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Jamesport, a Seaside Railroad
By John D'Angelo
Ahhhh, the smell of the sea!
JAMESPORT IS A FICTIONAL SEASIDE SWITCHING RAILROAD that can be used in modular fashion to be added to any route or operated on its own using portals. I used names from my local Long Island Railroad and LIRR running gear for my example, but the route can be labeled for any railroad you choose. I did use a bit of artistic license here because Long Island doesn’t have mountains. I used a Rocky Mountain style background at Jamesport, but what the heck, ANYTHING is possible with Trainz! Here are three TrainzMap views of the route:
The complete route.
Jamesport Station and freight yard.
South Jamesport loading dock area.
Mainline trains are generated by portals and travel between Riverhead and Greenport. Passenger trains stop at the Jamesport station and move on. Freights move through Jamesport, but only the westbound freight from Greenport will deliver reefers for the fish factory in South Jamesport. Fishing is their major industry.
The Long Island Railroad has used push-pull for a number of years to move passengers to the ends of the island and then return westward without having to turn the locomotive. I made a two passenger car push-pull shuttle using two SW7’s created using Trainz Paint Shed and I lettered a pair of TOTC Pullman cars for the LIRR. (see A Great New Idea for Passenger Cars, Angelo, 5 May 2007) The shuttle will be used for the trip from Jamesport to Aquebogue and back.
The Jamesport Shuttle.
I programmed the shuttle to travel between Aquebogue and Jamesport on a continuous basis with a ten-minute stop at South Jamesport. Since the shuttle stops at Jamesport on the eastbound track you will need to be sure the track is clear of incoming eastbound passenger trains before entering the mainline. The AI system just cannot “look ahead” far enough to stop the shuttle if a train is approaching the station, so you will have to watch that the shuttle and mainline train don’t get hung up. You may want to read Adventures in Artificial Intelligence, D'Angelo, 20 May 2006 for some background information on AI operations.
The sequence for the shuttle, which starts from Aquebogue, is:
- Drive to South Jamesport
- Load
- Drive to Jamesport (Station)Track 2
- Load
- Drive to South Jamesport (Station)
- Load
- Wait for 10 minutes
- Drive to track mark(Aquebogue)
- Repeat
I used a track mark at Aquebogue instead of a passenger-enabled station because it is at the end of the line and this worked better for reversing the train. The ten-minute wait at South Jamesport is to allow freight operations. I can extend this time by editing the session if I find I need more time for my freight operation.
Mainline traffic consists of passenger trains consisting of 4-6-0 LIRR steam locomotives which are payware items from Paul's Trainz, pulling TOTC Pullman cars lettered for the Long Island Railroad. The freight is hauled by a Long Island Railroad lettered GP.
Paul Mace has a payware site that has model locomotives from all over the world. He has a few locomotive configurations that I have not been able to find elsewhere and he is very accommodating to his customers. He created a model of the Long Island (PRR) G5 4-6-0 locomotive that was one of the most popular locomotives on the LIRR. (Continued)
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Article and screen shots ©2007 John D'Angelo. All rights reserved.
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