New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[AmericanSteam]

Here is some cold.

[CGBlaze]

Found this old picture laying around of EL SD40-2's 3016 and 3010 pulling a local job across Paul's Lane near Walden, NY. Thought it might be appreciated here.

[ET44C4]

Beautiful!

[minerman146]

CGBlaze - you had me convinced I was looking at Kodachrome! Superb shot and you were headed to Walden!

Reminder - tomorrow is the famous Wednesday Route Update Post. I hope to explain when I didn't update on Friday and the rest of what is going on with the Bergen.
Also, the annual hunting report. And a review of yet another Bar I have patronized that exists on the route. And, of course, 5 cherry picked images for your consideration.

[CGBlaze]

One more quick one, coming down the Graham line....... Keep up the great work, minerman. This route is my favorite thing ever.

[minerman146]

One more quick one, coming down the Graham line....... Keep up the great work, minerman. This route is my favorite thing ever.

CGBlaze - Its comments like yours that get me to do a long riff on what this project means to me. I gotta life, a wife and kids and a job and all that. And that is really important to me and gives my life meaning. This route, on the other hand, is a reflection of who I am, part of my childhood, and my memories of friends and family. For me to let it all hang out ( with my heart on my sleeve and all that) is a big deal. This work is an IMMENSE expenditure of time. Time that could be used for other pursuits, yet I do it. I do it to bring to you something that would have been done, or seen, or thought about with any more than a passing thought as one drives down 87, or 80 or the GSPKWY or the NJTPKE, Route 4 or all the other places you can see these tracks from.

I don't need to do this to remember - I already have them in my mind forever (Thank you father!) I thought, what a unique thing it would be to do this, in the way that I do it, so that, if we never spoke or wrote, you would sense there was something special here. I think I am accomplishing that. I have deep appreciation for what happened and what happens here, its all very ordinary and that, to me, makes it special.

Your words, impressions and what you chose to present here in images makes the work - worth it.

[minerman146]

Whew! So much writing.
Welcome to the Wednesday route update thread!
Route update status;
[ x } under consideration
[ ] I gots nuthin!

I was supposed to push out what I had after a week and chose not to. Well, what happened is that I saw more cool stuff to put in. My loyal readers know I have a thing for consignees. I'm looking to blow away all other routes with my customer count. Were gonna exceed 60 for sure! Now to get to these new guys, its just a few thousand feet. But its really 3 and 4 thousand feet of houses on a scenery pad that is a half mile wide of houses.

Saddle River.JPG

This is one of two working areas to grab a new siding. The factory complex on the right is what I am after. And check this out … its really cool.

Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals headquartered in Northfield, Illinois. The company was founded in 1932 by Alfred C. Stepan, Jr., and has approximately 2,000 employees. It is currently run by his grandson, F. Quinn Stepan, Jr. The company describes itself as the largest global merchant manufacturer of anionic surfactants, which are used to enhance the foaming and cleaning capabilities of detergents, shampoos, toothpastes, and cosmetics
IT GETS BETTER
Coca-Cola includes as an ingredient a coca leaf extract prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.[2] The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959.[3] The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free leaves are sold to The Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while the cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.[4]

How can I NOT try to put this bad boy on the route!

What go me to go here was this - night mare of detail that was my previous scenery break. The I80 overpass!
Here it is on train sim:

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Just you wait until you experience this- we don't just 'detail' the route, we put in the real detail, its all in proportion, scaled correctly to the surrounding land, and has all the engineering and structural details that make this structure what it is. And we do this kind of work with everything on the route! This overpass is 8 hours of work. Crazy!

Time for the annual hunting report: There was 5 inches of snow on the ground on the Shawangunk Ridge, near Pine Bush New York, To cut to the chase, we didn't see a thing. But, I did extend terrain import to include this mountain range that you can see from Montgomery and Walden. Since I mentioned Walden, that brings me to my brief review of Sweeny's Pub in Walden. After climbing hills like a Billy goat all morning, trying to find deer, I called it quits at 1130am. Sweeny's is Portrayed on the route and is referenced in images a few posts back. The food was very good. I had the mushroom burger and minerman the younger had the 4 cheese special - medium rare. The beef was excellent and was about 80% lean, so it was plenty juicy. I had fresh sautéed mushrooms on mine and they were fresh. the burger is about 7 inches in diameter and 3 inches high on a very nice soft roll. The fries and onion rings were just right. Since I was in an Irish pub, I put aside the Smithwicks and went German. I ordered the Paulaner Lager. I love draft beer. Let me tell you - Sweeny's taps are clean and well maintained. The beer was completely fresh tasting, it kept its head and I finished my 750ml over the course of my meal. This is a nice bar and worthy of a visit when you guys decide to take a real world tour of the Bergen.
Visit Sweeny's ! http://www.sweeneysirishpub.com/

I still have some pictures to post - I have a thing and a place in my heart for the Susquehanna!

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As I have fulfilled my posting obligations - that's it for now.
Carry on!

[minerman146]

And here it comes....

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The Minermen are proud to present...
Route Update Number 212
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.4.9: Back to Passaic Junction

Additions: Residential work in Walden NY. Complete rework of Passaic Junction. Replace and Regrade Yard from N. Midland Ave to Saddle River Road. Upgrade and Extend Scenery. Add new QD 'Passic Jct-Coalburg Trick' Switch at the fully stocked yard and bring the interchange frieight back to Croxton. Extended Track and road network, East and West for possible expansion.

New Consignees: Aetna Chemical, Randy Scott Corp and Acme International Enterprises.

Fixes:User BVERailer reported a lifted track at Passaic Jct. Track was corrupted and that necessitated a rework: Thanks for the heads-up Bverailer!

Misc. Additions: 2 weeks of scenery work in Walden, New York

Old file size: 168.175 MB
New file size: 168.940 MB

[Gubarbosa]

Amazing Job!

[glenn68]

Looking great

[buzz456]

Random shots on Campbell Hall to Harmon Cove with JR Searchlight SD40-2. Awesome locomotive on the awesome route.

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[minerman146]

I had a really weird work situation starting on Friday and ending at 1pm Sunday (today). As I was stuck on the computer on and off for over 40 hours, in between work crap, I did a little route building. Even better were Buzz's shots from Saturday, which I totally appreciate. Anyway, I would like to direct this question to Buzz, but you guys can chime in.

So, does this new scenery make the back of my route look too big?

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*you can stop staring now...

[buzz456]

No.

[BoostedFridge]

I know its not the focus of your latest shot, but when I'm in your route, or looking at screenshots of it, it never ceases to amaze me what you are able to create by kitbashing buildings together.

[minerman146]

Well, Boosted we sure do bash the heck out of what we have to work with. In the beginning, it was frustration with all the repetition. Now, we attack every town, every street and building and get though it in a way that is believable. Today, I modify well over half of the structures. Some is just sizing, the others kit-bashed. I used to take a long time, now, I know all my parts. So, when I see something unusual, I can thing of what assets I will need to make it work. Lately, I find myself adding foundations to, what seems like a majority of the building. This is due to use the STRM for terrain, I now like the challenge of slopes and uneven ground.

I would like to point out to other developers and Mister Peters, that the way to go is M O D U L A R. You can do so much more with parts - than to build each structure. If I were a developer, I would have a mix of custom buildings, then just walls, roofs, doors and windows, girders, cornice and just the front of stores that you can slap on to a block of brick.

I do presume you know that we actually attempt to reproduce the real-world buildings we see. It is very rewarding to 'nail' some of these structures and areas and have locals point out how much it looks like the real deal! Some times we do really darn well, others, well, we do what we can with what we have to work with. At this point, its too late to change anything (like the lousy Sherman Hill roads), and I don't think I need to. I will make it to the end with the assets I have. I am only thinking about this at the moment, as I work on Passaic Junction. This is because I can see the difference in how I build from 4 years ago. It appears I have been getting better over time!.

In closing, I don't think ever recognized the great work I see right here on RWA from other guys. Your work, Boosted, is really gorgeous. I think about what your doing when I check out your posts. You know, were all doing the same thing, trying to breath some life into this sim. So -

Oh, and Boosted one question: When you ply your trade, do you use a pickup or a box van?