(1896-1897) New Ten-Wheelers for the Goods Line
- Windchester Shops - December 1896a.png (463.04 KiB) Viewed 4816 times
Track improvements continued on the Second Division as well. A new consolidated shop facility with ample storage capacity was constructed east of Windchester in the fall of 1896. The Windchester Shops would assume heavy maintenance tasks for rolling stock assigned to the Windchester and Second Divisions, and incorporate a facility capable of building freight cars for the railway's use. A third double-track leg was added to Windchester Junction to allow easy access to both directions of the passenger main line. In keeping with the new line identifier system, the Goods Line was now officially known as the
Windchester Goods Branch, and assigned identifier code
2e by the track people.
- Tarborough Trunk - 04GD08 - 1900x.png (37.58 KiB) Viewed 4816 times
The time had finally come to replace the worn-out 1 class 4-6-0s that had served the railway well. Keeping in mind the recommendations of Mr. Ball, President Tyrone Shoelaces and Superintendent Max Drawbar paid a visit to the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pennsylvania to see what that builder could offer in terms of fast freight power to keep from plugging the passenger runs on the Windchester Division. Baldwin had just demonstrated an updated version of their Ten-Wheeler, capable of delivering 900 horses at the drawbar and achieving a max speed of 65 MPH. They quickly figured that a pair of these engines could start and move a 1200-ton goods train across the line without a problem, and placed an order for 4 locomotives for delivery in early 1897, numbered 300-303 on account of having 3 drive axles.
Another development of equal significance was the new 40-foot boxcar design with a steel underframe and the new Andrews truck (bogie) design capable of 80 MPH. These features also raised the load capacity from 32,000 to 44,000 lbs per car. The Windchester Shops were capable of constructing these cars in house, and proceeded to assemble enough "fast forties" for goods service. These up-to-date boxcars quickly replaced the swaybacked wooden cars in service up to that time.
- OldOneSpot-1900.png (119.39 KiB) Viewed 4816 times
Locomotive Number 1 was pulled from service and placed in storage at Windchester Shops at the request of President Shoelaces, who planned on eventually displaying it in front of company headquarters. Number 5 joined it, but numbers 3 and 4 were not so lucky, earning the inglorious honor of being the first locos scrapped on the Tarborough Trunk. Number 2 toiled away for the time being, double-headed with a 2-8-0 in steel service.
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Quite a few things: I changed jobs and moved twice, traveled to Mexico and Sweden on business, put my desktop computer (the one on which I played this game) in storage, got a replacement laptop, and started several new games since then. I also wound up in the hospital with high blood pressure, and my doc made it clear I needed to spend less time on the computer and more time getting some exercise. Given that I moved to Reno, Nevada back in February of this year, I took advantage of summer weather and being within an hour's drive of the Sierra Nevada to do some hiking and train-chasing on the Union Pacific over Donner Pass. I'll get back to more OTTD as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, and maybe I will pick up where I left off, but as much as I enjoy OpenTTD, it's not my only form of entertainment...
