New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[minerman146]

Wow, its Wednesday Again?
It must be time for this weeks installment of the Never Ending Story!

But first, lets check the Friday update status.
[ X ] B-b-but we just HAD an update!
[ ] okay, why not?

Sorry fellas, but I am going as fast as I can, lets give it a couple of weeks. Actually, its moving much faster than anticipated. The reason for that, is I have had 2 years to think about the build here in Carlton Hill before executing. I believe about a year ago I came back to take a break from Maybrook and most of the time was spent working the track grade. And for the past year there were a pile of buildings I set in one spot to draw from as I build. Did you know that when I start with the buildings, I place all the buildings I think I am going to use, near my work area, so I can look at them before deciding which one to place? Another pro-amateur tip from yours truly. This will allow me to Segway into responding to LuisaA who writes: I really love the way you build routesn Minerman. You should do a stream to tell us how can you make the magi happen, I would for sue have a look at it ,

Well LuisaA if you can sit through a few hours of watching feel free to watch me on Steam - I broadcast all my sessions. We get a couple of folks who pop in and then leave. I think a time lapse would work better. But the very best way I can explain how the magic happens is in this example. I research the heck out of what I am working on, I do my Historical Arial's, Railroad.net, Google Earth, Google and Bing Maps, USGS topo maps, You tube videos, Web searched and location visits as need. But mostly its the web searching. What I am looking for is buildings, how they are shaped, how high and what is behind them. I compare my pictures to assets I have and merge them to capture the key architectural elements that makes a particular building - that building. I do the complex buildings first, then fill in the surrounding scenery. And I don't care how long it takes, I stay focused and work each obstacle until I finish a section and move on. So, on to my example.

I talked about Frommer and Royce Chemical before in the post above, and in the past. There are a couple of reasons why its important for me to put in the route. its also typical for why I spend time to produce something with this level of fidelity. First its a freight consignee - this is a railroad and a railroad is its customers. For us virtual engineers its the reason for moving a train from point a to b. Seconds, its historical value. This facility was one of a kind, it was the industry leader in conditioning fabrics, and it was the heart of what was to become Carlton Hill. 1000 people worked at this plant at one time. So locally, Royce Chemical is famous!

So in my research, I was working on building placement and looking for elements that make the site … the site. Half of its gone, so no google street view to work on. So I have historical aerials, a postcard, some old pictures, a newspaper article and some first person descriptions. Now onto my problem - where the heck were the smokestacks? Did it even have them.
To start off - here is the site today - no stacks

RutherfordFrommer-google.1JPG.JPG

Then I was searching for Frommer Standard and came up with this clipping from a Little League newspaper published in 1954, The very same ball field that is in the shot below, still exists and it will be on the route as well. But, wait in the upper left - "standard bleacher' "Erie railroad" why its a smoke stack - and a tall one too!

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So, I am looking at this picture, then I go on the route and find the position the picture was taken from. (on the other side of the Passaic about 200 feet south of the turntable bridge (also depicted on the route). So, I say Ito myselft bet that stack is way to the left and behind the buildings. I start looking for sign on the ground, such as an outline or its base or something. Fortunately I have Historical Aerials, I plugin in 1979, as those are in color, and zoom in to the building cluster ...and lo and behold!

RutherfordPark-Stack3.JPG

And that, LuisaA is a fine example of how I work and why the Bergen looks like it does. And now you know the rest of the story and how this smoke stack appears in our game.

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*As an added bonus, in the foreground is my new Mark 1 - Mid Century Apartment Building.
Enjoy!

[LuisaA]

Wow, I knew that you were putting a lot of effort in this work, but that is simply amazing!

I had no idea you were streaming on steam, I have no idea how to watch it either.

[minerman146]

LuisaA - Viewing is easy. On the steam website when your in the train-simulator section look for the tab that says "BROADCAST" everyone that is currently showing their session will appear.

And here is a shot for today. And yes that green pool of "stuff" matches the size and color from 1979 imagery. That is a waste water pond for Royce Chemical.

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No trees yet, but the fill-in of houses is on going. I am going to fill these grids in!

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*one more thing: 100,000 views! (dont know what that means - but its a big number so Yay! )

[minerman146]

Time for some "how the sausage is made" shots.
With the road grid down, the terrain set and smoothed, then comes the laying of the buildings. Patience and perseverance to lay each block out one by one, pay off only at the very end. Below is the half finished fill in work. Were at 1800 feet from the track at the widest point to Patterson Ave which marks the end.

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Next up: I found a little park. It goes in You can see it from the train.

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Last up, this gets interesting. Royce Chemical and the Dundee Spur are in view of each other. Actually Royce draws from the Dundee better.

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I think I can put some on the higher buildings in Passaic to make that a backdrop for both the Dundee and Carlton Hill. Of course this is dependent on how FPS holds up.

[minerman146]

*Historic Marcal Paper Plant in Elmwood Park, NJ Burns to the Ground* Last Wednesday, January 30th.
https://www.ibtimes.com/marcal-paper-mill-fire-elmwood-park-new-jersey-under-control-2757935

Marcal.JPG

Remember this update?
Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
Postby minerman146 » Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:01 pm
Here Comes Manhattan !
Route Update Number 213
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.5: Elmwood Park

Additions: Residential-Commercial work in Elmwood Park, NJ. Extend track West on NYS&W to Passaic River to access the Marcal Paper Factory. Modify Track Rumble Effects throughout the route. Rework the Manhattan Skyline. The two remaining consignees: Marcal Paper and the Stepan Company will be worked at a later date.

And now its gone. Geez I keep losing buildings on my route. Nepera in Hariman and DeMartini Lumber in Waldwick and now Marcal, which I skipped. I spend so much time looking at these buildings, I gotta say I get attached to them. Marcal was a very interesting facility with large brick buildings, frame buildings on the edge of the Passaic River. I will definitely circle back to Elmwood Park and put the plant in - it had 3 tracks ! Since I'm not from Jersey - I don't get the papers from there - oh geez I live under a rock and don't know whats going on! Anyway MMSS1 and BVERailer thought enough to post it on my workshop page (Thank you Both).

Marcal - if you live in the US you may have had a close personal relationship with Marcal - I know I have. This is what I love about North Jersey, its industrial history - Like Curtis Wright and Nabisco and the Ford Plant, Passaic Woolen and its all got history that everyone who lives in Bergen County, NJ seems to know about. Thank goodness I took the time and modeled these places with love. Yeah, I know - the railroad goes though it. But aren't you glad we put the real stuff in there? Maybe you learn something or just find it visually interesting. You know, I am going to continue to seek out these places and put them in the route because its fun to do, its my pleasure to do and its shows respect the places we try to represent.

Last, if by some chance any of you know any of the 100 people or so, from Marcal who are now out of work, I hope for all them they find new work soon and I am glad they are all safe.

[minerman146]

I missed the famous Wednesday Route Update Micro Novel. However, work always continues on the Bergen. And this week we are in Carlton Hill, Bergen County, NJ. Its also 1969 all over again on yet another time travel experience. We do our research and while it takes time, we come up with little jems like this picture below from our friends at Railpictures.net, by Jim Gerofsky. The date is March 18, 1969 and Conductor Mike Holmes is returning from a quick chat with a shipper, and the BJ Drill can proceed with its duties on the Carlton Hill Branch. Mike is standing in front of the Frommer Bleachery and you can see the station fence for the Carlton Hill Branch ( I didn't know that was there) and there is a concrete pad between the main and the siding for Frommer (didn't know that either!)

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Here is the reproduced shot on the Bergen

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In this shot, I pull back a little so you can see some of the surrounding scenery.

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In the last shot, I pull all the way back so you can see what is taking so long: lots and lots of buildings.

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Lots of history here, some decent switching opportunities and, as always, fidelity to the original with lots of love.

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* Addition: Below is the track map for Carlton Hill. I had a heck of a time figuring out what track got cut post closure. The issue is that there is no switch back after you deliver to Frommer/Royce. But, a 1976 track map showed they cut track 2 and put in 2 switches. This makes sense will also help in game play.

[AmericanSteam]

More Harlem.

[minerman146]

It's Wednesday and time for the Route Update Report. So, sit back, do a long pour of your favorite distilled beverage and let's get to it.

Friday Route Update Status:
[ x ] We need mor' detail, not ready yet
[ ] Yes, yes, yesssssss!

Before I roll out the pictures, a little explanin is in order. I was down here in Rutherford back in 2015. I knew this was the old Erie Main (pre-merger) and it is significant to the route. But when I started doing the scenery around Rutherford, it was just so dense, so many buildings, and worst of all, my pallet was limited. There was no NJ Coastline Assets. And the other big problem, between East Rutherford and Passaic, is the whole area is on a flood plain and the track is elevated 20ft. As you know, we do depth of field, and this was just too broad to do at the time. So, I left some track, got some street grid and buildings on the download slope towards the Passaic River and let it lie.

But look at us now!

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To the left is completely unbroken scenery to the Dundee Spur at just over 2km away. To the right, out of view is another 2km of scenery. Behind this view is Passaic, NJ. and I have started to lay out the road grid to do a little bit of this city, which you can see from the train. Why the heck do we make it so darn deep? You guys know! Look at this shot right here.

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Look at all of those roof tops and trees, glorious trees! Sure, my EL GP35 looks awesome. But you can put any train here, some beautifully crafted model, repaint from any time period, and it looks... uh... good! The practical reason for all this, is to encourage you to come through here, drive slow, and soak it all in. This helps out our road switcher pals who ply this route, to make it worth their while to spend over an hour on my QD to service Carlton Hill and bring the empties back to Croxton. Just like all the other places on the route we give hoggers the love.

The focus, our reason for being, is the customers. Here at Carlton Hill, we have the Frommer Standard Bleachery and Royce Chemicals. Both companies were in fabric processing and dying, and they use a boat load of chemicals, bolts of fabric and it all gets shipped in out - via rail. So, lets take a look and the next shot (still needs close up detail) all the layers start to come together.

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You can see the swing bridge opened way in the distance. The brick station, is the Cartlon Hill Station, closed long long ago and torn down. The Frommer/Royce complex is also 2/3s gone. But here, and you will be able to see this very soon, its 1968 again.

Next is this trackside shot. I love all the nooks and crannies of the buildings , the brick, the station; it is a great scene!

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A few things to note, until this afternoon I hadn't pinpointed the exact location of the Carlton Hill Station. I had 1 image to work with from Wikipedia and a 1966 aerial from Historical Aerials. The station is right on the street on Carlton Ave. Its a black blob on the aerial, and the Wikipedia shot is from 1900. What gave it away was I could see planks over the track. That told me it was a grade crossing! I was 100 feet off. Now, its where its supposed to be.

Last up is the 1966 Aerial

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I am matching the trees up, the buildings and anything else I can see. Its adds tremendously to atmosphere. It takes pointing out, as everything in game seems natural, you don't notice it. And that is part of the weirdness of the work. I take the time to research, examine and place every asset so you don't even think about the fact you have seen the same stuff over and over and over again!

Last, I want to give a shout out to NY Whiskey. We had a beer conference at Loughran's in Salisbury Mills this past Sunday. I got a chance to talk to a in the flesh guy who knows this game and loves this route. Its just great to meet with him. The highlight of the meet was to head out and see "his" Moodna for real. And he bought lunch and lunch was liquid!

Carry on!

[NYWhiskey]

I had a blast brother.

I couldn't download Train Sim on my laptop in time to do that thing we talked about.I tried. I'll get it done, great idea.

[NYWhiskey]

And he bought lunch and lunch was liquid!

Carry on!

And potatoes don't ya know. (In my seventh generation Irish accent) LOL

[minerman146]

Its after midnight and I'm posting an update. The past week has been very productive. I have the bulk of trees in, telephone poles and now I am doing the detail work. Where are we? Carlton Hill in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tonight we add some new consignees to the Bergen Line Consignee Roll of Honor. We love our customers and we go through great pains to get them in as correctly as we can. More on that down page. But first, lets go to the screen shots for Carlton Hill.

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We start are journey West of BJ Tower in Rutherford, with our now, well used EL GP35 with a known March 1969 consist working, what was known as the Rutherford Drill.

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Our first consignee - Bell Corrugated. This was tricky as they moved to Newark some time in the 80's I got final confirmation tonight that this is the name of the business.
This company takes rolls of Craft Paper to make boxes.

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Next is Royce Chemical which is across the street from C.H. Frommer. Royce bought Frommer in the 70s and Royce is still in business today (at another location)
Royce takes covered hoppers.

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Here is C.H. Frommer. Now this place makes sense. All the bay doors are for Boxcars of Raw Fabric that they would process. They also shipped from here as well. In addition there is a stub track for tank cars.

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Last is Delasco Foods. This also took some research. I saw a tank car and went for corn oil, I was close, it was Vegetable Oil (salad oil).

The Carlton Hill project is a case in point for the wild research that goes into determining what goes where and what commodity is received or shipped. I have rules so that I can confirm, for sure, what a siding is for. Some of this is very obscure and I really cant rest until I get it right.

In order for a company to make it the Bergen Line Consignee Roll of Honor you have to meet several of the criteria below to make it on the route.
1. Track - I need to see a track going to your business.
2. Freight Loads - I need to see cars parked at your business, this can be from yesterday or 50 years ago. This can be aerial, satellite, company photographs, snapshots or by my eye.
3. Loading docks - If cant see your cars, I need a good clean view of your loading/unloading dock. The kind that cant be mistaken for a tractor-trailer doc.
4. Old tracks - If I cant see your tracks, I look cracks in the pavement, ties, or some indication there was rail there.
5. Your Company Name - on your building is nice, but that's not always the case. I will look up for any reference to your company at a specific address, I look at Tax Rolls, industrial real estate adds, environmental impact, brown fields, superfund sites, company history, blogs, rail forum postings and personal histories.
6. Your products - I research your finished products and review the components that make them. I then research the commodity and see how its bulk shipped, its very important that I know if its liquid or solid, palatized or container shipped.

I prefer 3 of 6 before I get comfortable enough to put a siding marker down on the track. Then, I take the compiled customer information and add it the New York Division Operations Guide.

Now for the Roll of Honor. I thought I had broken 60, not quite.

Nexus Plasic - Hawthorn,NJ
Nepera Chemical - Harriman, New York
DeMartini Lumber - Waldwick, New Jersey
Andersen Logistics - Allendale, New Jersey
Ramsey Building & Paver Supply - Ramsey, New Jersey
Ford - Mahwah, New Jersey
PAR Pharmaceuticals - Suffern, New York
Manhattan Beer - Suffern, New York
Clayton Container - Suffern, New York
Dyke’s Lumber - Tallman, New York
Triumph Pet Foods - Hillburn, New York
East Coast Coil - Elmwood Park, NJ
Zerega Pasta - Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Glen Rock Lumber - Fairlawn, NJ
R. Sullivan & Company - Wood-Ridge, New Jersey
Royce Chemical - East Rutherford, NJ
Frommer Standard - East Rutherford, NJ
Bell Container - East Rutherford, NJ
Delasco Foods - East Rutherford, NJ
Passaic Woollen - Passaic, New Jersey
Atlantic Coast Fibre - Passaic, New Jersey
Nabisco - Fair Lawn, New Jersey
LAK Warehousing - Saddlebrook, New Jersey
Sealed Air Products - Saddlebrook, New Jersey
Elite Home Products - Saddlebrook, New Jersey
Enterprise Corrugated - Saddlebrook, New Jersey
Belden Tri-State - Saddlebrook, New Jersey
Aetna Chemical - Elmwood Park, NJ
I.Candy & Galore - East Rutherford, NJ
Volvo North America - East Rutherford, NJ
Global Logistics - East Rutherford, NJ
Tel-Instruments East Rutherford, NJ
Haviland USA - East Rutherford, NJ
Beavix USA - East Rutherford, NJ
Marathon - East Rutherford, NJ
Powerline - East Rutherford, NJ
Foamex International-East Rutherford, NJ
CCA Industries - East Rutherford, NJ
Apple Corrugated - East Rutherford, NJ
Ready Raw - Wood Ridge, NJ
Dubois (Diamond) Chemical - East Rutherford, NJ
North American Plywood - Jersey City, NJ
KNF Flexpack - Jersey City, NJ
Hartz Mountain - Hillburn, New York
Halleck Lumber - Maybrook, NY
Eastern Alloys - Maybrook, NY
Crestwood Midstream - Montgomery, NY
Recycle Recovery - Montgomery, NY
Berger & Co. - Montgomery, NY
Suffern Beverage - Montgomery, NY
Russin Lumber - Montgomery, NY
Staples Distribution - Montgomery, NY
Brescia Lumber - Montgomery, NY
Messco Building - Montgomery, NY
Carlisle Industries - Montgomery, NY
American Lumber Co. - Walden, NY
Truffa Seed - Walden, NY
ProAmpac - Montgomery, NY
59

[minerman146]

Running a little late tonight, but here it is. The one, the only Wednesday Route Update Post!

But first, lets check the Friday update status.
[ X ] We were so close.
[ ] Pardon me while I whip this out.

Seriously, I got so much done in the past week. I have super detailed all the consignees, got the telephone poles laid out, stinging the lights, and setting all the tables for supper. But, and here domes the kink, and there is always a kink. How do I put this, well, Rutherford kinda looks like crap at this point. Truth is I blow though there like you do, and those fluorescent green trees are just too much to look at anymore. So, I am adding some trees, a building here and another there...

I promise, Im just gonna touch it up a little. Just a wee bit.

Lets go to the pictures. Set one covers the up close detail of our consignees: Delasco, Fromer and Royce

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Delasco and Frommer are confirmed liquid transfers, the bridge to Delasco is also visually confirmed. Frommer is a bit fictional, I bet it was more primitive than what have here, probably pumps and some hoses. But … artistic license. Royce is dry, and I have pictures of covered hopers. So, I looked up how these types of hoppers are unloaded. They can be overhead, but I went with the discharge pit and auger set up. Also the discharge points line up perfectly with the tankers and hoppers, so for those of you who like a challenge, you can line your drop off perfectly.

Last two pictures are a comparison and contrast.
Shot 1 faces South - Curtis-Wright is behind you. On the left you can see the existing foliage and to the right is the upgrade. Looks more "oakey" - don't you think/
Shot 2 Shows the last consignee, Bell Container, and the divergence at BJ Tower. This area has been re-foliated. To the left, you can see the gaps in structures and the trees have been pulled.

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In closing, I do want to still show the older parts of the route where I was learning how to do all this stuff. I can see the difference and I am sure you can too. I really like the effect of the soft, dark and fluffy Oak trees.

Update? Maybe over the weekend, certainly by next Friday for sure.

Carry on!

[harryadkins]

I never dreamed a route of this magnitude and detail was possible in Railworks. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. Do you have suggestions for railvehicle reskins you would like to see?

Harry

[minerman146]

I never dreamed a route of this magnitude and detail was possible in Railworks. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. Do you have suggestions for railvehicle reskins you would like to see?

Harry

Harry - I never, ever ask for anything. There is only one practical set of reskins for this route. This would make a lot of sense for my scenario makers and its this...

Convert the entire rolling stock set from Sherman Hill, sans Locomotives, to Erie Lackawanna.
Here is the list:

SH Container X2 Stack Gold: 01, 02, 03 ( NOT NEEDED)
SH Hopper 2-Bay Cement: Erie Lackawanna, Lehigh and New England, Lackawanna
White SH Hopper 3-Bay: Erie Lackawanna
White SH Hopper 4 Chute Erie Lackawanna, Lackawanna
SH Hopper Coal Gondola Yellow Erie Lackawanna, Lackawanna
SH Hopper Woodchip Erie Lackawanna
SH Tank 16,000gal Silver in UTLX BLAC (or any other from the 1960s/70s)
SH UP Low Gondola Erie Lackawanna
SH Van Auto Rack Yellow Erie Lackawanna
SH Van Box Car UP Brown Erie Lackawanna, Delaware and Hudson, Canadian National - CN logo, Detroit, Toledo and Ironton, Chicago and North Western (any other flavor from the 1960s/70s)
SH Van Caboose Red Erie Lackawanna
SH Van Refrigerator UP White Erie Lackawanna
SH Wagon Steel Coil White Erie Lackawanna, Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley


Harry - this was always something I wanted to do, but spent so much time building, well, I never got around to learning to repaint. But I thought this would be clever for the workshop. With the box cars you could use the same numbers but paint a 2 digit prefix before the numbers like 11,22,33,44,55 and so on, so I could get cars classified but still keep the box car numbers that are auto-generated. ( I hope this works)

I appreciate the offer, if this cant be done, I certainly understand. We made this route, to see what can be done in Train Simulator. And, like you, we are a bit surprised. Its been a pleasure to do this, for all of you and our friends who love the Northeast.

Thank you so much!

[minerman146]

I keep thinking about what Harry Adkins said above - it's so inspiring. In the past 3 days, I have reworked scenery from Wood-Ridge to East Rutherford. This entailed new trees, replacement of the bright green "lawn' texture to a grass color that is more subtle. As well, I added new foliage and grass along the track, added commercial details and touched up ground elevations to eliminate gaps between assets and the ground. The purpose was to get the Mid to Distant scenery corrected, updated and improved as I work back towards Carlton Hill to finish up detail work for the residential areas.

Looking back at work previously done. I think was burnt out after Garfield. It looks like I rushed after Curtis Wright to Rutherford. Rutherford was a total challenge. I think I was there 2 months working 2 square miles. I added a Marker for NJ Route 17 so you locals know where you are. Route 17 is a very old highway in North Jersey - so it was worth noting. Where the main goes over RT17 in Rutherford, is a convergence of four tiles. Its right the heck the on the track, when you approach it, your loading four ties and get hit with approximated 7,877 assets at the same time. I'm hitting 11 fps on 64 bit there on my build machine. Rutherford was always like this because of the expanse. I have been chuckling thinking about Harry saying he didn't think a build like this was possible in TS2019. It is, but there is definitely a cost. But the look of it is remarkable. So here are some scenes from the rework.

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I love the tree/house top view. And it looks just as good at the ground level too. I am chomping at the bit to just release this, so you guys can take a look this weekend. I might just get it out in a few hours ...

Carry on!