Blue Comet Route, Template Options

[dgionet]

Hi to all,

I am still waiting for Teemu's news to resume the Buffalo template.

In the meantime,I have started looking into building a template package for the Blue Comet route. The sidings are well marked to have one done. It is a very picturesque route for those who enjoys seaside scenery and there are a lot of bridges, some very long to cross.

Most of the trackage is owned by the Central of New Jersey RR (or CNJ) while some parts are operated by the Pennsylvania RR (PRR), that is between Seaside Park to Whitings, from Sea Girt to Farmingdale and also from Winslow Jct to Atlantic City. The last section was confirmed by looking at Craig's PRR-Eastern route map, which includes the Atlantic City to Winslow Jct line.

Selection of the proper rolling material and timeframe has been difficult. There is very little CNJ and PRR material in Train-Sim. It has been decided to use the BLW/ZT CNJ Freight set (payware) as the main download. It is by far the best set for the template. There are fourteen (14) additional downloads, all from TS including PRR GP9's and PRSL Baldwin AS16's to rum the passenger train (Ai traffic) between Atlantic City and Winslow Jct. I have seen images (railpictures.net) of passenger trains with an AS16 as lead engine at Atlantic City in 1954. Passenger trains in this section were operated by the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines RR (PRSL), a joint venture between both the PRR and the Reading RR's.

With all this in mind, it has been decided to set the timeframe around 1955 since the most recent locomotives on the roster are the CNJ's RSD4's and the PRR GP9's which were introduced respectively in 1952 and 1954. All the selected freight is no longer than 40ft long, which is quite relevant of this era. They include boxcars, tankers, coal gondolas, stock, lumber, scrap, ballast and hopper cars.

If some of you are interested to test the package once done, let me know.

I have done some exploration and here's some teaser shots of the route to enjoy.




















So, it looks good to go for a template unless the Buffalo route gets some development to resume its construction.

[dgionet]

Hello to all,

I have finished the CNJ SB.NB Mainline templates, the LV and the PRR LOCALS templates. During construction, I have discovered that the section between Whitings and Tuckerton belongs to the PRR. Both the CNJ and the PRR are beside one another between Barnegat and Wareton Jct and then splits up North. The remaining templates will be the longest to build, that is the CNJ locals. I will try to cover as possible the remaining untouched sections.

The LV covers the LV line at Perth Amboy. The PRR covers from Farmingdale to Sea Girt, from Whitings to Seaside Park, to Tuckerton and finally from Winslow Jct to Atlantic City. All have return paths. All, except the LV, will see AI traffic. The PRR crosses the CNJ at Whitings, Beachwood and Farmingdale. Train meets have been successfull at all three intersections, as you will see in the next screenshots. Such meets are part of the templates.

I will be probably sending later to my testers for testing the currently finished templates while I will be working on the final CNJ LOCALS templates. Once fnished, I will be sending them the updates to complete the package and the testing.

In the meantime, here are the shots as promised:










Meet at Whitings



Meet at Beachwood

Meet at Farmingdale


Will update later