Saluda!


What a great video!

I especially liked the part where they said 'the road foreman now goes back to the other units to check the dynamic brake current and place some weenies on the grids. At this current, they'll be cooked to perfection in just a few moments.' :D
 
I couldn't get it to play...:confused:

I clicked and clicked, it did nothing (other youtube videos seem to work ok on my machine though)

[EDIT] Never mind - I didn't notice the "Mobile/Desktop" link at the top of the page until just now! (My bad)
 
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Thanks for doing that, Toot. The few times that I've tried to embed a Youtube video, all that seems to come up is a white square. What did you do to make it work?:eek:
 
Im very impressed by the professionalism and thought they put into handling that grade safely. I were supprised at the length of train they were putting down that grade.
This video shows how unrealistic some of the grades we modelers use are.
Its also interesting that they were keeping speeds below 10 MPH to avoid the train running away
Would this be the steepest grade still being used in the USA ?
 
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...Would this be the steepest grade still being used in the USA ?

It has been "railbanked" for about 10 years now. NS says the grade is still considered "active", but the line is cut, south of Hendersonville NC, and north of Landrum, SC. The grade itself is only 3 miles long, but the only other way to get traffic from Spartanburg SC, to Ashville NC, involves a run to Spencer NC, (another great place), thru Old Fort and Swananoah NC. (Sure hope I spelled that correctly.)

This has been one of my most favorite places to watch trains run. First time I was ever really impressed with di-easels, was there in 1993. Three SD-60's were pulling 1/3 of their train, about 22 cars long. The locos were in notch 8 I believe, and moving about 5 mph! The engines sounded like 3 jet engines running!

I sure hope that economic conditions get to the point that NS re-opens the grade. Saluda is some exciting railroading!:D

Just ask Mikey! He likes it!
 
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Thanks for doing that, Toot. The few times that I've tried to embed a Youtube video, all that seems to come up is a white square. What did you do to make it work?:eek:

I did do a bit of a write up in the previous "coffee shop" (I think) but I'll see if I can do a thread (hopefully with screen shots, if photobucket will cooperate). It's actually quite simple but like all things computer, you have to know the sequences and buttons to click.
 
It has been "railbanked" for about 10 years now. NS says the grade is still considered "active", but the line is cut, south of Hendersonville NC, and north of Landrum, SC. The grade itself is only 3 miles long, but the only other way to get traffic from Spartanburg SC, to Ashville NC, involves a run to Spencer NC, (another great place), thru Old Fort and Swananoah NC. (Sure hope I spelled that correctly.)

This has been one of my most favorite places to watch trains run. First time I was ever really impressed with di-easels, was there in 1993. Three SD-60's were pulling 1/3 of their train, about 22 cars long. The locos were in notch 8 I believe, and moving about 5 mph! The engines sounded like 3 jet engines running!

I sure hope that economic conditions get to the point that NS re-opens the grade. Saluda is some exciting railroading!:D

Just ask Mikey! He likes it!

Carey, Saluda has been abandoned in all but name. I am told the reason the rails are still in place and it is considered active has to due with some state laws here.
There are several lines that are still being maintained and called active around here, but the line has been cut.
 
Carey, Saluda has been abandoned in all but name. I am told the reason the rails are still in place and it is considered active has to due with some state laws here.
There are several lines that are still being maintained and called active around here, but the line has been cut.

On reason I hope that it will reopen, is the "inland" port being built, with the idea of container trains running to it for transfer. The line from Ashville to Spencer, and I've been told this by several people, is currently at saturation, traffic wise, and the run times between the two are being extended. The tracks also from Spartanburg to Landrum, which is basically now just a long spur, are being upgraded to hi-speed standards, as well as the tracks from Ashville to Hendersonville. Supposedly container trains would run down the grade, and empties back up, which could be the end of the classic Saluda "shuffle", of doubling and tripling trains over the summit. It was the movements up the grade that caused the greatest delays in train run times. Eliminate this, and Saluda becomes viable again.

It doesn't seem logical the NS would do something like the line upgrades, cost wise, without plans to connect them back together via Saluda. Of course, this is all just speculation. NS can/will do what it wants to Saluda, but it would be a great historical loss, if completely abandoned.
 
On reason I hope that it will reopen, is the "inland" port being built, with the idea of container trains running to it for transfer. The line from Ashville to Spencer, and I've been told this by several people, is currently at saturation, traffic wise, and the run times between the two are being extended. The tracks also from Spartanburg to Landrum, which is basically now just a long spur, are being upgraded to hi-speed standards, as well as the tracks from Ashville to Hendersonville. Supposedly container trains would run down the grade, and empties back up, which could be the end of the classic Saluda "shuffle", of doubling and tripling trains over the summit. It was the movements up the grade that caused the greatest delays in train run times. Eliminate this, and Saluda becomes viable again.

It doesn't seem logical the NS would do something like the line upgrades, cost wise, without plans to connect them back together via Saluda. Of course, this is all just speculation. NS can/will do what it wants to Saluda, but it would be a great historical loss, if completely abandoned.
There is a line here that runs past the RJ Reynolds cigarette factory that has been cut, and is being maintained. There is another line that goes past several shopping centers and malls from downtown out to the suburbs that the same thing has been done to, and there is a line from downtown Greensboro out Battleground Avenue that has been cut, but is being maintained, weed sprayed, etc.
I think the new law here is if a road or railroad is officially abandoned, it has to be completely removed, and the land made to be exactly like it was before the road or railroad was there. No matter how much it costs. One of the Interstates near here is being upgraded, and relocated a couple hundred yards from where it was. Now that it's almost complete, the old road has been completely removed, regraded, seeded, and pretty much looks like nothing was ever there. It must have cost millions to dig up everything, truck it out, truck in new soil, and seed it.
 
...
I think the new law here is if a road or railroad is officially abandoned, it has to be completely removed, and the land made to be exactly like it was before the road or railroad was there. No matter how much it costs. ...

But still that doesn't explain why the upgrades north of Spartanburg, and south from Ashville. Why not just repair the track where needed to support the actual traffic on the remaining sections, instead of doing an upgrade to hi-speed standards?

Since I don't live in the area, I have to rely on e-mails from friends, other forums, and news articles found on the web. Sometimes they contradict each other! Color me...confused:confused:
 
But still that doesn't explain why the upgrades north of Spartanburg, and south from Ashville. Why not just repair the track where needed to support the actual traffic on the remaining sections, instead of doing an upgrade to hi-speed standards?

Since I don't live in the area, I have to rely on e-mails from friends, other forums, and news articles found on the web. Sometimes they contradict each other! Color me...confused:confused:

I guess the best thing is to wait and see. We may all be wrong...
 
After walking the grade last January, I can vouch that it is an impressive piece of railroad engineering. It is a very cool place. Here's hoping the NS decides to polish the rails of Saluda grade again some day soon. :)
 



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