promontory Summit, you'll need a firm grip on the brakes to survive the descent!

[B-24_LIBERATOR]

Something happened to the track... it looks... different...