The track is either done, or nearly so on 3 future routes. All of them will include this section, which is
part of the future Cllinch-Appalachia districts of N&W, & Sou. It will also become most of a separate
route that I will call the Appalachian Division of SR and extend the SR line to Bulls Gap, and the east
end of the Cumberland Valley Div. (L&N). For several years the L&N operated over the Miller Yard
extension of the InterState RR which will be included in 2 of the routes. This provided the L&N with
a connection to the Clinchfield as required by federal rules at the time.
This part is already done on the Clinch-Appallachia district and as you can see, there should be
sufficient complexity to allow many activities involving coal mine shifters as all of those cob
webs go to mines, mostly on the InterState. The ones at the lower left are mostly served by
SR (SOU) but one, Benedict, is served by the L&N (CSX) from Hagans via Pennington. This
activity should be a part of the Cumberland Valley Division.
Looking forward the build, as I became interested in the IRR when 3DTrains considered building the route. I was sorry to see that 3DTrains never completed much of the build. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the release.
I didn't know any payware maker had thought of doing it. At it's peak, the IRR had about 150 miles of
track, most of it slow speed branches. Mile zero was at Andover, VA and the main line originally was
from there to Tacoma, VA (just a place, not a town). The Miller Yard extension started from there around
1930. The L&N assisted with the cost because the L&N would then have trackage rights to reach the
Clinchfield which had been jointly acquired by the L&N & ACL around 1928. The ICC required that the
L&N have a physical connection to the Clinchfield and so the L&N extended their Martin's Fork branch
to Hagans, VA with the intention of continuing on to the junction with the Clinchfield near Speers Ferry,
VA. But then came the stock market crash of 1929 & the great depression. So by 1932, the L&N was
using the IRR extension instead and the line to Speers Ferry remained a dream. In 1984, trackage
rights were obtained over NS (formerly Southern) from Big Stone Gap to Frisco where a connection
was made to the Clinchfield. A new bridge was built at Big Stone Gap. Then the L&N from Big Stone
Gap to Norton was abandoned, and soon after NS (Southern acquired the IRR in 1962) abandoned
the Miller Yard extension. By selecting a 1960-1984 time frame, I am including all of the abandoned
lines but will put a signpost about that on each similar to how I handled the old line over Snoqualmie
Pass on the Milwaukee Road Coast division.
Agreed. I was with the SR for 13 years and during that time my main responsibility was measuring the track geometry, i.e. gauge, cross-level, joints, twist, & curvature. We could do all that at up to 70 mph using equipment designed in Switzerland. As a part of that, I also had to measure the rock-n-roll, i.e. the swaying of loaded coal cars for the most part. Until the route out of Andover, VA got all welded rail, that meant that I tested the route every 30 days. We could put a gyroscope on the last coal car and have the R-1 coupled behind that car and then the caboose. Later we put the caboose ahead of the specimen coal car. The area is fascinating and so I decided to bite a big bullet and in 2018, I started laying the track from a mile or two east of BlueField, VA (so train could start "off stage", or end after a crew change. It did not take long to get to Norton, including several long branches, 2 of which connect between the Clinch District and the Pokey. I'm not including the Pokey since Austin Yoder has a good rendition of it in the library. Then I decided I would continue as far
west as St. Charles on the SR, and Pennington Gap on CSX (former L&N) and do the connection between Pennington Gap & Pocket. Then
I added all the IRR branches, including a few that were abandoned long ago, and the Miller Yard extension of 1930. The Norton-Appalachia area & Miller Yard extension will eventually be a separate release, and the SR west of Andover with mainline to Bulls Gap will
be a seperate release. However, the Larger release will be first so I can detail it and then copy it with details to the other 2 routes.
Marc started it, laid lots of track. There is (was) a IRR web site also. Still have an Alco RS3 in orange and silver from the site's maker. I created several maps to be included with the docs for the testers. Going to dig them out now when you get the build released.
There was also a Marc that created M-Tracks. I just wish he had stayed with that activity and created a few more
curves, especially 1/2 degree increments such as 6.5, 7.5 etc. and perhaps 11,12,13,14 degree curves. I just
finished laying the last of the IRR Miller Yard extension which has many 12 & 14 degree curves on a 2% grade.
I prefer to avoid useof dynamic track but I did use it on that line, in some cases 2 or 3 pieces, end-end in the
same curve, but when I tested it I did find that the dynamic was less obvious than I have seen before. I have
included the Clinchfield from just north of St. Paul to just beyond Townes Tunnel since the N&W and the IRR
intersected the Clinchfield in the area. Nothing is left, visibly of Miller Yard, so I just faked that.
Maybe you could also include that RS3 in the library. I would hope someone would create a Set of Southern Rwy. SilverSides
gondolas. These were aluminum and there are many pictures around of them. Truck centers were very close to 39' which is
why I had to test their stability on the unit trains once a month. By checking the stability we could find anomalies in the
track, basically "soft spots".
3 Future Routes
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