The Silver Lines Electrified West Virginia Division

[lego207]

Shooot it's been a minute. Busy times at work and home and all that jazz... Not been doing much Trainz lately, but that's alright.

also re: embankment, it's a private asset from my friend group

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My latest work on this 'little' old route of mine has been in the southern division, particularly near Mahan. This is where the tracks cross I64, and let me tell you - there's a reason there was no railroad here in real life! The only way to make this work was a tunnel that is two solid miles long. Good news is that it removes the insane gradient I was fearing, bad news being... well, it's a tunnel. Tunnels suck for steam crews way back when and also making them in this game is a genuinely awful experience! But, I digress. The Mahan Tunnel leads out to the Mahan Bridge which crosses I64, connecting onto the side of the opposite mountain. I thought it might be interesting for someone out there to see how some of these ideas go through my head and how things change a bit.

A few weeks ago when I was starting to grade and adjust track in this region, I made this absurd bridge just to get the bridge down. It is not a good bridge, and that should be very obvious. It's absurd size makes it a bit impractical, and I already have one similar to this elsewhere (at the Big Springs Loop). So, it was quickly determined this needed to change.

Next, I built a second bridge right alongside it, this one taking a more realistic approach and being overall much more reasonable, but kept the original one in place. This was helpful for comparisons sake and also useful in making sure I was getting the bridge to the spot I actually wanted it to get to. In saying that, the tracks hugging the edge of the mountain changed on both sides of the interstate - one is visible in the picture below, where the straight length of the original bridge is replaced with embankments, and the other side is a few feet lower. The higher vs lower tracks are notable because the original plan was to drop the elevation on these tracks to the valley floor near Burnwell, but it turns out that while that is possible, ascending the next slope is not. Thus, the slightly lower track (newer one) doesn't drop it much at all, staying mostly level to allow for an easier advance through Burnwell towards Carbon.

The next step was removing the original bridge and the tracks it used. Then, decoration could begin - some trees and ground textures, cutting out the terrain for the tracks, bridge abutments, the road assets for the I64... Here, we can see some of that first scenery pass as well as the massive cutout that leads to a smaller tunnel.

Coating Mahan Tunnel's southern portal in trees...

And a tunnel portal after that monstrous cutout seen in the earlier photo. I don't love the texturing or terrain on the rock walls on either side, I'll have to fiddle more though I suspect I will be a bit limited in that regard - this game and cliffs do not go well together at all.

That's about as far as I got in that area. Not much time to do this stuff these days, nor the drive/energy. Nonetheless, here are two photos of trains to tide you over a little...

As a bonus thing, I did take some time to work on the Silver Lines map after all this time. I figure I'll post things about other Silverlines projects/related stuff in this thread as well, just because I'd rather not resurrect a particularly old thread of mine lol

Anyway, a map. I've cut out the uppermost lines that you can see sprouting out of Chicago - they're just placeholder lines in Google Earth. In fact everything between Cincinnati and Terre Haute there is also placeholder, as is Cambridge to Cleveland. You can see the West Virginia line on the right - there's some overlapping from the placeholder object between Parkersburg, Cambridge, and Cincinnati, but it's all there. It gives you a bit an idea of the scale of this route, I think. Keen viewers will note the fact that the Silver Lines is using the entirety of the Alton as its mainline from Chicago to St Louis, plus the St Louis to Kansas City line. I've finally gone and done up some history for the railroad, and essentially the Silver Lines is the Alton. The idea being that the predecessors to the Alton merged with a few fictional Illinois railroads and formed the original SLRR (CSLR then), which expanded too much too fast and was bankrupt after 18 years, then reorganized into the SLRR of today. That brings some pretty big changes to how midwestern railroading went about - particularly that the GM&O never bought the C&A, meaning the ICG merger was a fair bit smaller, which I think makes the SLRR vs IC relationship more interesting. Oh, you might notice the little red squiggle in Indiana - that's my shortline railroad project, the BF&E. That's another topic for some other time.

From here, I have to determine the lines throughout the rest of Missouri and Kansas, then there's more to be said in Indiana and Ohio, plus something into Michigan. The states aren't even pictured here but Wisconsin and Minnesota have some SLRR tracks of course, even an iron range in the latter. Likely I'll do more line-stealing and concocting some strange things of my own, but it's taking shape finally. I'd like the railroad to venture a little further south into Kentucky, maybe dip its toes into Tennessee, but, well, we'll see. Not sure where the railroad will officially end in terms of the western reaches - what you see here on the east is pretty much as far as it goes, but other than bringing it out to Omaha, I'm not sure. All in good time, anyway.

But, after that, that's all I have for today, not too much really. I'm sure I'll do more stuff in time, but for now...

Cheers,
SM

 

[lego207]

Off and on, off and on... mostly off, but sometimes on. I spend my freetime chasing the real thing more these days - catching IC motors nearly daily is actually quite fun!

Big news: we got wires!

A new area scenic'd - Cambria, WV.

Approaching Dixie, WV.

Those steel platforms are a bit on the tall side, but that's the necessary evil at the moment if I want to be able to have the EF1/2/3/4/5s running under the wires properly. In the future, the hope is to get some Milwaukee pantographs with the variable pantograph height script put in, but all in good time. For now, I'm just happy to have some suitable catenary finally! Big thanks to Matt/atsf854, wouldn't have these without him, so big up chief

Until next time,

Cheers,
SM

 

[bentrain14]

#opendoorpolicy love the shots and the catenary looks great with the locos.

 

[lego207]

Thanks, Ben! I like to think the open doors are the SLRRs way of onboard airconditioning lol

Having the catenary start going in has been wonderful. Even though this route will never be completed - far too big - it's still nice to be able to put a visual to the thoughts & writings I've had bouncing around for so long now.

E13, an EF-5 motor, joins GP38-2 on the rear of a coal train that's pulling into Belva, WV. Though the train made it out of Clear Creek without too much hassle, the upcoming grade at Independence will be a tougher one.

Ahead of the northbound coal train is a doublestack train, something a little newer for the division. Intermodal traffic isn't particularly common here, being that it's usually only sent across when other routes are too trafficked or suffering from blockage, so it always gets high priority when it does. Two EF-4s take point on this train, also northbound.

A third Little Joe performs helper duties on the rear end of the intermodal. This grade is steep enough to warrant the extra power - plus, it did need to return to Boaz for work anyways, so it's a win-win for everyone.

With its Boxcab helpers on the rear, an SD45 and SD38 in the middle, E44s E30 & E31, along with SD40-2s 3814 & 4006, and finally SD50 4058, all work to lug the coal north through the grade. Shadows are reigning king here at the sharp curve at Bentree as the train squeals around the turn.

SLRR still doesn't know how it feels about SD50s yet.

The E44s and SDs have made it up the grade and grind the rails at the Independence Summit. Now, the battle to keep control as one half of the train descends the grade and the other half ascends truly begins. With another 130 miles ahead of them, they've got a long rest of their day.

Cheers,
SM

 

[lego207]

Today, we do something a little different - visualizing a scene mentioned in passing in the great big book of silverlines lore in the sky. Here's a quote:

Regular freight service slowed, as did passenger service. The PRR was struggling to make the West Virginia division profitable during the dramatic economic downturn. To make matters worse, in 1938 a six-car passenger train out of Charleston collided with a northbound freight train at Whetstone, sending coaches into the Elk River and blocking the entire line. The already falling ridership plummeted and the damage was costly.

So, for the hell of it, here's the aftermath of the 1938 derailment:

The non-edited photos are also found in here if those are more your interest: https://imgur.com/a/IHQ5hQb

I think I've mentioned it here before but the biggest thing for me with this route is creating visuals for the writing in the background, so this is the kind of stuff I like doing most.

Here's something silverlines and electric but not on the route, just for fun

Cheers,
SM

 

[Railwoodman]

That looks awesome :mop: More please

Matt

 

[lego207]

That looks awesome :mop: More please

Matt

Your wish is my command!

--

It's October 1972 and the rebuilds of the Boxcabs are finally coming to an end. Just the week before, all 39 remaining box motors received new numbers and were re-classed. The final four to be rebuilt were EF-5 E13ACDB. Now that the majority of the work is done, E13 follows in the footprints of its sisters and trundles onto the test track with two SD40-2s and a dynamometer car behind it. The SD40-2s will be thrown into dynamics to help simulate a loaded train and give E13 something to pull against while the dynamometer car will record data that will help inform the Boaz shop crew if any more work needs to be done. Meanwhile, a pair of brand new GP38-2s take a GP9 and GP30 with them to haul a manifest train westward out of the Boaz yard.

Hardly a quarter mile west of Substation #1 is the end of the wires - or beginning, depending on your point of view. The four geeps spit smoke as they get their heavy mixed freight out of the yard. Of note is a familiar flag on the front door of 3211 - a few dozen engines had them slapped on the front of engines. It was a small nod towards the railroads growing irritation with the ICC and other government regulations, most notably their wishes for deregulation. Eight years later they would get their wish and many of the gadsen stickers disappeared, but once and a while you can spot one lingering on today.

1972 saw the railroad acquire more locomotives than it had in the past decade combined, due mostly to the success of the Dash Two line. It was damn near everything the railroad wanted in new motive power and they certainly let EMD know that fact. New and old geeps depart the electrified division and enter the Parkersburg Division [Cambridge, OH, to Parkersburg, WV].

--

Flashing forward a few years, and suddenly Staggers has been passed, the Little Joes and Conrail electrics acquired, and a new, closer, power plant has been constructed. Here in 1985, operations on the electrified division have become pretty routine. E75 / E4AB / 3974 lead a loaded coal train past former PRR, one time Conrail, E44 #E39. The E44s were very multi-purpose engines, often finding themselves switching cars in the light industrial areas or moving road freights and smaller transfer trains. E39 gets to spend some time shuffling cars at the recently completed Pleasants Power Station here at Willow Island, WV. The power plant finished construction in 1979 despite the prior years construction incident and had its coal reception built in mind for the Silver Lines electric program. All tracks, save for a few storage tracks, are operable by electrics - even the small branch to get to the fly ash loader!

--

In later years, the Silver Lines began acquiring seemingly random locomotives second-hand for nearly scrap value. The railroad regularly had trouble with keeping enough motive power on hand, and so a few old units for cheap often helped alleviate these problems. The 9000-series is a mess of engines, some new and some old, with nearly completely random numbers and even more random power choices. Former Southern Pacific 9243 didn't even need to be renumbered - it was simply patched up and sent out to help wherever it was needed. Along with three SD50s, the old SD45T-2 leads a run-through mixed freight southbound with Boxcab helpers at the rear.

Cheers,
SM

 

[Railwoodman]

I like , But know ya can do better . :hehe: Really liking your route .

Matt

PS A Q , are you doing the signals ? I'm seeing one I haven't before . Along with the Cat . :wave:

 

[lego207]

Thanks!

The signals are the JR PRR PL signals from one of their routes - there is a full library of parts in the mesh library so you can kitbash any signal you want. A friend of mine did a big set of PLs, so I have a nice variety to work with. The catenary is from atsf854's old BCOL Tumbler Ridge project and have been a great addition to the route thus far. Still need to figure out what to do for bridges, but... thats another day.

Boxcabs at Mt. Zion, then Chloe.

Some leaser action,

E31 suffered a mechanical issue near Smithville and is little more than a paperweight on a midday southbound. Thankfully, there was some extra power helping a northbound that was pulled off after the Big Springs grade that was able to take the lead.

At the north end of the Belva siding, two EF4s lead some coal past empties, with E4AB pushing the latter.

Cheers,
SM

 

[DON49PLM]

Looks like your having a lot of fun. Keep it up.

 

[Railwoodman]

I have another Q . Are going to release the skins ? OK two . Payware of DLS ? Looks like you are having fun . Well done

Matt

 

[lego207]

Thanks guys, appreciate it!

I have another Q . Are going to release the skins ? OK two . Payware of DLS ?

Unfortunately none of the skins can be released as they are all done on models that are either payware or private/unreleased. Similarly, the route itself will probably never be released as it's too large to be finished and about half of the assets used for it are payware/custom/modified.

--

Here's something neat. This shot is almost a year old already actually, and it's me just handbuilding a little scene on my diorama route based solely on some not-so-great Google maps info. Inspection train arriving in Colcord, WV, where PRR stored old coal cars that were now surplus as the mine had closed.

So, I decided the other day to brute force my trackwork through the mountains and get over to Colcord on the DEM. It took another three mile long tunnel, but I made it there and was able to get the scene started. So, here's the new, canon, version of the inspection train arriving in Colcord, WV. Circa 1968.

Quite a difference! Very happy with how it's coming along in this area now. You can't see it from here, but the Budd cars have also had their logos replaced with the proper canon diamond logo to replace that old and outdated one.

A photo from the first two posts in the thread saw SLRR 3006, a GP30, and 3 GP9s hauling in some of these old PRR hoppers during the early operations after the Silverlines takeover of the division. I recreated the lashup and let it roll around a bit. Here, 3006 summits Independence:

Check this one though! I was given a little ole PSD and whipped up brand new, canon, ph4 SLRR SW1500s. Numbered 3020 to 3044, 25 of these critters arrived on the railroad in 1970 and roll around the network.

Doing these finally gave me the kick I needed to update handrails on more locomotives. The ugly yellow colour I've been using is too neon for my tastes and I've been meaning to correct it for ages, so I've gone and done that for most engines on roster now. I believe I just need to do the SD38 and then everything will be up to par.

A pair of SW1500s working in tandem at Boaz Yard:

A few years later, another pair has worked its way into the Boaz facility and idles outside the shop complex. Meanwhile, three new SD50s saunter their way out of the shops to get some empties moving. Note the updated handrails!

That's about all I have for now, so 'till next time.

Cheers,
SM

 

[Railwoodman]

Well that sucks , But completely understandable . I'm getting a kick out of the route . Nice work

Matt

 

[lego207]

Ah, a month has passed, and I've got little to show for it. Such is the way she goes, really. Life's been weird and busy lately and I just haven't felt like doing terribly much in Trainz, else I'd probably go insane with how this game drives me and everyone I know up the wall with its antics. If we could go five minutes without precaching and have a skybox that didn't look twenty years out of date...

I've swapped out the tracks in the Dixie woodchip plant for RTRAX, which the author generously gave me a copy of. Some procedural tracks definitely make a nice difference in the details department - that's what this game lacks a lot of, detail. Here, SLRR 2491 brings a work train into the short industrial spur.

I'm considering swapping some of the tracks in the railyards and Boaz shop complex to RTRAX as well. I'd do it for the whole mainline, but the current track I use for it and the embankments match just a little too perfectly for me to totally replace. For now, anyway. Maybe I'll do some reskinning of tracks and embankments and be able to replace everything - it'd be nice to get the whole route full of procedural tracks!

Meanwhile, one of the massive bridges at Lizemores towers over the small settlement. A few SD40-2s and an N&W SD45 on lease are screaming in full dynamics as they struggle to hold back the coal loads behind them on the steep grades of the Lizemores Valley. There's nearly a dozen big bridges that make up the valley, where tracks twist and turn and make heavy downhill coal drags a dangerous operation. Extreme caution is advised to all crews, and the speed limit is rather low. Lizemores itself is home to a few dozen homes, a few small local businesses, and a church. Small dirt roads wind through the trees and mountains to connect the community together along West Virginia Route 12.

After the SD50 fiasco, SLRR's trust in EMD had been shaken gravely. While the SD50s were improved upon and became generally good units after time, large orders from EMD seemed unlikely. Indeed, the SD60 saw a limited number acquired by the railroad - though an improvement over the SD50. In 1981, the railroad took ownership of 35 slightly troubled SD50s, and five years later, 45 SD60s appeared on the roster. The 60s were liked well enough, and were certainly better than their prior cousin, so the company was willing to take a few additional units. Three years later, five SD60Ms were bought to try out widecabs. That was a big moment for the railroad. But, here in late 1986, SD60 4524 leads a few of its more distant cousins northbound through Dixie on another coal drag. By this time, most of these trains were primarily electric, but diesel power was still a relatively common sight as runthrough power. To allow the railroad a better understanding of the new EMD 710s capabilities, 4524 was given the opportunity to lead through the steep grades and tight curves of the WV division. It told the company that EMD wasn't quite dead yet, but they still needed something more from them.

Most of my work lately has been in tinkering with the BF&E route and another big DEM I acquired, which is the SLRR's Champaign sub - from Pontiac, IL, to Terre Haute, IN. Being a primarily midwestern carrier, I needed to have something to show off the SLRR's home turf. This gave me a chance to refine the route a bit and further develop the proper backstory for the formation of the company. Here's a few snippets from that route-


SD50 4045, SD45 2994, and ex-SP 9423 lead a string of grainers beneath the R2 signals that guard the crossover from the SLRR's Chicago to St Louis route - the Alton's route, in fact! SLRR is now canonically a Chicago & Alton derivative - and onto the Champaign sub, beginning here at Pontiac, IL. The 'Alton' route is still doubletracked, but the Pontiac to Terre Haute route was converted to single track decades ago after traffic dropped post-steam era.

SD60s have this intermodal train well under control as it passes under the cantilever that directs trains south over the crossover. To the right is Route 66, by the way!

SD45s are a startlingly common sight on intermodal trains on the Champaign sub, owing to the fact these engines hit their stride in the higher notches - and thus higher speeds, exactly what intermodal traffic demands. In the 1990s, SLRR rebuilt hundreds of its locomotives to extend their lifespans, including the SD45 fleet. Retaining their flared radiators, the SD45s are now at Dash Two specs and play with one another much nicer than before. Though they still have their 20-645E3 and are still rated for 3600hp, they don't guzzle down as much fuel as most believe.

Lastly, C44-9W 4903 leads autoracks south towards Kansas City with ex-UP 3446 in tow. The aforementioned SD60Ms made the railroad intrigued by widecabs, and the railroad followed GE's suggestion and went forward with widecabs becomming the standard for new motive power. Interestingly enough, SLRR did not decide to do this with EMD, as the 100 SD70s were built with standard cabs instead - though the 70 ACe's acquired in 06 broke this rule, and also were the last order from EMD. The Dash 9s, as well as previous iterations in the Dash 8 line, were liked well enough. The railroad had a tough time deciding between power choices - AC vs DC? It ended up ordering bits of both, with 100 DC Dash Nines entering service and 75 AC44s joining them, all between 1994 and 1995. The AC power tends to stick to the regions with heavier grades or trains, and these days, SLRR doesn't bother with new DC power. Nonetheless, the DC designs will last for longer yet still.

Speaking of DC engines, an SD38 powers a local train out of Pontiac and up to Dwight.

That's all I've got for now. Till next time, whenever that is with whatever it is.

Cheers,
SM

 

[lego207]

Work, work, work. Here are some recent scenes.

June, 1971. The Silver Lines is well-underway on electrifying the West Virginian division, but with the Boxcabs still in the Boaz shops, everything is under diesel power still. Approximately 90.7 miles south of Boaz, we find an oddity in the division - a US&S R2 has replaced the familiar Pennsy Position Light that once stood in its very place. The PL, now rusting away on the side of the tracks, was pulled down the month before after it sustained damage due to a Penn Central freight and dragging equipment. With the nearest replacement PL or parts some 90 miles to the north, an R2 was pulled in and dropped in its place. The only reason they had an R2 this far out from home was because a pair of them had been stashed on a work train that was repairing the tracks near Chloe, two miles to the north.

SD40s 2672 and 2689 are running light towards Nebo to pick up a short train awaiting them there.

The SD40 duo slows to a crawl as it encroaches on the Nebo mine tracks. The signals here are another oddity - the siding at Nebo and subsequent mine track came as a surprise addon to the Pennsylvania line, and as a result, things are particularly cramped all throughout. The siding ended up being rather useful, as farther south, sidings were difficult to employ due to the terrain. The dwarf PL protects the mine track, while the two full-size PLs guard the main and the siding as they converge into one. Normally, the signal for the siding would be a dwarf, but it was decided to put a full-size signal in instead so as to help avoid confusion for crews.

Gritty coal tracks, restricted to only 10mph, sit below the mainline and its siding. The SD40s, having switched leaders, lug their 25 loaded cars away from the mine where a pair of old GP9s have been working. Nebo is a low-capacity and low-production mine - its location makes it unsuitable to store many cars there, and as the mine produces only a small amount of the black rocks, small batches of cars ended up being the right way to go. While the coal train, C827-1, works to exit the mine track, an empty work train has the right-of-way as it barrels north. The GP40-led train is helping supply catenary and associated equipment to crews working along the line, and as such, it gets priority.

With permission to rejoin the main a short while later, C827-1 makes haste and drags north. Though two SD40s and 25 coal cars is a short train, the grades and curvature of the route make it a struggle no matter what. Once again, the train passes 90.7 and the fallen Position Light.

Two miles north and the train has crossed over to a strangely modern scene. Catenary crews have built up the line to MP 89 already, and with a brand new bridge over WV Route 16 installed just a few years prior, C827-1 looks strangely out of place as it spits smoke upon the wires that will result in the removal of their own kind. In a decade, the majority of power on the division will be electrified, including Nebo mine runs like C827-1.

Clean power for a dirty resource - an oxymoron if ever there was one. For the time being, however, diesels will continue pumping out fumes as they collect the loaded coal hoppers, but the stage is already set for a radical change in the future. Some things, like the blocked PRR depot at Chloe, or the little downtown and simple housing just out of frame, won't change though. No matter what the railroad does, it will always be a simple life in these small towns dotted throughout the mountains.

Cheers,
SM

 

[rwwaterz]

nice route and signals.

 

[lego207]

shoooodang check it out, I am both posting and with new content no less. stellar!

As a sponsor/investor of the new CPS SD70s, I had sone done up for everybody's favourite monochrome railroad.

I like SD70s. In the weird canon of SLRR, they singlehandedly doubled the SD70 production - 100 units broken into two orders. The R-class Project brought back a lot of good motive power for the railroad and modernized plenty, but the eternally power hungry railroad craved something a bit extra, and with the last of the old units collapsing into piles of dust, 60, then 40 extra, SD70s more than made up for them. Also, standard cab SD70s are cool. Shame on NS for those ACC abominations.

Here, the class unit, SLRR 4740, leads two other 70s - with an EF-1 on the rear as helpers - across the division. You know the drill.

Somewhere along the way, SLRR E34 joins the SD70s as a front-end helper. The E44 was the first engine I applied the ph4 scheme on, and this was what served as the base for the SD70s. Phase 4c is the official designation.

E34 was left behind at Alloy. You'll note the lack of catenary here - just haven't gotten around to catenary in most areas yet, quite simply.

This is an area I've not shown around here at all yet, if memory serves. I have actually built into Clear Creek, the home of the major coal mine for the route. Saying its in the prototype stages would be downplaying it quite a bit! But the main entrance is in, so that's something. The yard and mine access need a lot of work, just due to the tough terrain.

Really not much to say route work wise, been busy irl with work + real trains. Done a lot of traveling these past few months and spent a lot more time in my own backyard hunting down IC SD70s (hence why I commissioned those SD70s in the first place!). Any time I do have for Trainz, I end up just closing it after a few minutes. Just not feeling the game too much these days, but maybe something will come to me eventually. Or another game... that could always happen too. At any rate, there are now SD70s floating about, so that'll make for good stuff! IC/CN/CNIC (and others coming soon) are available on CPS, and I believe even the SLRR ones may show up there in some capacity (but don't quote me on that lol).

Cheers,
SM

 

[lego207]

Hm, nearly 3 years between posts. Ain't that something. Crazy how time flies...

Since 2021, what has changed? Everything and nothing!

Recently, I've been working more on this route, primarily for iPortal reasons. If you're not familiar with iPortal, it's basically a way for a train on one users route to drive onto another users route. As long as each party has the same content, it works, carrying over carloads, ARN, skins, etc. What this means, basically, is that now there's more purpose to operate industries, especially those that don't have a counterpart on the same route, and there's more reasons to run trains and operate the route like a real railroad. We'll talk about this a bit as we move through the route and examine some changes, but basically, this West Virginia route acts as a central hub for a cluster of friends and our iPortal activities. Everybody has their own railroad and we send trains to one another, and sometimes via another. It makes for an interesting dynamic, suffice to say.

So, anyway, on the route side of things, where are we now? Last year, I moved from TANE to TRS22(PE). I've still got pretty mixed feelings on it overall. I haven't been able to dial in environment settings that grasp the feel of what I'm building still, large swaths of scenery just immediately look worse due to lighting changes, and performance is also down compared to TANE. On the plus side, combined Surveyor 1, Driver, and Surveyor 2 is definitely handy. I run this route as a never ending session these days thanks to that addition. TurfFX and ClutterFX, even though the former is being depreciated apparently, make for some useful additions. It's a mixed bag at the moment.

Here's how we got things looking somewhat early on in the routes first steps into TRS22. This is probably the closest I got, lighting wise, to what I wanted, but I haven't been able to find this sweet spot really since. I also don't think I've posted a photo of this area on the forum since I built through, but this is Clay, WV. Small town with a big old coaling tower, this is where the PRR would refuel and have helpers ready to assist trains before they climbed up the steep hill just a short ways away near Hartland. Today, helpers are still stationed here periodically, though the coal tower does make things a little difficult to work with at times for electrics. Disregard the Erie logo on it, we're very much in pigtail country! I also don't have any better coal towers, so, you know.

For a while, I mostly tinkered with trying to make current scenery fit in properly, but eventually I did finally throw together something quick and dirty for a newer scene. Some turfFX from our Castle Marais route was brought over and tweaked, and I had my first go at playing with Clutter. I generally like clutter, but the draw distance is ABYSMAL. It's almost useless because of this. I'm not convinced the slider for it actually does literally anything either. But, the system is good, and I can definitely see myself using it more and more in the future if draw distance is improved. In addition at this scene, we have a new tree palette. The tree situation in this game is dire, so most all of the trees I've used are the mcguirel SpeedTrees, and reskins of them. Some work better than others in 22. The rmm trees are such a mixed bag, some are outright nuclear green, others more muted and reasonable. Unfortunately, I've yet to find any of them that really work for me on this route, but the search continues. Many of the trees in this regional IRL are skinny-trunked, tall trees that are very dense, with thick canopies, with some thick brush down below - something I haven't found just the right way to replicate. There's a certain look to Appalachia I myself definitely haven't yet been able to meet, and I don't think many others have either. You can see some of what I mean in this Streetview links here, here, and here. The brush is hard to get right, and getting those tree canopies that cover the mountains there from head to toe... Tough. I'm always on the hunt for good replacements and suggestions are more than welcome if anyone has any.

Here, you can see the effects iPortal has had on the route. We are now in Harrisville, a town that previously was barely touched at all (because I am frankly not good at town/city scenes in this game whatsoever lol). I was plotting out my serviceable industries in our spreadsheet when I realised I really didn't have that much non-coal stuff, so it was time to expand that. A small wood furniture warehouse/manufacturer went in (there is something similar in town IRL, hence the inspiration), and another warehouse just for the sake of another warehouse. That one still doesn't have a set use, but it's open to it. I also set these two industries up so that they have to be worked directionally - the local that operates up here can only work the furniture place if headed south, and the warehouse can only be worked heading north. Creates a neat scene, and also fits into the terrain better. Here, 3563 and 9111 (more on this later) operate the furniture place.

One of the other changes to be made on the route is more subtle, but vitally important. In the last few years, I've been very into photographing trains at old signals - it's my photography obsession. With that comes a lot of learning more about signal systems and operations and the like. Previously this route has been fairly basic with all this. Slap down a couple of the same signals at each control point, call it North and South Townname on each end of a siding, and move on. One thing I really like about a lot of real life Norfolk Southern signals and sidings in my neck of the woods (Lafayette and Bloomington Districts) is the distinct names that every CP gets. I've chosen to reflect that in game. Previously, this control point below was just "North Whetstone," but it is now CP Standing Rock, with the other end of the siding CP Whetstone. Many sidings got this upgrade, where one end kept the name it originally had and the other end got a new name. Some examples (new name/old name) include: CP Highland/CP Pike, CP Minora/CP Chloe, CP Victory/CP Grantsville, CP Carbon/CP Quarrier, and a few others. Some of the signals themselves are changing to meet new needs and as my understanding of signaling grows, but all remain PRR PLs.

Speaking of sidings, there's been a few other siding changes, among other things. Previously, the first 33 miles of the route had 2 sidings (North Waverly/South Waverly, CP Highland/CP Pike). Now, the Waverly siding has been removed - or rather, upgraded. MP2.1 to MP14.9 is now double track, which has suited my needs much better. It makes trains taking the Mitchell District easier to deal with (one of the iPortal locations. There are four on the route) and also just makes running in and out of Boaz Yard easier. Also worth mentioning here is another new iPortal industry, SimEx Vinyl Extrusions, who receives plastic pellets. They exist here IRL too, a rarity for this route! You can also see here how large swaths of route are still very much just DEM grid textures still.

Other changes to sidings include: a new siding between MP 41.9 and MP 43.6, CP Hulderman/CP Washburn, CP Dixie was extended an additional couple thousand feet, and down at Alloy, the bridge has been doubletracked and the siding extended to make CP Kimberly the south end of Alloy Junction. Timetabled but not yet built include a siding between Clear Creek and Beckley on the Clear Creek District, which is CP Maynor/CP Prosperity, timetabled for CC 195 and CC 196.5.

Evidently there's a character limit that images seem to impact, so we'll break this up into a few posts...

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[lego207]

Boaz Yard got a mention earlier, so here's something more interesting on the route development side - it's been massively upgraded. Here's a look at the old version:

And here it is today, minus the several hundred cars that occupy it now!

I had a few issues with the old Boaz Yard. In no particular order, these included: too few actual YARD tracks, coal cars dominated and left me almost no room for any other freight, lots of wasted space at the east end (particularly when coal cars were parked in the yard), moving motive power from shop to yard and vice versa was annoying, didn't like the main/siding/yard connection situation, and lots of issues with overhead wire. Also, I was just bored of it. So, I pulled all traffic away and rebuilt the thing. You can see the old yard still exists, just re-expanded a bit - this is A-Yard. All the manifest traffic and local stuff tends to happen out of here. Lots of room for iPortal trains and the necessary switching for them! To the right is B-Yard, which although is only 6 tracks (plus 3 electrified inbound/outbound), is readily expandable at a moments notice. Obviously, the shop facilities have been majorly reduced, but this was for the best. The old ones were too big. Scenery as a whole here is minimal, but I'm still fine tuning tracks and such, so scenery is on the backburner. The new A-Yard and B-Yard both make things way nicer to work with here. I wish I could put in more wire, but the system I have now doesn't really allow for it.

Lastly, we have C-Yard (below). C-yard is mostly for A-Yard overflow, ideally for some of the more local-only traffic to hang around in, but in practice, it doesn't get used very much. The small shed here is meant to be more of a mini-car shops, just to add some breakup/variety in what is otherwise a totally flat and all gravel scene, but we'll see how that pans out in the future.

Now, there's one major thing that's also been done here, and that's that I have expanded this route. Because yes, a 200 mile route could SURELY use an extra +30 miles on it, why not?

I think you can tell which section is the extension. I simply call it "the Appendage." Left is north, right is south, and down is west. Previously, this route went from Boaz to the north end of Beckley, with the Charleston District (the irl former K&M, today the Kanawha River RR) just not included save for like 1 mile at Alloy/Boomer. Well, I decided I really needed to have it, primarily thanks to its yard. One thing I have been lacking in this route is a second yard. Yeah Boaz is nice and all, but it's literally milepost 1. How am I supposed to run a local 180 miles south out of that yard? Well, it just so happens, a real life yard on the K&M exists that I can utilize. This is convenient because one of my iPortals is very nearby in Charleston, makes interchange easy!

The most impressive part to me is the seam where the appendage and the old route connect. Totally seamless, even if it doesn't look like it from the texturing. The extension here came from a route from one of my other iPortal partners had been working on. It was mostly for the C&O side, and there's some work there already done handily, but the K&M was present, which is what I needed. Thanks for the help Josh!

Anyway, what we're really here for is Dickinson Yard. This yard is very different from Boaz, being shorter and stubbier, but thicker, denser. It has a pretty decent capacity even though it's a funky little space. I rather enjoy switching here, the only issues I've had with this yard is the general lack of space to store inbound/outbound trains - they're often longer than what the yard can accommodate. Electrification here will also be a nightmare, and might be kind of impossible except for the mainline for now. It is what it is, I'm diesel-focused right now anyway.

Speaking of diesels, here's some. Good amount of space in the servicing area to store some power, and a wye is also mighty handy. You can see the hints of our iPortal shenanigans here - the two red SD70s are leased power from ECLX (East Coast Leasing) to handle a sand train from the MRSL (Marquette & Lake Superior) bound for the PLAP (Point Pleasant & Pocatalico RR). In addition, the huge chunk of centerbeams plus the boxcars on it came from are also bound for the PLAP. The two green SD40s beside the sand train (with their L803 local adventure covered in USA Pics the other day) carry woodchip and lumber loads bound for the ORT (Ohio River Transportation), plus some empty bulkheads. PLAP is my interchange partner in Charleston, while ECLX is farther away in North Carolina - the Beckley iPortal, my southernmost point, makes the connection between us. ORT is Louisville or thereabouts, and so we interchange at the Parkersburg (Boaz) iPortal back north. So, the sand and centerbeams have only a few miles to traverse, while the woodchip and lumber loads need to be put into the next manifest from Dickinson to Boaz. K-trains on the SLRR are intra-divisional manifests, with K803 being the one between Dickinson and Boaz (counterpart K801 makes the same trek the other way around). The cars sit until there's enough traffic to warrant running a K-train. Not very PSR of me, huh? If this was running 24/7, maybe I wouldn't bother, but hey, I only got so much time in a day. PLAP and ECLX cars make up 85-90% of K803, so when one or both send me cars, we'll have a train to head north.

There's been numerous other things done to the route and its operations, but I doubt anyone wants to read about misadventures tweaking multi industries for bloody ages. So, let's completely switch gears for a minute.

As this thread is my thread, and I'm pretty sure I already said it like 3 years ago, this thread is primarily about the SLRR West Virginia Electrified Division - but, it's also just for SLRR in general, and any other projects I have. I doubt there's anyone that terribly interested in really any of this these days, but on the off chance someone does, there's plenty to talk about in my little projects. Either way, writing some of this out tends to be a decent way of problem solving and helping me sort through some thoughts, helps tidy things up I find. Gotta tie up loose ends before you can put them into words usually!

In the above photo, there's some NS power hanging about. I've posted pics of them on this route elsewhere, but this seems a good a time as any to mention why it exists. One of many side projects I have is the Sangamon Valley Railroad, which is essentially just the modern day NS Bloomington District (and Mansfield Branch). One of the things I wanted to include for the SVRR roster was an NS-painted N&W SD45 - I love N&W, they did own the Bloomington District after the Wabash merger, and big high hood SD45s are cool. What's not to love? JR did do an NS Thoroughbred SD45, but it's former Southern, and in this house, we don't mess with the Southern. N&W is simply better. So, I went ahead and cracked open the PSD for the BF&E SD45 and put together NS, and a patched NS.

SVRR is a neat get-away from Appalachia from time to time. It and the BF&E are my primary shortline side projects, neither of which see lots of route work these days, but I like to mess around with them a bit here and there. Speaking of the BF&E, I haven't really worked with it in TRS22 yet. Eventually, it'll come back to life, but it can't be forced anyway.

In other Silver Lines railroadania, you may have noticed there's been changes to the whole railroad, too. Scroll back in the thread and examine the diesels, now come back here and take a peak. A bit different now, hey? I totally struck out the long hood text. Just couldn't find a way to keep it and enjoy it. Additionally, the frame is now black - white sill applied for post-2004 modelling - and the numboards have been updated entirely. Outside of the paint booth, the railroads lore has been dramatically updated. I mentioned it in a post in here from a few years ago, but I've since expanded upon it. The sparknotes version is that the SLRR is essentially the Chicago & Alton, but with some extra lines and expansions made. They expand and acquire over the next 100 years, in no particular order: the CGW, the M&StL, the (original) W&LE, the P&WV, DT&I, the AC&Y, chunk of Monon, chunk of WM, chunk of PRR (this WV route), and finally, the KCS in the 1990s. Plus other things. Far from realistic no doubt, but it makes me happy anyway.

Anyway, system map. You can no doubt see the aforementioned rail lines, plus other bits and bobs. Eventually I'll do up some nicer looking, not-just-google-earth-screenshot, kind of maps, but I've also said that for years already, so, you know. Either way, I'm satisfied with the system map. Lots of lore expansions, fun ways to integrate all this stuff together. Some of the finer details aren't there, or need to be removed even, but it's in a good place for now.

And once more, we split it up a little... last time!

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[lego207]

Let's wrap up here. Last thing is just some reskin skins and the like. (3/3)

I already talked about these things in USA Pics (linked in previous post), but these little green machines have been hanging around on my route in recent weeks. They're not strictly meant to, but it adds a little funky infusion of colour which is fun. These motors are meant to be for a yet-unnamed mining railroad. I'm still looking for a home for them - trying to find a good spot for a nice big coal mine or two, plus a couple other small industries with a few decent miles of track to run around on, maybe 20 miles or so. Space to let these units breath, but with those tight and filthy corridors near the mine itself. I see this company owning these two SD40s, a GP35(#3), a GP38 (#4), and then two particularly small little critters, maybe an SW12 or SW9 or somesort for #2 and an SW1 or some GE tonner for the #1. It's all up in the air, as this was the case of having a paint scheme/company idea before the tracks, so who knows where they'll live and what they'll really need, but the numbers and units feel about right based on what inspired the lime green and orange paint scheme anyway. Not meant to be pretty, meant to be visible and functional!

Next up, more colours. These are some fairly simple patch jobs on DT&I GP38-2s. As mentioned in the previous post, SLRR purchased the DT&I. The tl;dr of that event is that the DT&I was rather bankrupt post-Penn Central, but failed to be included in Conrail, so the SLRR swooped in and snatched up the company before the Grand Trunk could. In some ways, Henry Fords dream of an electric railroad from Detroit to Deepwater, and beyond, became true thanks to electrification projects decades in the future. Post-1976, DT&I power was patched into SLRR hastily, just quickly banditized, but liberal use of nose chevron templates snuck their way in, too. The oldest and most worn DT&I units were sold or scrapped (notably the GP7s and GP9s), but others survived on with the company. Two GP38-2s were sold to the CFM Railroad in Michigan in 1980, as was one SD38, but most survived on with the railroad. The DT&I units were decidedly nonstandard for the railroad, equipped with beacons, spark arrestors, and a distinct lack of dynamic brakes. The gong bells were far from typical as well.

The DT&I units that did survive beyond the 1980s were mostly repainted into SLRR grey and black, with many actually retaining their un-standard characteristics. When the units were banditized, they received new numbers, which they kept with the repaints. DT&I was the largest diesel-era railroad acquisition to date, and as a result had more second hand motive power than is standard. Any and all second hand diesels were rostered into the 9000 series - 9000 to 9999 are reserved for this. The P&WV and AC&Y locomotives, few as they were, were the first to take the 9000 slot, and the DT&I power started at 9100. GP38-2s were renumbered 9107 - 9114, with six staying with the railroad to today. These units did not see a rebuild like many others, being they were already Dash Two, so they remain some of the only non-dynamic brake equipped units on the whole roster. Sister units, like GP38s 9000 - 9106 or the GP40s 9134 - 9140 did receive rebuilds later, making them into GP38R and GP40Rs, which included Dash Two electronics, dynamic brakes, and removal of gong bells. The original GP38-2s are some of the only units left to retain their unique DT&I features.

For comparisons sake. The chevrons on the patch were an afterthought, but I thought they were fun. Skin variations for the repaints will eventually include some dirt, but most importantly, some DT&I orange fading through here and there. I have an idea for a post-2004 skin for one that should be very fun indeed - lots of dirt and crusty paint! All in good time.

Speaking of the 9000 series and all, most locomotives have had some renumbers. Originally, I set up my roster so that it was continuous - eg if I ordered 10 SD40s and numbered them 2500 - 2509, then the next units I order, say GP38s, must follow in sequence, 2510 and so forth. You get the picture. This became a colossal pain in the ass any time I decided to change, well, anything, so I decided to just completely redo the entire railroad number system - past 1966, anyway. SD40s used to be 2700 something, SD45s following right after... Nope, now 75 SD40s occupy the 3000 - 3074 slot, and 75 SD45s occupy 3100 - 3174, and more. Some units just got a handful of changed numbers, others were totally redone. SD40-2s were half and half, I moved them from the 3330+ slot to 3300, while the second batch used to cross into the 4000s but now lives in the 3600 - 3849 range. GP38-2s moved to the 3500 series, and SD70s were moved. SD70ACes and all widecab GEs were all struck from the roster, with standard cab C44-9s replacing the old widecabs. A few more SD50s and SD60s were added (35 -> 40 and 45 -> 60, respectively), and GP60s are now rostered, too. The R-class Modernization Project got an overhaul, so the SD10R, SD20R, GP10R, and GP20R projects all have new number sets that make more sense. Plus, with the KCS merger in 1995, a whole slew of extra stuff got added into the 9000 range. All in all, the motive power roster is looking its best so far.

Funnily enough, as I was writing these posts, it came time to do some transfers. SLRR 3062 and 3038 operate L806, nicknamed "Charleston Chew," which interchanges with the PLAP. U801, the unit sand train from Michigan, awaits its turn to follow L806 into the iPortal.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Lots of rambling! If you actually read all three of these posts, thanks, I appreciate it. Just felt like doing some lore-dumping, as it has been a good hot minute since I've posted any sort of WIP or just, well, anything really. Cheers folks.

I leave you with one more, SLRR R808 at Pleasants Power Station making a transfer of cars from the small yard that serves the plant and nearby chemical facilities. Two SD20Rs can easily handle such a thing! CP Pleasants, updated to a pair of crossovers with the double tracking complete, frame the rebuild SD9s well in the evening hours.

Until next time... whenever that is. 3 days or 3 more years? Who knows!

Cheers,
SM