Sacramento Northern!

[GERUNIMO625]

I assume they call it " Snake Canyon Rd." because of all the Camel's in the area?

[Ericmopar]

I assume they call it " Snake Canyon Rd." because of all the Camel's in the area?

I thought that didn't sound quite right. It's actually Snake Rd.
What's this got to do with camels?

[nsl714]

Why do the trailing cars not have head lamps? I've been doing some research on the Sacramento Northern in accordance with my obligatory 'hype up' for this new route, and found that the same was done in the real world. Did they use loops at the end of the line? Or could the head lamp be removed and attached to the rear of the train? Or maybe they shoved the train? In which case does the trailing car even have controls?

The SN used a door mounted headlight on their trains. The headlight itself is a portable fixture that can be hung on a bracket on the leading train door, and then plugged into a socket on the dash. The headlight grounds through the door, completing the circuit (don't touch it when it's live!). Below are a few photos of a similar headlight apparatus from the North Shore Line.

NSL Headlight 1.jpg

NSL Headlight 5.jpg

As to the cars themselves, both the motors and trailers were double ended, having control positions at either end. You could in theory operate the train from any control position on the train. Check out 1005 (a motor combine), and 1020 (a coach trailer) for technical details in the link below:

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/pnaerc-quer ... agelen=200

Zach

[ricksan]

Why do the trailing cars not have head lamps? Or could the head lamp be removed and attached to the rear of the train?
Headlamps were portable and were hung on the front door as needed. On the interurban that is the basis for the model, there was a receptacle on the front of the car, just left of the front door, that the headlamp was plugged into. In keeping with this procedure, the car is modeled so that you only see the front and rear headlamps when you turn either of them on.

Did they use loops at the end of the line?
As for SN, only at SF Transbay. As for Key and IER, the tracks looped around in north Berkeley, but elsewhere my impression is the motorman walked to the cab at other end of the train.

I'm wondering if this includes the line and tunnel that goes up and over near Tilden Park and Snake Rd.
Tilden Park is in the Berkeley hills; the SN didn't go over there. (One of the Key System lines went through Northbrae Tunnel in north Berkeley.) The SN does go over Snake Rd in Montclair. From there it curves through the Melin cut and winds up through Shepherd Canyon where it enters a 1000 m tunnel, sometimes called the Redwood Peak Tunnel, exiting at Eastport in Redwood Canyon.

It's actually Snake Rd. What's this got to do with camels?
Joking, presumably.

For some fascinating photos of the SN in the East Bay area, visit http://www.eastbayhillsproject.org
Key System is fairly well documented here: http://www.keyrailpix.org/

Keep in mind that this route is about the Sacramento Northern. The Key System, the IER, the SP, and the ATSF are also partially modeled, but only insofar as they interact with the SN at various points.

[Ericmopar]

Okay...
I've been away from home too long.

It's actually Shepard Canyon Rd. that the line parallels, although the Sacramento Northern crosses Snake Rd.
I can't believe I thought Tilden was in the Oakland hills.

Yes, the line crosses right between Redwood Regional Park and the Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

At least I knew it was the Montclair area.

[GERUNIMO625]

Thanks for all the knowledge Nsl714, and Mr. Grout. Interurbans are something I know very little about, so its nice to learn about some of the operational and technical practices. Ericmopar, sorry about my poor attempt at humor, I often forget the internet filters out humor. Its also nice to hear and learn about the geography of the area, and even your family's connection to the area.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

-Jerry

[dleeboy]

This route is going to be great. After a little research it looks like we can use our Western Pacific Diesel Engines on this route after it comes out. I live in Martinez California and I love history. This is going to be one of my favorite routes. My Mom grew up in Oakland in the 1940s. So she probably used this system. I grew up in Montclair in the 1960s I probably saw some of the old track back then not knowing what it was. I have my money waiting to buy this route great job guys.

[GenericZack]

Will this be going up to susuin jct? If so that would be great! I live just off of EX SN Lines over here.

I'm About to go make some SN F-7's Now lol

[cnwfan]

I'm glad to see this route coming out. Lots of history behind it. Since we're on the subject of repaints, that little GE 44 tonner can be repainted into orange and silver. The 2 F's they had were actually second hand F3's from the NYO&W. There was also a GP7 lettered for Sac Northern, but painted in WP Perlman green.

Years ago, when I lived in the Bay Area, I attempted to find the east portal of their tunnel. From Orinda, find Pinehurst Road and follow it north. The old right of way is on the right hand side of the road, and is an access road for the small community of Canyon, which I believe was a siding on the SN. You could roughly see where the right of way crossed Pinehurst Rd and the approach to the tunnel. There wasn't much to see except a lot of trees. I remember reading the east portal was covered by a landslide, and the west portal was bulldozed shut with a house planted on top of it or right next to it. Most of the old right of way has been obliterated by the constant East Bay growth and change, but there are still remnants here and there. If you drive east on Hwy 24 up to the Caldecott Tunnels, you are actually driving on part of the old SN. And you can always check out the Rio Vista Railway Museum, which is on the old SN.

I hope Rick eventually does the entire SN. It's a neat little railroad whether you're a interurban juice jockey, or like small branchline like operations out in a country setting.

[ricksan]

There are at least two "rail trails" existing today, one in Montclair-Shepherd Canyon and the other in the Moraga-Lafayette area. Elsewhere the SN right-of-way has been obliterated by housing developments, freeways and of course the BART.

On Google Earth you can still see remnants of the wye at West Pittsburg and the ferry pilings at Mallard and Chipps. And if you drag the "history" slider back to 1939 you can see all of Contra Costa County, including the SN. You can bet we used that extensively!

See the East Bay Hills web site for more about the tunnel portal locations.

[dleeboy]

Another site for historic images is Historicaerials.com Oakland goes back to 1946. I will use this to extend this beautiful route when it comes out. I will be putting in Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Track to this Route.

[CArailroader]

This looks impressive! Definitely on the to-buy list. As someone who volunteers on the modern day Sacramento Southern, I'm happy to see our northern counterpart being created. The City of Sacramento has actually approved re-laying a trolley line once again. Most of the "new" trolley line will follow the original SN right of way, including trackage over the Tower Bridge and a diamond over our line at the Capitol Mall Crossing. Of course this is probably many years down the line. They still have to argue as to who will fund this.

-Matt

[dleeboy]

Any timeframe on release date.

[thirdrail70]

I am looking forward to the G-Trax Sacramento Northern route. This route opens up a whole new area for Train simulator
and I think that the San Francisco/Oakland choice as a locale was an excellent choice as a first route of this type.
With American interurbans being hard to come by in the world of HO and O gauge model trains, at least at an affordable price and with
train simulators being a wonderful way to experience a world long gone, I can see interest in additional routes such as L.A.'s Pacific Electric "Red Car"
and The Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee with their MU Insull cars being eventually considered. The current Sacramento route
offers a lot in terms of variety in rolling stock and locales. It will be a must have for me when it is available which I hope will be not far off.

F. Dreany

[GERUNIMO625]

To those who may be interested Mr. Grout has posted a few cool screenshots of his upcoming route over at: http://www.elvastower.com/

Enjoy!