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Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:20 pm
by SCLJim
So I've had a few people ask if I would post a few shots of the route I have been working on. To be honest its really something I've just messed around with and still dont have a clue as to a lot of the aspects of route building. Anyway the route is a representation of one of the 3 routes I worked on, as a conductor.

A little about the real route. The Lineville sub of current day CSX stretches 201 miles from Manchester, Ga to Birmingham, Al. Out of the three territories I covered, this route was by far my favorite, even with it offering the worst trip times of them all. You hear a lot of people talking about the impressiveness of Cajon Pass or Horse Shoe curve, but in my book, Lineville sub was a hidden gem no one knew about. The route is a mountainous one with multiple heavy grades, yes we had mountains in Alabama and Georgia. !!*ok*!! We ran along rivers, through broad valleys and narrow canyons. In my opinion the scenery was absolutely spectacular.

Anyway, back to the modeled portion. I'm currently working on recreating the route from Standing Rock, Al, to the Tallapoosa River, in Alabama as well. So far roughly 20 miles of main have been put on the ground but only a few very small stretches have scenery. So on to the screenshots.

Its roughly 1990, could easily be the early 80s as well but since our reporting marks are CSX, we'll go with 90. We're on the Talladega switcher, A714, heading south. Our power for the day is two former SCL GP38-2s.

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In our first picture we're passing the 5,900 foot siding at Blake Alabama. If you want to find a remote location, then Blake is your place as there is really no good way in or out. Sounds like a great place to put a siding huh? Blake represents on of your typical Lineville sub sidings being non-bonded, 10 mph.

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After passing Blake we finally reach the KC chip mill at Dickert Alabama. Since Dickert is just a wide spot in the road, and the nb approach to Blake, not much is going on here other than pulling the loads out of the plant while holding on to the empties we brought with us and picked up out of the storage track.

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After setting our loads out on the main, spotting 6 empties in the mill, we shove the remainder back in the storage track. This area still needs the mill to be added as well as a defect detector just south of the road crossing.

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Engineers view while shoving past the loads on the main.

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Shove complete and waiting to pick up our loads.

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Guiding our power back to a coupling.

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Finally heading south to Roanoke. Since we delayed in the block we'll have to run restricted speed all the way to the intermediate at High Pine.

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Here's a render of the old depot I am working on for Roanoke Alabama. Unfortunately it burned to the ground during the mid to late 2000s. *!sad!* I have a lot of good memories growing up and playing in that depot.

I'll post a few real shots of the route from the cab, in the next post.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:30 pm
by SCLJim
And a few cab shots from back in the day. I really wish I took more pictures... **!!bang!!**

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Departing the yard and crew change at Manchester, Ga, on nb R214.

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Someone had an 'oops' just south of the approach to the Roanoke hold out. If I remember correctly this was left over from Q689 derailing 16 cars due to a rail defect.

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More carnage.

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And even more carnage.

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Former A.B.&A / A.B.&C. depot, Roanoke Al.

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Coming off the grade and heading into the 'flats' just north of Roanoke.

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Passing the monument at the crest of our steepest grade at Highland, Al. Just a railroad location north of Lineville, Alabama.

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Rounding Hanging Rock curve just south of the approach to Weathers.

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Looking back on our train for the day, Q124. Somewhere around Weathers Alabama.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:48 pm
by SCLJim
A few more pics...

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This location is the drop off of our steepest grade around the 899 milepost. If you look closely you can see the change. One of my favorite engineers to work with always referred to it as "899, dynamic time." lol

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One of our many slide fences. We had tons of these.

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Intermediate signals at 'Tunnel'.

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And our only tunnel while we cross the Talladega creek.

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And finally crossing the NS main in downtown Birmingham. Spent a LOT of long hours waiting to cross this spot. Of course it was NS controlled so you can guess who got dibs! *!rolleyes!* A few more miles and it was home away from home.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:28 pm
by harryadkins
Loved railfanning the Lineville Sub back in the 80's. Wish you the best of luck with this route. It will be fun to operate.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:54 pm
by SCLJim
harryadkins wrote:Loved railfanning the Lineville Sub back in the 80's. Wish you the best of luck with this route. It will be fun to operate.


Awesome! Someone else that is familiar with it! What areas did you visit?

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:11 am
by SCLALINE
i am seriously impressed Jim :)

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:14 am
by imnew
Love the shots !

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:01 pm
by BNSF650
Awsome story *!lol!*

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:12 pm
by LandN
Looking forward to running it in RW3.

Jay

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:01 pm
by harryadkins
My railfan excursions were mainly between Talledega and Roanoke plus the LaGrange to Manchester area.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:29 pm
by SCLJim
Quick shot of one of the assets I've been working on. I've needed a lot of these on this route.

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Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:01 am
by jpetersjr
The route is looking great.

I am as well building a route and building the assets to go on it, mine will be set in the 1930's.

Will you be releasing a beta of the route later?

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:15 pm
by SCLJim
jpetersjr wrote:The route is looking great.

I am as well building a route and building the assets to go on it, mine will be set in the 1930's.

Will you be releasing a beta of the route later?


Thanks! You know I've actually considered doing the same route circa 1920s. I commend you for taking on such a task since recreating something that far back requires a lot of work.

You know I honestly hadn't planned on releasing it as i've mentioned before it was just something for me to mess around with. It doesn't even have super elevation in the curves since I've had a lot of trouble with the easements.

I am thinking I will go ahead and release it once I get more of the scenery done though. In addition to the scenery, I have to finish my rail cars to run on it so there are a LOT of pans in the fire right now. I have about a half dozen crucial assets I need to finish. Once I get those done then I'll go from there.

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:56 pm
by Flywheel
Well whether you relase it or not, it was wonderful of you to share the the pics and i am sure you go down memory lane each time you do some work on that beautiful route. From the pics you have shared i think you are capturing your memories just fine. Pete

Re: Lineville Subdivision [wip]

Unread postPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:40 pm
by SCLJim
Flywheel wrote:Well whether you relase it or not, it was wonderful of you to share the the pics and i am sure you go down memory lane each time you do some work on that beautiful route. From the pics you have shared i think you are capturing your memories just fine. Pete


Thanks Flywheel. It really does bring back a lot of memories, both childhood and adult. There was nothing like those early early days when my father would take me track side to watch, a mixed consist of 8-10 Coast Line GP7s, 40s, 16s, and SD45s, U36s lugging heavy tonnage up grade with an M-5 caboose bringing up the rear. As I get older I miss it more and more and it makes me kind of sad that younger generations will miss out on that experience. My great uncle was the same way with his experiences working on an RPO during the days of steam. I also loved working as a conductor, just hated the lifestyle and being gone all the time, which was really extreme at the point when I left for a job with a regular schedule. I feel like Vrail is the perfect way to relive those memories and be comfortable while sharing them with others. I have no problem waiting a few hours in the hole for a meet when I can watch tv or grab a snack while in the comfort of my home lol.