I originally found the foundation of this route on Steam when it was uploaded by CSX846. It was so impressive then in its unfinished form that Matt Peddelsden did a video run on it. I have spent the last three years off and on tweaking and building out this route, but at this point, I am uploading as is. I am exhausted by the trial and error involved in getting things right, so here it is. Those three years of trial and error have created new issues, so please let me know what you run into. I enjoy this route as is, and I am sure most will too. If anyone wants to make improvements, they are most welcome, and frankly invited.
This is a mountainous route that was originally set in the Appalachians, but it could work in many hilly areas such as the Rocky West or Canada. It has two lines; one is a main line that runs mostly downhill from east to west, and the other is a hilly, curvy mountain line with grades as high as 4%; it has a small town at the top with some industries, a coal mine, and a sand quarry. Be advised, coming off of Trent Mountain, right after Kinnison Mine, there is a particularly tough grade that I tested several times. Two SD80MACs cannot pull 25 100-ton full coal hoppers up the grade without stalling out. Plan accordingly; it makes for fun power consists. I guess I could have added doubling sidings but I didn't. The main line has a scenic horse shoe curve and some challenging grades; running northeast from Davidson to South Kaiser you will want good power on the head end, or helpers on the rear, or both.
This route was meant to simulate the Appalachians, but it could work for roads out west too. It was started with NS/CSX in mind, but I finished it with the PRR/B&O in mind, so the buildings, vehicles, etc. are mainly from Horse Shoe Curve, the Springfield route, and the West Virginia route. Apologies ahead of time, CSX846 began this as a modern route, including signals, and I didn't delete them. I did add some basic gantry signals to give it an old school feel, but honestly signals are beyond me and I generally ignore them. Rivet counters will not like the signaling, and again I invite anyone to fix it. Also, I've done my best to address speed limits, but sometimes they change quickly and I don't know how to address it. The Trent Mountain track is a tough route that demands attention. Ignore the speed limits on the HUD, don't exceed 25 MPH or you will get bitten quickly.
There are a number of pertinent locations on this route. The big yard is Davidson, and that's where the Trent Mountain Line connects. Trent Mountain has the Osborne sand quarry, Kinnison Coal mine, and Trent Mountain Village, which is home to a wood products company, a seed/feed business, and a paint company.
In between Davidson and South Kaiser is the town of Conway, with a passenger station and a fuel products distribution company that takes in tankers of gasoline, home heating fuel, diesel, etc. and then ships them out in tanker trucks. Once you reach South Kaiser, you have a smaller yard which serves eastbound traffic. It also connects to Osborne sand quarry's retail operation and Bruder Building Supply, which takes in cars with building materials.
The Marion steam shovels in the route exist courtesy of Big J. Huge thanks to him for all the good stuff he has made available for us. You can find his website at
http://jpetersjr1.wixsite.com/big-j-productionsWhen you open the route, the start points are away from the route. CSX846 acknowledged this, and I think I even posted on RWA about it. Anyway, once you build a scenario with a driver it's fine, but here are the locations of all the main places so you can navigate to them to build scenarios:
Click on the file 1ea8dfa6-27a2-4c58-a30c-462d9a6f229c and use Control-C and drop into your \steamapps\common\railworks\content\routes file (Control-V)