History/Stories about your RR.

[Kyle]

What is the history/story behind/about your RR?  How about the history/story about something on your RR (example: a museum on your layout). Tell your stories here.

Here is the story behind a layout I am planning:  My name is Kyle, and when I found out about the Kyle RR, I instantly wanted to model at least one piece of rolling stock, or a locomotive. Even better, the paint scheme is dark blue, my favorite color, and I think the paint schemes look sharp.  However, researching more I found out that locomotives have no longer are really painted in Kyle colors, and another railroad bought it, and now the newest locomotive had an ugly paint scheme.  This is where being a model railroader is great.  I rewrote history to say that the Kyle RR is doing very well, and is still independent.  An investor bought the Kyle RR and another shortline in the NC/VA area.  So some of the Kyle locomotives were sent to the other shortline, which merged with Kyle.  Over the years the older EMDs (before the GP40s) were sold, except for a few at grain elevators.  The GEs were sold or scraped.  I am planning on having GP40s, GP38-2s, GP40-2s, SD40-2, SD45T-2, and a SW1000.  All will be in Kyle colors.  The NC/VA branch will interchange with a former Conrail mainline now jointly operated by NS and CSX.  There were shops at the interchange, but conrail closed them and sold them to Kyle.  Kyle now shares the shops with NS and CSX.  Kyle also has a wide vision caboose it purchased for a low price when the Class 1s were getting rid of them.

 

 

On the layout, I plan to have a muesum that has an Western Maryland RS-2.  On the weekends, it will have excursions (probably on the Kyle branch).  I got the RS-2 as a prize.

[rogerhensley]

East Central Indiana - HO Scale Railroad
The ECI has been built and rebuilt several times (see Timeline). There have also been times when there has been no movement at all. Now the railroad has begun to move back in time to be able to run NYC, PRR and PC locomotives and cars.

The ECI is a 1970s short line operating out of Anderson in North Central Indiana southward over the ex-New York Central (CCC&StL) Michigan Division /PC North Vernon Secondary purchased from Penn Central. The ECI runs through Emporia, Rushville, Greensburg and terminates in the Southern Indiana town of Westport.

Connections are made with the CIW (Central Indiana & Western) at Anderson, and the N&W at Rushville, with a secondary connection with PC Greensburg. The ECI has rights between Anderson and Westport under control of the ECI Dispatcher working out of the South Anderson Yards.

The majority of customers are small industrial companies (pipes, plastics, autoparts, etc.) as well as several heavy grain operations and one small stone quarry sending occasional shipments off line to dealers nationwide from their quarry near Westport.

Although the line is not truly prosperous, it does make money and has an outstanding Service Facilities with a maintenance crew devoted to rebuild and maintenance with tender loving care. This is attested to by the Ex-NYC E7 that has been placed into service pulling an Excursion Train consisting of four refurbished passenger cars from Anderson to Westport monthly during summer months and the NYC GP7, and RS3 that have been put into service on the railroad. Also, thee is the 0-8-0 that does some freight work on the ECI. The ECI GP 38-2 is now handling the grain operation at Westport.

With its small but dedicated staff of employees, the ECI tends to reflect the sense of optimism found in its headquarters city of Anderson as to a solid future in providing high quality service to its clients as well as presenting rail service in a favorable light to more people.

[E-L man tom]

Well, I know that this is redundant, because I've posted the history of my freelanced railroad, probably more than once before, but here goes.

 

The Toledo Erie Central Railroad History

The Toledo Erie Central Railroad (TEC), set in northwestern Ohio, was started when the railroads were deregulated back in the early 70's, prompting many class 1 railroads to abandon lines that weren't profitable to them that they previously were, by law, required to operate. This approximately 17 mile stretch of trackage east of Toledo was a "bridge" line formerly owned by the Norfolk and Western railroad, with trackage rights granted to the B&O, the Pennsy and the Erie Lackawanna during that time. This segment of the N&W did not carry enough revenue service to pay for itself and so the original intent was to abandon the line. The local businesses along the line still considered rail service to be of vital importance to them. A meeting was convened of the local businesses, most notably the West Sandusky Co-Op and the Toledo-based Mud Hen Brewing Co. among others. The decision was made to submit a petition to the N&W to purchase the 17 mile segment. A few months later the N&W replied with a request for a proposal for purchase. The business consortium drew up a proposal and the N&W accepted it and the sale of the line was executed in 1972. The railroad, therefore is collectively owned by the local businesses along the industrial corridor. Revenue for the railroad includes grain, coal, beer and ale, scrap metal, fabricated metal, car parts, food additives and other assorted freight. The general offices for the railroad are located in the old depot in West Sandusky.

Shortly after the purchase, the new railroad proceeded to buy an old SW9 from the Erie Lackawanna as well as a caboose from the Wabash. The engine and the caboose, which are presently the only rostered rolling equipment, were lettered for the TEC. The caboose was completely repainted prior to lettering, as well as being re-numbered. The SW9, still in the old pre-merger Erie black and yellow livery, had its logo and number painted over and was re-numbered along with the TEC lettering.

The railroad operates in the 1970's era, interchanging cars with both the Chessie System and the Erie Lackawanna.

 

[wjstix]

My freelance St.Paul Route starts with two real 19th century railroads, a U.S. railroad called the St.Paul & Duluth and a Canadian railroad, the Port Arthur Duluth and Western. Each was bought by a larger railroad (NP and CN) in 1900, but in my world they stayed separate, merged to form the St.Paul Duluth & Canadian Ry., and built a line from the Twin Cities to Duluth/Superior and up the north shore of Lake Superior to Port Arthur / Ft. William Ontario (now called Thunder Bay).

As part of the St.P.&D.'s not being bought by NP, they worked out a trackage rights agreement allowing NP trains to use St.P.&D. tracks between St.Paul and Duluth, and NP granting St.P.D.& C. trackage rights between Duluth and Brainerd MN. This means that when iron ore was discovered in the Cuyuna Range in 1903, the St.Paul Route had access to it, and ended up becoming part of the real life Soo-NP joint iron ore operation.

[BroadwayLion]

LION models the New York City Transit Authority. (Enough Said)

 

Previous layout of him was the Eregion Railroad (think Middle Earth). The model of him was only of the line between Bree and Fornost, but of course points East South and West were represented by staging areas, and so all of the trains on the timetable that passed through Bree actually did make their appearance.

The setting is late in the Fourth Age of Middle Earth. The routes follow the ancient trails of the Third Abe. The Great East West Trail ran from the Blue Mountains in the west to the Lonely Mountain in the east. The north south route ran from Gondor in the south to Fornost in the north.

Trains 1 (north) and 2 (south) were named "The King's Express" The running time from Bree to Fornost was only two hours, but south to Gondor was closer to 36 thours. A train from the south was pulled at a very fast speed by a pair of GG-1 locomotives under the wire through Khazad Dum to Hollin where the electric locomotives were pulled off and a pair of Alco PA2s took the point. Many of the sleepers were dropped at Hollin, only one sleeper continued north to Fornost. The train arrived at Bree at 1300 hours, and continued north at 1400 hours. Train 2 (southbound) also arrived at Bree at this time.

Train 3 (east) and train 4 (west) was named "The North Star Express". Consisting of light weight carbon steel cars pulled by an A-B-A trio fo EMD F7s, it also arrived at Bree (in both directions) at 1300 hours departing at 1400 hours. In this manner, a passenger could book a trip to any point on the system with only one connection at Bree.

Trains 5 and 6 were the "Night Owl" service, an all sleeper train from Gondor to Bree, arriving at Bree at 0100 hours and returning to Gondor at 0200 hours. Cars were interchanged with the "North Owl" (Trains 7 and 8), but this was a truncated service running only between the Grey Havens in the west and Rivendell in the East.

There were some Regional trains between Grey Havens and Hollin and between Rivendell and Lothlorien.There were many Local and/or (piush-pull) commuter services between the Shire and Rivendell, and between Bree and Fornost.

Other Regional trains ran between Gondor and Rohan.

Freight included iron ore from the east, coal from the west, and oil from the south.

The Eregion Railroad was owned and maintained by the High King at Gondor. It connected with the "Gondor and Southern" in the south with huge unit oil trains running south into the land of Harrad. (A pipeline would have served the oil just as well, but pipelines could not also carry troops, a point not lost on the lands to the south.) Mostly the Gondor and Souther ran trains to the many resort areas in the southern fifes of Gondor, it also ran commuter trains into the land of Ithilian. The Gondor and Southern was owned by the Steward of Gondor and by the Prince of Dol Amaroth.

In the northeast the ERR interchanged with the Iron Hill and Red Water Railroad, which was owned by the King under the Mountain at Lonely Mountain. It moved iron ore from the Red Water basin to foundries east of Lonely Mountain. There was also a branch running north to the Ice Havens with weekly mixed train service.

ROAR

[narrow gauge nuclear]

The Paradox Uravan & Placerville was created as a narrow gauge mineral hauler in 1939 by a consortium of mining interests that realized the approaching war and world situation would demand vanadium, copper and uranium in vast quantities.  Many of the newer more productive mines were inching towards Utah.  The depression had freed up a lot of  used NG rolling stock, locos and rail.

Scrapper prices were low on all the basics and a lot of more recently retired and out of work railroad men were eager to get a job.  Fast action saw most of the track work in place between the extreme points of Paradox and Placerville by late 1940.  The scrapping of the D&RGW "Chili line" brought a lot of rail to the effort.

Mills and concentrators at Uravan and  new ones planned for Durango would allow the raw materials to be converted to usable oxides locally via connection to the RGS at Placerville.  The "PUP's" central operations point and what little facilities were needed were located at the juncture of the towns of  Nucla and Naturita where new deposits of Uranium had just been found.

The C&S breakup brought a lot of rolling stock to the "PUP" as the war progressed.  During the war, rentals of D&RGW and RGS locos and cross trackage rights agreements would see a lot of mutually beneficial NG operations in the area as the little 56 mile short line flourished.

What little passenger traffic on the PUP was handled  by two larger combine cabooses often attached to ore and freight trains on an "as needed basis".

After the war, activities actually increased as the U.S. and the new AEC demanded ever larger amounts of Uranium.  Unfortunately for the PUP, the post war road building spurt in the area and larger trucking capacities coupled with the RGS Placerville connection disappearance, ended the PUP's brief existence in 1951 as the mining consortium moved into trucking as smoothly as it moved into railroading to get their ore to market and mill.

[MisterBeasley]

I've come up with a couple of fanciful accounts of the history of Moose Bay, the fictional town which I model.  The way I figure it, the railroad will serve the town, which is in turn defined by the people, industries, geography and geology around it.

Moose Bay is on the shores of somewhere, and beyond those shores is another place which I only care about because it's got a virtual carfloat terminal, to and from which the real carfloat terminal of Mooseport sends cargo.  The town has a few industries, mostly dealing with the transition of livestock to whatever livestock are used for.  There's a slaughterhouse and a tannery.  In addition, there's a brewery, and an icing platform to service the reefers that take perishables to market.

It goes back to a sleepy town before the Civil War, and the Brad family.  They were reasonably prosperous folk in the sheep business, everything from herding to wool production, when the war started.  Our hero, John Buford Brad, was drafted into the Union army, but used his connections to be assigned to the Quartermaster Corps.

He found life behind the lines not to be too bad, but he knew an opportunity when he saw it.  He drew up a plan for the Union Army to buy a large quantity of Haggis, a Scottish delicacy made of the intestines of sheep.  An order was made to his own family's facilities in Moose Bay, and several boxcar loads of the stuff were delivered to the Army, arriving at the front lines near the end of a bleak but warm December.  When the army opened the cars, they made a great humanitarian decision, and in the spirit of Christmas, sent the entire shipment under a flag of truce to their Confederate brethren across the lines.

The Rebels, who hadn't had a decent meal in months, sent it back.

Word of this debacle reached Washington, and then-Major John Buford Brad was summoned.  When he arrived at the capital, he was brought before a court martial panel, who were so outraged at his corrupt and despicable behavior that they order him stripped of his rank and his very uniform, right there in the courtroom.  And there stood now Private John Buford Brad, naked but for the long underwear his sisters had made for him.

The panel gasped.  What was this that he was wearing?  Why, was this not the very answer they sought to the problem of keeping their troops warm in winter?  After a quick huddle, they began to question John Brad about his underwear.  Within a short time, his busting to private had been reversed, and he was instead promoted to colonel.  The Union Suit, or "Long Johns" as they came to be called, was born.  And the dollars spent on the haggis paled in comparison with the contracts for underwear that arrived in Moose Bay, leading to an economic boom that has yet to be equaled in the small town.

The townspeople erected a statue and placed it in a small park that bears his name.  He never learned to ride a horse, of course, but they could hardly put him up on a pedestal in his underwear, could they?

So, local schoolchildren learn Colonel Brad's name in third grade and forget it by the fourth grade, visitors to Brad Park wonder if it has something to do with ice hockey, and pigeons have a safe roost where no cat can disturb them.

[hornblower]

While trying to "create" a fictitious short line between the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific somewhere in California, I stumbled upon the fallen flag Santa Ana & Newport Railroad built in the 1890's between the McFadden Wharf (now the Newport Pier) in "New Port" (now Newport Beach) and a connection with the Santa Fe in Santa Ana. Though the McFadden brothers tried to sell the line to the Santa Fe, it was eventually bought by the Southern Pacific around 1900.  Extensions between the two ends of the SA&N tracks and the Southern Pacific main line created a prototypical loop of track around much of north and central Orange County.  

Since modeling the actual prototype in the 1890's would have forced me to replace all of my existing rolling stock collection, I decided to model a "what if" scenario assuming that the SA&N remained independent through at least the 1950's.  This allowed me to maintain the transition era rolling stock in my collection plus model the County I live in, although during an era slightly before my time.  As the area has grown by leaps and bounds since the 1960's, I am able to employ quite a bit of artistic license for my modeled scenes.  As the SA&N tracks were all but abandoned by the 1930's anyway (Newport Harbor failed to be developed into a commercial port), my model scenes have to include what the area might look like if the SA&N trains were still present in the 1950's. 

My 10' by 19' double deck layout assumes that the SA&N still maintains a good working relationship with the Santa Fe but has also improved it's relationship with the Southern Pacific and it's subsidiary, the Pacific Electric.  Thus, all four railroads are represented on the layout.  The Santa Ana depot, freight house and yard are jointly operated by the Santa Fe and the SA&N while a new yard has been built in Huntington Beach that is jointly operated by the SA&N, the Southern Pacific and the Pacific Electric.  The tracks of the prototype SA&N and the Pacific Electric used to parallel each other along the beach between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.  The layout assumes that for maintenance purposes, these parallel lines have been conolidated into a single line shared by the two railroads.

Apparently, the Southern Pacific actually ran a mixed train known as the "Merry-Go-Round Train" around the loop of track during the 1920's.  My layout assumes that the SA&N provides this mixed train service using a helix structure at each end of the layout to create the loop.  All other trains are run point-to-point.  This allows me to run the SA&N mixed train(s) unattended around the loop while other trains dodge the mixed train(s) while moving from city to city and industry to industry.

Basing my "fictitious" scenario on prototype railroads in an area well known to me has provided far more modeling inspiration than I could ever imagine occuring for a truly freelanced layout.  Just the idea of modeling one or two well known landmarks in each scene has streamlined the planning stages and pushed me forward into the actual modeling stage.  In a little over three years, this good sized layout is already about 40% complete.

[Jimmy_Braum]

  The Austinville & Dynamite City Railroad is a rich one.  It orginally started as a branchline of the mighty Pennsylvania railroad (PRR) in their southern expansion from Pittsburgh PA.  The original Branch stretched between Pittsburgh and Washington Pa, and looped through the Mon Valley.  It served the city of Austinville, and it eventually became the hub of a major railyard called Austin.  But the PRR Austin branch was not the first railroad in the area, with several other logging lines starting up including the Austinville and Southern, the Danerville, and The Belle Vernon and Fort Wayne.  The Shortlines eventually collapsed during the Great Depression, and their equipment was picked up by the PRR, but never relettered-most was stored in either the Pittsburgh or the Austin yard.  While World War 2 benefited the PRR greatly, the Austin branch suffered greatly and was filed for abandonment.  At the last minute though, the CIties of Austinville and Dynamite City purchased the branch, and created the AVDC in 1952.

   Eventually the PRR, NYC, Reading, Western Maryland,etc were merged into the disastrous Penn Central, and created a hub in Belle Vernon Pa.   The Penn Central showed no interest in purchasing it and was recorded as saying "We don't want that little pike disaster".  When Penn Central filed for bankruptcy in 1968, it appeared that the entire railroad industry would collapse and destroy the entire southwestern PA/Eastern Ohio/Nothern WV area.  Conrail was formed at the last minute, and once again wasn't interested in the Austinville and Dynamite City branch.  In fact everything started to collapse rail wise.  Conrail abandoned the Pittsburgh to Belle Vernon line, and built a new branch between Pittsburgh and Monesseon Pa, isolating the AVDC until the "Mon Valley" branch was purchased and rebuilt, thus giving the coal of Dynamite city (Among other industries) direct access to Pittsburgh and the rest of the USA.

  This arrangement worked well until 1997,when Norfolk Southern( NS) and CSXT purchased Conrail and split between it.  NS made a move to purchase the AVDC, but was taken to court.  The lawsuit lasted until 1998, when the court decided in favor of the AVDC.  At this point, the Wheeling and Lake Erie(WLE) purchased the former P&WV branch in Belle Vernon and became the subsidy owner in name only. 

In 2000, a new powerplant opened in Fort Wayne Pa, and the WLE became the sole railroad to serve it, but they had no coal to supply it nor a branch to reach it.  There was a deal made though.  The AVDC would rebuild the former Belle Vernon and Fort Wayne, and WLE would have track rights to run coal trains.  The AVDC then switched from being a coal hauler to a general industry railroad, and passenger service.  In the years following, Penndot offered to purchase the passenger portion, but was declined.  The AVDC purchased several other former and current shortlines to create their current 200 miles of railroad service in the corner of the rust belt.  Although that nickname may not last for long, since industry is coming back-served by the WLE and the AVDC.  From being a cast off PRR branch, to being a major class 2 railroad, time has played an interesting story of the AVDC-and it is far from over.

[PM Railfan]

Kyle, tunnel motors would be something to see running in Va! Until I get that dream basement to build my Pere Marquette, this is what I have....

The Four Rivers Railroad: Est. 1900 to present. Class 1 carrier. Bridge route through mountainous terrain. Steepest grade 5.5%. 55 mile single track mainline with sidings, 40 miles branch line single track with sidings. Major traffic source = thru traffic. Online traffic origination = mostly mineral and agricultural, minor in industrial. Motive power = EMD 1st and 2nd gen diesel of all popular types. (note: I plan to model this lines own passenger trains and not Amtrak, so this definately puts the year between 1966 and 1969).

Thats the Freelanced prototype, this is what I have in HO: Space is VERY! limited at my home. I am down to a 9" U shaped shelf in a 10'x11' room. Limited to 18" curves and #4 turnouts and simple DC wiring. Just makes it really simple this way. I am only modelling a junction point on the FRR, so I will be utilizing hidden staging once I cut 'tunnels' thru the walls.

Paint schemes to passenger schedules have been made. All the details have been worked out and i am down to finalizing the track plan. With any luck, and no procrastingating the track could be laid and wired soon. After that its time to paint up a few locomotives. Then I guess, on to scenary (said with a shudder.... not my best point).

 

[SPV]

I've decided to model a network of freelanced narrow gauge shortlines set in the Four Corners region in 1907, in order to allow me to combine a number of prototype influences in a plausible way.  None of these lines existed, but the fictional background I've been working on coming up with is largely rooted in historical fact.

It's pretty well known to fans of western rail history that when he started the Denver & Rio Grande, General Palmer's goal was to create a north-south transcontinental route linking Denver and Mexico City via El Paso.  This, of course, never came to fruition.  Setbacks, largely to do with a protracted battle with the Santa Fe system, resulted in the D&RG never making it south of its rival's namesake city.  Nevertheless, some other southward routes from Utah into Arizona were considered and even surveyed.  My San Pablo Valley RR picks up at that point where history left off.

General Palmer resigned as president of the D&RG in August 1883, but kept the same post at the Denver & Rio Grande Western Ry., the D&RG's sometimes-subsidiary, sometimes-enemy across the Utah border.  What my line presupposes is that the general kept his eye to the south for a few years longer, looking for a way to build his dream line into Mexico.

Meanwhile, as the Rio Grande mainline from Denver to Ogden crossed the Utah desert in the early 1880s, miners and investors in the territory's southern La Sal and Abajo Mountains saw an opportunity to tap the mineral and lumber resources there and connect them to markets, primarily in the capital cities of Utah and Colorado.  The D&RGW leadership became aware of these plans and provided significant assistance in financing the one they thought looked most promising.  This was the beginning of the San Pablo Valley RR, linking the La Sals with the Rio Grande mainline at Whitehouse via the canyon of the Colorado River and the San Pablo Valley.  (In actuality, the valley I've named San Pablo is called Spanish Valley, and is the location of Moab, UT).  This was completed by Christmas 1883.  Construction resumed in the spring of 1884 and the line was extended to Monticello by fall.  About the same time, the Rio Grande sent crews into northern Arizona to survey routes and raise money to build north towards the new SPV.  By the end of the year, the grandly-named Utah Arizona & Pacific was incorporated for this purpose, and construction began northwards from Esperanza, Arizona Territory, where a connection was made with a new AT&SF branch line.

In September 1885, the SPV and UA&P met near Blanding, UT.  By this point, General Palmer's hopes for a line to Mexico had finally faded for good, but the two 3' gauge lines served as a viable north-south bridge route, linking the transcontinental lines of the D&RG/D&RGW and AT&SF.  Several additional smaller lines were built in the years that followed, as mining boomed in the La Sal range.  First was the Castle Valley & La Sal, linking the SPV mainline in the Colorado River canyon with the new city of Castleton and the mines of the northern La Sals, built in 1887.  The next year, the Paradox & La Sal was built, connecting the SPV to Colorado's Paradox Valley.  Several lumbering lines were also constructed in the mountains to supply the growing towns along the new railroads.

In these years, the railroads flourished.  The SPV and UA&P even jointly operated an opulent pair of express passenger trains to include Pullman service - the northbound train named the Ute, and the southbound the Navajo.  They also carried agricultural products, including significant annual livestock rushes, as well as the raw materials for which they were originally founded and the many products necessitated by the expanding population of the region.

In 1890, what originally appeared as a major windfall became an existential threat to the lines - the standard gauging of the Rio Grande mainline.  Due to their close corporate relationship, it was first speculated that the SPV/UA&P system would also widen its gauge, but this was not to be.  Rather, in order to assist in financing its transition, the Rio Grande sold most of its shares in the shortlines and left them to fend for themselves.  As the only route of commerce into the region, they survived, but were never again as profitable now that it was necessary for bridge traffic to change gauges twice - once at each end.

The SPV would eventually gain a few miles of track with 4' 8-1/2" between the rails.  With the continued success of mines in the region, a smelter was constructed on the outskirts of Moab in 1895, and its founders helped raise money to add a third rail between their facility and Whitehouse, so that processed materials could be loaded directly into standard gauge boxcars.  Again, rumors flew that the entire railroad would be standard gauged, and again they proved false - only the line's northernmost 40 miles were converted to dual gauge, although the SPV did acquire one new standard gauge engine to serve it.

And that's roughly where October 1907 finds the railroads - the UA&P is currently emerging from receivership to the SPV, which is doing reasonably well.  The CV&LS and P&LS are still profitable and keep their small rosters of second-hand engines in excellent condition.  The Ute and Navajo continue to run, although less frequently and with shorter consists.  The fall stock rush is in full swing.  Over the next few decades, much will change, and by midway through the century, all these rails will be torn up and few will remember that narrow gauge trains ever even ran here.  But for now, 3' gauge teakettles jacketed in Russia Iron proudly roam the mountains and desert of the American Southwest, and most people seem to think they always will.

[jmbjmb]

To look at my railroad history, you might think it was freelanced.  Or perhaps it really did happen this way.  Or, to paraphrase a certain TV show of old, perhaps the story is true, the names were changed to protect the guilty.

The South Carolina Piedmont region rises from the coastal plain along what is called the "fall line."  This the region where the flowing steams and rivers  drop quickly into the plain to become the large, slowly drifting rivers and swamps in the low country.  But, once upon a time, those rivers were the highway of empire.  Cotton and other products traveled down to Charleston.  Along one of those rivers, known as the Smoke for the mists that rose from it, there was the metropolis of Kimberly. Well, more like a wide spot on the river where the rapid drop provided ready water power for a grist and sawmill.  But the coming of the railroad changed the transportation infrastructure for good. 

The predecessor of the Southen bypassed Kimberly when they build their line to Spartanburg, leaving the town and surrounding area dependent on a river that no one used any more.  Until, fast forward to the early 1900s.  Two big things happened.  The textile industry was moving south and electric power was spreading.  The drop in elevation around the Kimberly Shoals that has been such a problem for rivermen, was just the thing to power a booming textile and electric power industy.  In short order a new cotton mill and hydro electric plant were built.  A railroad line was built from Kimberly to a new junction with the Southern and Kimberly grew into a classic South Carolina mill town.  The railroad line become known as the Smoke River Railway.

For a period the line provided both freight and passenger service but by 1958, passenger service was gone and the line had been dieselized.   Today, the cotton mills are gone, having moved overseas, and the small mill town way of life is vanishing.  But on the Smoke River, it is still 1958, the line is flourshing, carrying loads for the mill, lumber yard, fuel oil, and farm supply, as well as the occasional lcl for the station.   Kids still ride their bikes to the station to watch the train come in, folks still leave their doors unlocked, and a way of life that seems like it will always be there thrives.

 

jim

[chutton01]

I have my Alternate History Timeline down pat:

The year is 2010-2015 CE...

ConRail in the 1980s under Stanley Crane was abandoning and selling off trackage; eventually it sold off a cluster in Philadelphia, PA off to one of those new-fangled Regional Railroads - Penn-Delaware Rail Holding, Inc.

The Philadelphia Delaware Terminal (reporting marks - PDT, and I have exactly one MOW gondola lettered for that) was formed over trackage that in OTL ("our time line" - i.e. the real world) would be owned by Conrail and CSAO for much longer - PDT also retains trackage rights along the Northeast Corridor, and Philly also retained more industry and distribution centers than it did in real life (although I  considered it strongely, I eventually gave up on modeling American Street trackage early on, so that trackage was abandoned as it is in OTL).  Engine service is based out of the real-world Ann Street engine house, which I will model in a few years...

To justify running tourist trains, a number of volunteers (specifically several "burly" repainted Bachman figures in overalls) on the Philaphilia & Delaware Coast tourist train that the Philadelphia Delaware Terminal allows to run on it's tracks (which would imply a tourist train of 4 older passenger cars headed by a RS-3 running on the Northeast corridor for a non-zero amount distance - not sure that'd happen in OTL to any extent.

[Burlington Northern #24]

The Columbia Northern is a company owned by the SP&S, this company had lots of money in it from the get go once logging and the lumber industry got up to speed in the PNW. On my railroad the CN will have a couple of SD's(probably 24's as 24 is my favorite number, a GP7, and an FP7) it'll share the SP&S broad stripe scheme. 

On my road the BN merger is approved in '66 but on paper only, so the 4 hill lines operate under one company name but are physically seperate. it's not unusual to see a parade of schemes and even rainbow trains on the SP&S trackage. Essentially the Columbia Northern operates on SP&S track but has purchased various passenger cars(often ones the SP&S did not have, this will allow me flexibility when it comes to passenger trains), the freight, caboose, and MOW fleets are SP&S equipment shared with its "child" the Columbia Northern. THe SP&S ensures that the CN is well taken care of, after learning from the mistakes the SP&S parents the NP and GN had made. 

the CN is merely a means to me as a way to get away with more streamlined passenger cars, and incorrect heavy weigth cars.

[WVWoodman]

My freelance railroad is the Western West Virginian (WWV).  It was built in Randolph County to transport coal and timber.  It has connections to the B&O, C&O, Western Maryland and the West Virginian Northern.  One of my 2-8-0s is WVN #9 which is currently being restored by the WV Railroad Museum in Elkins, WV.  (I will try to add to my history at a later date)