Sierra Nev Camp/Coast Rte improvements/ YTube Pics
Good Monday Morning,
Hello all, just got back from a week of Camping in Sierra Nevada Mts. It was great to see some of our Campgrounds, but hard to also see all the Fire Damage from the last couple of years Drought, Wood Boring Beetle Damage, and burned trees. We did get a bit of Rain up there, and there are some baby Trees coming in. But everything is very dry.
Fire Burn Link?
One thing of experience, which goes to being prepared for injuries, one of our Family members tripped over some firewood near the campfire, and scratched their Calf with sharp piece of firewood. We had first aid items and dressed and bandaged the wound. Rechkd it next morning, applied more Topical Antibiotics, fortunately, it was just a good scratch, only 1st two layers of Skin were abraded! But it could of easily been much, much worse, possibly a puncture wound. My point being, never forget when your in the wild, things can and do happen when you least expect, so make sure you have Medical Contingencies in mind, for those moments.
While Blue was enjoying being one with Nature and some quality family time, I did a little work on my Coastal Rte. Had my good days n my frustrated days, with older Assets that would not work properly, and the other things that can go wrong. I have one thing in my arsenal of bag of tricks? Tenacity and dedication too find workable solutions, when all else seems to go wrong. As others have said, the solution sometimes can be right in front of your eyes, and you miss it completely, something like
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...am%27s_razor&usg=AOvVaw0kuLhkibpWTZBB4BFZnZNF
Just need to take the time, and work through it. And when all else fails, sleep on it, the resolution manifests itself the following day.
I will admit, I tore up a lot of tracks and Assets, like a hard 1000 piece Puzzle. Just takes a little time, maybe some good imagination.
Tonight Pictures tell it all.
Originally, this was just an Island Route, about 4 tiles long, Blue mind went bonkers, and I added some here some there, and then? Oh Flash, Merger Mania took everything over, and you know, I ended up with something like a 6 way merge. The rest is history.
Need a Rock out in the Lake, maybe a Lighthouse? Time will tell.
This is an older Picture, one of many, but there is 3 distinct areas, Cape to Cod, Island Wood operation, and Snowy Mountainous Mining Operation. And what is not shown yet, is a Harbor extension with lots of heavy Industrial workings.
The highest most rugged area of the Rte, 5% grades, maybe steeper? Good heavy Mountain action here. I have lots of expansion ideas, when I finish my Harbor section and some other areas of the Route.
Top view of Rugged Mountain area, thanks to Infrared Bob, your Route is awesome to play with. Another of our gifted Route Builders. Aurora Canada I believe is the name.
One side of the Mtn had a steep cutoff,
Cape area, originally there were Grades from 11-13% headed down to small docking area, wasn't going to work for my vision, so I did a hefty ground build out, where 3-5% Grades were more workable with Ore Cars. I would be remiss, if I said it was easy, it took a while, lots of cut and filling, and getting longer curves into the downhill grade.
Its hard to tell where the old and new meet, Highway was changed a lot to get the Sawmill reset it, with long enough Spurs. I forget there is a heavy Saw Mill operation in concert with Ore Shipments to small Port Dock Facilities.
Pic of new Sawmill Location, Rail Service Tracks are in the works, another Month out, for now, heavy Trucking will suffice but not preferable.
Updated Photo, we have Rail Service, but I need to proof out the Curves and Signal, this is not a Dark line anymore, we have too much Freight, and I don't want to depend on Paper Orders, a downhill cornfield meet could prove deadly and close our Short Line operation in New York Minute. Not worth it, and cost employee lives, we do it right, or not at all.! Decisions are tuff to make, never easy! But none the less, all sides of the equation must be looked and leveled, is it necessary, will it work, should it be avoided? Once you cross the line, can you undue what has been done, or should have been done. That is the true vision of serious changes.
Blues Y Tube Pics of week:
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SMOKIN' SLOT MACHINE | What is it??
The Self-powered Slot Machine is definitely an unusual looking machine, but it does help keep the trains rolling.
https://youtu.be/d2hDlgdDefs
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Switch Engine SRM 8202 Checkout & Startup. (Part 3)
After at least 12 years of slumber the old girl wakes up goes for a drive. Plus a bit of “What makes it tick..
https://youtu.be/bsIC-q_kbQ4
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Running 2 Coal Trains Today but Switch Keeps Malfunctioning
9,119 views Jul 27, 2022 See how they switch out the trains when we are running both of them. Gonna have to fool with the solar powered electric switch because it
keeps going into fault. So you will see how to reset the switch and
also how to manually pump the switch over.
We don't very often run 2 trains at the same time anymore as we
used to. So this is a treat to see. Was really good to see the mine
and prep plant producing a lot of coal this day. Although earlier in
the day we were spreading cross ties and having 2 trains running
that really put a crimp in our track time.
NATIONAL RAILROAD EQUIPMENT at Mt Vernon. Complete rebuild of a old GP9
Complete strip down of an fifty year old MP9 loco
Rebuild from cleaned up base plate using new computer controlled GEN SETS.
https://youtu.be/Vhizu5MRWsE
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Short-lines of the Rust Belt: Part 1
3,780 views Jul 27, 2022 Enjoy the operations of four short lines in the Rust Belt, in this case western PA and eastern Ohio. I filmed a lot of footage of these railroads but felt that individually there wasn't enough content to give each line their own video, so instead I have compiled all of the footage together for this video!
To start are some ramp movements on the Union Railroad in Braddock, PA. The URR serves US Steel's remaining Pittsburgh operations and a handful of other industries in/around the Monongahela Valley. It interchanges freight with Norfolk Southern, CSX, Wheeling and Lake Erie, and the CN Bessemer Subdivision (also known as the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad). The railroad along with several other transportation operations were once part of the US Steel corporate empire. In 1988 these operations were spun off into the US Steel subsidiary Tran-star, and in 2021 the remaining assets, including the Union Railroad, were sold to Fortress Transportation. I primarily filmed this footage while waiting on Amtrak trains to pass in the valley below on Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh Line, and included one of these shots in the video that was almost timed perfectly after a Union load finished passing above. I hope to one day film more of the URR's operations as well as some of their exchanges with the other railroads of the region. EMD SW1500's and MP15DC's provide power for the URR.
The Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad operates in the City of Johnstown and provides rail service to some remaining industries in the Cambria County city. Originally owned and operated by Bethlehem Steel, the railroad changed owners in the early 2000's, first as part of ISG Railways (the remnants of Bethlehem Steel and other failing steel companies) before being acquired by Lehigh Valley Rail Management, which owns and operates the railroad today. In addition to serving Johnstown's industrial facilities, the C&BL interchanges cars with Norfolk Southern and CSX. An EMD SW7 from circa 1949 pushed and pulled the cars seen on the day I was filming. Enjoy transportation of several cars between businesses as well as switching operations at Gautier Steel in Johnstown.
In northeast Ohio is a short-line that truly meets the definition of the word - the Ashtabula, Carson, and Jefferson Railroad only operates about 6 miles of track in Jefferson and Plymouth Townships, as well as the village of Jefferson, all in Ashtabula County. Once part of the otherwise abandoned New York Central Franklin Division, the remaining few miles of track survived through the Penn Central and Conrail eras before being sold to the State of Ohio in 1984, leasing it to the AC&J. The line mainly serves a trans-load facility at the south end in Jefferson, and at the north end interchanges with Norfolk Southern at their Carson Yard. Tourist passenger excursions once operated over the line, however these ended in 2014. In this video on a sunny May morning a handful of covered hoppers were transported to and from the Carson Yard with power provided by an ex-US Army Alco S2 from 1941.
https://youtu.be/faaVRQ-YAHo
Thanks for dropping in.......Stay Healthy.
