Alternate Railways: V3

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

I think @Joe Bonkers will like this. Thank you for letting me use the premise.

NAME OF COMPANY: Steamtown National Historic Site

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1977-present

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: The former Central Railroad of New Jersey yards and shops in the Ashley section of Wilkes-Barre, PA had long been rotting away slowly and painfully. Ever since the Baltimore and Ohio, which controlled the CNJ, centralized all their operations in the area to the former Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western facilities in Scranton. But this would soon change immensely for the better.

Some 30 years earlier, a group of loosely-associated men of means who were interested in railroading from the standpoint of hobbyists had begun to collect a number of steam locomotives and other old-time railroad equipment as the railroads retired them in favor of newer locomotives (mostly diesel and electric) and modern passenger and freight cars. Among them being several passengers types like a PRR K4s, a NYC Hudson and Niagaras, and a B&O Mountains and ex-DLW engines, plus some locomotives form the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Some of the same investors also began donating to the informal group some of the “first-generation” diesels being retired by the railroads, including a Baldwin Sharknose, an Alco PA1, and a Fairbanks-Morse Train Master. Although the collection was scattered around the country, it was in total one of the finest collections of antique railroad equipment anywhere.

One of the investors, F. Nelson Blount, eventually decided to organize the group in a more formal way, with the intent of organizing a museum and operating at least some of the steam locomotives for the public on excursion runs. He initially found a location at the old Rutland yard in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and organized the “Steamtown Foundation” to operate restored steam locomotives and nostalgic passenger cars on a stretch of the New York Central's former Rutland. Over a period of about five years, the collection was gradually assembled at Bellows Falls.

Then, in 1967, Blount was killed in a plane crash. The Foundation by then was up and running, using a Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson for most of its runs. But after Blount’s death, it started to founder. Part of the problem was the isolation of its Vermont location, far from main travel routes that would attract tourists. The Foundation began looking for a more amenable site. CAN DO got wind of the Foundation’s search, and provided a loan to help move Steamtown to Wilkes-Barre which, at the crossroads of a number of highway and rail routes and with easy air access, was much more accessible than the Bellows Falls location. On July 6, 1977, Steamtown Foundation officially took title of the old CNJ facilities (aside from the single line from downtown through Ashley and up the mountain, now used by the C&O’s former Lehigh Valley).

The LV and CNJ had separate routes up the mountain to White Haven, and the LV route, with a steeper grade, had been abandoned over ten years earlier in favor of the CNJ route for passenger trains and the few occasional freight trains that used the line (most freight trains ran around the Wyoming Valley to the east on the Wyoming Cutoff). Steamtown proposed to use its loan money from CAN DO to refurbish the Ashley yard and shop facilities and to rebuild the LV line to White Haven and then over a former LV branch to Bear Creek, a distance of about 25 miles, for excursions. This included the revamping of a bridge over Route 309 in Mountaintop, among other expensive work.

The work was completed by 1979, but the cost of it was beyond Steamtown’s ability to repay the loan to CAN DO, and even with the new Wilkes-Barre location, the Foundation was unable to raise the kind of tourist revenue needed for repayment (especially since its refurbishment of the Ashley facilities was at best ad hoc). Steamtown filed for bankruptcy in 1980. At that point, CAN DO persuaded the federal government to step in. After a few years of negotiations, the National Park Service took over the museum as Steamtown National Historic Site, reopening under that name in 1983. The facilities built by the NPS were impressive. An attractive pair of entrances off Hazle Street were constructed along with ample parking. A visitor’s center (with gift shop), in one of the old machinists’ buildings, greeted visitors. The roundhouse was completely rebuilt, not only to provide a working area for the operating locomotives, but to allow visitors to watch the work from an enclosed viewing platform on a new upper level.

The static displays were arranged either inside the old shop buildings or in the yard in a visitor-friendly manner, along with interpretive information so that visitors understood what they were seeing. The exhibited engines are identical to OTL, but with a few newcomers. Among these engines displayed are...

• NYC J-1 5200
• Lehigh Valley Pacific 2089
• Lehigh Valley Mikado 432
• CNJ Pacific 832
• Temiskaming & Northern Ontario 1102
• DL&W Pocono 1504 (Her cousin 1632 is at the alt. B&O Museum which I will detail later
• Reading G3 216
• UP Challenger 3967
• DL&W Consolidation 351
• DL&W Pacific 1140
• PRR K4 8347
• PRR T1 5522
• Canadian National 6167
• Canadian National 6401
• Baltimore and Ohio 5305

A new station platform allowed visitors to board the excursion trains, which ran southward out of the yard, parallel to the still-active ex-CNJ branch to the Huber Colliery and the Hanover Industrial Park. The excursion passed through the Sugar Notch and Warrior Run sections, then began the steep climb around the horseshoe curve in the eastern reaches of Nanticoke and through the forested country around Penobscot Mountain. The view was breathtaking from the top of the grade. The train passed over Route 309 and stopped at Glen Summit, where riders could get on or off. The train continued through the woodlands around Crystal Lake and beyond, making another stop just north of the commuter station at White Haven. It then swung onto the old Bear Creek branch. Well-heeled residents of suburban Bear Creek had blocked the rebuilding of the entire branch, so the train made one more stop at the reservoir of Francis E. Walter Dam before using a loop, built at the end of the excursion line, to reverse direction back to the Ashley station.

In addition, many longer excursions haul people to the Americas Rail Museum in the former CNJ terminal at Jersey City. Often, these excursions are hauled by bigger steamers like the Reading 2124, Lackawanna 1504, or T&NO 1102, the three resident big steamers. Though many early diesels also appear at times, such as a Baldwin Sharknose set, an Alco PA set, and a Fairbanks-Morse Train Master.

Steamtown’s grand reopening in May 1983 was attended by railroad and railfan dignitaries from around the world. The world-class railroad museum, soon regarded as one of the best in the world, was another boom to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region. Today, Steamtown still is a major source of revenue for the National Park Service. In addition to the normal tourist activity, many special events like NRHS Conventions take place. In addition, many locals always turn up when a big steam engine other than then normal ones come to pull excursions for them. Especially if it is one of the Nickel Plate Berkshires, the Baltimore and Ohio's two T-3 Mountains 5558 and 5580, or even such exotic visitors as Milwaukee Road 261 and Frisco Mountain 1522.

 

[TheMann]

^ That's awesome, and I would imagine the residents of eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey and the New York City area keep the place well patronized, along with the excursions from Steamtown to New York City and the Americas Rail Museum in Hoboken....

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

^ That's awesome, and I would imagine the residents of eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey and the New York City area keep the place well patronized, along with the excursions from Steamtown to New York City and the Americas Rail Museum in Hoboken....

That's right.

Mind you though that is only my first museum. Not to mention the updates to the alterations I've made to Steamtown's fleet.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: Hooiser State Central Railroad

GAUGE: Standard (1435mm, 4'8.5")

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1968-present

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: The Hoosier State Central is a museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing railroads of Indiana, and sharing the equipment and information with the public, as well as operating trains to show how people traveled across the country in the past.

The railroad is distinct from other tourist railroads in that they actually operate as revenue beyond tourists. Often operating a handful of freight and revenue passenger trains on its line as a cheaper alternative to other lines in the area. The railroad operates around 89 miles of trackage from Indianapolis to Logansport, over the former Indiana Railroad interurban right of way. To that end, the railroad purchased the Pennsylvania Railroad's South Bend Branch in 1973. Which allowed it to serve the then re-growing Studebaker facilities and other businesses. At this time, it also became one of the last private passenger carriers, and the only major one in the Midwest today.

The museum's excursions normally operate out of Logansport to Kokomo in the weekdays. Whereas every weekend, trains run all the way from Logansport to Indianapolis. This is always different during the months of the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. During those days, trains run the entire route with stops in Kokomo and Noblesville.

The railroad also connects with several major rail lines. The NY and CN in South Bend, the PRR and Wabash & Erie in Logansport, the C&O (ex-NKP) in Kokomo, and the NYC, B&O, and W&E at Indianapolis.

The railroad operates several steam engines out of Logansport. The main star is Nickel Plate Mikado 587, which also runs with Erie Pacific 2935, USATC S160 613, and 2-10-0 X1 (built by Livio Dante Porta's team in the 80s). Also owned by them but not operable are several eight coupled steam engines and Wabash Atlantic 602. As well as a slew of larger steam engines like 4-8-4s.

The museum is home to many pieces of railroading history, with primary emphasis on locomotives and equipment relating to the. Most passengers are carried in the museum's restored Budd cars that date back to 1937 and were originally in service on the Santa Fe Railroad and the New Jersey Transit Authority before being sold to the museum as scrap in the early 1980s.

 

[TheMann]

NAME OF COMPANY: Consolidated Rail Corporation, usually referred to as Conrail

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1977-present

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: It was a day many had guessed was coming and a few had seen in the future, but it was still a shock. The date was September 21, 1971, and the event was the declaration of bankruptcy of "The Standard Railroad of the World", the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad. It hit the financial markets of America like a powerful gun blast, but for those in the know, the Pennsylvania had been dying for the best part of three decades, hamstrung by huge labor costs, the inability to abandon unprofitable operations and a heavy reliance on shorter-haul services long since taken over by trucks and passenger services whose passenger numbers had been dwindling since World War II. The mighty Pennsy had tried all kinds of diversification and investment efforts and eliminating redudancies to the greatest extent possible, but on that day it just wasn't enough. It was days before several smaller railroads that relied on the Pennsy - the Reading, Central of New Jersey, Lehigh and New England and the New York, New Haven and Hartford were similarly in insolvency within days or weeks. While the small and fast Erie Lackawanna and the Pennsy's efficiency-obsessed rival in the New York Central weathered the storm without bankruptcies and the Lehigh Valley and Delaware and Hudson railroads ended up in the hands of wealthy Canadian patrons, the Pennsy in bankruptcy court virtually fell apart despite the efforts of trustees and railroad employees to make the mighty railroad survive.

Their efforts reached the end of the road on May 15, 1975, just west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

On that day, the Beaver Bridge over the Ohio River failed spectacularly, dropping a loaded coal train and a chemical train into the Ohio River, the better than a million and a quarter gallons of caustic soda and chemicals into the river. The resulting spill was ecologically devastating along with a huge contamination of water supply systems in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Investigations found serious deficiencies in the bridge, and class action and state lawsuits jackhammered the Pennsy. Unwilling to let the railroad shut down and unable to simply give the Pennsy money to fix it's problems in light of the Monaca disaster, the only option was the third one - nationalization. Once an unthinkable option, it was now the only option, and when combined with the financial issues of the rest of the Northeast and New England, it gave birth to the Consolidated Rail Corporation, Conrail in for short.

As Conrail's goal was provide stability to Northeastern Railroading, membership in it was offered to all Northeastern Railroads initially, but the government and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) changed tack and wanted competition in the marketplaces dominated by the Pennsy and its broken rivals. Thus, financial help was given to the New York Central and Erie Lackawanna and agreements were made with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, giving the former trackage rights through Indiana, Ohio and Illinois and the latter rights to the Northeast Corridor from New York to Washington and its own ex-PRR lines from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia, as well as splitting the New Haven between CN and CP for the most part, CP getting more of it owing to CN's ownership of the Central Vermont. (CN did, however, get tracks to Hartford and New Haven and complete ownership of the CV route between St. Johns, Quebec, and New London, Connecticut, while CPR got the ex-Boston and Maine route between Albany, New York and Boston.) As Conrail was being organized all of the smaller lines of the Northeast not originally included all got into it, and Conrail was able to separate a freight line from the commuter-choked Northeast Corridor.

But in September 1975, a curveball entered the picture in form of the Milwaukee Road.

The Management of the Milwaukee Road had been attempting to get out of the railroad business through sales or mergers for years, even as the company was completing a truly immense rebuild of its early 20th Century-era electrification and was in the process of taking delivery of some 75 General Electric E60 locomotives for the purpose and had taken advantage of several new markets as a result of the Burlington Northern merger in 1970 having a condition forcing BN to give up traffic in quite large quantities to the Milwaukee Road. Having failed to sell the railroad to Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern, the Milwaukee's management requested the road be included into Conrail.

This ended up being a massively-debated decision. BN was adamantly against it and so were many eastern Roads, but Conrail's management saw the opportunities - and with the Milwaukee and General Electric having nearly completed the rebuild of the Milwaukee's 'Lines West' main line and the Coast Division routes swallowing every train that could be sent that way, Conrail went for it, throwing a few massive bones to Burlington Northern - their takeover of the Frisco was approved, they got trackage rights on the CN main from Chicago to Louisville and they were offered (and wisely took) the Pennsylvania's secondary main lines from Chicago to Columbus via Logansport, Indiana and Cincinatti via Logansport and Richmond, Indiana. The move made everyone happy, and Conrail took the Milwaukee Road into its system. The final plan was agreed by Washington and the FRA on May 11, 1976, and Conrail began operations on February 1, 1977.

A chaotic late 1970s and early 1980s in railroading were capped off by the Union Pacific-Rock Island Scandal of 1980-81, which resulted in a more or less complete halt to merger operations. Conrail quickly set to work with rapidly rebuilding the failing infrastructure of its inherited operations, but was quick to discover more there than originally guessed upon, particularly the resourceful staff of the railroads, their massive Milwaukee and Altoona shops and the profits available from everything from the transcontinental grain and containers/piggyback operations, Powder River Basin coal, automobile and auto parts operations, fast freight services in everything from fresh fruit to chemicals to raw steel and aluminum. The Milwaukee Road's main line had the ability to be a gold mine - and it had a brand-new electrification system at a time when oil times were all over the place. Conrail quickly rebuilt the Lines West's trackage and signal systems as the lines took every bit traffic it could. Conrail built its main line from Roberts Bank, BC to Portland makes sure electrification was built there too, along with the electrification being stretched east to McLaughlin, South Dakota, and the mostly-Milwaukee line from Dubuque, Iowa to Gillette, Wyoming, was soon electrified as well. The power and economics of electrics gave Conrail a big competitive advantage in the Rockies, and between 1977 and 1987 they made a point of expanding it at every opportunity, including the gigantic job of punching a second, parallel bore under Snoqualmie Pass and completing opening up all of the tunnels on the line for double-stack container traffic as well as the electrics. That tunnel work, completed in 1986, made for the route being just about as good a freight conveyor as could be, much to BN's distaste - though BN ended up being the biggest user of high-powered diesels in the world in its attempts to rival Conrail across the Rockies.

Back East, Conrail did much the same tactics. The heavy main lines got first priority, and the reducing of the old Pennsy main from four tracks to two lasted little more than a decade before Conrail restored them in the late 1980s as traffic swelled on the main lines. Conrail's extensive trucking operations and their adoption of SP's style 'Railboxes' and 'Railskids' made it easier than ever for customers of all sizes to use rail to ship, and Hess Petroleum's coal-to-oil operations began working in Scranton, Pennsylvania in May 1979 it added another source of coal traffic, and as power stations in the Midwest began using Powder River Basin coal, Conrail was able to deliver train loads of it with Swiss-watch precision. Swelling passenger traffic caused numerous problems on the Northeast Corridor in the late 1970s, resulting in Conrail in 1980 making another of its brave calls - they would use its ex-Pennsylvania main line through Delaware and northeastern Virginia to carry freight in large amounts, and would build a bridge parallel to the completed Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, allowing them to serve Norfolk, a major East Coast port. The announcement of this drew excitement from the state of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission, who were planning on building a second link next to the original tunnel. The result was a second complete pair of tunnels and a complete second set of bridges, and the new passage was completed and began operations in September 1985.

Despite the rapid growth in traffic, Conrail's finances were still in a rather poor shape until the arrival of Stanley Crane in January 1981. Crane, who retired from the Southern Railway to take over at Conrail, quickly shed nearly 4000 miles from Conrail's network, noting that those tracks made up a fifth of Conrail's track mileage but accounted for just 1% of its traffic and 2% of its profits, while making a point of selling virtually all of those lines to private short-line operators, which resulted in over half of those lines staying in service for their owners. The company also reduced its workforce by some 7,000 between 1981 and 1984 - but in a move that proved very wise, all of those workers' names stayed in Conrail's database, and they got first call on new positions, and more than a few of them did indeed return to work - and part of the database was retaining of their seniority, so when they came back they retained the ability to use their seniority for jobs.

When the Reagan Administration was replaced by the Kennedy Administration in January 1985, Conrail's future was assured when Crane was offered the position of Secretary of Transportation - he turned it down, preferring to continue his job at Conrail where his work, with President Kennedy accepting this, and writing a letter to Crane stating that he and his administration wanted Conrail to be an example of "A modern example of the power of a government-owned business managed by the finest of men for the benefit of the people of America." (The letter wasn't made public until after Crane's death in 2009.)

Conrail's plans continued unabated, with the company buying the Algoma Central railway in 1986 and building the Northern Michigan Rail Bridge parallel to the Mackinac Bridge to connect its Northern Michigan Secondary to the Algoma Central. Growing grain traffic from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and the Dakotas flowed both east to the cities of the Midwest in growing amounts or to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, while the automobiles, containers, refined fuels, chemicals, plastics and general freight markets swelled in the 1980s as America's industrial sectors, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, grew in their size and requirements.

Conrail's Northeast Corridor problem got downright ugly on January 4, 1987, when two of ite freight engines, running light from Baltimore to Harrisburg, fouled the NEC main at Gunpow Interlocking in Chase, Maryland, and was struck from behind by Amtrak's Colonial passenger train at over 100 mph, killing 76 people and injuring more than 450. Investigations found that both the engineer and brakeman of the locomotives were impaired, and an enraged Amtrak booted through freight off of the NEC. Conrail's recent operating of its Atlantic main line from Wilmington to Norfolk now looked remarkably wise, but Conrail had to (and did) rebuild its Harrisburg-Hagerstown, Harrisburg-Wilmington and Baltimore-Popes Creek lines to allow freight traffic to bypass the NEC in the late 1980s to handle this, and heavy traffic on the Pennsylvania main line resulted in first the Pennsylvania Main Line being restored to its four-track glory between 1988 and 1990 and then Conrail buying nearly the entirety of the Western Maryland from Connellsville, Pennsylvania to Baltimore from Chessie System in 1989. Electrification in the east was revived again in the 1980s, expanding across the Pennsylvania Main Line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh in 1984 and across the Northern Pennsylvania Main Line from Harrisburg to Buffalo, New York, in 1986 and across the former Reading, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and New England and New Haven lines from Philadelphia to Danbury, Waterbury and Hartford, Connecticut, as well as from Phillipsburg, New Jersey to Allentown, Pennsylvania, the ex-Reading from Reading to Wilkes-Barre between 1984 and 1989. The former Western Maryland got the same treatment, the wires running all the way from Pittsburgh to Baltimore, the electrification beginning operations in 1994. The rebuilt lines created a complete loop of the NEC and allowed through freight traffic to go off the passenger-dominated Corridor, which began high-speed Acela Express operations in 1992.

Crane made a point of pointing out Conrail's abilities and advantages to his corporation's political masters, most poignantly delivering a check for $250 million to President Kennedy in February 1987 (a largely-successful and very public response to the Colonial wreck) and starting the company advertising in print and trade publications and in some cases broadcast media itself, famously introducing its "We Can Carry That For You" TV ads in 1987-88. Norfolk's use as a coal export port resulted in Pennsylvania mines being able to use Conrail's Atlantic Main Line to deliver coal to Norfolk in large amounts, and thousands of the staff laid off in the early 1980s returned to work as traffic grew. Intermodal traffic growth was so strong that nearly every inch of the main lines of the company (and many of the secondaries) got cab signals, and Conrail began use the use of radio-controlled helper units and air compressor-equipped cabooses in 1989 to speed up operations, with the Pennsylvania Main Line and the Midwest Main Line between Chicago and Bucyrus, Ohio in some cases clearing the intermodals for speeds as high as 85 MPH. The company's by-then iconic blue paint scheme and 'can opener' logo were immortalized in many of the ads, where the company even referred to itself as 'The Big Blue Machine'.

The company's next major territorial acquisition came from the Illinois Central Gulf, which sold Conrail almost all of the former Chicago and Alton from Joliet, Illinois, to St. Louis, and the Alton's West extension to Kansas City, these lines becoming part of Conrail in July 1990. The move was done to make the Illinois Main Line go out to Kansas City, rivaling the Norfolk and Western (which had the same western terminus) and take traffic off of the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific and Kansas City Southern to more destinations. (Conrail already served Kansas City through the ex-Milwaukee Road, but the Midwest Main Line's congestion was by then a real problem that Conrail was trying to solve.) SP and KCS were quick to take advantage, the latter already partners with Conrail and supplying vast loads of chemicals, petroleum products and fertilizer to the Midwest through Conrail.

Even as Conrail's service improvements continued, the Union Pacific-Rock Island Scandal had created an alliance of the smaller railroads that Erie Lackawanna - along with the Rock Island, Rio Grande and Western Pacific - were part of, and the EL proved more than capable of handling New York-Chicago traffic, and when the New York Central sold its Peoria-Indianapolis-Springfield(Ohio)-Columbus secondary to the EL in 1990, the company promptly bought up the roadbed of an ex-Conrail line between Columbus and Akron to expand its network, following not long later by the company going south from DuBois, Illinois, to meet with the Chessie at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, thus surrounding Conrail. The NYC, much bigger and wealthier than the EL, was gunning for the same markets, and it all provided tough competition to Big Blue, though by now freight traffic growth was benefiting everyone.

All government demand to return Conrail to private hands were rebuffed, both because of the company's steady profits and because of the huge investment the company had been to Washington, though by the 1980s Conrail was more than capable of funding itself.

TBC

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

@TheMann

Very nice. But I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the rail lines I created and where I can change some things.

Namely the Scranton, Pittsburgh, and Lyon, Texas Central, Valparaiso Central, South Virginia Coast, and Nashville South Eastern, and Milwaukee and Dakota.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: South Bend, Milwaukee, and Lake Shore Railroad “Lake Shore Line”

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1937-present

MOTTO: The Windy City Bypass

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: Created as part of the revised Ripley Plan in 1932, this road was an alienation of three major Chicago area interurbans; the South Shore, North Shore, and Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin. The main goal of this railroad was to provide quick and easy transport for people in the Chicago area to the big city or other parts of Chicagoland. Ranging to Milwaukee in the north, Aurora in the west, and South Bend in the east.

The new route would eventually go beyond that however. As they also chose to buy up some lines that bypassed Chicago for use as freight lines. The would prove pivotal to its long life, as now the big railroads could bypass the Chicago congestion by giving them their trains at certain junctions. From there the Lake Shore would take them to whatever eastern link they had. For instance, a Santa Fe freight could leave cars going further eastbound in Joliet, IL. Then the Lake Shore would pick them and take them to South Bend where the New York Central would further take them to Boston.

In addition, the Lake Shore also operate several famous passenger operations. The most famous being the Shore Line Special. Which runs from South Bend to Milwaukee each day both ways. This train is surprisingly on par with the best of the mainline passenger trains. That said, this train goes directly into Chicago unlike most freight services, which operate on the bypass.

The first new equipment came in 1948 in the form of several Budd-built transits akin to those of OTL's North Shore Electroliners. These were the norm until 1980 when they were replaced with Nippon Sharyo EMUs.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

Americas Rail Museum in Hoboken....

Actually, it'll be in Jersey City like your TL.

I decided that were probably should go with your idea of building a B&O station in New York with a bridge over the Hudson. I could even imagine them sharing it with the NKP/C&O.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: Seattle & Western

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1870-present

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: When Alaska was acquired from Russia in 1867, everyone thought it was a mistake. This included the railroads, who felt that built a railroad up there was preposterous.

But it still had to be done, so the Seattle and Western was born in Seattle. Construction began in 1871, with the agreement of the Canadian government to built through British Columbia to Alaska. By 1871, the line had reached Skagway, and was making plans to build further and further. By 1873, the railroad reached Anchorage, and built to extend to Nome, which was achieved . These plans would eventually be sped up by the Alaskan Gold Rush, which led to a demand for a more reliable rail system.

At first, the only locomotives were several 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s. But this changed when traffic swelled. Which lead the railroad to acquire several 4-6-0s and 2-8-0s for heavier service in the 1880s into the 1900s.

In 1912, the several Pacifics were built by Baldwin in 1912 for fast passenger service between big cities and were one of the railroad's first 4-6-2 type Pacifics. They originally looked similar to the Pennsy's early K class Pacifics, but their tenders were bigger to handle more coal and water, and they were equipped with all-weather cabs and snow plows. The railroad tried several experiments on some of these engines such as adding smoke deflectors, skyline streamlining and tried various valve gears such as the Baker valve gear.

Around the same time, the Yard Mikados, or YMs, were built to push snow plows to and from Nome, Alaska during heavy snow storms. But the guys in the Motive Power Department decided they would be assigned to other jobs too, including switching and branch line trains. Lastly, the Has, or Heavy Mikados, came to serve on freights.

After World War 1, the line took on many USRA designs for use. With many being rebuilt for service with snowploughs and all weather cabs. The railroad also ordered several Mountains from Baldwin for use on freight trains.

In the early 1930s, the Nome, Seattle, Anchorage and Pacific placed an order for 70 2-8-4 Berkshires from Lima Locomotive Works to haul freight trains across the snowy plains of Alaska at high speeds. These were one of the odd looking locomotives on the entire railroad's roster. Normally the headlight would be placed in the center of the smokebox like most NSA&P steamers, but for reasons unknown, these 2-8-4s had their headlights placed on their pilot beams. I guess they were placed there just for better vision or something.

The last steam engines were the EM (Express Mail) 4-8-4 Northerns by Baldwin in 1942. Based off of the Santa Fe 3775 4-8-4s, the EMs had the same blueprint designs but had several modifications done. These included a big headlight (with an optional mars light above it), a snow plow, and all weather cab. A total of 52 EMs were built in 7 different EM classes. EM-1, EM-2, EM-3, EM-4, EM-5, EM-6 and EM-7. EMs 1 through 4 were built for fast mail and passenger trains from Seattle, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska, while EMs 5 through 7 were mainly built for freight service all over the railroad's system. The passenger EMs wore 3 chime whistles (PRR 3 Chime) and the freight EMs wore 5 chime whistles (Nathan 5 Chime, aka the Polar Express whistle).

After the war, the railroad dieselize quickly. But many steamers survived into preservations across the country. Including many examples of all the aforementioned classes. The railroad prominently runs two trains. The Seattle- Anchorage Seattle Special and the streamlined Nome- Seattle Klondike. The rest of the S&W expands to all the major cities in Alaska now.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: Elkhart & Western Railroad Museum

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1970-present

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: The Elkhart & Western was born in the closing days of steam on the New York Central in the late 60s and 70s. When a preservation group proposed that they operate the branch line which ran parallel to the St. Joseph River in Elkhart, IN to Mishawaka.

This in turn gave the NYC the chance to decide on what to do with the three roundhouses they were abandoning at the time. They gave them all to this new group. Along with several steamers they were retiring to make way for their electrification plans.

The steam roster they got alone was pretty impressive, including such engines as...

• J3a Hudson 5446
• Z3a Texas type 3613
• Mohawk 3001
• C1a Duplex 6053
• Niagara 6013
• J1 Hudson 5200

Many more NYC Steamers than OTL are also preserved, with many in other parts of the Midwest and Northeast like at the Lima Railroad Museum in Lima, OH, which hosts many locomotives Lima built or otherwise modified.

In addition, the Elkhart & Western also got several antiquated passenger cars and K-14g Pacific 4380. Which is where the idea of operating short excursions came. The first of which took place in 1970 after a brief rebuild. The line also later got another NYC steamer in the form of G-46L Consolidation 1198.

Today, the NYC's busy electric passenger and freight mainline usually does not interfere with the operations. In addition to the excursions behind 4380, Hudson 5446 regularly operates excursions out of Elkhart, and often meets up with the other major NYC big steam survivor Niagara 6016. The two NYC icons have met numerous times. But the event everyone involved always looks forward to is the one when the 6016 arrives at Elkhart from her home base of Cleveland, and joins 5446 to double-head all the way to Chicago. With the occasional photo-op as they are waiting for the new version of the Lake Shore Limited passes.

As if the 5446 and 6016 doubleheaders weren't enough, there are plenty of other steamers that drop by. Such as Milwaukee Road 261, and the handful of engines that came to America from China and back from being exported to Mexico for use b preservationists.

 

[Kevin C. Smith]

@TheMann
@Republic of Michigan
@Joe Bonkers
@Kevin C. Smith
@Confederate Liberal

Feel free to give ideas.

I shall do so...just gotta find a little time between work and computer issues. Besides, I like reading other's ideas better than my own!

 

[Luath]

Name of Company: Great West of Scotland Railway

Gauge: 4ft 8.1/2”

Period Operational: 1886-1923

Motto: FOLLOW ME!

History:

The Great West of Scotland Railway was the result of the amalgamation of the Glasgow and South Western Railway and the nascent Glasgow and North Western Railway. It was a railway that stretch from the North East of the Scottish Highlands to the South West in Galloway and beyond. The story of the GWSR is really the story of these two railways, one in the south and one in the north. The Glasgow and South Western Railway had arisen out of a merger, really a takeover, between the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayrshire Railway and the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle railway, it had its main line from Glasgow St Enoch to Gretna with the option of running on to Carlisle via the Caledonian. The GSWR was the smallest of the Scottish companies, hemmed in on all sides by the afore mentioned Caledonian and saddled with many unproductive concerns, it frequently found itself the junior parent to its rival imperial ambitions. What the company desperately needed was a way to breakout of its south western imprisonment, but there was precious few directions it could go in.

The Glasgow and North Western by comparison was a far later concern and focused in a very different direction, by the 1880s it had become apparent that some effort would be needed to combat the grinding poverty faced in the Scottish Highlands, which previously had faced clearances that had stripped crofters of their land and depopulated the country. Since Railways were the premier form of transport it was proposed by the North British Railway that a railway be constructed from that companies Glasgow terminus at Queens Street to the West Highland port of Fort William, before heading north west through the great glen towards Inverness, the head quarters of the Highland Railway. The stage was now set for a railway war in the Highlands. There was massive opposition to the GNWR bill, from landowners, Caledonian canal operators and the Highland and Caledonian Railways, the bills passage in Parliament was a daunting prospect. As the arguments were made concerning fish, sheep, deer and the view from the window, a blow was dealt. The North British suddenly dropped its support for the bill, the reason given was the GNWR’s plan for the urbanisation of an area within thirty miles of Glasgow would provide an unacceptable block to the NBRs plans for the same area.

It was now that the GSWR saw its chance, both to break out of the Caledonians hold and to limit the North British in their own city, there was a proposal to link the GNWR with Stirling via the Forth & Clyde Junction railway. The company promptly approached the GNWR with an offer to grant them a home at St Enoch, assured that the GSWR would prove a much more amiable partner than the North British, the Highland Railway withdrew its complaint. With the main source of opposition vanquished, the construction of the GNWR proceeded. The line beginning at St Enoch proceeded via Maryhill across twenty miles of undulating territory to the southern shore of Loch Lomond, this section would become a fully double track suburban section of the GWSR or Great West of Scotland Railway as the new company was to be known.

After the line had proceeded along the eastern shore of Loch Lomond the line entered Glen Falloch, still heading north the line proceeded up the eastern side of the glen and emerged at Crianlarich. It was here that the line crossed the Caledonian’s Callander & Oban railway via a magnificent viaduct, which to this day dominates the small town. The line now headed up Strathfillian, past Tyndrum, Glen Orchy, round the shore of Loch Tulla and atop Black Mount, the summit of the line. From here the line descended through Glen Coe to Ballachulish and onwards to Fort William. Here the most spectacular part of the GWSR started, in an almost straight line the railway proceeded up the north side of the great glen in an almost straight line for almost seventy-six miles. It was at Inverness that the line terminated, at the insistence of the Highland, the GWSR terminated at its own station.

With this the newly minted railway stretched from the capital of the highlands to the head of the Pennies at Carlisle. No longer compressed in by the Caledonian the GWSR broke new ground into Stirling and Alloa and even challenged the Highland in its own capital. As the Highland’s fortunes waned it would go on to concede to a merger with the North British, further securing the GWSR’s position right up to the 1923 grouping when the four Scottish Railway companies where merged into one, known as the Caledonian and North Britain Railway (CNBR). But this is a subject for another time.

 

[Joe Bonkers]

The Steamtown entry is pretty cool. I like that it's geared toward locomotives with some ties to the Northeast. Maybe the museum in Jersey City is more of a comprehensive nationwide collection, while smaller museums like Steamtown are geared toward their respective regions. Like, Portland, Oregon, in OTL hosts the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, which houses the SP 4449 and the SP&S 700. This could be the basis of a museum geared toward railroads serving the Pacific Northwest.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

The Steamtown entry is pretty cool. I like that it's geared toward locomotives with some ties to the Northeast. Maybe the museum in Jersey City is more of a comprehensive nationwide collection, while smaller museums like Steamtown are geared toward their respective regions. Like, Portland, Oregon, in OTL hosts the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, which houses the SP 4449 and the SP&S 700. This could be the basis of a museum geared toward railroads serving the Pacific Northwest.

That's usually what I have in mind with both new museums and alternate takes on real life ones.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: The Texas Central

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1870-1932

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: This line was meant to serve as a link from the Texan capitol of Austin other big cities in the Lone Star State.

Building began first with the line to San Antonio to the southwest, which opened later that year. The following year, the railroad began construction towards Houston to the west and Ft. Worth to the North. The line to Houston was completed in May 1872 with much fanfare. Whereas the line to Ft. Worth, which ran via Temple and Waco, was completed in October that year. In 1874, the railroad introduced their first name train, the San Antonio- Austin- Houston Texan Triangle. This was shortly followed by the San Antonio- Austin- Temple- Waco- Ft. Worth Lone Star.

Around the same time, the railroad took their vision to going to New Orleans in the east and Amarillo in the West. However, both of these ideas were canned due to their cost, and the farthest they got was Summerville, TX.

The line was a fairly robust one nonetheless. In the 1880s-1900s, trains were hauled by Ten-wheelers and Consolidations. Both of which were built by Rogers and were visibly identical save for the wheels.

In 1910, the railroad became a subsidiary of the Aitchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe. Though the company continued to operate semi-independently for a few more years until complete absorption in 1932. Today, the former TXC is still a key part of the Santa Fe's operations in Texas. Its FWD- Waco- Temple- Austin- Houston route makes up part of the Texas Chief train to Chicago.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: The San Diego and Nevada

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1887-1932

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: This route was made as an idea for another line to link the souths of Nevada and California. Construction began in what was then the small town of Las Vegas. Then it went west to Victorville, CA. However, the Union Pacific quickly overtook them before they stood a chance, and the farthest they got was Glendale, CA. However, their second chance did come when the Southern Pacific bought it up as a subsidiary in in 1902.

During their days of independence, their motive power was mainly in the form of 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s on pretty much all the trains. But as business grew, a handful of 4-8-0s were built to haul the larger freight trains. After the SP acquisition, these were replaced or supplemented by various Consolidations and Pacifics on their trains. Their main train would come to be The Cowboy, which the SP shuttled from Glendale to Los Angeles.

The railroad was eventually absorbed into the SP in 1932. Today, the route serves as the reroute of the Las Vegas Daylight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Whereas the original plan for a line to San Diego was completed when the SP linked said city to their line in Santa Ana to reach Los Angeles.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: The South Virginia Coast Railroad

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1871-1940

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: This railroad was the brainchild of the US Army. Which wanted a method of transporting goods and soldiers from Richmond, linking with the RF&P, to the busier bases at Norfolk. The route decided on was ultimately one via Petersburg- Suffolk- Portsmouth- Norfolk- Virginia Beach. But because the area was already heavily populated, most of the route was built on the outskirts of the communities.

But as soon as it was complete, the railroad quickly saw a profit. With many companies eager to ship their wares to the Virginia harbors from Richmond and other areas in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Motive power was initially in the form of 4-6-0s operating pretty much everything except for a few 4-4-0s for fast passenger service. When their equipment was upgraded in the late 1890s and early 1900s, they them purchased 4-8-0s to serve as mixed traffic engines, Consolidations for freight, and Pacifics for passenger trains. As the RF&P began to take over, however, the motive power began to reflect that of its parent road. The two roads The Colonial Coast passenger train from Washington DC to Norfolk via Richmond, usually with the RF&P 4-8-4s behind them.

With them being key, it was natural that when the new Ripley plan was presented, both were split between the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line.

The SVC is gone, but not the RF&P, which still runs semi-independent operations on their Washington- Richmond- Norfolk main line. The designs of the RF&P/SVC 4-8-4s and 2-8-4s were also adapted by the Atlantic Coast Line for use on their own trains.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

NAME OF COMPANY: The Chicago, Wisconsin, and Dakota

GAUGE: 4 ft 8.5 in

PERIOD OPERATIONAL: 1849-1940

HISTORY / DESCRIPTION: The railroad was conceived as a way to cash in on the largely untapped potential for lines in the Dokotas, Montana, and Northern Wisconsin, and lastly a way to connect the Twin Cities and St. Louis under one management. Construction began out of Chicago in 1849, and by 1850, the line had reached Madison.

In June of 1851, the continued its route to La Crosse. Which then went over the Mississippi River on a large iron bridge. Further west, the company reached Rochester, MN by October of that year. The rest of the line into St. Paul was finished in July 1852. Passenger and freight service began in earnest after construction of the main line was completed with the M&D gaining rights to us the Illinois Central’s Chicago station, while new train stations were built in Madison (fairly close to the University of Wisconsin) and in Milwaukee. In 1881, the CW&D launched its premiere passenger train dubbed the The Dairyland.

When it first began, the CW&D only owned 6 4-6-0 American type steam locomotives of its own and made due mostly with leased power from its backers. In 1875, the PN purchased from Rogers Locomotive Works 10 4-6-0 locomotives numbered 7 through 16.

In 1883, the CW&D constructed its main locomotive and car shops in Waukegon, IL, the halfway point between Milwaukee and Chicago. Also during the 1880s, the CW&D constructed several branchlines to serve the farming communities near their routes as well as lines to connect Green Bay and the Upper Peninsula to the mainline.

Starting in 1900, the to connect began to replace its wooden passenger car fleet with new steel cars and began to upgrade locomotives and track during a major capital improvement program that lasted throughout the first decade of the 20th Century. It got a big break when the James J. Hill railroads offered them to replace the Burlington as the link to Chicago. For this purpose, the rialroad ordered several Pacifics and Atlantics for use on passenger trains from Baldwin.

The next big modernization on the CW&D occurred in 1917 with the United States Railroad Administration taking over the PN (and all other US railroads) and bringing in several of the "USRA Standard" locomotives (light 2-8-2s, 4-6-2s, 2-10-2s, 4-8-2s, 0-8-0s and 0-6-0s) and rolling stock. The PN was privatized once again in 1920, and soon after became part of the GN.

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

Here is my revised list for my universe's take on the Ripley Plan. Any fictional roads or interurbans not yet detailed will be detailed soon.

* denotes an interurban or alternate take on one
** denotes a fictional railroad of my universe

New England

Boston & Maine: Bangor & Aroostook; Delaware & Hudson; Maine Central
New York, New Haven & Hartford: Lehigh & Hudson River; New York, Ontario & Western

Northeast

New York Central: Rutland; Southern Ohio**; Virginian
Pennsylvania: Long Island; Norfolk & Western; 50% of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line; Toledo, Peoria & Western (east of Washington, IL); Toledo & Indiana*; 50% of the Winston-Salem Southbound
Baltimore & Ohio: Buffalo & Susquehanna; Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh; Central Railroad of New Jersey; Chicago & Alton; Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville (east and west of Monon, IN); Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Detroit & Toledo Shore Line; Lehigh & New England; Reading; 50% of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Line; Scranton, Pittsburgh, and Lyons
Chesapeake & Ohio: Bessemer & Lake Erie; Chicago & Illinois Midland; Chicago, Attica & Southern; Detroit & Mackinac; Hocking Valley; Lehigh Valley; New York, Chicago & St. Louis; Ohio Central*; Pere Marquette
Erie: Akron, Canton & Youngstown; Ann Arbor; Detroit, Toledo & Ironton; Interstate Public Service Company*; Pittsburgh & Shawmut; Pittsburgh & West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern; Wabash; Western Maryland; Wheeling & Lake Erie; Terre Hautte, Indianapolis, and Eastern*; Union Traction Company*

Southeast

Atlantic Coast Line: Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast; Chicago & Eastern Illinois; Clinchfield; Georgia Route; Gulf, Mobile & Northern; Little Rock & Eastern**; Louisville & Nashville; Mississippi Central; New Orleans Great Northern; 50% of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac; 50% of the Winston-Salem Southbound; Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis (East of Nashville); 50% of the South Virginia Coast**
Southern: Chicago, Terre Hautte, and Southeastern; Columbus & Greenville; Florida East Coast; Mobile & Ohio; Norfolk Southern; Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis (west of Nashville); Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville (north and south of Monon, IN); Tennessee Central (East of Nashville); Valparaiso Central**
Illinois Central: Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay; Central of Georgia; Louisville & Eastern; Nashville & Southeastern**; Seaboard Air Line; 50% of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac; Tennessee Central (West of Nashville); 50% of the South Virginia Coast**

Northwest

Great Northern: Chicago Central & Pacific; Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic; Chicago, Wisconsin, and Dakota**; Minneapolis & St. Louis; Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific: Butte, Anaconda & Pacific; Duluth & Iron Range; Duluth, Missabe & Northern; Escanaba & Lake Superior; Trackage rights on Spokane, Portland & Seattle to Portland

Midwest

Union Pacific: Central Pacific; Chicago & North Western; Des Moines Central**; Kansas City Southern; Lake Superior & Ishpeming; Litchfield & Madison; 50% of the Louisiana & Arkansas; Missouri-Kansas-Texas
Missouri Pacific: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Colorado & Southern; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Denver & Salt Lake; Fort Smith & Western; Fort Worth & Denver; Green Bay & Western; Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf; Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka; Texas & Pacific; Western Pacific; 50% of the Trinity & Brazo Valley;

Southwest

Southern Pacific: Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; San Diego and Nevada**; St. Louis Southwestern; 50% of the Trinity & Brazo Valley
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe: Chicago Great Western; Kansas City, Mexico & Orient; 50% of the Louisiana & Arkansas; Meridian & Bigbee; Midland Valley; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; Missouri & North Arkansas; St. Louis-San Francisco; Texas Central**; Toledo, Peoria & Western (west of Washington, IL)

Canada

Canadian Pacific: Chicago & Hamilton**; Minneapolis, St. Paul & Saute Ste. Marie
Canadian National: Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific; Grand Trunk Western; Wisconsin Central

 

[Duke Andrew of Dank]

hey were offered (and wisely took) the Pennsylvania's secondary main lines from Chicago to Columbus via Logansport, Indiana and Cincinatti via Logansport and Richmond, Indiana.

I think it would make more sense if those two went to the Norfolk and Western. After all, it was how they go to Chicago back in the day.