PRR Screenshots

Gary,

I went 2010 to 2012, and now going from 2012 to 2019. I started yesterday with it, and got a lot less issues. Once I get all my dependencies loaded it will be better. I was playing with the Interlocking Tower rules and broke some trigger session rules, ughh. I have it set up that when the cars go over the apex they "sort" into the storage yard.

I hope the route works in T:ANE at least. I didn't get T:ANE (or the others) after finding track laying was a no-go in 12.
 
Last edited:
Alan,
WOW!!! Okay, I downloaded your WIP and the session into TRS19, although it is in an older beta version, as I am somewhat reluctant to upgrade to SP3 at this point. There were some unknown assets, but they showed the author, thank goodness. Some of Don49plm's roundhouse sheds came up as unknown. I tried downloading them from The Erecting Hall, but they still showed as missing. So, I ported them over from my TANE version, and they loaded up fine. That left me with one missing/unknown asset: <kuid2:210518:4777:1> bendorsey

Google search was negative. I've no idea what that one is.

The Greenwich Terminal area really looks slick! The yard is huge and much of it really looked familiar to me, as I'd recently finished Triumph III. I actually went back to check that section of the book after watching the session run for a while. You've captured things so very well. The photos in the book match up nicely with your recreation. You will have to get someone to create that ornate Grain Elevator though, as I'm sure there isn't anything even remotely like that in the CM.

Some words on the session are next. It was really a kick watching the cars uncoupling at the hump and rolling down into the sorting yard. I watched to see if they would overload the one track, as they all seemed to be going to that one outside siding. But, as soon as that siding took as many as it could, the switch changed for the following coal car and it diverted to the next siding. That is really some slick work there, as I've only seen hump yards that randomly divert cars to the various sidings, unless you actually handle the junctions yourself and manually divert them to specific tracks.

The coal unloading process threw me off at first. I'm used to seeing the coal cars pushed up the long and somewhat level ramp and into the rotary dumper, and after they are unloaded, the switcher then pushes the next one into the rotary and this pushes the empty out of the rotary. Then the unloaded one rushes down the steep rear ramp and up the next back ramp, slowing and stopping, and then rushing back down that ramp again, where it is then diverted to the lower track and rolls via gravity to a holding siding.

This one was working in the opposite direction. The Conrail switcher was pushing the loaded cars to a smaller hump, where they would disconnect and roll down to the steep ramps on the backside of the two high unloading trestles, and then the coal cars "mysteriously" rode up the steep ramp and into the rotary. I had to check my Triumph III and found out that there was a system of cables that were run by a stationary train engine, and the full cars were pulled up the steep ramp via the cable system and unhooked in the rotary. Once they were unloaded, they then rolled down the long ramp into the holding sidings.

Of course the "mystery" was solved once I checked the drivers for the session and found two listed to Rotary 1 and Rotary 2. Obviously, you are recreating this cable unloading system by using invisible engines, which is a really neat and fascinating way of doing things. Or, I am completely wrong, and it is all magic. :eek:

I can't begin to imagine how much trial and error it took for you to judge how high up the small hump needed to be and how fast the switcher needed to push the cars to allow them to time the roll down to the invisible engines for the push up the trestle. That is just incredible detail and I commend you for it.

I also took a flyover on the High Line and visited the power plant, checked out the 30th Street Station, and noticed the Famous Art Museum on the other side of the river. I didn't check to see if Rocky was climbing the 72 steps - I'll check later. The High Line was really cool, and very nicely done as well. :D

The ZOO looks really complicated. I really liked the work you've done on it already. It has a very good feel to it. Your main line also runs way out, and I recognized many of the places yet to be created on the route. I hope you can find a suitable structure for the Paoli Electrical Sub Station. That is such an iconic part of the history of the PRR. It looks like a giant box with all sorts of electrical components and catenary on the roof.

I am most impressed with the session. While it is slow-moving, it has to be, because of the hump tracks. And, it works in my TRS19, which is another really neat plus. You've done an incredible job at recreating the yard and coal operations for that wharve.

So, those are my first impressions. They are all positive. Very nicely done, so far! :cool: I'd love to see it finished, and I am sure you would too.

Regards,
Gary
 
PRR1361.........I haven't DL it yet . But I will . And looking forward to seeing how you did things .

Had to redo and delete some missing Kuid's on mine . My own work that I for got to import . And other that from what two weeks of hunting seem to be no longer availed . Plus with the shut down of THEBACKSHOPS site . things needed to be replaced .

So I'm back to fully working the route . As some have pointed out to me . I need to change up more then things :hehe:
My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg



Matt
 
Gary,

Thank-you for the glowing review, and I am glad the session worked well.

The thought behind this route is to have a “staging yard” for my Bedford Division route. When I realized I could have a “real” staging yard, based on real operations, it set the hook for me. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the 30[SUP]th[/SUP] Street Station. At first, I was going model the Pennsy in the ‘30s, only to find out after completing the 30[SUP]th[/SUP] Street Station that Bedford Division coal traffic dried up by the end of the ‘20s. I spent too much time on the underground of 30[SUP]th[/SUP] Street to change it for the N. Philadelphia station and a steam powered Broad Street. So, my compromise, east of Paoli is the 1930’s with 1920’s traffic, and west of Paoli is the 1920s. Electric power only goes as far as Paoli where it has to be swapped for steam.

I have a lot of angst and hesitancy in saying that our beloved David W. Messer and Charles S. Roberts is wrong in Triumph III on page 306. While the picture in Triumph III is hard to tell the exact topography, once I had the NED DEM to work with, I realized it was all downhill from the (“car shop” - Messer) thawhouse, it did not make any sense until I watched on Youtube “Conrail Philadelphia Piers” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEAUFP3bPjU and watched large hoppers roll down and pushed up. So yes, Ben’s rotary dumps are used in reverse of what he intended, but when we are talking about the Pennsy, they had a unique way of being “Standard” as in “The way the Pennsy does it” versus everyone else.

I had looked around for an asset that mimicked the pushing device; but alas, none was available. The invisible loco idea came about from when I was playing around with a Clinchfield RR layout, and needed to move empty hoppers “under gravity” to load for pick-up. Yes, there was a lot of tedious trial and error with this set up, and Trainz10 isn’t the most reliable platform to get it done either. In the storage yard, I had telescoped cars, cars stopped in the middle, triggers setting too late, or not at all, and cars backed up on the apex while the two L1s were busy crushing cars under DCC control. Then there was cars running off the end of the ramp into the Delaware River, or driving overtop the invisible locomotives, or the invisible locomotives not stopping at the trackmark, and landing in the river, coupling too hard and breaking couplers; or, my all-time favorite, hopper derailing in the rotary dump and falling through. Was all the aggravation worth it? Yes, sharing a bit of real world operation with other Pennsy fans is worth it. The route will work with H21 and other quad bay hoppers, and short gondolas will work with some adjustments. I tried the battleship gondolas, better send those to Baltimore. I haven’t tried 100-ton hoppers.

After setting up the trigger commands and rules, has made me wish there was some sort of “Trigger Command Library” for the yard triggers, like the “Schedule Library” rule, or a better way to automate the sorting processes in yards. I cannot image the length of trigger command lines in a session to do the same with the rest of Greenwich Yard, 52[SUP]nd[/SUP] Street, Enola, Altoona, Pitcairn, Hollidaysburg, etc.

<kuid2:210518:4777:1>
is “Schuylkill River Bridge 1,” it has a build 2.4, Ben Dorsey uploaded a new version, <kuid2:210518:10926:1>. Thank-you for pointing this out, so I can upload a corrected version with the proper bridge.

Schuylkill-River-Bridge.jpg


Matt,

I look forward to having your feedback as well, I am very impressed with your yard shots.

Alan

Pennsylvania Railroad brochure on Philadelphia Port facilities,
http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/PRR/Ports/PRR Philadelphia Port 9-1949.pdf
 
Last edited:
Alan,
Yep, Page 306, they've got it backwards. Then again, as you noted, "The Standard Railroad of the World" had a different way of working things. I'd seen that Conrail video quite a while ago, and as soon as I saw your session working, I knew I'd seen that operation before. As the loaded cars are all handled by the cable system once disconnected from the thawhouse, it saves a lot of wear and tear on motive power because engines aren't pushing the coal cars into the unloader. Also, you would only need one man working the cable system, instead of several in an engine crew.

It is quite possible that they might have worked the rotarys just like everyone else at first, but then someone thought up the cable system and they reversed the operation.

Seeing your system in action just made me appreciate the time, work, and effort into making it work right. Simply amazing!

Regards,
Gary
 
Alan I haven't yet had the time to get to your new work . But from the shots I'm really looking forward to checking it out . It suck when your first class ticket run out and all the the good stuff keeps coming out :hehe:

Well ............I worked a lot on mine . But it seems to look like I got nothing done :eek::cool: But it's fun .

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg



Matt
 
Here is what I have been up to, working on figuring out how to merge my NED DEM with JRFolco's, I have some more checking to do, and once I get things lined up I'll be able to get more uploaded. This is near the New Portage Junction/Hollidaysburg Branch/New Portage Branch (WYE).

Nice to see everyone's screenshots :)

Merge-with-Hollidaysburg-Branch.jpg


Looking-southto-WYE-from-US-22.jpg



Looking-East.jpg
 
Last edited:
Matt,
Great shots! I saw your shots on the different thread too. They really look great. I'm seeing less and less baseboards and more nicely scenicked terrain. Lots of progress and it looks wonderful. :cool:


Alan,
That really looks complicated but it seems to be smoothing out fairly well. Good luck with the merge.

Gary
 
Here are some screenshots on what I have been up to with the route idea.

The first picture below is near Brickyard Curve, this end has lined up pretty close.
Near-Altoona-Reserviors.jpg



This is the Bellwood end, and it didn't line up all that well, there is a few issues, but it will be a moot point, as my route map has part of the Bellwood Branch, and so that section will also be in here.
Near-Bellwood.jpg


This is a picture of the route map, the addition is two sections, the Altoona Yards and Hollidaysburg Branch, and the second section just the Hollidaysburg Yard.
My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg
 
While working a string of coal cars forward from the old PRR thaw house on the Coal Pier in Greenwich Yard, Stan has to step outside of his cab and partially stand on the hand-railing to see over the hood of his Conrail SW-7 #8891 engine and the coal cars in his string. He is trying to see if the cars are disengaging properly on the lower hump, where they will coast down to the base of the high-rise and be shoved up and into the rotary dumpers by the steam-powered car pusher. He sees a car start to roll away from the consist, so things are working properly. He quickly gets back in the cab before some safety inspector snoop sees him.

An empty car is sitting in the rotary unloader for the northern side ramp, waiting for the push from the next loaded car to send it down the long ramp and into the yard for collection.

Just another day on the railroad.

qkjICo58_o.jpg
 
Your work is fantastic . whish I could get off my A@# and get mine done as quick and well .

Been awhile ...... but here's some older shots

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg
My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg

My-Trainz-Screenshot-Image.jpg


Matt
 
Nice pics Matt


PRR-Middle-Division%2C-Baree.jpg


An eastbound passenger highballing through the "Baree Straight Line." See David Messer, Triumph IV​, 151.
 
Petersburg%2C-PA-HWY-305.jpg


M1b #6772 westbound passing through the Petersburg interlocking plant, under Penna Rte 305 (Bridge 209.68), with a string of empty hoppers bound for the mines. Great thing about rural Pennsylvania, between 1920 and 1960, very little changed.
 
Last edited:
A trio of E units on the PRR's Admiral in 1949 - on a modded version of Railwoodman's monster route.

image0.jpg
2021-05-09_035237.jpg
2021-05-09_035346.jpg
2021-05-09_035443.jpg
2021-05-09_032143.jpg


And then a bit of a grab bag too, including a shot from Turtle Creek, just outside Pittsburgh (and just for kicks a shot on my older winterized updated version of the old TrainzPA demo module):
2021-05-05_204509.jpg
2021-05-05_205403.jpg
2021-04-29_095334.jpg
2021-05-02_150553.jpg


The sheer size of this route is hard to actually get across: even with scenery on the Johnstown - Altoona segment a third of the way roughed in (plus the Turtle Creek valley/Pitcarn area, and other areas Matt has started work on too), barely a dent has been made in comparison to the overall mileage.
 
Last edited:
Petersburg%2C-PA.jpg

PRR H9s #24 leading CMB "The Packer" eastbound through Petersburg.

Petersburg%2C-PA.jpg

Petersburg, PA

Petersburg%2C-PA.jpg

Petersburg and Hollidaysburg Branch Junction
 
Back
Top