Modeling the SALUDA GRADE - Realistic Operations in HO
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Welcome back to the layout! In this video we look at the unique operations that took place on Norfolk Southern’s Saluda Grade, located in Saluda, NC. When our new HO scale C40-9 "Top Hats" arrive, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to film this video before weathering and modernizing them. We were able to temporarily tweak a few aspects and scenes, combined with some unique camera angles, to recreate Saluda on our layout! Also, a big thanks to Kennedy Parnell for the prototype photos.
Learn more about Prototype Saluda Grade Operations in this Southern Rwy Training Video: • Southern Railway- Salu...
As always, thanks for watching!
Josh
[Hebrews 13:8]
I love the inclusion of the music found in the Saluda grade training video, great presentation!
Now that's a true fan right there!
Same!
The training vid was absolutely fascinating. I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks afterwards.
ThePaulv12 same here! It was fascinating.
Ingen Jelly haha, absolutely.
16 people are jealous of the amazing realism here. Incredible sound overlay, modeling details, and narration
Best modeler on UA-cam
Love that 80s safety music.
Me listening and watching the train be like:
👁👄👁
It's from an NS training video on Saluda operations "The Mountain of Challenge"
Go For the Gold is the song name.
YESSSS. You used the safety training video song!
I laughed like hell when I heard the training video music
0:10 the Saluda training video music, nice touch!
Interesting video! I’ve driven up and down Saluda mtn. on I-26 many times in my 25 years as a truck driver.
Me too brother. I drove for 31 years.
VERY cool. I grew up on the lower San Francisco/Santa Clara Peninsula in the late 60s/ early 70s - when every industry was served by rail (and there WAS industry). I remember, at night, hearing not only the local trains running cars to the industries (cement, stone, steel-products, and early computers)... but the Naval Aircraft operating out of NAS Moffett Field.
This was fun to watch and brought back some fond memories. I was fortunate enough to have railfanned Saluda Grade in the spring of 1994 when we chased two relatively new SD70s (Nos. 2502 and 2523, if I remember correctly) up and down the hill. In the morning, they ran from Asheville to Spartanburg. That afternoon, they returned from Spartanburg and tripled the hill, doing exactly what this video shows. We also witnessed a Belmont coal train coming down the hill in the morning with mid-train helpers. Now that was something to see in Melrose, watching this huge train try to keep control, as it cleared the timing section and made it successfully down the mountain.
Love the inclusion of the grade training video. Thought for a minute a empty Belmont was going up the mountain.
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Excellent video! Such a great idea to include the music of the prototype training video! 👍
Love the music you got from the original Southern Saluda training video. Pretty cool addition! Nice scale modeling too.
Gives it a very 70's feel!
Love it. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing the trip down.
Very fascinating operations. I could only imagine what Saluda would be like if mid and rear DPUs were a thing back then
On the training video that the music came from, when they ran the Belmont over the grade, they used essentially Early DPU as the unmanned mid-train helpers
You’re all over I go! 😆
What is a DPU?
@@tonyromano6220 Distributed Power Unit
This is fantastic! What a great production and reenactment . Long live Saluda in HO!
I love it tour Saluda grade oh yeah I have a model railroading niche perfect for my layout thank you very very much God bless.
It is interesting that the track is still there, hopefully a tourist line can do something with it. I would hate to see such a historic part of Southeastern Railroading became just another bike trail.
I always thought a dinner train would be great. Perhaps from Inman or Landrum to Saluda back or something.
It would be dangerous to go down. If a single system fails on the train everyone could die
It would take a LOT of work to get it back into operating conditions. I believe it has two washouts.
@@trainman2226 Up is more dangerous. If something fails on the way down, you still have the locomotives at the front to slow things down: might not be enough, but it's something. If something fails on the way up, you potentially have a cut of cars disconnected from the locomotives and now you're purely reliant on car brakes.
As neat as it would be for tourism trains to operate on the grade, it's very dangerous and Norfolk Southern has left it railbanked for exactly that reason.
In the event that NS did decide to sell the portion of the W-Line that runs through Saluda, whoever bought it would have to contend with repairing significant damage to the trackbed. There's been two washouts plus the "Miracle Tree" that managed to displace one of the ties when it fell down the hill beside the tracks.
When I was a kid I can remember watching trains cross suluda mountain. They didn't always break the train up. They some times had slave units mid train and pushers at the end of the train.
I could watch your train operations all day long, very well presentation, great explanation of what is happening, love the realistic sounds of the trains and your layout is just plain Bad Ass... 👍👍👍
Killer video as always, love the realism and the detailed explanation of the Saluda Grade operations, well done!
You ought to see some of the grades we've had on this side of the pond. At the Foxfield Railway, a preserved quarry in England, there is a 1 in 6 grade out of the engine shed itself, and a 1 in 19 that full trains were dragged up out of the pits on. Now that was a display of power
The US used to be full of logging lines running at insane gradients. But Saluda was the steepest _main line_ grade. The steepest main line in the UK is the Lickey Incline, which is "only" 2.65%.
Fantastic replication of the Saluda-Melrose grade and its operations! Thanks for putting this up.
The line itself is just so full of history. Love hearing all the stories about it. Though the Saluda side of the W-Line has been laid to rest, the eastern (Columbia) side is still lively with traffic. 7-8 trains on a daily basis, and will see more in the future as port of Charleston intermodal traffic is on the rise.
Excellent video. I love how you slid the window open on the rear loco after the cut. Nice work Josh.😉👍🏿
You have the most realistic HO scale modeling on UA-cam! Sometimes just for laughs, I cue up the video on my laptop, with no intro, and the sound turned off. Then I invite a non-railfan friend to watch it telling them it's about a steep section of railway. When the video starts, the friend thinks he's watching an actual full size railroad event. At some point I will hear the words, "What the ***k" and he will look at me with complete surprise and amazement! LoL ... It gets them every time!
Absolutely awesome, and extremely well filmed! I can't wait for the descent back down!
the Saluda Grade is making its way back into service!
Great video, rail fanning to a layout with good narration. Need to see more of this, good stuff, thanks.
Awesome Video of Prototypical operation !!!
Barry
Thanks Barry!
That was an epic video! I love how much detail you put into that because it adds a very in depth touch to it!
I really admire your modeling skills.
Fantastic work! The layout, video and information are all superbly done.
Hello, super interesting and informative. All wrapped around your wonderful layout. Thanks.
Fascinating! So what industries are up the hill that require the different types of rolling stock? I recall a photo in TRAINS mag’s 100 Greatest Railroad Photos that shows three NS 6-axle units struggling to pull a cut of wood chip hoppers uphill. Your consist has wood chip cars, boxcars, tank cars, coal and grain hoppers. Videography and scenery really stir the imagination. Great video!
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing the downhill return.
Those cars are perfectly weathered.
Great video Josh. I’m in the testing phase of designing my first real layout. Your videos are very helpful.
How about them Top Hats? Fantastic video, Josh!
Thanks!
Excellent work. Based on the material I’ve seen in books this looks a whole lot like Saluda. Thanks.
This is fascinating. I lived within walking distance of the track in Tryon, NC.
Your videos are absolutely, top notch!
I just left here in real life. I was a dream to see this. Im a former railroader and always heard about saluda. It was awesome to see it in person
There was once a whole lot of trains ran thru Asheville. Southern had a pretty big operation at the yard back then. The round house was torn down a long time ago. I think most of the operations there shutdown when it became NS.
Champion Paper was wide open back then and pulp wood poured in from the east and south. Coal out of TN came thru going in every direction. Granite gravel from the quarry between Asheville and Canton headed down to the flat lands. Big operation for such a small town like Asheville. Population in the county back then well under 100k.
To this day I go up now and then to visit friends. Love to sit up on the mountain and hear the train horns coming up from the valley reliving fond old memories.......
Hello, I've seen many of your videos and your dad is awesome at making kits. I'm starting a layout of the Missouri River from St. Louis to Kansas City. Your layout is so good
Jordan S
Great video! Nice touch with addition of the music from the actual NS training video on the Saluda Grade.
Very nice.
I never knew about this line! Very interesting! Tripling the hill!
Very nice. Your camera angles create a truly realistic view. Really impressive and one can appreciate your commentary throughout this video. Thanks for sharing. 🚂
The cheesey mid 90s self help home video music Really makes this awesome.
All that's missing is the old VHS flicker you had to deal with 😁
Love these videos sir, being English our operations work quite differently to yours so it's nice to see how it's done on the other side of the pond ;)
Awesome layout! I wish I had visited the saluda grade I only live about an hour away in SC
The grade can reach 7%. My layout: hold my beer
How steep does it get?
%5.3? It's near the 8mph timing section iirc.
@@ohioandnortheastern 00
I had 4% on my layout on the branch.
I used to have a 10% grade before I fixed it.
YES YOU ARE THE BEST MODLER ON UA-cam. GREAT VIDEO AWESOME VIDEO AND VERY INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEO AND YOUR TIME HAVE A GREAT DAY JIM KAMMERER OF PHILADELPHIA PA. 👍👌
That horn is amazing
Love it. If I may, at 11:27, a real crew would stop and stretch, then the conductor would hook up the air hoses. I always like to do that, it slows things down a little.
Great video as always! I love these realistic operations videos with the narration.
Wow! Speechless!!!! That's wonderful!
Thanks Josh for another great video.
Fascinating stuff.Well explained & presented.
Some great model video work! A colleague at the office couldn't believe he was seeing a model railroad and not the real thing. I was wondering, during the Southern days, pre-merger, what operating division included Saluda? Did employee timetables include instructions for descending the grade? Again, really nice video.
this is great, my layout is the Blue Ridge Southern line that now operates those tracks and the line between Asheville and Canton
I been to the grade once...it was heartbreaking to see it bring overtake by nature again
I love this channel and this video but my favorite of all time is the Woodchips and Paper Mills in HO
Josh, very interesting details. Thanks for sharing!
nice opening 80s safety video music... love it
Very fine piece of work! Definitely like the real Saluda!
props for a nod to the southern reproramming the dash 9 horn to a p5!
Great video! The music reminded me of infomercials from the 1990s.
Excellent video, Josh
That would be so cool as a layout itself. Run 8!
Beautiful layout and a great video.
Love the music from the Southern Railway training video
Amazing video through and through! Loved it!
I walked along this railroad in 2017 and 2021, photos and videos don't do it justice how steep this was especially for trains. Growing up always thought the steepest would be in the western state. Nope.
Great history lesson Josh and video. Bob
Super awesome...as usual, thanks much
Great video !! Adds a lot of operation ideas !!
Would love to also see the Downgrade Trip modeled!
Very well done and enjoyed the video.
Very interesting information. Thanks for sharing.
That music tho! 😆😆
Nobody at Saluda:
Me: *Flashbacks of Delay in Block Productions*
MELVIN WARREN WOULD BE PROUD!!!🛤️
Up here in Canada the cp had a grade in bc that was 4.5 percent and the railway abandoned the steep hill in 1909 and built a new railway line with 2 tunnels that make the long trains loop over themselves and the railway grade is today 2.4 percent instead of 4.5 and sometimes 40 trains a day roll through the tunnels
thanks so much. hey from the River valley in Arkansas
Really cool layout!
Some of the steepest mainline grades in the west:
Cajon leaving LA was 3% but now is 2.2% on most tracks
Siskiyou CA/OR border reaches 3.67% and SP replaced that as fast as they could with a 2.2% line but the steep line still exists.
Great info! Well modeled, too.
Great show 👍
Last time I checked it was mothballed, not abandoned. NS still owns the line, which means it can be reactivated... but its not likely to happen.
Correct. They still do a minimal amount of vegetation maintenance on the line as well, I believe.
Amazing model!
According to @Delay In Block Productions Saluda is still a NS Route just awaiting to be reopened in the future.
The odds of it being opened is honestly pretty slim, as much as I would love for it to happen!
Especially with the Old Fort Loops closes to thur trains
I love the realism. 👍
This is way cool...love it!
Pretty dope operation!
Very cool. Delay In Block did an excellent documentary on this stretch of railroad. Interested folks should check out that YT channel.
Great job.
Excellent video. Superb modelling, sure, but many layouts feature this. The other half of a great video is the VIDEO, which far too many neglect. The realism of excellent modelling is all too often utterly spoiled by shaky camera work, zippy pans/tilts/zooms, etc. They forget that every millimeter camera move is magnified by the scale of the models. Eye level & locked-down camera create a much more realistic presentation!
Saluda grade is absolutely not abandoned. It's moth balled an could come back in service at anytime on any day..they will never ever abandoned this line I don't see it ever being used again but who noes but it's not abandoned
The steepest part of Saluda was 4.9%, with one section rumored to be at 5.2%. It was nowhere close to the “7-8%” grade mentioned in this video.
Just like the real grade, l like that, very nice, 👍🏿