I enjoyed the article in the April issue about RJ Corman's Loup Creek Branch in WV.
But the article's map represents the westernmost 25% of the branch as a dotted line. What's up with that? There's no explanation in the legend. Usually that means Abandoned, IIRC. But that part is clearly not abandoned.
Still in training.
Lithonia OperatorI enjoyed the article in the April issue about RJ Corman's Loup Creek Branch in WV. But the article's map represents the westernmost 25% of the branch as a dotted line. What's up with that? There's no explanation in the legend. Usually that means Abandoned, IIRC. But that part is clearly not abandoned.
The article mentions a tunnel. Sometimes dotted lines are used to indicate tunnels, however, from the length of the dotted line the tunnel should be in the running for among the longest ever in the USA.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Lithonia Operator But that part is clearly not abandoned.
I have no idea what your map looks like, but sometimes a dotted line is used to depict "trackage rights" or other contracted rights also.
Convicted One Lithonia Operator But that part is clearly not abandoned. I have no idea what your map looks like, but sometimes a dotted line is used to depict "trackage rights" or other contracted rights also.
On Amtrak's map, it means to get there you have to take a bus
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
The article says there's just one short tunnel. I had that thought, but that would rival the Moffett Tunnel! Or beat it.
Its not trackage rights, as far as I can tell. And it sure isn't a bus! They haul coal over the entire branch.
???
(I may poke around that branch a bit in June.)
Maps in TRAINS are often inaccurate. This is another example.
Mark Meyer
On satellite maps there appears to be track all the way from Mount Hope to Pax, where there is the loadout mentioned in the article. That doesn't explain the dotted line, though, which is interesting as the article mentions trains going all the way to Pax...
Usually the satellite images are within two or three years of being current.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Yes, they go all the way to Pax.
There had been a time when that part had been out of service. But other parts had previously been out of service too.
In any event, for this article about current operations, the line should definitely be solid.
I've seen worse. In the current issue of a slick boating mag here in Maine, there is a woman standing on the stern of her sailboat. The photo caption states that she's on the bow!
The GIS cartoonist (gizzer) had a brain fart.
In the rail map book I've got a dotted line indicates an abandoned line. That's what I first thought what the map in the article indicated but the article itself said otherwise.
The line is intact to just short of where it would have once connected to the Virginian (now WATCO's Kanawha River RR). I didn't understand the dashed line either. It basically covers the coal loading area so maybe that's the meaning?
I think it's just a mistake.
Lithonia OperatorI think it's just a mistake.
And since we are in the 21st Century, the century of 'the blame game'.
We have to know who to blame - the author, the proof reading editor, the layout editor, the printer?
Enquiring minds want to know, demand to know. [/sarcasm]
The maps in Trains or their editing seem to be in decline mode. We recently had the glaring Lakes Erie and Ontario car ferry incident. Sometimes an interesting location in the text could have been shown on the map. I'd also like to see predecessor roads noted on the maps if not mentioned in the text. I don't know where the blame should lie, but it wouldn't be the printer. Now if the printer was me I'd have early access to the mag and perhaps a chuckle.
Google Earth can be fun too, when they place a restaurant on an abandoned factory footprint.
Rick
rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.
"Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!"
Here at the Fortress Flintlock we concur heartily!
These guys know how to "Party Like It's 1939!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsYzAwdnWwk
When I go to train shows, I can always tell when the standard guage folks are underway...
As someone who has submitted stories, most of them with maps, to Trains since the mid-1980s, I think I can shed some light on this.
Right out of the gate, let me say that the Trains artists have typically produced maps that are, visually-speaking, second to none when it comes to detail, style, and overall appearance. At many times they have been right on par with maps published in National Geographic.
However, the ACCURACY of their maps is highly dependent on the source material (whether provided by an author or obtained by a staff member), on the proofing done in house, and on the proofing done by an outside author.
Back in the day, any author worth their salt would provide map material, whether originals or photocopies, ranging from basic highway maps to the most detailed 7.5-minute USGS topos, with hand-written notations for every landmark or RR-related detail (tunnel numbers, siding names, industries, line ownerships, etc., etc.). In the 21st Century, it's been more common (at least for me) to provide screen captures of maps, links to maps, or even custom maps derived from one's own digital handiwork.
When submitting maps for publication in a rail magazine, or proofing a map that's been produced by a rail magazine, it's been my personal standard whenever possible (as in, when the map has space to accommodate it) to make sure every location or place name mentioned in the article and in the photo captions gets shown on the map.
Now, as for where the "blame" lies, as some have asked above, it can fall on multiple parties. If it's a story written by a staff member, and the map was produced entirely in house, then it's on them. But a large percentage of the maps published in Trains and other rail magazines appear in stories written by contributing authors. Those authors should be providing the necessary map resources, or at least directing the staff to where the proper resources can be found. And once the article is in production, the author is normally provided at least one, sometimes more, PDF proofs of their article including whatever map has been produced for it. That's when the responsibility for map accuracy falls largely on the author.
You can hardly expect the Trains staff to know every nook and cranny of the North American railway landscape. Scouring Googlemaps and other online resources alone won't always cover it, nor will the open-source or payware rail map databases that are out there. Heck, there are still errors in the USGS topos covering places that I'm personally familiar with, but they're errors that very few people outside those places would ever pick up on. And thus, those errors end up in a number of published rail magazine maps every so often.
When I was an Associate Editor at Railfan & Railroad, I was the in-house map freak. And back then (1988-1996), I often had to go digging for source material. Not just maps, but also things like track charts / grade profiles, employee timetables, etc. Some was already in my collection, but most was not. And there were times when my work went sideways because of outdated source material and/or my own geographic ignorance. Like the time we did a story on modern-day steam in China, and I produced a map that showed the capital city as Peking, decades after it had become known as Beijing.
I can't speak for the level of personal diligence and follow-through exercised by other authors, but I will say that the vast majority of maps that I've submitted to Trains over the past 34 years have been handled quite well by them. And they've been very good about applying any corrections I've noted at the proofing stage before going to press.
Whether it's a map of main lines over the Cascades or coal branches in the Appalachians or a tourist line in the canyons of Arizona or commuter corridors in the Northeast, I think the contributing authors who live near those sites (or at least have personal familiarity with them) bear an almost greater responsibility for the accuracy of those maps than do staff members who live and work hundreds if not thousands of miles away.
tree68 On satellite maps there appears to be track all the way from Mount Hope to Pax, where there is the loadout mentioned in the article. That doesn't explain the dotted line, though, which is interesting as the article mentions trains going all the way to Pax... Usually the satellite images are within two or three years of being current.
The rails go all the way to Pax, WV now, but they didn't before 2006. When RJ Corman originally purchased the Loup Creek Branch, it was only intact to the Austin Powder and Georgia Pacific plants located just west of US 19 near Mount Hope, WV. RJ Corman had to relay the track west of this location to the new Contrua Energy coal mine east of Pax, WV.
The dashed line on TRAINS' map indicates the relaid section of the branch, but it isn't labeled as such. I confirmed this looking at Google Earth Pro using the Time Slider between 12/2003 and 8/2007. Prior to 2006, the track is gone on the west end of the branch. The new track is more clearly visible in the 11/2013 leaf-off imagery.
Edit: See page A1-17 in this report put together by the State of West Virginia: https://transportation.wv.gov/rail/Documents/WV_RailPlan.pdf
Bruce KellyWhen submitting maps for publication in a rail magazine, or proofing a map that's been produced by a rail magazine, it's been my personal standard whenever possible (as in, when the map has space to accommodate it) to make sure every location or place name mentioned in the article and in the photo captions gets shown on the map.
I would LOVE it if every location mentioned was on the map! Not having every location is a pet peeve for me in reading Trains, and sadly it's not uncommon. If the scale does not permit inclusion of every mentioned location, then the text should state "Podunkville, just east of Bigtown," or whatever.
Lithonia OperatorI would LOVE it if every location mentioned was on the map!
Agreed - maybe even with numbered arrows as Trains sister magazine Model Railroader does on layouts.
Lithonia OperatorI enjoyed the article in the April issue about RJ Corman's Loup Creek Branch in WV.
I also enjoyed the article. I have questions about the coal loading facility at Pax. The article mentions "Contrua Energy coal mine". Notice the spelling of Contrua, should that be Contura?
I was hoping the article would have some photos of the coal loader, but no such luck. Probably because it's private property. I am planning a field trip to the area this spring and was hoping to get a tour of the facility so I could take some photos. Does anyone have a contact for the Contrua (or Contura) facility at Pax?
Better yet, does anyone have photos? : )
Duane.
Lithonia Operator I would LOVE it if every location mentioned was on the map! Not having every location is a pet peeve for me in reading Trains, and sadly it's not uncommon. If the scale does not permit inclusion of every mentioned location, then the text should state "Podunkville, just east of Bigtown," or whatever.
THANK YOU!! When reading an article, I try to follow along on the map when the author is describing a run, or a sequence of events, or describing a route. It drives me out of my tree when a location given in the article isn't on the map. I thought I was the only one.
SALfan You're not alone Lithonia Operator I would LOVE it if every location mentioned was on the map! Not having every location is a pet peeve for me in reading Trains, and sadly it's not uncommon. If the scale does not permit inclusion of every mentioned location, then the text should state "Podunkville, just east of Bigtown," or whatever. THANK YOU!! When reading an article, I try to follow along on the map when the author is describing a run, or a sequence of events, or describing a route. It drives me out of my tree when a location given in the article isn't on the map. I thought I was the only one.
You're not alone
Lithonia OperatorI would LOVE it if every location mentioned was on the map! Not having every location is a pet peeve for me in reading Trains,
One would think that if a location merits mention in the text portion of an article, it should be worthy of a dot on the map, to go with it. I agree with you 100%.
However, I believe that Trains magazine staffers have actually responded here on past occasion, specific to this dilemma, that frequently the text and graphics portions of the article are edited separately, by different staff members. While that explanation makes perfect sense, it is of little comfort to the readers who try to become immersed in an article, and are left feeling "excluded" by the oversight.
And, just to be abundantly clear, regardless of however logical their explanation might be, the occurrence remains an oversight, nonetheless.
It isn't the only thing wrong in that issue. Take a look at page 47. 8110 is not an S-4. It is an S-2 and is not riding on AAR type A trucks but is riding on Blount Trucks.
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