Midwest Mega Route

[BrandonS261]

As many of you know Josh and myself along with a few others who have helped along the way are building a mega route of the Midwest! The route will eventually stretch from the Twin Cities to Chicago and beyond. The first phase of the project however is from the Twin Cities to Chicago and Twin Cities to the Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior. Here is a little update on the route status so far. I have decided to switch gears a little bit and work on the Twin Cities area instead of extending all of the routes out away from the cities. The main goal I have been focusing on is getting all of the branch lines and yards in the Twin Cities area built or rebuilt. Then work on roads on the routes that are finished. Eventually building out more once I get that all taken care of. So far I have rebuilt 100% of the CP River Sub from scratch after ripping all of it out from the Twin Cities all the way to La Crosse, WI. I will be doing the same for the BNSF St Croix Sub as well on the other side of the river when time permits. The BNSF Hinckley Sub is also 100% rebuilt as well from scratch. Here are a list of how far I have gotten on subdivisions track wise and I have started to put in some roads in some places that are finished as well.

Most of the routes I have listed will be fairly easy to do scenery for as most of them are just trees, fields and small towns here and there along the lines so once I get tracks and roads in place it should go rather quickly with scenery.

Here is a photo of my progress along with a map of all of the rail lines in Minnesota to kind of give you a prospective at where I am at. Obviously I will not be modeling all of these lines but most of the Eastern, Western and Northern lines I will be modeling.

The Chicago area has a very long ways to go until it is completed but for ones who are curious this is our progress so far with the route.

Brandon

This is just a list of subdivisions I am doing throughout Minnesota and does not include Wisconsin or the Chicago area.

BNSF List

Hinckley Sub- 100%
Monticello Sub- 100%
St Croix Sub- 0% rebuilt
Wayzata Sub- 25% rebuilt
Morris Sub- 0%
Marshal Sub- 0%
Staples Sub- 0%

CP List

River Sub- 100%
MN&S spur- 50%
Paynesville Sub- 0%
Detroit Lakes Sub- 0%
Elbow Lakes Sub- 0%
Withrow Sub- 100%

CN List

Dresser Sub- 100%
CN to Chicago- 10%

Short Lines

Twin Cities and Western- 40%
St Croix Valley RR- 100%
North Shore Scenic Railroad- 0%

UP List

UP to Chicago- 0%
UP Mankato Sub- 0%
UP MIR Line- 100%

[jonpd]

Looks great. That will be a nice addition to the MSTS/OR routes.

Jon

[landnrailroader]

Rather ambitious project there, I hope you are younger than me (82) and thus l likely to finish it before
you get your last Form A & running orders.

J. H. Sullivan
retired from CSX & SR
docent, C&TS RR

[eric]

Rather ambitious project there, I hope you are younger than me (82) and thus l likely to finish it before
you get your last Form A & running orders.

Yep, these two have a lot more years left before they get their final Bad Order tags.

[BrandonS261]

The trees on the hills are a combo of both and thank you Neil. Yes CUS was a pain when it came to track work.

Brandon

[BrandonS261]

If you have ever taken a trip on the Empire Builder or been fortunate to ride behind Milwaukee Road 261 down the Mississippi River here is some of my current progress on the route. I am really trying to make it so when you drive a train on a route you really get a feel of what the real route is like. As you can see the route is still fairly bare and needs a lot of scenery still to add but I am slowly making progress. The Milwaukee Road 261 ex GN Facility is custom built by myself and has the doors open so you can drive inside of the shop. Let me know what you all think and if anyone would be willing to help with anything please let us know. The main thing right now is trying to get custom buildings built.

[BrandonS261]

Here are some shots of Chicago Union Station as well.

Brandon

[BrandonS261]

I have decided to think more practical and shift my focus to roads and try to get as many roads as I can done on the routes I have track 100% completed. I have also been working on some yards in the Twin Cities area to try and finish up as much track work as I possibly can as well in the area. Photos to come at a later date.

Brandon

[BrandonS261]

Here are some shots of the route so far from Hastings, MN to La Cressent, MN as I ran down the Ex Milwaukee Road Mainline with the Milwaukee Road 261 and consist.

[joe_star]

Here are some shots of the route so far from Hastings, MN to La Cressent, MN as I ran down the Ex Milwaukee Road Mainline with the Milwaukee Road 261 and consist.

Am liking your use of vegetation on the hills. Are those static trees or forest objects?