Tales from Aurania: The Woodsman
I had my first operating session on the route today to check out the signalling, which worked fine. Other things didn't quite go to plan though....
The Woodsman is one of Aurania's less prestigious titled trains. It leaves Corey Timber Products several times a day to take workers and tools up toFallen Pine Forestry Plant by way of the Surqueuelar Railroad, a 14 mile route into the mountains named after a fabled chieftain who used to dance round and round his campfire.
Here we see The Woodsman leave CTP in Pinao:
Here the train is spotted at The Fork, a place where the Surqueuelar Railroad diverges from the Outanbach Railway, and immediately starts the long climb towards Fallen Pine:
Here, the train crosses the 27 arches of Twohills Viaduct, so big, we can't get it all in one shot. The viaduct also carries a pedestrian pathway.
Meanwhile, RENFE Mikado no. 141-2103 leaves Fallen Pine with a timber train for the seaport:
And can be seen here traversing Aurania's wild moorland:
And as 2103 reaches the harbour at Pinao, 2140 can be seen crossing the moors:
2103 arrives at Pinao seaport, but there is a problem. They don't need the timber! Quickly, Dispatch (a.k.a Padster who had left the computer in control while he was getting his hands dirty gardening) managed to arrange for some of the timber to be dropped off at CTP:
But, even
they didn't need it all, so Dispatch arranged for the timber to be shunted into a siding until the next session. However, there was a problem, 2103 had run out of water and was stuck! Help was at hand, for 2140 was returning with the Woodsman. It dropped off its train and backed onto the Mikado:
Still more trouble ensued. The Mikado would not budge, despite 2140's best efforts, and its train was eventually de-coupled, leaving the stricken engine marooned like a beached whale. With the allotted session time fast coming to a close, 2103 was left where it stood, while 2140 was returned to the shed.
Locomotive Mileages After 1 Session:
141-2103: 79 miles
130-2140: 23 miles
Safety:
Surqueuelar Railroad has: 0 SPADS 0 Derailments 0 Collisions
Outanbach Railway non-operational
More soon.
Best wishes,
Padster
