WaltN
01-31-2005, 10:39 PM
Name of Route:
Switch Back Gravity Railroad
Version and Release Date:
Version 1, 1/31/2005
Description (~100 words or less):
In 1827, the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railway, which became popularly known as the "Switch Back," carried its first load of anthracite on the Down Track from Summit Hill to the Lehigh River landing at Mauch Chunk. The Down Track was graded with a level on the "principle of never rising," so the eastbound trip was entirely powered by gravity. (Mules in the other direction.) In 1846, a Back Track was added to transport empty cars westbound. Powered by stationary steam engines, trains were lifted up two inclined planes to store sufficient potential energy to keep the trains powered by gravity otherwise.
The Switch Back continued to carry coal trains and some tourist trains – looping eastbound on the Down Track and westbound on the Back Track – until 1872 when the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad broke through to the Panther Valley, enabling locomotives to power trains of coal and empties on a new route. But, the Switch Back was to live – as a tourist hauler – into the Twentieth Century, which is the era modeled in this MSTS route.
Installation Method:
Prerequisites: Microsoft Train Simulator Version 1.2, XTracks Version 3.10 or higher, Standardized tsection.dat Build 23 or later, and New Roads Version 3.0. Unzip download to a temporary folder and follow instructions in Readme.txt. (Includes a Route Riter-generated Installme.bat.)
Size of Download:
1 file, 27,449,135 bytes
Size of Installed Route:
54.1 MB
Fantasy, Prototypical, or Freelance Operations:
Prototypical
Freight or Passenger:
Switch Back Summer Car included for tourism passenger operations with "physics" designed for handling the two inclined planes.
Era or Genre:
Early Twentieth Century. Includes a "Last Run" activity for the Switch Back's last trip on October 29, 1933.
Location:
Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA (Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954.)
Length of Mainline:
Approximately 18 miles
Length of Branches:
None
Number of Branches:
None
Number of Sidings:
Few
Number of Yards:
1
Mixture of Dual and Single Track:
Dual on the planes, single otherwise.
Level of Trackside Detail:
Highly and historically faithfully detailed.
Amount of Scenery Completed:
100%
FPS Specs, with qualifiers:
System: Pentium 4 2.20 GHz CPU with 1.0 GB RAM and an ATI RADEON 8500 (64 MB). MSTS Display Settings were 1024x768x16, "Best graphics," and most Advanced Display Settings were maxed. Performance: Frame rates were generally in the high teens or low twenties. On the route segment known as the "Homestretch" (between Hacklebernie Station and the approach to Mauch Chunk), frame rates dropped momentarily to as low as 10 in this most densely forested area. Additional performance experience will be reported at http://home.stny.rr.com/wniehoff/sbsim.htm as experience is gained on other systems.
Activities Provided:
"Cutoff Via Five Mile Tree," "Down Track," "Edison Round Trip," and "Last Run."
Non-Default Consists or Rolling Stock Required in Activities:
None
Add-In Track Sets:
XTracks Version 3.10 (or higher) and New Roads Version 3.0.
Tsection.dat file used:
Standardized tsection.dat Build 23 or later,
Payware or Freeware:
Freeware
URL for More Information and Screenshots:
http://home.stny.rr.com/wniehoff/sbsim.htm
Known Problems:
One rough track joint, which causes no difficulties, and an MSTS-imposed shortcoming relating to ambient sound in the open Switch Back Summer Car. (See "Switch Back Driver's Guide.")
Where it can be downloaded:
forums.flightsim.com
Switch Back Gravity Railroad
Version and Release Date:
Version 1, 1/31/2005
Description (~100 words or less):
In 1827, the Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill Railway, which became popularly known as the "Switch Back," carried its first load of anthracite on the Down Track from Summit Hill to the Lehigh River landing at Mauch Chunk. The Down Track was graded with a level on the "principle of never rising," so the eastbound trip was entirely powered by gravity. (Mules in the other direction.) In 1846, a Back Track was added to transport empty cars westbound. Powered by stationary steam engines, trains were lifted up two inclined planes to store sufficient potential energy to keep the trains powered by gravity otherwise.
The Switch Back continued to carry coal trains and some tourist trains – looping eastbound on the Down Track and westbound on the Back Track – until 1872 when the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad broke through to the Panther Valley, enabling locomotives to power trains of coal and empties on a new route. But, the Switch Back was to live – as a tourist hauler – into the Twentieth Century, which is the era modeled in this MSTS route.
Installation Method:
Prerequisites: Microsoft Train Simulator Version 1.2, XTracks Version 3.10 or higher, Standardized tsection.dat Build 23 or later, and New Roads Version 3.0. Unzip download to a temporary folder and follow instructions in Readme.txt. (Includes a Route Riter-generated Installme.bat.)
Size of Download:
1 file, 27,449,135 bytes
Size of Installed Route:
54.1 MB
Fantasy, Prototypical, or Freelance Operations:
Prototypical
Freight or Passenger:
Switch Back Summer Car included for tourism passenger operations with "physics" designed for handling the two inclined planes.
Era or Genre:
Early Twentieth Century. Includes a "Last Run" activity for the Switch Back's last trip on October 29, 1933.
Location:
Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA (Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954.)
Length of Mainline:
Approximately 18 miles
Length of Branches:
None
Number of Branches:
None
Number of Sidings:
Few
Number of Yards:
1
Mixture of Dual and Single Track:
Dual on the planes, single otherwise.
Level of Trackside Detail:
Highly and historically faithfully detailed.
Amount of Scenery Completed:
100%
FPS Specs, with qualifiers:
System: Pentium 4 2.20 GHz CPU with 1.0 GB RAM and an ATI RADEON 8500 (64 MB). MSTS Display Settings were 1024x768x16, "Best graphics," and most Advanced Display Settings were maxed. Performance: Frame rates were generally in the high teens or low twenties. On the route segment known as the "Homestretch" (between Hacklebernie Station and the approach to Mauch Chunk), frame rates dropped momentarily to as low as 10 in this most densely forested area. Additional performance experience will be reported at http://home.stny.rr.com/wniehoff/sbsim.htm as experience is gained on other systems.
Activities Provided:
"Cutoff Via Five Mile Tree," "Down Track," "Edison Round Trip," and "Last Run."
Non-Default Consists or Rolling Stock Required in Activities:
None
Add-In Track Sets:
XTracks Version 3.10 (or higher) and New Roads Version 3.0.
Tsection.dat file used:
Standardized tsection.dat Build 23 or later,
Payware or Freeware:
Freeware
URL for More Information and Screenshots:
http://home.stny.rr.com/wniehoff/sbsim.htm
Known Problems:
One rough track joint, which causes no difficulties, and an MSTS-imposed shortcoming relating to ambient sound in the open Switch Back Summer Car. (See "Switch Back Driver's Guide.")
Where it can be downloaded:
forums.flightsim.com