New York Division-Bergen Line: Episode III, The Erie Rises

[buzz456]

Minerman Christmas Present temporary link.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wj84r1pcj8vr2 ... F3.7z?dl=0

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[mindenjohn]

Well done Buzz.

[Chacal]

Now available in the file library.

[buzz456]

It's Christmas Eve and the Phoebe Snow leaves Ho-Ho-Kus North bound.

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[minerman146]

Just wow. You are the best Buzz!

[minerman146]

Wednesday used to be Prince Spaghetti day. Now, its equally famous Wednesday Route Report and Update Status for this Friday, January 5th, 2022.

Let's get to the Update Status for this week...

[ ] Almost there
[ ] Just a little bit more
[ X ] The route is still done!

Yes the route is still done. And now it has a life of its own. It is doing all of the growing by itself without my shameless self promotion. And remember folks, for your old school, gritty, super duper life like route experience that gives you more than the 40 miles and a coal tipple that the Big Boys give you - the Bergen line has no peer!

Nothing like sticking to the man! So, let's bust out some Joplin! Monterey Pop Festival 1967

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5If816MhoU?t=30[/youtube]
Linky! https://youtu.be/r5If816MhoU?t=30

Hot dern ! She knows the blues.

On to route news - On Christmas Eve I told DTM what I wanted for Christmas - That darn ELNJDOT U34CH ! He said " I will ask DTG again". Yeeeeaaaah, we'll see how that goes. 2 years! Im thinking of asking him to send the unit to me to tweek the paint on it. Truth be told, and I'm not embellishing, I really think that the work that DTM did on the U34CH, Coaches and Cab (which you guys have never seen) just might have been his best work. Best as an all around work and best for the cabs. And he did the darn coaches from the actual drawings from Pullman Standard. It just kills me, like you can only imagine - it sits languishing.

All right, so 6 months ago we went final. And other than lurking here, and on Steam, Ovsrails and DovetailGames, I read the news. Uh and then I start drinking. Then I miss a post hear and there (like last week). I answer any questions I get on the route, and the few pm's I get here. That is about it.

Rest assured - I commit to doing something I will let you guys know first. But for the time being, I still enjoy all this time to goof off!

Carry on.

[mindenjohn]

A suggestion (or so) -
1) DTM puts the Loco and coaches on sale minus the "offending/unauthorised" livery details, via his site.
2) the said textures are supplied to an erstwhile RWA repainter such as B---
3) the said "repaint" is posted on RWA
4) Notes to the effect that 1) & 3) have been done is posted on the Workshop and the DTM sites

May not be the chosen route but it sorts out your (understandable) frustration AND gets you and DTM some reward for the work

"Carry on" to quote a master

[minerman146]

MindenJohn - that is very likely how that would roll. Good Point.
Anyone have any suggestions when I should snuff out my torch for getting EL DLC and get on with doing my EL thing some where else like an American based Railworks Site?

[ELtom]

Sometimes you just have to move on !

[EngineerJohn]

Steam is the obvious choice because it gives access to the workshop, etc.

You may want to think about a third party site though just so you don't have to fit into DTG's narrative of what content should be coming out. Whether you make your own or join forces.

Searchlight is quite popular, the rs3's from the Brazilian team get a lot of attention too (heck they made a nice EL pack nobody can do anything with on the steam workshop). TravelByTrain...

[minerman146]

Engineer John. That is exactly my problem. I'm telling ya. If I had the EL in the shop for maximum exposure, I would go hog wild with years of scenarios. Now on the other hand I f I can pack up all the EL stuff (like I did with Golden Age of Rail) that would also work. I want this easily accessible for the layman. So, what do I gotta do to make this happen?

Carry on.

[minerman146]

Man I havent posted in 3 weeks - I AM ACTIVELY RESTING! Its true!

An idea I have been tossing around in the garden salad that is my mind...
I want to throw this one out to Schnauzahpowahz - how about you interview me while flying around the Bergen? C'mon man - I promise to not sniff your hair and I will bring the case of Busch Beer.

[AmericanSteam]

Man I havent posted in 3 weeks - I AM ACTIVELY RESTING! Its true!

An idea I have been tossing around in the garden salad that is my mind...
I want to throw this one out to Schnauzahpowahz - how about you interview me while flying around the Bergen? C'mon man - I promise to not sniff your hair and I will bring the case of Busch Beer.

Now this is something I want to watch. Don't do it too late I'm like you 7:30 bedtime.

[bswitzrw]

While you're resting, Minerman, since you created and know this epic route I have questions concerning freight pickups and deliveries to the branch customers; i.e. Maybrook, etc. Perusing your Operations Guide, which is truly amazing, the various customers needs (1 boxcar, tank, etc. per week or on demand) raises a question. Do you deliver a new unit to that particular customer, while picking up the empty car? And being mostly single line, do you leave the deliveries in a nearby siding, get the empties, than deliver the new units? Seems more economical, but not sure logistically how it's done.

In the near future, I would like to create some scenarios, and would like to be prototypically correct, for your amazing route.

Thanks!

[minerman146]

bswitzrw,

That is a fabulous question, because I never explained the operational state and disposition of cars at day zero or my thinking on how it would be used.

Day 0 is as you see the route at the start of a scenario with an empty route.

So how do you use the guide? Your going to know what kind of scenario your are doing and where it starts and ends. For example, your going really simple and doing a point to point from Port Jervis to Croxton. Refer to the manual and allocate 1 weeks worth of shipments of fulls to all the customers in Jersey City, Croxton, Carlstadt and East Rutherford. Then add some bridge traffic that is going to go to out of Croxton to Kearny, NJ (this you have to use your imagination for) but I bet you will get 50 - 60 cars just for servicing the Croxton end of the route. So, lets do the reverse of the same out of Croxton: 50 - 60 empties plus a few fulls from our shippers and maybe some bridge traffic from Kearny going West. Ok, so that was easy. So lets make a local out of Croxton. Where are you going? You are likely going to Carlstadt, so come up with a daily load out to that area you will get 15 to 20 cars depending how aggressive you are, and all you do is drop them off at the siding at 12th Street. Let's drill down more. So your the Carlstadt Local and some dude dropped off 15 to 20 cars out on the siding last night, so you gotta drop off the cars on the siding and then pull your empties back out for pickup back to Croxton or maybe you get the order to head back to Croxton and fuel up.

So in my example above you get 3 - 4 scenarios just by moving what came in to Croxton on your first scenario.

I do mention this in the guide - East Bounds are full and Wests are Empty when you run end to end. Next, is "stations". Station are where you drop off a line of cars on a siding to be be worked by a local crew, or your picking empties/fulls to go to Croxton. See 12th Street, Dundee, Carlton Hill and Nabisco.

This concept is similar in our intermediate yards in Suffern and Campbell Hall.

I should note that the only place I had secondary documentation on train composition was for the Ford Plant. You will note there is more specific car numbers (quantity) for that location. Actually you should always consider movements to the Ford Plant because you would likely see a Ford train every day on the line. So, if your not doing a scenario for Ford, trains to Ford could be AI!

What I have written in the guide was done in a way for you to figure it out and make it your own. As far a prototype run, all you need to know is "who is getting what today" and build your train just like the railroad!

Carry On!