MSTS Kentville Yard

[Paul Charland]

Hi All,

Found what I needed to find to start the DAR in Microsoft Train-sim. Today I've been able to lay about half the Kentville yard. I have markers placed from Coldbrook to East Wolfville and from the Kentville Yard to the Centerville wye. I think I have a car load for Canning so I might end up there some time.It's going to take months to complete this, hopefully by then Google will have filled in the missing satellite shots between East Wolfville and Windsor. I hope to get right into the Halifax station some time in the future, but that can be a future update after the Kentville to Windsor section is completed and posted. If this ever gets done then I can always head south and see how far I get before I'm old and grey... well, old anyway, the grey part's already started!

I'm shooting for the early to mid '70s for the route, Steve will get a working copy when I get that far to convert the route to steam era.

Now... can anyone post a diagram of the trackage in the Aldershot area, even a scan of a sketch would be more then I have now.

Paul

[stem]

Obviously only one person can really work on the actual rail line however, there might be some help available to build assets for the line if you coordinate with us and let us know what you want built in the way of buildings and rolling stock.

As well, I know not the scope of what you have in mind but don't eliminate the possibility of one day including the Kinsport branch! (please?)

[Paul Charland]

Hi Steve,

I have the markers as far as the wye at Centerville placed, I'm sure I can add to this in the future. What I need as some kind of sketch of the Aldershot trackage, I'll be there in a couple of days.

I have track laid from Coldbrook to the south end of Wolfville including the main part of the Kentville yard. Once I finish Wolfville tomorrow I'll be finishing the Kentville yard, then hope to move west on the Kingsport, but I'll need some kind of diagram for the Altershot trackage as it's been removed and leveled by the time the Google shots were taken.

Went looking for help on the Atlantic group today, got nothing for my efforts other then the moderator making a childish remark. Guess the DAR is still not welcome there, after eight years I let the group.

Paul

[stem]

That's too bad to hear about the AR group, however, I believe that between at least Mike (fergusontea) and Dan Conlin, maybe Bev Buchanan and in particular "Viva", there might be a chance to get the more specific trackage information you need to layout the track.

[Paul Charland]

Hi Steve,

I did ask a couple of days ago here about Aldershot and haven't heard a reply, that's why I asked at AR this morning.

I know this group's on the under active/quiet side, should be more patient I guess. When I'm working on a route I tend to do things in batches, the rails, the roads, the rivers, then structures, and finally trees. Going to run out of information in a couple of days before I run out of rails!

Paul

[stem]

It tends to be quieter than big Yahoo groups I guess because we are smaller and as such I think some folks don't tend to check us as often.

Use those user names I mentioned and send them personal mail instead perhaps.

[fergusontea]

I made a WILD guess as to where the Aldershot wye was. You can still sort of see something of a faint ghost in the terrain on the Google satellite images.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 3&t=h&z=17

If this isn't right, and it's probably not, please let me know how to fix it.

-mike

[Paul Charland]

Hi Mike,

Thanks a bunch, that'll be a big help. I was reading an employee's timetable the other day and it mentioned the wye at Aldershot and I just couldn't find it.

Paul

[Dan Conlin]

I think Mike is pretty close with his Google plotting of the wye, going by my 1960s topo map. I also walked the CVR last spring from Kentville to Canning, but the wye area is very hard to trace on the ground because the base has done a lot of levelling to expand the parade ground. I think the Aldershot station has also been moved a bit because it is now on somewhat of a rise. I will try to get me friend at work to scan my sketch maps of the route if that helps. There is a small 5 foot span bridge with stone abutments at mile 1 and was a mysterious spur at mile .55 which Irving oil used at one point according to a 1931 Employee timetable. If anyone lives in Ottawa, the National Air Photo library has great air photos of the whole CVR route in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. I have used them selectively for Beriwck and Kingsport research. You use binocular views and everything pops out in 3D.

Dan Conlin

[Paul Charland]

Hi Dan,

I've finished as far east as I can go on the Halifax Sub and just starting to lay the north side of the yard in Kentville.

Any help with trackage would be appreciated along the Kingsport line.

Paul

[Dan Conlin]

I will put up the ALdershot field notes by next weekend - busy with midterms for my students this week. I assume you have checked out the pages on the Kingsport Subdivision category? I put a fair bit in there about sidings, stations warehouses etc.
Any chance at getting a screenshot look or some such of your "yard work"?

Dan Conlin

[Paul Charland]

Hi Dan,

I'm half way through the north side of the yard, should be able to finish that tomorrow and start heading for Centerville. The Google map you posted will be a great help, I tried to follow the route east and there were a few places that have been plowed so much there was no trace of the line to follow.

Once I finish laying track in a few days I can post a beta for anyone interested who has MSTS, everyone is welcome to it. If you are going to beta test I'd like any feedback if you see anything wrong. I'm shooting for the early '70s but it's not like a have tons of information to work from. Things change, just have to look at the 1977 aerial shot of Wolfville and the Current Google Earth shot to see the changes... well, could say the same for Kentville but that's pretty obvious. Not going to get everything right, but would like to get it reasonable.

Took about 20 minutes to run an RDC from the eastern most part to Coldbrook this afternoon. I can also post screen shots, not too much to see other then rails and hills.

Paul

[Ric]

Once I finish laying track in a few days I can post a beta for anyone interested who has MSTS, everyone is welcome to it.

Paul

Ahem mememememememememememememe...............

[stem]

You KNOW I want in on this Paul!!! Let me know when the beta is ready. This is going to be just too good!!

[Paul Charland]

Hi Ric,

When it's finished it will be a freeware route... that is finished in parts of course! Anyone with MSTS is welcome to beta test, I think the more eyes the better chance of someone seeing something wrong and I'll be able to make corrections.

I'd like to go as far a Middleton at some point, just because I have little knowledge of the line south of there other than Cornwallis... but that would be well into the future, maybe if enough information surfaces the entire railway could be done, but that's a bit ambitious right now.

Steve offered to do what he can and I'll take him up on that when I get a little further. Last summer when I was trying to find the information to get the route started someone posted a new CP SW-1200RS file at train-sim.com, didn't download it at the time and now it's been removed for some reason, so at some point I'll have to stop and draw one. Maybe Steve would be so kind as to paint and letter a set for the DAR, back in '73 they were still running units in all three paint scheme. Probably will need to draw a caboose or two, I think they would all have been plywood at the time but I've seen shots that make me think there were two heights of cupolas used.

Anyways, this is going to take many moons, probably a year to do Coldbrook to Windsor if Google Earth posts the missing satellite shots. If it gets to the point where I'm finished the scenery for what I have and Google hasn't uploaded the missing shots their satellite shots are complete from Kingsport to Wilmot, so I would start working in that direction.

Paul