Howdy folks,
I figure with a new forum, I might as well start a new thread covering the development of my variations of Highland Valley. For those of you who are tuning in for the first time, I am essentially 'reskinning' Highland Valley, and giving it a theme that is reminiscent of the NY-CT-MA tri-state area with fictional connections to major rail lines including the Hudson Line, the New Haven Mainline and Springfield Branches, and the Bridge Line. The first theme is a New Haven Railroad controlled Valley, featuring the New Haven and New York Central Railroads. The next theme is a 70's/80's period of decay which will feature Conrail, early MTA, early Amtrak, and a handful of fictional shortlines, idustrials, and museum operations thrown in for flavor. The final theme is to be a modern present day version of the Valley with Amtrak, Metro-North, CSX, and Norfolk Southern with the fictional roads from the decay period as well. The beauty of it all is, between three fictional connections to the major railroads and a fictional engine shop in Greenwood, several other railroads and foreign equipment often make appearances to mix things up, and go past the normal paint schemes. The New Haven-themed route is almost complete, trackside siginage is planned as well as some final texturing and scenery tuning, and some minor track straightening is yet to be completed. I'm going to release all three variations at once, in order to make sure all bugs are ironed out and everything is as it should be. I'd also like to note, that I've discovered a way to maintain good resolution in jpeg's, so the days of my threads using png's are over. So, to kick off my new thread, here is a nice long story for you all. Please enjoy, and as always, your comments/suggestions/questions are always welcome.
The equipment management on the Highland Valley Division is just about at the end of the decommisioning process for the last of it's steam fleet. Several diesels have been brought in to replace the remaining steam locomotives in the Valley, and the only thing remaining to do is to liquidate the engines through auction. As cold-hearted as this all may sound, the management does care a great deal about their steam engines, that have faithully and reliably served the Division over the past decades. Before removing them from service, it was decided to hold what the English would call a "steam gala", a day where the remaining steam engines would be cleaned and put on both display and excursion duty. So, please join me trackside as we observe the end of the day of the "steam gala" and witness a series of both firsts and lasts, for the Valley's steam roster.
It's very early evening, and the last of the day's Greenwood excursions is about to depart Greenwood Union. The Greenwood excursion consists of the yard's resident 0-6-0 switch engine pulling a single coach and an NE5 caboose. On track 4, we see a New York Central J3 on display with a handful of cars from the 20th Century Limited. The Valley's management invited the New York Central to bring several of their steam locomotives for the "gala", as they will be facing the same fate of the New Haven steamers as well.
The other engines are sitting on display at the steam servicing facilities by the roundhouse. Here we see them from a distance from the rear platform of a caboose sitting in the yard. An interesting note on the cabooses; they are in the process of being repainted and serviced, and in the rush to get them ready for the "gala" the car shops neglected to paint their road numbers back on.
Before the excursion departs, we have a quick chance to visit the steamers on display. The Niagara and Texas will be doubleheading a demonstration freight up the Afton Branch and the 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 paired together alongside the smaller New York Central engine will be running an excursion up the Branch as well.
Back at the station, the small excursion departs. It will first run up to the interlocking and enter track 2, reverse back into the yard, and change direction once more at the yard controller's shack, where it will continue onto the Dock Spur to give passengers a brief tour of the dock and deadline. Interstingly enough, this is the first passenger service to ever run on the Dock Spur.
Continued...
I figure with a new forum, I might as well start a new thread covering the development of my variations of Highland Valley. For those of you who are tuning in for the first time, I am essentially 'reskinning' Highland Valley, and giving it a theme that is reminiscent of the NY-CT-MA tri-state area with fictional connections to major rail lines including the Hudson Line, the New Haven Mainline and Springfield Branches, and the Bridge Line. The first theme is a New Haven Railroad controlled Valley, featuring the New Haven and New York Central Railroads. The next theme is a 70's/80's period of decay which will feature Conrail, early MTA, early Amtrak, and a handful of fictional shortlines, idustrials, and museum operations thrown in for flavor. The final theme is to be a modern present day version of the Valley with Amtrak, Metro-North, CSX, and Norfolk Southern with the fictional roads from the decay period as well. The beauty of it all is, between three fictional connections to the major railroads and a fictional engine shop in Greenwood, several other railroads and foreign equipment often make appearances to mix things up, and go past the normal paint schemes. The New Haven-themed route is almost complete, trackside siginage is planned as well as some final texturing and scenery tuning, and some minor track straightening is yet to be completed. I'm going to release all three variations at once, in order to make sure all bugs are ironed out and everything is as it should be. I'd also like to note, that I've discovered a way to maintain good resolution in jpeg's, so the days of my threads using png's are over. So, to kick off my new thread, here is a nice long story for you all. Please enjoy, and as always, your comments/suggestions/questions are always welcome.
The equipment management on the Highland Valley Division is just about at the end of the decommisioning process for the last of it's steam fleet. Several diesels have been brought in to replace the remaining steam locomotives in the Valley, and the only thing remaining to do is to liquidate the engines through auction. As cold-hearted as this all may sound, the management does care a great deal about their steam engines, that have faithully and reliably served the Division over the past decades. Before removing them from service, it was decided to hold what the English would call a "steam gala", a day where the remaining steam engines would be cleaned and put on both display and excursion duty. So, please join me trackside as we observe the end of the day of the "steam gala" and witness a series of both firsts and lasts, for the Valley's steam roster.
It's very early evening, and the last of the day's Greenwood excursions is about to depart Greenwood Union. The Greenwood excursion consists of the yard's resident 0-6-0 switch engine pulling a single coach and an NE5 caboose. On track 4, we see a New York Central J3 on display with a handful of cars from the 20th Century Limited. The Valley's management invited the New York Central to bring several of their steam locomotives for the "gala", as they will be facing the same fate of the New Haven steamers as well.
The other engines are sitting on display at the steam servicing facilities by the roundhouse. Here we see them from a distance from the rear platform of a caboose sitting in the yard. An interesting note on the cabooses; they are in the process of being repainted and serviced, and in the rush to get them ready for the "gala" the car shops neglected to paint their road numbers back on.
Before the excursion departs, we have a quick chance to visit the steamers on display. The Niagara and Texas will be doubleheading a demonstration freight up the Afton Branch and the 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 paired together alongside the smaller New York Central engine will be running an excursion up the Branch as well.
Back at the station, the small excursion departs. It will first run up to the interlocking and enter track 2, reverse back into the yard, and change direction once more at the yard controller's shack, where it will continue onto the Dock Spur to give passengers a brief tour of the dock and deadline. Interstingly enough, this is the first passenger service to ever run on the Dock Spur.
Continued...
