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.
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.
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%.
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
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.
@@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.
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.
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.......
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!
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... 👍👍👍
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
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.
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!
Very nice. Your camera angles create a truly realistic view. Really impressive and one can appreciate your commentary throughout this video. Thanks for sharing. 🚂
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. 👍👌
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 ;)
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.
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
Does an NS local turn always operate out of a yard or can it leave a yard light and go to a small interchange track to pick up and deliver cars in that area?
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.
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
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.
YESSSS. You used the safety training video song!
I laughed like hell when I heard the training video music
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.
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.
0:10 the Saluda training video music, nice touch!
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.
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.
Love the inclusion of the grade training video. Thought for a minute a empty Belmont was going up the mountain.
This is fantastic! What a great production and reenactment . Long live Saluda in HO!
Fantastic replication of the Saluda-Melrose grade and its operations! Thanks for putting this up.
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%.
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
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.
Killer video as always, love the realism and the detailed explanation of the Saluda Grade operations, well done!
Great video, rail fanning to a layout with good narration. Need to see more of this, good stuff, thanks.
Absolutely awesome, and extremely well filmed! I can't wait for the descent back down!
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.
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.
That was an epic video! I love how much detail you put into that because it adds a very in depth touch to it!
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.......
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!
Fantastic work! The layout, video and information are all superbly done.
Excellent video! Such a great idea to include the music of the prototype training video! 👍
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... 👍👍👍
Excellent video. I love how you slid the window open on the rear loco after the cut. Nice work Josh.😉👍🏿
Great video Josh. I’m in the testing phase of designing my first real layout. Your videos are very helpful.
Hello, super interesting and informative. All wrapped around your wonderful layout. Thanks.
I really admire your modeling skills.
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yes
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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
Excellent work. Based on the material I’ve seen in books this looks a whole lot like Saluda. Thanks.
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing the downhill return.
Very nice.
I never knew about this line! Very interesting! Tripling the hill!
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.
Great video! Nice touch with addition of the music from the actual NS training video on the Saluda Grade.
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
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.
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!
Your videos are absolutely, top notch!
Awesome Video of Prototypical operation !!!
Barry
Thanks Barry!
Very nice. Your camera angles create a truly realistic view. Really impressive and one can appreciate your commentary throughout this video. Thanks for sharing. 🚂
Great video as always! I love these realistic operations videos with the narration.
This is fascinating. I lived within walking distance of the track in Tryon, NC.
Awesome layout! I wish I had visited the saluda grade I only live about an hour away in SC
the Saluda Grade is making its way back into service!
this is great, my layout is the Blue Ridge Southern line that now operates those tracks and the line between Asheville and Canton
Fascinating stuff.Well explained & presented.
You keep the memory of this alive, for sure. You can see why it's not in operation now.
I love this channel and this video but my favorite of all time is the Woodchips and Paper Mills in HO
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. 👍👌
nice opening 80s safety video music... love it
Thanks Josh for another great video.
Josh, very interesting details. Thanks for sharing!
Love the music from the Southern Railway training video
Beautiful layout and a great video.
That would be so cool as a layout itself. Run 8!
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 ;)
Excellent video, Josh
How about them Top Hats? Fantastic video, Josh!
Thanks!
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.
Those cars are perfectly weathered.
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.
Wow! Speechless!!!! That's wonderful!
Very fine piece of work! Definitely like the real Saluda!
Great history lesson Josh and video. Bob
thanks so much. hey from the River valley in Arkansas
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.
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
Amazing video through and through! Loved it!
Very well done and enjoyed the video.
Great video !! Adds a lot of operation ideas !!
Would love to also see the Downgrade Trip modeled!
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.
Very interesting information. Thanks for sharing.
That horn is amazing
Super awesome...as usual, thanks much
That music tho! 😆😆
I been to the grade once...it was heartbreaking to see it bring overtake by nature again
Great info! Well modeled, too.
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
What type of horn is at @13:10
Really cool layout!
Great show 👍
Amazing model!
MELVIN WARREN WOULD BE PROUD!!!🛤️
Pretty dope operation!
Nobody at Saluda:
Me: *Flashbacks of Delay in Block Productions*
Does an NS local turn always operate out of a yard or can it leave a yard light and go to a small interchange track to pick up and deliver cars in that area?
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.
I love the realism. 👍
I recognize the music !!!! Nice job.
Haha thanks!
This is way cool...love it!
Great vid! But why does the leader have a P5 when it looks like a K5LA?
This pails to the 18% grade on one of the redwood logging railways in northern California.
Logging railroads are interesting but no comparison to this unique mainline action
what brand of flex track do you use?Im debateing between atlas or peco for my next layout