USA Pics

[epa]

It's been a while since I've made any real updates to my Cascade Pass II project. So here's a little bit of progress.

East end of the Goodwater Loop and the west end of the route itself so far, hence the grid mountain.

Crossing the Camp River at Goodwater

Jumping a tad east, passing the West Outpost siding and old Outpost wye.

As we enter Outpost, we meet the local helper set, waiting to give the next westbound a boost. Grades get rather steep west of Outpost.

Crawling through Outpost, past the Amtrak station.

Jumping a little farther east, on the new section now, between Outpost and Hidden Lakes.

Passing the Hidden Lakes cabins and marina. Despite the name, there's only one lake here. They must've hidden the others very well.

Heading east away from Hidden Lakes.

Crossing Hidden Lakes Creek

Riding off to the east edge of the map.

I took heavy inspiration from the Marias Pass here, but this is all fictional. And we still don't talk about Cascade Pass I.

Matt

 

[DARTrider]

Hanging around the DT&KC's engine shops at Lubbock, we catch squeaky-clean SD70ACes and even a tired B30-7 sitting out front. The 2255 is one of four B30-7s remaining on the system as of 2024, and is limited to yard use only. They are set to be retired by 2025.

 

[dman26]

 

[WCL]

Metra's coming and going from Union Station down in Chicago, IL.

 

[Bookman1960]

Those are stunning shots. Is that a route in progress? Private? Or an eventual shared release?

 

[AV3]

 

[wayneshorter1965]

FP45 92 is in charge of a stacker negotiating Houlihan's Curve

 

[289v8]

ATSF Summerfield, Texas

 

[289v8]

East Clovis, New Mexico

 

[kingstonflyer]

 

[289v8]

Farwell, Texas

 

[BigDan]

A Conrail manifest overtakes a lawed-out vehicle train on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Pennsylvania.

 

[pdkoester]

 

[WCL]

WC Train TO46 heads south outta Fond du Lac and heads towards Milwaukee, Wis. "Richard B. Ogilvie"--Wisconsin Central No. 7513....The locomotive carries the name of the 35th Governor of Illinois for whom the Ogilvie Transportation Center for Metra commuter trains in Chicago is named.

 

[MarylandRailfan6000]

Here are some pictures of my work in progress route. enjoy!

 

[Hemler]

 

[BigDan]

A BNSF ES44DC leads a colorful Chattanooga, TN bound manifest through the daylighted tunnel near Statesville, KY.

 

[Therock]

power gathering around the shop

 

[DARTrider]

power gathering around the shop

Those Owatonna Central units are amazing. Love the light packages on them.

 

[epa]

More Cascade Pass II stuff.

This time, we're focusing on the town of Clyde. Founded just as the railroad was being built through the area, Clyde was intended to be a place where ranchers to the east and loggers to the west could bring their products to market. While the town never had that economic boom the founders were anticipating, today the tiny town is abuzz with industrial activity, now home to four on-line customers for the railway. "Clyde Yard" isn't officially recognized as a yard, it's a couple sidings at best, but as traffic in and out of the town have increased, crossovers and pullout tracks have been built so switching ops never have to enter the mainline. Today, we're observing the Clyde Turn as it services local industries.

The Clyde Turn arrives in its namesake town and crosses Main Street.

First order of business is to break up the train into more digestible sections, so they won't have to shove the entire train into each industrial lead.

First stop is a logging loadout. Four empties will be swapped with five loads here.

With the swap complete, we head back to Clyde Yard.

Our next stop is Southern Pine Lumber. One empty centerbeam is being swapped with one loaded with lumber. The empty will be added to our outbound train.

Now on to the two freight houses in Clyde. Building 2 gets three boxcars of inbound goods and gives us back two empties, building 1 gets two empty boxcars and gives us back two loads.

With the four boxcars added to the outbound train, it's time to head back across Main Street to tackle the beast...

Cascade Recycling is by far the largest customer in Clyde. They were recently awarded a contract to scrap railcars that had aged out or were otherwise regulated out of service. Today the local will be picking up eight loads of scrap metal and two empty flatcars, and dropping off nine empty gondolas and two retired tank cars.

The pickup...

And dropping off. The cars picked up here will be added to the outbound train. And with that, today's chores in Clyde are complete. The outbound train is fully assembled and ready to head back to Fort Bellows. Before taking off, the crew breaks for lunch at a local tavern. The engineer glares longingly at the bar, wishing he had a beer to go with his burger. But alas, he's on the clock, so Diet Coke will have to do.

Matt