Hi Lego,
That track looks amazing, is it available anywhere?
Thank you!
-R
Hello - unfortunately the track is not available, it's the unreleased RTRAX from JR that the author kindly shared a copy of with me. Not sure if it's planned to be released or not - I'd put it at a solid maybe on that front.
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A rivalry dating back to the beginnings of the monochrome railroad - all the way back to the CSLR days in 1860! - doesn't stop the Illinois Central and Silver Lines from sharing equipment with one another. Empty grainers are headed southwards towards Champaign on the subdivision that shares its name, where the SLRR will sort the cars out to be sent to their respective nearby elevators in the coming weeks. It'll also return IC 3126 to its proper owners in their own yard in town.
At one time, the mainline between Pontiac and Terre Haute was double tracked like the Chicago to St. Louis line, but during the nationwide railroad cutbacks throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the western track was removed and converted into single track. The sidings along the route are the original secondary mainline. These days, the railroad finds itself wanting that second track back during the peak grain season, but outside of that, single track suits them well enough. The IC has had similar problems over the years, but they too have found a balance.
Intermodal on the Champaign sub isn't quite as common as faster routes out of Chicago further east tends to handle the majority of the traffic, but shorter runs of stack trains do make regular appearances. Upgraded to Dash Two specifications in the 1990s during SLRR's great rebuilding program, the fleet of SD45s lingers on even today. Pairs and sometimes triplets are tasked with intermodal traffic in regions of the midwest as the engines hit their stride in the higher notches - fast engines, lighter trains, and little grades make them quite good at what they do.
Cheers,
SM