Through Freight

[kildar501]

Is there any idea of having through trains that just get dropped off at one end of the line to be hauled to the other end? No switching. Just grab it with the correct locomotive and goooooo.......

[Oilman25]

Good Idea kildar501 race horsing a through freight from Sylvia interchange to Andrews interchange and or from Sylvia interchange to Andrews interchange or working drag freight as between the two points I hope it gets added to the game.

[snipawulf04]

IIRC, it was on the roadmap of long term goals.

[Twelvefield]

I wouldn't say no to through freight, but wouldn't those long routes simply go somewhere else not depicted in the game, a straighter line that has no stops at all in the valley?

[sbmarauderman03]

Half a dozen or so cars? Sure. Entire trains of 20+ cars? Nope. With the steep grade going up and over the peak at Topton, and the undulating nature of the line in general, I don't think any RR would route their trains through on this line, with the exception being all other routes becoming unavailable for use for some reason.

[Oilman25]

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

Half a dozen or so cars? Sure. Entire trains of 20+ cars? Nope. With the steep grade going up and over the peak at Topton, and the undulating nature of the line in general, I don't think any RR would route their trains through on this line, with the exception being all other routes becoming unavailable for use for some reason.

In the same state of North Carolina there's Saluda Grade about as bad as Red Marble Grade at 5% grade, and Southern Railway and later Norfolk Southern had to deal with for good many years till early 2000s that grade and ran heavy tonnage freight trains on it so running on Red Marble Grade is not as crazy with though freight train as many people are thinking.

[sbmarauderman03]

Originally posted by Oilman25:

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

Half a dozen or so cars? Sure. Entire trains of 20+ cars? Nope. With the steep grade going up and over the peak at Topton, and the undulating nature of the line in general, I don't think any RR would route their trains through on this line, with the exception being all other routes becoming unavailable for use for some reason.

In the same state of North Carolina there's Saluda Grade about as bad as Red Marble Grade at 5% grade, and Southern Railway and later Norfolk Southern had to deal with for good many years till early 2000s that grade and ran heavy tonnage freight trains on it so running on Red Marble Grade is not as crazy with though freight train as many people are thinking.

Saluda was a main line in it's heyday; the Murphy BRANCH was just that...a branchline. There was never a need for it to be a through freight line due to Saluda and the handful of other main lines in place that went up and over the mountains.

[[15th] lolpox]

Afaik there's already a mod for this, the name is "Interchange2Interchange"; tiered like a contract.

[kildar501]

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

Originally posted by Oilman25:

In the same state of North Carolina there's Saluda Grade about as bad as Red Marble Grade at 5% grade, and Southern Railway and later Norfolk Southern had to deal with for good many years till early 2000s that grade and ran heavy tonnage freight trains on it so running on Red Marble Grade is not as crazy with though freight train as many people are thinking.

Saluda was a main line in it's heyday; the Murphy BRANCH was just that...a branchline. There was never a need for it to be a through freight line due to Saluda and the handful of other main lines in place that went up and over the mountains.

It's not exactly unprecedented for low traffic lines to see the occasional through freight when there are situations on normal mainlines (Such as a wreck or flood) require a rerouting. I wouldn't see it as an every day occurrence per se but Montana Rail Link started out that way and made most of its money handling low priority through freight for BNSF. Plus, this doesn't exactly qualify as a branchline since it does have connection at both end. Alarka is a branch line running to a dead end. This would be considered more of a secondary mainline.

[Kerry]

Originally posted by kildar501:

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

Saluda was a main line in it's heyday; the Murphy BRANCH was just that...a branchline. There was never a need for it to be a through freight line due to Saluda and the handful of other main lines in place that went up and over the mountains.

It's not exactly unprecedented for low traffic lines to see the occasional through freight when there are situations on normal mainlines (Such as a wreck or flood) require a rerouting. I wouldn't see it as an every day occurrence per se but Montana Rail Link started out that way and made most of its money handling low priority through freight for BNSF. Plus, this doesn't exactly qualify as a branchline since it does have connection at both end. Alarka is a branch line running to a dead end. This would be considered more of a secondary mainline.

Yeah, I agree - Alarka is a branch line, Robinson is a branch line, Connolly is a branch line, Walker is a branch line.

Your main, on the other hand, is actually called a "bridge line" during the tutorial - that's a road that connects one Class One railroad to another.

[kildar501]

Originally posted by Twelvefield:

I wouldn't say no to through freight, but wouldn't those long routes simply go somewhere else not depicted in the game, a straighter line that has no stops at all in the valley?

Sometimes a secondary main line like this isn't the normal route for a freight but, if there is a wreck on a normal mainline or a flood, through freight can be routed on it. Montana Rail Link wasn't really a profitable enough route for BNSF so they spun it off but still contracted MRL to run regular low priority through freights on the route. That was MRL's bread and butter. Back in the 1993, there was a line over in Missouri that was on the verge of abandonment by NS that suddenly became a vital cog in the railroad for a while with that massive historic flooding. Delaware & Lackawanna was another road that did a lot of through freight in the Northeast. Wabash did quite a bit in the Midwest over the years. It may not pay as well as your own freight but it is less headache to handle if you just hook your power on and move it from one end to the other. 30-50 cars headed by a double up of Berks or a 4 pack of Geeps would be a nice pace. Just wave bye bye after you set it off.

[Kerry]

Originally posted by kildar501:

Originally posted by Twelvefield:

I wouldn't say no to through freight, but wouldn't those long routes simply go somewhere else not depicted in the game, a straighter line that has no stops at all in the valley?

Sometimes a secondary main line like this isn't the normal route for a freight but, if there is a wreck on a normal mainline or a flood, through freight can be routed on it. Montana Rail Link wasn't really a profitable enough route for BNSF so they spun it off but still contracted MRL to run regular low priority through freights on the route. That was MRL's bread and butter. Back in the 1993, there was a line over in Missouri that was on the verge of abandonment by NS that suddenly became a vital cog in the railroad for a while with that massive historic flooding. Delaware & Lackawanna was another road that did a lot of through freight in the Northeast. Wabash did quite a bit in the Midwest over the years. It may not pay as well as your own freight but it is less headache to handle if you just hook your power on and move it from one end to the other. 30-50 cars headed by a double up of Berks or a 4 pack of Geeps would be a nice pace. Just wave bye bye after you set it off.

An excellent idea. Even better: Fully AI-controlled through trains that pay you for trackage rights over your line.

[kildar501]

Originally posted by Kerry:

Originally posted by kildar501:

Sometimes a secondary main line like this isn't the normal route for a freight but, if there is a wreck on a normal mainline or a flood, through freight can be routed on it. Montana Rail Link wasn't really a profitable enough route for BNSF so they spun it off but still contracted MRL to run regular low priority through freights on the route. That was MRL's bread and butter. Back in the 1993, there was a line over in Missouri that was on the verge of abandonment by NS that suddenly became a vital cog in the railroad for a while with that massive historic flooding. Delaware & Lackawanna was another road that did a lot of through freight in the Northeast. Wabash did quite a bit in the Midwest over the years. It may not pay as well as your own freight but it is less headache to handle if you just hook your power on and move it from one end to the other. 30-50 cars headed by a double up of Berks or a 4 pack of Geeps would be a nice pace. Just wave bye bye after you set it off.

An excellent idea. Even better: Fully AI-controlled through trains that pay you for trackage rights over your line.

Generally speaking, home track crews would move the train across their own lines. Crews from outside lines wouldn't know the route. My father retired from the railroad and spent the majority of his career working in the local yards. During one slow period, he got bumped from his yard job and had to work the extra board which meant a lot of road trips. Even though he'd been there for 14 years at the time, he still had to run as a student engineer for several trips under what they called a pilot (Instructor) to re-qualify for the routes he would be on. So while the AI controlled train is a nice idea, it would be not prototypical for a real railroad's operation.

Having said that, a step in that direction would be if the railroad that is delivering the through freight left their power on the train for your own crew to use thus relieving you of needing your own power to be available. That happens a lot.

[Kerry]

Originally posted by kildar501:

Originally posted by Kerry:

An excellent idea. Even better: Fully AI-controlled through trains that pay you for trackage rights over your line.

Generally speaking, home track crews would move the train across their own lines. Crews from outside lines wouldn't know the route. My father retired from the railroad and spent the majority of his career working in the local yards. During one slow period, he got bumped from his yard job and had to work the extra board which meant a lot of road trips. Even though he'd been there for 14 years at the time, he still had to run as a student engineer for several trips under what they called a pilot (Instructor) to re-qualify for the routes he would be on. So while the AI controlled train is a nice idea, it would be not prototypical for a real railroad's operation.

Having said that, a step in that direction would be if the railroad that is delivering the through freight left their power on the train for your own crew to use thus relieving you of needing your own power to be available. That happens a lot.

A good point.

Side note here: I actually have a big interest in running for the real-world railroads myself.

[kildar501]

Originally posted by Kerry:

Originally posted by kildar501:

Generally speaking, home track crews would move the train across their own lines. Crews from outside lines wouldn't know the route. My father retired from the railroad and spent the majority of his career working in the local yards. During one slow period, he got bumped from his yard job and had to work the extra board which meant a lot of road trips. Even though he'd been there for 14 years at the time, he still had to run as a student engineer for several trips under what they called a pilot (Instructor) to re-qualify for the routes he would be on. So while the AI controlled train is a nice idea, it would be not prototypical for a real railroad's operation.

Having said that, a step in that direction would be if the railroad that is delivering the through freight left their power on the train for your own crew to use thus relieving you of needing your own power to be available. That happens a lot.

A good point.

Side note here: I actually have a big interest in running for the real-world railroads myself.

Good luck with your career ambitions. I will offer this advice. Realize ahead of time that your social life is extremely limited. To be a railroader is to embrace a lifestyle, not merely a job. I would've been fourth generation in my family had I pursued it. (Railroad wouldn't hire because I was too independent a thinker according to their psych eval during the hiring process.) Instead, I ended up in trucking.

[Kerry]

Originally posted by kildar501:

Originally posted by Kerry:

A good point.

Side note here: I actually have a big interest in running for the real-world railroads myself.

Good luck with your career ambitions. I will offer this advice. Realize ahead of time that your social life is extremely limited. To be a railroader is to embrace a lifestyle, not merely a job. I would've been fourth generation in my family had I pursued it. (Railroad wouldn't hire because I was too independent a thinker according to their psych eval during the hiring process.) Instead, I ended up in trucking.

That is no problem at all. I already live pretty much completely isolated. Most of my social interaction is already limited to online presence as well, though I do have at least one physical friend.

I even eat like a railroader, with my meals completely switched - dinner in the morning, breakfast at night.

It's been a long-time dream of mine to run trains on the Class Ones, especially my favorite road, the Union Pacific. I already applied for a job there once, but they turned me down for reasons unknown.