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American Made!
ROUTE PHOTOS
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DECIDING
When one decides to do a route, there are
many, many factors one must look over. Even more so
when it is desired to be for public release. You need
interest and desire to start, then throw in what's fun
and interesting, then wrap it all up into something you can
be proud of.
When I decided to build my current
route, I was looking at it from a operational and historical
aspect. What would be fun and thought provoking enough
to keep the general user busy and enjoying themselves.
Being a student of history, I choose a route that was within
a days drive from home, one that was a shell of its former
self, and one that many people may not have considered.
The Pennsylvania Railroad's Delmarva
Division Mainline, Pocomoke City, MD to Cape Charles, VA.
What else could combine two types of transportation better?
A over water barge route from Norfolk, VA to Cape Charles,
coupled to a high speed double track mainline, with the
mystic of the great PRR thrown in. All this during the
post war years of 1950-1951.
HISTORY
Located on the very southern tip of
the PRR network, the Delmarva Division mainline was a dream
conceived by William Scott in the late 1870's. The
idea was brought before the PRR officials and was met with
little interest. But it caught the eye of then Vice
President of Traffic Alexander Cassatt. In 1882,
Cassatt resigned from the PRR and went to work with Scott.
Cassatt personally traveled all 65 miles on horseback
surveying the route, and in a brave move, chose to skip the
towns that dotted the coastline, and run up the middle of
the Eastern Shore. This created a flat, incredibly
straight route.
By 1884, traffic was moving over the
new route named the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk, with
barges and steamships moving the traffic over the Chesapeake
Bay, a first of its kind anywhere in the nation.
Fast forward some and in 1920, the NYP&N
was taken over and merged into the sprawling PRR system.
By this point, the railroad is a
signaled, double track mainline, which in 1950 operated at a
top speed of 65 for passenger/express and 50 for freight.
Penn Central assumed operations in 1968, but the failure
that was PC was soon evident and then came Conrail.
Conrail was hell-bent on shedding lines, and the Delmarva
was on the chopping block. The counties of Accomack
and Northampton issued bonds and bought the route.
After a series of operators, on a line that doesn't have
much traffic, the future does look sketchy for this amazing
piece of railroad. Time will only tell if the new
operator, the Bay Coast Railroad will be able to do what the
ESRR and the VAMD couldnt.
ROUTE
Building this route has been a
headache in many ways and very pleasing in others. The
history of the route is well covered, photos abound of the
line in the early to mid teens, and thanks to the popularity
of the PRR, building the route has been fairly easy.
But, getting information on what was were when has been
quite possibly the largest hurdle ive ever encountered and
considering im a modern railroader, the PRR way of doing
things still confuses me, but with all that, the custom
content, the endless hours looking over interlocking charts,
track charts, signal lists, station photos, topographic
maps, websites of every shape and size, this will possibly
be the most rewarding route that I have ever built. 65
miles of flat Virginia coastal railroad, backdated from
2007-2008 to 1950. Enjoy the screenshots and photos.
If you wish to assist in the
completion of this route by way of designing objects,
supplying local information, photos, accounts or anything
related to the NYP&N or the PRR, please
contact me.
Download the 1954 route
Timetable
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