Bc Rail Tumbler Ridge Subdivision

The Tumbler Ridge Line is a 129km (80 mile) branch of the British Columbia Railway (now part of Canadian National (CN)) that crosses the Canadian Rockies and features the 2nd and 4th longest railway tunnels in Canada.

The Tumbler Ridge line opened in 1983 to take coal from the Quintette and Bullmoose mines to Port Rupert, where the coal would be shipped to Japan for use in the Japanese steel industry.
The Quintette and Bullmoose mines closed in 2000 and 2003 respectively, leading to the route losing its importance, and as such, was deelectrified and sold to CN.
Mining resumed in 2016 and trains began operating again on the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision in 2017.

The proposal for the route for TSW would see players driving trains between the Quintette and Bullmoose mines to Tacheeda, where the electric locomotives used on the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision would be swapped for a diesel locomotive. Scenarios would be set in the early 1990s, where BC Rail's electric trains would be hauling up to 98 gondolas full of coal from the mines to Tacheeda.

Trains had to climb a 15% gradient while travelling eastbound to the mines, and a 12% gradient westbound to Tacheeda while hauling a full coal train. Due to the 12% gradient on the journey to Tacheeda with the full coal train, a pair of helper locomotives would be coupled to the train, which would be decoupled from the train at the route's summit.

Route map:


Players would be able to use the GMD GF6C electric locomotive in a variety of scenarios on this route.
These electric locomotives used the frame and running gear of the EMD SD40-2, but featured a carbody and cab that was closer in design to the GMD SD40-2F.
In their later years of operation, the GF6C units suffered high rates of traction motor failures, and so were derated to improve reliability. As a result three locomotives would be required to pull the train, with three helper locomotives used to help the train to ascend from the mines to the route's summit.

After the line was deelectrified and sold to CN, one GC6C (6001) was purchased by the Roy Family, and subsequently donated to the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum. This locomotive is kept in excellent condition and is believed to be capable of running if supplied with enough power. All other examples of these locomotives were scrapped.


Notes: Map from German Wikipedia page, image of GF6C locomotives taken from RailPictures.Net.

 

Bring it on but if set in the current ERA CN should have ES44AC ET44AC Mp15DC GP40-2 assigned to the route then layer to Oakville subdivision in return Oakville gives GP9M GP38-2. Achievement wise the Canadian national Tumbler Ridge ES44AC counts towards Horseshoe Curve version while MP15DC CN counts towards Caltrain version.

 

Would love to see this as a route in TSW3, the only electrified route in Canada that I know of.

 

I would rather see pre-CN old school PGE or BCR from Lillooet to PG through the Cariboos. In fact I pine for it.

IMO there is enough coal / heavy haul & electric train operations in TSW already. Too many in fact. We need something new and different. This is not that. Clinchfield, Horseshoe, Sand Patch, Sherman Hill, Cane Creek, &C. all do this exact thing without the electric units.
Though your selection is an interesting and worthy suggestion as a pretty unique route on this side of the world, it just adds to what can already be found in other TSW routes and only serves to quantify Euro electrified freight and US coal hauls into Canadian terms.

IMO the southern main line route particularly between the lower mainland and PG would offer some different variety of scenery (especially the high country spruce forested / low country semi-desert arid zone of the Cariboo) and a lot of varied and mixed freight besides coal hoppers. Mixed freight is direly needed on TSW's North American routes as other than Oakville most are coal, oil, or container specific heavy hauls. The PGE/BCR was for a long time the sole provider of goods to the interior and northern parts of the province (aside from trucking) which created a very interesting railway situation. The variety of locomotives, equipment, products, and scenery traversed in doing so would be astoundingly fun and interesting to "operate". From box cars of goods to flats of logs & truck trailers, and tanks of heating oil & fuels to bunks of cut and finished lumber, and to single or multiple unit RDC passenger services. This would be a full range variety well suited to train sim operations and being all combined into one unique and historical Railway just makes it even more desirable.

Of course this is all "in my opinion" as your suggestion is in yours. But, I do honestly think there is enough of what you propose to be found in existing routes that another one of the same would not truly add anything to the series of routes. North American routes are in need of something fresh, and modern heavy haul coal (or otherwise) is not it for me. Also - more cabooses in use on something other than Clinchfield - and of a more modern design than Clinchfield's - would be cool too.

Cheers!

 

Did Prince George to North Vancouver in 1986 on the Cariboo Dayliner. What a journey. A few years later I took the wife on the day trip from North Vancouver to Lillooet and back. A huge shame CN took the line over and ditched the passenger service, though I guess the Budd cars were knackered by then. Would be great to see part of the route in TSW.

 

Won't happen unless the licensing that DTG has with CN is updated, the CN license as it stands right now only cover CN and CN only, it doesn't not cover the fallen flags that CN owns, like BC Rail. So sadly this is just another dream idea.....

 

Good point and for CN they need to have the DTG licensing deal like CSX where the Clinchfield Fallen Flag Railroad was made into a route. For GF6C the controls should be like the SD40-2 or SD70ACE.