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

[Schnauzahpowahz]

A little shout out to Schnauzahpowahz and his ongoing video series of the Bergen. They are very informative and you might learn a thing or two that you didn't know about the route. We are corresponding back and forth and he definitely has been reading all of my posts. He is a great story teller and has a very pleasant voice and so he is just perfect to tour and narrate what he sees on the Bergen.

Listening to his excitement as he prowls across this expanse it got me to thinking about what I was thinking while I was spending 12,000 hours working on it. I think I can help you to relate to what I did. And its this... Remember when you were 9 or 10 years old and you would have a new friend visit your house. You were so excited and were just dying to show him all of your 'stuff' and your toys. Remember that? You would spend hours and hours playing with each toy, talking about it and digging deep in your toy box to find something you suddenly remembered you really liked. It has been just like that for me. I dont know you directly, but your like that friend and I wanted to show you everything. So, when I was building the route, this was me excitedly showing you all my stuff. The things I cared about.

So, I rushed here to type this before the thought escaped me.

This has truly been so much fun to take you on this journey.

Carry on.

Youre are too kind MM, thank you. Ive been having a blast with it, seeing new things every time

Like today on the Montgomery Branch i saw what looked like a woman standing in the doorway of her mudroom yelling at her dog to come inside (which i can totally relate to... except the woman part )
While the little doggo watched my train roll by

Gives it that "lived in" feel

[minerman146]

You have the 'eye'!
Yes this section of the route is the only part where I built a doghouse and only once.
And yes there is a lady calling back her dog who is barking at the train ( I just re-read you post)

**** DOH! I am giving away detail you missed!*** (I thought this is what you were talking about.

As to the lady. I drill down to street level with Bing and Google and photographs. So, if I see something interesting, I model it.

So this is what I saw one night.

iseepeople.JPG

Then I zoomed in.

iseesecretary.JPG

It took an hour to figure out how to find the assets to make a windowed vestibule (thank you Munich-Augsburg).
But I did it. I just make stuff up that you can figure out what it is .... with parts.

And, as Paul Harvey would say, now, you know the rest of the story.

Carry on.

PS. and dont tell me she didn't pose for that shot - she SAW the Bing Car with its cameras. Now she is immortalized here as well.

[TheR62Fan]

I was there, on the side of the track on April 1, 1976.it was gray and cold with a light drizzle.It was not pretty and I won't let it go.

On the other hand I appreciate your affinity for the PC.

One day I will do an exploration on what the heck happened that lead to Conjob and what they did to the railroad.

Conrail is definitely divided for me, it was the savior of the Northeast and definitely what we needed, but at the same time made some very poor decisions, (Lackawanna Cut-off, ceasing electric operations on the Northeast Corridor).

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[minerman146]

Quick notification: The update for Friday was deferred for yet more track and signal fixes. In the mean time I am tidying up in East Rutherford.
1. Still waiting on the EL-NJDOT approval from Dovtail QC.
2. STILL doing last minute updates, improvements and fixes on DTM's U33C.

I am a busy guy!

Preview Enhancement shot.

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[LuisaA]

When a local service arrives in Port Jervis and has to be shunted in the parking, would it be ok to reverse to the switch before the station or should it proceed straight until the end of the yard?

[kris120]

It depends on the time the scenario is playing. Port Jervis is built for Erie times.

For today you should ignore the large yards (B,C, even the passenger yard in the route).
You can just do something like parking shorter trains towards the turntable or using "PO NJDOT SLOT B", as the modern yard for passengers is not built here.

To use the old passenger yard you need to use the <TAB> key. Please inform players to do so if you like to publish.

We have a lot of sidings where you need to use the <TAB> to enter.
Our opinion is that this is more realistic, it's a substitute for phoning or communicating in another way with the regulator (traffic controller). Only in a few cases were we forced to implement this because the existing signals did not allow it.

[minerman146]

When a local service arrives in Port Jervis and has to be shunted in the parking, would it be ok to reverse to the switch before the station or should it proceed straight until the end of the yard?

The coach yead covers pre 1975. So your backup move sound plausible as then head unit would uncompleted go west and be turned at the roundhouse. I actually have a picture or 2 of this move.

For modern-day there is a track with 2 maker NJDOT slots and be For those. So that was a great observation on your part.

After 1975 the coach yard was removed.

[MaineLines]

Stopping at Hillburn Yard to make a pickup.

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[minerman146]

Fueled by Bourbon and graced by the almighty this is Wednesday Route Report and Update Status for this Friday, June 11th, 2021.
Let me tell ya - I got the blues baby.

Here it comes, the route update status!

[ ] I got my mojo working
[ ] The Thrill Is Gone
[ ] I’d Rather Go Blind
[ X ] Boom Boom for an update


Sometimes, you just gotta get your groove on with Bill Doggett and his band playing "Honky Tonk". This is the stuff man! I don't know if you dig the blues or not, but this gentlemen is well worth covering all his performances. This tune from 1956 is definitely a gateway into an awesome genre. Do dig this clean studio version:https://youtu.be/-fa2ZKzfIP0

I need about a year of Honky Tonk Saturday nights to unwind from all this work. Tonight, I got to review Kris120's track updates AND the latest U33 patch (this should be the last) from DTM Hopefully I will have a few minutes to drop to tidy up East Rutherford some more. Let me tell ya, I am scared man. I got a renagade vidographer who is combing the entire route and he doesn't miss anything. Suffice to say, cleaning out all the beer bottles just led to more bottles. Ill build a freeway over them or something.

This is it man! I got a week to go before my deadline. Frankly I am totally NOT comfortable releasing last minute track updates. I reserve the right to chicken out. I am going to test, send my feed back to Kris and punch out what we have ASAP to get maximum burn in and further testing. So stay tuned.

In other news - route subscriptions are up as well as up votes. I attribute this to the word getting out that we are going final and to a greater degree those Schnauzahpowahz videos. I get similar action when FanRailer does his too. The videos and pictures make all the difference and I always enjoy the videos.

Until next time.

Carry On.

[Schnauzahpowahz]

Look at this fella, thats one helluva view (I searched a solid 20 mins the other night )

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BTW you should get some air on the front left MM

[MaineLines]

Approaching Croxton Yard after picking up 66 cars along the way from Port Jervis

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[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

How does the route present itself on the Workshop menu?

My game lists: New York Division-Bergen Line: Pre Final?

The scrolling menu under Author has some HTML rendering problems, but the Steam Workshop page has the same information.

but the Required Add-ons has: Metropolitan Line from the UK I believe, which I don't have, so the Drive button doesn't light up?

[minerman146]

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha
You are correct: game lists: New York Division-Bergen Line: Pre Final. Were still not final
This is known workshop bug: Required Add-ons has: Metropolitan Line from the UK. (I have NO asset like this, nor is it checked)

At the moment we have Quick Drive and Free Roam Only (Unless you downloaded a privately created scenario)

I thought you have driven the Bergen before.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha
You are correct: game lists: New York Division-Bergen Line: Pre Final. Were still not final
This is known workshop bug: Required Add-ons has: Metropolitan Line from the UK. (I have NO asset like this, nor is it checked)

At the moment we have Quick Drive and Free Roam Only (Unless you downloaded a privately created scenario)

I thought you have driven the Bergen before.

Thanks for clearing up.
I've driven the route on my old install, where the Workshop was broken and I had downloaded the Content and Assets from a .zip IIRC.

Will drive it again soon, just to experience the quality, time and love you put into your route.

[minerman146]

dont know how I keep doing this. Nor' do I know why you keep coming back. And here we are for the Wednesday Route Report and Update Status for this Friday, June 18th, 2021.

Fun Fact: Did you know this is the 56th Season of "The Days Of Our Lives"? Not this route - the soap opera. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. On the other had this could be the route.


Let me tell ya - I got the blues baby.

Here it comes, the route update status:

[ ] Now this is not the end
[ ] It is not even the beginning of the end
[ ] But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
[ X ] To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. Enjoy the update.


Sissel Kyrkjebø performing "Solveigs Song" (FROM PEER GYNT SUITE NO. 2) by Edvard Grieg and Henrik Ibsen. Sissel Kyrkjebø has an unearthly angelic voice - do check out her other work. And, we are back to opeat.

Believe, it is killing me that work continues. The task at hand is a technical refinement of track and signal to 'smooth out' what is rough and add function. I also continue on last minute enhancements to scenery following the same theme of 'smoothing".
At this stage, Kris120 is putting in tremendous hours of signal improvements along with rigorous testing. The testing is the time eater. I can say we have been at it continuously for the past month. As so, I missed 2 promised updates. I have made arrangement to pause for tonight so I can release what we have. This is not the last update. We are close. However, what is defined as 'close' changes all the time. You would be right to ask why at this late date that this continues. Basically, after steam rolling 99 gorgeous miles of scenery only looking ahead, I found it was time to look back and to look over the work of the previous 7 years. I don't think I have another route in me to do. So, we all want this to be a right as it can be.

Keep the pictures coming, I love them. In the next 2 or 3 hours, I am posing what I have in update number 243.

I am cutting this short, I have work to do.

Carry on.