CSX Blue Ridge Sub

[NDORFN]

Just a quick question... Is anyone planning on doing the CSX Blue Ridge Sub in North Carolina? I've been working on the Caldwell County Railroad which is an ultra-high-detail shortline (10mph limit, up to 3% continuous grades, awesome for switching etc...) but would like to make something a bit longer and a bit less detailed. Just checking that no one else has started on it before I get too carried away.

[Csxgp38-2]

Are you in North Carolina? I'm doing the A line through Apex, but haven't thought of the Blue Ridge Sub. NC really has great potential for routes, it's mostly flat and rolling hills in the Piedmont, but lots of grade changes still, and especially in the mountains. Buildings are largely the same in the small towns and the only hard thing for me will be going into Durham.

[NDORFN]

Actually I'm from Matamata, New Zealand. I got into North Carolina for route building because of the availability of 1/9th arc terrain data. I found the Blue Ridge Sub by wandering around in Google Earth looking for a long single line in the mountains north of my shortline (The Caldwell County Railroad - Hickory to Lenoir). The BRS appeared to have everything I was looking for, so I looked up a town on the line "Spruce Pine" on Railpictures and discovered the name of the line and that it is owned by CSX. PERFECT! The line will run from the interchange in Bostic, up and over the mountiains (not sure what the ranges are called yet, you might be able to help with this?) just across the border to Erwin Tenessee. I'm not sure if Erwin is where the BRS actually ends, but 112 miles is enough to keep me busy for a while. It's a bit tricky creating North American routes from half way around the world, but it's also alot of fun researching. I could probably tell you more about Hickory NC right now than half the people who live there!

[NDORFN]

Durham looks "busy". Looks like it's going to be a complicated tangle of road laying and buildings. Atleast it's flat so you don't have to contend with roads that you can't tilt to match slopes. Trust me, it's a nightmare.

[Clinchfieldfanatic]

Hi NDORFN,

The Blue Ridge Sub of the CSX is the old Clinchfield RR. The railroad is 271 miles long form Elkhorn City, KY to Spartanburg, SC. There were 2 Subdivions, The Kingsport Sub in the North which went from Elkhorn City, KY to Erwin, TN. The Blue Ridge Sub is the south end, which went from Erwin, TN. to Spartan burg, SC.. Erwin, TN was the headquarters for the Clinchfield and this is where the main yard and diesel facility was. The Blue Ridge Sub is famous for "The Loops". This is a section of the railroad that mianders around and down the ridges from the top of the mountains down 12 mi. and a 1.2 componsated grade to the piedmont. This is a very picturesque part of the railroad. There are tunnels and long tall viaducts. If you need any more information let mr know.

Kevin

[NDORFN]

Thanks for the info Clinchfieldfanatic. Extending the project down to Spartanburg now. Not the most interesting run from Spartanburg to the foothills but it'll make for good anticipation and build up of the mountain climb when running scenarios, like the Marias Pass route did in MSTS when running the whole pass from Shelby. Do I understand you correctly that the BRS is 1.2% grade through the loops? I might have to reconsider making the route if there isn't some heavy duty inclines to tackle.

[Csxgp38-2]

You need any info on NC? I live in Apex, but can tell you all of what I know.

[Clinchfieldfanatic]

The climb through the gorge south of Erwin to Poplar, NC. has a section that gets to 1.8 just before Poplar. The section from Erwin to Alta Pass, which is just south of Spruce Pime is a pusher section. The same is true from Marion to Alta Pass.

[Clinchfieldfanatic]

I have the track chart if you need more info. It is dated 1983.

[NDORFN]

Thanks for the offers guys. I've gotta get ReDem to work first. It's producing empty .bils and there's no way I'm going to attempt the route without 1/9th terrain and decals.

[PapaXpress]

If the BIL is empty then that is a problem with USGS, not ReDem. Its possible that they may not really have 1/9. As a test try the 1/3 and see if you can get terrain out of it.

[LandN]

Glad to see someone is doing the old Clinchfield. They bought some articulateds from the Rio Grande so they have some serious grades. In the diesel era they used strings of F's as helpers. There is also a power plant somewhere between Erwin and Spartanburg. If you know someone that is into MSTS and has the Clinchfield, you might get them to print you a map of the Blue Ridge Sub.

[NDORFN]

If the BIL is empty then that is a problem with USGS, not ReDem. Its possible that they may not really have 1/9. As a test try the 1/3 and see if you can get terrain out of it.

I'll try that today. If that fails, I'll try to find a .bil viewer to check the files from USGS. I managed to figure out the problem with missing terrain in Caldwell County RR... My original terrain data wasn't compressed (.xml's) and when Railworks wrote the first batch of terrain that I'd modified it compressed the files (.bin's) and then refused to read the uncompressed files. I regenerated the terrain, compressed this time and it fixed all but the tilles immediately surrounding the ones Railworks had saved. I'll iron it all out eventually. It's been a good practice warm up to building the BRS. Hopefully everything I've learned will make for a smooth, straight foward build.

[PapaXpress]

That is interesting. As far as I know terrain data must be written as BIN files, plain text XML will not work in this case. Does ReDem know where serz.exe is on your system?

[NDORFN]

That is interesting. As far as I know terrain data must be written as BIN files, plain text XML will not work in this case. Does ReDem know where serz.exe is on your system?

Yes it's all set up properly.