The Chicago Tunnel Company.

[narrowgauge]

We are interested in hearing from people who might wish to join the Trainz NarrowGaugers group creating the map of the CTC. A large part of the work has already been completed but there is still much to do.

We need one or more persons who have the following:-

Knowledge and keen interest in the Tunnel company.
Interest and skill in creating and using Industries in Trainz
Basic skill in scripting for Industries.
Reasonable ability in Gmax, 3Dmax or Blender
TS2009 V1

If you fit this description, please post here and also email me so Bill or I can contact you.

I must warn you, this is a total tunnel map and nothing like a normal Trainz route. It comprises about 60 scale miles of tunnel track, it has in excess of 400 three-way junctions, probably as many as 600 junctions in total and it is 2 foot gauge. Then, if you know the CTC, you would know that already.

Cheers

Peter

 

[narrowgauge]

OK People, where did I foul up? 62 views and not one reply.

Let's start again.

If you know what the Chicago Tunnel Company is, and are interested in a route based on it, please tell us here even if you have no desire to help.

If you think you can help in any way, please tell us here. Disregard the conditions in the previous post, here they are again in a more relaxed form.

This is important-
Knowledge of and keen interest in the Chicago Tunnel Company.

This would be very welcome-
Interest and skill in creating and using Industries in Trainz

These are less important-
Basic skill in scripting for Industries.
Reasonable ability in Gmax, 3Dmax or Blender

Any version from TRS2006 up but TS2009 V1 preferred.

At this stage no need to email me, just post here to show your interest.

Thanks

Peter

 

[nwhitney]

Well Peter, I'm in category number 1. I know what the CTC was and would like to try out the route once it built, but that's about it. Sorry.
Looking forward to it.
Norm

 

[HiBaller]

Fair enough, Norm. We'll keep everyone advised of it's progress.

Bill

 

[sfrr]

Peter, not much people know about the CTC. I would help, but I don't have TRS2009. Maybe if you inform the people of what its about you can spark more interest.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[jimisham]

Here's a link to it.
http://users.ameritech.net/chicagotunnel/tunnel1.html

 

[narrowgauge]

Mike

Good idea. A potted history of the CTC

The Chicago Tunnel Company (CTC) came into being right at the beginning of the 1900s and continued to be used until early 1954. At the time it was started the Loop area of Chicago was congested with horse-drawn vehicles and foot traffic and the intention was to use a tunnel system to take some of this freight traffic off the roads. The CTC was never used for passenger traffic.

Most of Chicago has an underlying layer of blue clay and it was at this level 40 feet below the surface that tunnelling started. The gauge used was 2 feet and a very restricted loading gauge required dinky little bogie cars 4 feet wide, generally about 10 feet long with a maximum load height of about 5.5 feet. All the locos, which very much resembled mine locos, were electrically powered by an overhead conductor carrying 250 volts DC.

Goods from the surface were loaded in several ways, mainly by elevators, some of which were large enough to handle a loaded rail car to be loaded at a buildings basement level, in other cases the elevator brought the goods to the tunnel level. Apart from normal freight, coal for heating boilers and the resulting ash removal provided considerable loadings. As horse traffic diminished and normal trucking started, the tunnel freight faded until in the later years coal and ash were all that were carried, and then the advent of gas for heating finally killed the little line.

I say 'little line', in reality, for its size, this was a major railroad, at its peak it had a considerable roster of locos and relatively standardized rolling stock, rivalling in quantity, if not capacity, the rosters of some of the standard gauge railroads that fed Chicago.

If you want to find out more visit the link below.

http://users.ameritech.net/chicagotunnel/tunnel1.html

I intend to put some screenshots of our route in the screenshots forum. We have included all the tracks that existed in 1932, we have examples of all the rolling stock and two of the engine types. The freight cars are all industry enabled for a wide variety of boxed and crated freight, we have working elevators, and some coal unloading docks with working bucket conveyors.

Cheers

Peter

 

[PerRock]

I'm dormant but still here. I've been busy on some of my other projects as of late but maybe when I get 09 I'll download the latest build of the CTC and take a gander....

peter

 

[sfrr]

This is an interesting story my uncle had told me. I'll take facts from the net though.

Rehabilitation work on the Kinzie Street Bridge crossing the Chicago River required new pilings. Unbeknownst to work crews aboard a barge operated by the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, beneath the river was an abandoned Chicago Tunnel Company tunnel that had been used in the early twentieth century to transport coal and goods. One of the pilings on the east bank was driven into the bottom of the river alongside the north wall of the old tunnel. Although the piling did not actually punch through the tunnel wall, it caused pressure that cracked the wall, and mud began to ooze in. After some weeks, all the soft mud had passed, opening a leak. When fish were found in the water, it became clearer what the problem was. Where the subways built in the 1940s had passed through areas with the freight tunnels, the freight tunnels were sealed off with concrete. At least one of these walls contained a one foot-by-two foot crack, and water began to fill the subways as well. Workers attempted to plug the hole, by then about 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, with 65 truckloads of rocks and cement as well as mattresses. In an attempt to slow the leak, the level of the Chicago River was lowered by closing the locks at Lake Michigan and opening them downstream of Chicago, and the freight tunnels were drained into the Chicago Deep Tunnel system.

It was interesting and thought I would share it.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[Pencil42]

Peter,

I can help you with industries, as well as any GMAX you might need.
I'll have a gap in '09 ownership between when beta 2 expires and the DVDs ship, but can work in any other version during that time. Having a small child, my time is limited, but I'm fairly flexible in what I can do.

Curtis

 

[Mick_Berg]

I would be interested in this, and would definitely download it (once I get TRS2009) but I don't think I am skilled enough yet to help in creating it.
I'd like to add that, many years ago, when I first found out about the CTC, I never dreamed that it would be possible to have a realistic working simulation of such a thing as the CTC tunnels. Many thanks to all those who have made it possible.

Mick Berg.

 

[NIARTcar]

wow i just saw this and had no idea what the heck this system was
(for once) this is amazing, and just what is needed on trainz

Im interested, but im gong to reseach more before i open my big mouth haha!

 

[Shortline2]

Hi Peter, Bill,

Not much more interested then already mention before, to much up my plate so to speak - but try to keep a little bit informed about what your doing from time to time.

Reason I type here now is that I came over a article in one of my old mining related journals about the tunnel building part of this system, and while I didn't read it through I had a look at it.
I doubt it is of much interest to the Trainz part of this project, but I figured I should mention it when I saw this threads popping up in here.
I could scan it and send it off to either of you if interested?

Best wishes from a underground nut...

Linda

 

[cascaderailroad]

Tunnels

I am looking for a: dark, timber framed, rock walled, tunnel, such as in a standard gauge, or NG, dark coal mine. Any suggestions on dark mining tunnels out there ? I found oil lanterns to hang on the walls.

 

[tnsnet]

There is a dark timber framed single line standard gauge tunnel in T2006 but I don't know the kuid offhand I'll look it up and get back to you unless someone beats me to it. Dusty.

 

[narrowgauge]

Craig and Peter.

Thanks for the offer. I have to do some preliminary work to tidy some things up, and probably the DVD will have arrived by then and as all the current work is now transferred to 2009, the easiest way to transfer the whole thing is by CDP, and I'm not sure that a 2009 CDP will load in previous versions.

I'll be in touch

Peter