The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad

Discussion in 'Route Suggestions & Proposals' started by BlackDiamond1964, Feb 19, 2018.

  1. There has been one historic railroad that has been itching to get into a railroad simulator, The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley's Laurel Line.
    This was an electric railroad built in 1903. With financial backing from George Westinghouse, This electric railroad was designed and built to be a top quality railroad/interurban that was to show how electricity could be used in the railroading industry. In it finished form the railroad was a double tracked, 19 mile railroad that connected the city of Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, all in the heart of the north eastern anthracite region of Pennsylvania. The track was powered by a 650 volt exposed 3rd rail. Trolleys ran every 20 minutes. Stations were placed in the major town with passenger shelter stops through out the rest of the line.

    But wait there's more! The Laurel Line also had its own freight service. There was three nearly identical Baldwin/Westinghouse freight motors that serviced the on line industries. Since this railroad that was located in an area that was saturated many class 1 railroads, connection points were set up with the Lehigh Valley, Erie and the Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroads. In 1947 the Laurel Line open a new industrial branch line to service industries in Minooka, a suburb of Scranton.

    I always felt that this railroad had a lot to offer the railroad sim world. It's small so you won't get board easily. There is passenger and fright service. There are plenty of bridges and viaducts packed into that 19 miles. There is even a 4750 ft tunnel. The scenery varies from wooded areas, river scenes, suburban sprawl to urban landscapes. All this in a area that has a rich railroad history.

    L&WV Systems Map.jpg
     
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  2. Ok... now what would you say if I told you this route as already been started? Well it has. The track has be laid and much of the Laurel Line infrastructure models have been built. Actually this is a route that I've been planning for years. The route is on hold due to a lack of historical references. It can be started up at anytime if there are folks out there that would like to see it get finished. Below are some TS2018 in-game maps.
    SYSTEM MAP.jpg
    scranton.jpg
    wilkes-barre.jpg
    minooka.jpg
     
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  3. NJT Railfan

    NJT Railfan Well-Known Member

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    Thats Interesting...
     
  4. It's interesting...so you down vote it?
     
  5. Here is a look at the stations.
    20180219204321_1.jpg
    The L&WV Scranton Station
    20180219204133_1.jpg
    The L&WV Wilkes-Barre Station
    20180219204224_1.jpg
    The L&WV Pittston Station and Depot Building
     
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  6. Michael Newbury

    Michael Newbury Well-Known Member

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    Very interesting route looks great
     
  7. Here is a few more models I made for the Laurel Line Route.
    20180219230024_1.jpg
    The L&WV Carshop
    20180219230044_1.jpg
    The L&WV Powerhouse 20180219230111_1.jpg The L&WV Scranton Depot.
     
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  8. Here are a few bridge models that I made for the route.
    20180219225855_1.jpg
    The Avoca Viaduct-Longest span on the line.
    20180219225706_1.jpg
    Prospect Viaduct-named for a near by coal breaker.
    20180219230314_1.jpg
    The Water Street Bridge in Pittston Pa.
     
  9. JessicaKasumi

    JessicaKasumi Member

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    BlackDiamond1964 Aren't you the same person behind the LWRR Trainz content? If so, then awesome! Nice to see another member of the Trainz community also with Train Simulator! My username on the Trainz Forums, is PereMarquette1225fan, as I'm the new operator of the account.
     
  10. Yes I'm the same person. I've been at it for a long time! :o
     
  11. Here are some Laurel Line industry model...in the snow.
    20180220162705_1.jpg
    Thomas C Thomas-Produce Distributor Wilkes-Barre Pa.
    20180220162747_1.jpg
    Bravman Furniture Warehouse Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
    20180220162934_1.jpg
    Standard Beef Company Scranton Pa.
     
  12. JessicaKasumi

    JessicaKasumi Member

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    Holy crap! I didn't know that, well, nice to see a fellow train user in both simulators!
     
  13. I'm kind of bouncing between the two sims waiting to get some inspiration before I settle into my next project. The Laurel Line Route is currently at a stand still due to a lack of historic reference material on the railroad's industries. In other words, I can't find pictures of the buildings so I can make accurate models of them.
     
  14. Lastly, Here are three stops along the passenger Stops along the Laurel Line.
    20180219230210_1.jpg
    Dupont Stop
    20180219230353_1.jpg
    The Inkerman Stop
    20180219230237_1.jpg
    The Rocky Glen Stop. This was the location of a amusement park Rocky Glen. For the longest time the only way to access the park was the Laurel Line. The park eventually closed in the mid 1980's.
     
  15. Sharpey

    Sharpey Member

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    Nice shots Black!
     
  16. PlatChap

    PlatChap Well-Known Member

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    Looks like you put some good work into this for sure! Hopefully you can find that reference material you need to get it finished up.
     
  17. It may get to the point where I'm going to have to make up those details that I don't know. I don't really want to do that because the route as it sits now is historically correct. I would also need somebody to work on the rolling stock while continue on the route's details. While I'm sure I can build the models of the Trolleys and Freight Motors, but giving them interiors, controls and getting them to function in the sim is a different story. I would need somebody that has direct knowledge of how that is done.
     
  18. I have decided to continues this project but I will need some help from the TS2018 community. Here is the game plan...

    I have a person that made the L&WV rolling stock...but it is in Trainz. I was given the Blender model files to adapt them to TS2018. My knowledge is only in making scenery object into TS2018. I have no experience getting a working locomotive into TS2018. I would need someone that can get these interurban models into TS2018.


    Is there anybody out there interested in Interurban route? Do you model in Blender? Do you know how to get a locomotive into TS2018? Then I'm looking for you. If you are out there and interested, please contact me.

    If you have any questions, just post 'em below.
     
  19. Minerman146

    Minerman146 Member

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    Scott, I support this project as a I have an interest in Scranton and the deep Lackawanna history there. Do give this site a try. In the very least you can get some building dimensions from before 1970. https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer
     
  20. Thanks for the link. I use a site call Penn Pilot to get may aerial views. I have a set from 1939, 1959 and 1969. However these aerial views only help in track and building placement. They don't seem to offer any information or building details.
    The L&WV Route itself it at a standstill until I can find more creators to help get the route finished.
     
  21. TRAINFAN

    TRAINFAN Member

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    Can any body explain why US routes are not replicated to what they actually look in reality. You can take for example "Altoona" yard. Any body can check the scenary of Altoona on youtube. And every body knows how it looks in "Horse shoe curve" route. Why US routes are so poorly worked out.When we drive in US routes , like HS curve,North Jersy coastline,NS coal district,soldier summit and many more it looks like we driving on a HO scale train model.When people expend their money they want an equal entertainment in return.
     
  22. Could you explain why you are posting this question in this thread?
     
  23. Well, I've sat back long enough. It's time to get back in the groove. In the next few days I will be starting a web site for this project. It will host my models and route. It will also have historical facts and pictures of the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad. I will post a link once the site has gone public. If there is anybody is out there that want's to help out on this project, just give me a yell. I'm always looking for some project partners.
     
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  24. Railfan722

    Railfan722 Well-Known Member

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    From what you've said, you need a hand with exporting Blender models into a drivable rail vehicle? I personally can't help you, but there's a ton of reference material and help over at Railworks America, where it looks like you've already posted a thread.
    The person that would be most helpful in a project like this would be Rick Grout of G-Trax fame, but there's plenty of people other than him who have done this kind of thing. If you need a hand with finer details, I could probably give it a go, unless of course you want to do that.

    On a slightly different note, the site is fantastic! It's clean and simple, yet conveys a lot of information. The only suggestion would be maybe to change the text color of the model status "Pending" to something other than white - it's not terribly visible on the yellow background.
     
  25. Thanks for the information! I'm hoping somebody will take up the task of transferring the Blender models to Railworks as I got an awful lot of models to built. If I get bogged down in loco making, I'll never get anything else done. As you can see by the list of models on the web page I've got a long way to go.

    I will change the "Pending color" on the web site, that is an easy fix.
     
  26. Pending color is fixed on the web page. Keep checking back to the page as I've been adding a lot. Still looking for web site suggestions if anybody has any. I've also added the web site link to my signature below. Officially this project will start in two days...well, the route building will start in two days. I'll post then.
     
  27. After a rocky start with a dead graphics card, I finally started adding content to my downloads page. Also, I'm still looking for help if anybody is interested in an interurban route. See my main page for the type of help I'm looking for. Link is in my sig below.
     
  28. Railfan722

    Railfan722 Well-Known Member

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    What kind of switchers do you need painted? I might be able to do something.
     
  29. Any kind of switchers. Personally I would like RS1's,2's or 3's, But any kind of switchers from that era '47 to '52 will do. Or maybe a type of switcher that the LV, Erie and DL&W had on their rosters. In the end, I'm still open for suggestions.
     
  30. Railfan722

    Railfan722 Well-Known Member

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    Sorry for the radio silence on the project - I've been working away at the G-TraX RS-1. As far as I can tell, none of the roads listed owned the RS-1, but it's a free model with a good texture map that is reasonable for the Erie, Lackawanna, or Lehigh Valley to have owned. Bit of a work in progress picture from the Lackawanna version - it's harder than it looks. Screenshot_[RFN] Test Route_53.49585--1.83222_12-00-40.jpg
     
  31. Thanks for the reply. I did a quick search. I appears that all three railroads only had three types of locomotives that they had in common.
    RS3
    SW9
    S2

    I really don't know what is out there as far as freeware, repaintable locomotives. Let me know if there is anything you can do. These models are secondary to the Laurel Line route so historical accuracy is not 100% needed.
     
  32. After giving it some thought I have decided to move this project back to the Trainz franchise. I found two major problems with making a route in Railworks. One is the lack of support from other users and the DTG. I found that most of my question and request post go unanswered. It would seem that the few people that know how to make content in Railworks don't want to share their secrets. I suppose this is because of protecting there own future payware items. This leads me into the second problem. I found that if I want to use quality content on your custom route you either have to making it all yourself (which will take forever) or find content in all the payware route you happened to have installed in your game. Everybody's game is different depending on when you bought the game. This means that the casual Railworks user will not bother with your own custom route because it needs multiple payware routes just to run it.
    Don't get me wrong here, I like Railworks Simulator. I think it looks and plays great, it's just not user friendly to the casual route builder. I'm am also disappointing about Google Earth overlay situation. Maybe in the future I will make a smaller, less ambitious route for Railworks. For right now I've been on a long time quest to make this route. While I'm not completely happy about it, This L&WV Route will be made in Trainz.
     
  33. RailWorkshop

    RailWorkshop Member

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    Yes, gone are those days of MSTS when there was a huge fan following and people actually were helping each other.
    Now days everything is business oriented.
     
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  34. This project has been shelved until I can get some help with it. At this time about 90% of the L&WV's infrastructure buildings and bridges have been made. This route just needs some more talented people to get an interest in it to complete it. Until that time, it can sit on a external drive while I work on some kind of smaller project.
     
  35. Maybe it's time to team up on a project? We seem to have similar interest.
     
  36. Minerman146

    Minerman146 Member

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    Yes, we absolutely have a similar interest. As you may know, I am very involved in my own route, which is nearing conclusion, maybe 6 months. Then its back to producing more 1950-60s rolling stock that will be for our mutual benefit. With that said, I'll describe my interest. I love Lackawanna County and everything before 1976. In particular is the EL, but I had given thought about doing the DL&W circa 1955-1960 from Scranton back to Hoboken. My other project would be the NYO&W from Cornwall Landing to Middletown, NY. The theme is "routes that I love, but would never be done" . My lone requirement is that the route could make it to Steam Workshop for the large audience, so if you/we could get Rick G on board, that would increase the possibility of that and I would be very eager. With your models, getting this route done, with reasonable to accurate scenery has a high probability of success.

    I will continue to shadow your posts to see what is going on. I strongly encourage using TS because of the graphic quality, if nothing more.
     
  37. Sorry, I haven't checked into this site for a while. It didn't take long for me to give up on Trainz. I'm currently working on a LV Coxton Yard. This will have the Lehigh Valley Coxton Yard as the center piece. Once the Yard is done I'll start adding surrounding branch lines. At the moment I'm making a model of the Coxton Roundhouse as it looked in the 50's to 60's. The model is not textured yet.
    Some of the other ideas I thought of is (of course) the Laurel Line which some day I'll take another run at... as many models are already done. The Snake Path Route, the LV Main Line from Coxton to Sayre. The DL&W Bloomsburg Line from Scranton To Sunbury. My main interest is in the Northern Anthracite Region through the transitional era. I like late steam and early diesels...any railroad as long as it's an anthracite carrier.
    I can be talked into working on something new if it catches my interest. It would actually be nice to work with others instead of by myself.
    0048.jpg 0047.jpg
     
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