Trainz Forge: Routes, Reskins and Renders

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It's mid-day at the LE&E's 8th Avenue Yard, just outside of Sterling Falls, and the west engine terminal is buzzing with activity on this day in mid January, 1949. A trio of Alco FAs sit amongst several steam locomotives in the light servicing area, while a R-3a Northern sits just to the left on one of the "quick tracks," preparing for its next assignment. Back in the yard, a four unit set of F3s brings in a through freight as a pair of switchers quickly shuffle around, preparing to cut cars in and out before the train heads further east. Further back, on the bypass main, a trio of passenger F3s lead an unidentified westbound passenger train, slowing for the stop at the large station half a mile west.

Sitting at the confluence of three LE&E mainlines, 8th Avenue yard was one of the major servicing facilities on the Lake Erie and Eastern system, with two large engine terminals, reefer re-icing facilities, engine and car repair shops, and a large car capacity. Although never upgraded with a hump, 8th Avenue yard would continue to serve an important role in LE&E operations until the system was trimmed in the late 1980's and early 1990's, when it was downgraded and significantly reduced in size.

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Jacksonbarno,
That's a great picture of the yard, and the descriptions of the engines and consists always makes the picture so much more realistic.

Thanks for bringing it to life with the details!

Heinrich505
 
Let's re-rail this thread, shall we?

In the summer of 1952, the CA&L mainline south of Nashville experienced heavy flooding in late April, extending into early May of that year. Keeping trains running meant hastily arranging for reroutes heading south. Eventually, an arrangement was reached with the Mobile & Atlantic and the Noobmountain & Western, where trains would run southeast on M&A rails to Lancaster, Tennessee, where they would turn south-southwest to Leville, Alabama on the NM&W's "Down South" district. Today, we catch a five unit set of Alco FAs heading up train CA-3, an Atlanta-bound hotshot originating in Cincinnati. Our train is running as an extra over the NM&W (E207-S to be exact), which means the crew is going to be dodging out of the way of a lot of northbound traffic today.

Here, CA-3 slips down the NM&W's connection to the M&A at Lancaster:
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Passing under a westbound M&A train and heading through the Lancaster station:
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CA-3 then passes the NM&W's Lancaster yards:
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Grinding to a halt outside the engine facility, CA-3 waits for a NM&W local freight to cross over and enter the yard:
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With the local out of the way, CA-3 highballs southbound, getting a green-over-green through Spaulding, just south of Lancaster:
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About to enter Spaulding tunnel:
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And out the other side:
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CA-3 then enters Shefferton, TN:
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Shefferton siding is too short for CA-3, and even then, NM&W 927 is only holding with a local. CA-3 rolls on through, and picks up new orders from Shefferton Tower:
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Passing Wayne Feeds:
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And out of Shefferton siding:
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Crossing Chef's Creek:
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Highballing through Hummelton:
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Passing the under-construction spur at Enfield:
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Flying past the recently decommissioned Cottongrove Siding at trackspeed:
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Next, CA-3 rolls through Cottongrove Junction, and the former connection with the NM&W Cottongrove branch, now converted into a wye for peddler freights originating from Lancaster:
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Entering Cottongrove proper, CA-3 slows as it rolls through town:
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And grinds to a halt just under the signal bridge guarding the C&O diamonds (yes yes, I do indeed realize the C&O never had any trackage in Tennessee irl, and for what it's worth this diamond on the map is unnamed so in the ol' Chessie went to fill the gap):
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CA-3 waits for five to ten minutes as per orders picked up in Shefferton:
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Finally:
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The C&O freight clears the diamonds, and CA-3 is back on its way:
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Entering Willows Creek, CA-3 goes "in the hole" at Bridge Siding:
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Passing the Alabama Gulf & Atlantic "North" interchange:
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And past the AG&A "South" interchange, leading down to the AG&A's main Willows Creek facilities and river car float yard:
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CA-3 then has a "rolling meet" with NM&W hotshot AL-2, headed to Louisville:
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CA-3 comes out of Bridge siding, and picks up more orders from Bridge Tower...
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And crosses the Tennessee River into Alabama:
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After coming off of the Tennessee River Bridge, CA-3 jumps into Bollville Tunnel:
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After popping out the other side, our train takes Bollville Siding:
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CA-3 waits again:
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After ten to fifteen minutes, we see what CA-3 was waiting for:
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An electrical fault in the MU connection between the lead and middle units caused a delay in this CA&L mail train. A P-50 laying over in the NM&W's engine terminal in Leville quickly stepped in, towing both the 31 car M&E train as well as the failed three unit set of PAs:
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After the M&E train passes, CA-3 rolls back onto the main and heads further south:
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CA-3 then heads through Bollville, AL:
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Picking up orders at Benton Run:
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And passing Benton Run siding:
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Highballing Beaumont at trackspeed:
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Entering Leville, passing the LCL depot:
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And entering the NM&W yard:
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CA-3 then rolls by the south yard throat, and the Leville passenger terminal (out of sight to the left in the background):
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Passing the engine terminal and coach yard:
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And hitting the Belt Line diamonds:
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Our train is now on its way to East Leville, where it will hit CA&L home rails again and turn east for Atlanta after being reshuffled:
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Having just crossed into East Leville over the river bridge, CA-3 passes over the B&URR Passenger (near) and Freight (far) mainlines:
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Into the "trench" CA-3 goes as it passes an outbound B&URR freight:
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CA-3 next rolls through Gerard Junction, a tangled web of tracks belonging to various roads, including Mississippi Pacific (MIPA), the Burnmouth & Union (B&URR), and NM&W:
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This is where we'll leave our train for now, but don't worry, we'll be back later!

All shots were taken on Isegrinns' wonderful Down South Modules Project route, which is not currently available to the public.
 
Do all of these fictional railroads exist in some sort of Shared Universe? Like, is the LE&E canon in the Noobmountain and Western mythos, the B&URR canon to the CA&L, and so on and so forth?
 
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