BN Big Horn Subdivision

Version 2 Out Soon!

2010-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Some news for all friends of the "Q" and the BN, the second version of my BN/CB&Q Big Horn Route is almost ready to be uploaded!

A lot of time has passed since version one and I did less work on the route than I had planned, however I think development has now reached a state where the expansions and overall playability are advanced enough to go for a new release. So read on to find out what I have been building in the last half year or so.

Please check these posts for a lot of new pictures:

So what is new in Version 2?

Backdated the entire route to the late 1960s/early 70s -- much more sidings and spurs, much more fun!
New branch line: The Fort Line now extends to its historic end at the Veterans Hospital, ~2 miles on a steep grade
New branch line: The old industrial branch from Sheridan to the Sugar Factory and a flour mill, ~2 miles south of the depot. That line includes a short section of street running. Not sure if this is accurate, I could not determine on the topo quads if the tracks went right on or right next to the streets -- so I went for the version that is more spectacular.
Yard layout of the 60s, including a small local / RIP yard (? a bit unclear about that one)
many new industrial sidings and spurs in Sheridan
Added Strip Mine loadout atKleenburn (today Kiewit), so the 5-track coal yard there is bustling with life.
added a proper passing siding at Kleenburn
Extended the line and scenery westward to Monarch, a small storage yard (presumably), today abandoned
Tracks and interactives only (signals, speeds, markers, portals) extension already in place all the way to Ranchester, where the next passing siding is located

Version 2 Night Shots

2010-06-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here are just two night screenshots from version two, both taken at south Sheridan. The first one shows the downtown spur, the second one the more suburban-like area next to the street running section.

Version 2 Pictures: South of Sheridan

2010-06-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

A view at the local freight tracks just south of the yard.

View from the same location, only looking south now. The track across the bridge leads to a short branch right into downtown, accessing two spurs.

The higher line is the main line, the lower line is the short 2-mile branch to the sugar factory and flour mill...

... which includes a short section of street running! Not sure if this is accurate, I could not determine on the topo quads if the tracks went right on or right next to the streets -- so I went for the version that is more spectacular.

Finally, a glance at the sugar mill (foreground) and flour mill (background).

Version 2 Pictures: Sheridan Yard

2010-06-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

At Sheridan, WY, here we see the north(railroad west) yard ladder.

An overview of the main yard. The long yard sidings on the far side are mostly used to hold coal unit trains for adding helpers for Parkman Hill and to do the crew changes. The sidings closer to us are the local sidings.

Another view, this time looking north. There should be a roundhouse in place there, but I do not yet have a model done for it.

The south (railroad east) ladder.

And finally, a view across the level crossing towards the depot and platform. The depot model is also still missing, the default house is only a stand-in model.

Version 2 Pictures: South of Kleenburn

2010-06-10T13:40:00.001-07:00

There is another coal loadout spur one mile northeast of Kleenburn.

Leaving Kleenburn, the line turns south, right next to the strip mine, after crossing over the Goose Creek.

A grade crossing a few miles south of Kleenburn.

Reaching the outskirts of Sheridan, WY.

Entering the yard.

Version 2 Pictures: Monarch to Kleenburn

2010-06-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from the current west end of the route. We start our journey at the small storage yard at Monarch. At least this is what I have made of the three, today long abandoned sidings at this location.

Another view of the same place.

A bit further east, the goes through a curve, ducks underneath I90 and then immediately after crosses the Tongue River.

The small community of Kleenburn. I might have put a few houses too many in there, but I liked the looks of it. This is the location of a passing siding.

Finally, the big loadout facilities of the strip mines just east of Kleenburn. The little five-track yard was already in version 1, but the backdating of the route for version 2 allows it to become once again alive and kicking. The single spur on the left is the loadout track of the local gravel pit.

In the Dead of Night

2010-01-05T19:06:00.001-08:00

All pictures can be clicked on, they are linked to their unretouched straight out of the game screen shots - only slightly resized.

Sheridan Scenery!

2010-01-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

Some panoramic screenshots from the one-day scenery work at Sheridan, WY.

More from Kiewit

2009-11-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Got some more work done at Kiewit. The coal mine loadout track and the gravel quarry loader are in place, so are the first houses and some vegetation.

This is Kiewit (called "Kleenburn" during CB&Q and BN times). The loading hopper in the foreground belongs to the coal mine, the structures on the left are the gravel pit.

Kiewit, this time looking east from the highway overpass.

And a final shot looking at the small community just west of the quarry.

Kiewit

2009-11-11T04:34:00.000-08:00

A first attempt at terrain painting and vegetation placement. This is seen from the southern (railroad eastern) beginning of the mine siding at Kiewit.

Sheridan

2009-11-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Work is progressing nicely. All trackage between Sheridan and Kiewit is done.

Tracks have all manual switches in the yards and on sidings/spurs, automatic switches on mainline turnouts and crossovers. I tried my best to build the switches so they would appear to look US-American, with a few sets of (more or less) fixed angles and straight paths through the frogs.

Here's a picture of Sheridan:

Big Horn?! Huh?

2009-11-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

A new route for Railworks?
Yeah, looks like it!

This is my fourth route project for the RailSim/RailWorks simulators. I'm modeling the Burlington Northern Big Horn Subdivision, a real-world railroad line between Gillette, WY and Huntley, MT. The first version will be the portion between Sheridan, WY, and Parkman, WY.

What will it be all about?

Well, here's a picture from the route in its earliest stage, but quite well caputuring the general setting of the whole area: the rough, hilly, dry grassland of the Bighorn Mountains, with a few trees here and there, and quite a bit of farming along the rivers.
Click on the image on the left to see the full-size, 1600 pixels wide version.

What will the operations look like on the line?

The main commodity on the Big Horn sub can be listed with one word: COAL. Lots of it. Coal coming from the Powder River district, going to places north, east, and west on the Burlington Northern system.
The part of the route that I am building includes a mid-sized yard at Sheridan, also a crew change point and a helper base for the Parkman grade. Back when the line's original owner, the CB&Q railroad, still operated it before the Burlinton Northern merger, there were also quite a few industrial spurs and sidings and two small branches in town. Most of this is abandoned today.
Further north (railroad west) on the line we go past a coal mine and a gravel pit at a place called Kiewit. From there to the end of my modeled line at Parkman it is all straight forward uphill running at 45 to 60 mph maximum speed.
Most of the line is single track with passing sidings. There is no passenger traffic. The BN (today BNSF) is the only operating company on the line, this subdivision also has no interchanges to other railroads.