I'm unable to find much data or info on which routes of the Southern Railway were double-tracked. I've checked several maps online, but none of them seem to differentiate between singled and doubled routes like maps of other railroads might. I'm assuming the Crescent Route between DC and Atlanta was by the end of the steam era, but I'm not 100% sure on that, nor do I have info on any other segments being doubled either.
If someone either has this info or knows where I can find it, I'd appreciate it. Thank you!
I'm not much help with this, but you might look at what special interest groups, or historical societys excist for the Southern/NS. FaceBook supports many groups like this, or Groups.io. It might be worth a search around.
I do beleive the NS historical society has lots of info. I've been there before.
I have found loads of info on the roads I'm interested in using this method, from old photos, documents, and current ops.
I guess for current trackage, you use Google Satellite and follow the track your interested in, but that wouldn't help with any historical information.
You might even try the TRAINS forum for infomation. Lots of knowledgeable real railroad people on there.
Good luck with your search.
Mike.
My You Tube
This is where employee timetables for the division or region (and era of course) that you seek to model can be a useful resource. Harder to come by but not unknown at swap meets of railroad collectables are track charts.
Dave Cramer remains to my knowledge the leading dealer in track chart information. I did not go snooping around his extensive site looking for Southern RR but here is the link:
http://trainsite.mysite.com/
If you don't find it, contact Dave and ask - he has access to stuff that isn't always on the site.
OK I just DID go to his site and there is Southern stuff here but there may be more . This seems to be just the Crescent Route 1984 but again there may be more elsewhere on the Cramer website; the catalog is very big:
http://trainsite.mysite.com//page010.pdf
Another good place would be the various Morning Sun books, not just about the railroad but even freight car books. Even roster shot books sometimes have info that can be gleaned from the pics.
And of course a railroad historical society might have special publications and reprints with just this information, or people who know this stuff off the top of their heads who you can ask.
It can be time consuming and potentially misleading but Google satellite view can sometimes show hints of double track even if it is now single track (bridges, grade crossings, and strange looking accomodations for sidings can be give aways. But you won't know era).
Dave Nelson
Here's a link to a Norfolk Southern's Piedmont Division 2008 ETT which includes the legacy Southern railway from Alexandria, VA to just outside of Atlanta, GA.
http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/NS/NS%20ETTs/NS%20Piedmont%20Div%20ETT%20%231%208-4-2008.pdfI've riden the Carolinian from Salisbury to Greensboro several times on the Danville District (and on to DC on the North Carolina RR and CSX) and the Danville District is mostly double track with a few stretches of single track. Looking at the track charts it seems that's typical for most of the mainline.
Ray
Regards, Ray
Will this map help you? Quote from page 207 of the "World Railways 1952-53". Crick to enlarge. I used it on my blog post about a streamlined train called Tennessean. The green marks indicate the operation route.
BN7150 Will this map help you? Quote from page 207 of the "World Railways 1952-53". Crick to enlarge. I used it on my blog post about a streamlined train called Tennessean. The green marks indicate the operation route.
This is exactly what I was looking for, this is perfect. Thank you so much!
Thank you to all for your help as well! Those sources will all certainly come in handy for other things in the future-I'm always looking to learn, so the more places I can go the better.
Mjorstad Crescent Route between DC and Atlanta
Russell
Mjorstad BN7150 Will this map help you? Quote from page 207 of the "World Railways 1952-53". Crick to enlarge. I used it on my blog post about a streamlined train called Tennessean. The green marks indicate the operation route. This is exactly what I was looking for, this is perfect. Thank you so much! Thank you to all for your help as well! Those sources will all certainly come in handy for other things in the future-I'm always looking to learn, so the more places I can go the better.
Be careful if you think the double line on the map indicates double track. It doesn't. The double line on the map just indicates direct control by the Southern. You need the track charts to check for double track.
Many years ago I spent a night in Florence, Alabama. After dinner I crossed the Southern 2 track main in downtown where the sidewalks had already been rolled up. About 3o seconds after I had stopped to train watch a cop pulled in behind me and approached with gun drawn wanting to know what I was doing. I told him I was just waiting to take pictures of trains of any came by. After looking at my drivers license he said," we don't do that round here. Go back to your motel". Which I did while he followed me to be sure I did.