A story I had thought up at work. :=3
Apr. 10th, 2007 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lionkingcmslAs some, most, of you know I have a model railroad named the South Jersey and Western. I have also figured out the paint schemes, numbering and other info. I have even gone so far as to plot the routes and even schedules of some of the trains.
The flagship train for the SJ&W is The Phantom. It departs Camden, NJ and Chicago at 8pm local time and it would take about 18.5 hours to get to the other city. I figure that Camden not only had not gotten depressed, but had thrived, and became a twin city of Philly, much like Tampa - St. Pete and Minneapolis - St. Paul. I have even came up with a time line on different innovations of The Phantom.
So here is a story that takes place 3 years in the future, if the SJ&W was a real railroad.
---------------
It is the year 2010 and you are heading towards the South Jersey & Western's Camden coach yards. You were lucky to get one of the limited number of tickets for the SJ&W's unveiling of their new passenger train. There has been speculation in the railroad press on what this new train would be. There had been photos of a mystery train set wrapped in white plastic. The SJ&W had also upgraded all their track, signaling, and infrastructure between Camden and Chicago, through Carlisle, PA, and Washington to Avondale, PA. There had been rumors of test trains running in excess of one hundred miles per hour on some sections.
You arrive at the coach yard's east end, on the south side. The day is a perfect spring day. It seems that the event planners knew what they were doing. There is a flat car gaily decorated with seats and a podium with the SJ&W herald on the front. To your left is a large screen with paper blocking 3 tracks. As you watch a crowd of well-dressed people climb the stairs to the flat car and take their seats. A well-known man, the president of the SJ&W, steps up to the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press and invited guests, welcome to a historic day for the South Jersey and Western. We are here to usher in a new age in rail passenger travel.
"As you know in 1922 we introduced The Phantom to the traveling public."
As he says this a bright spot appears on the paper blockade and grows smaller and brighter, along with the chuff of a steam locomotive. Then a gleaming Np class steam engine bursts through the paper, 3 tracks behind the flat car, and pulls to stop with the tender behind the president. Behind the tender is a heavyweight set of The Phantom.
The president continues, "We continued to improve the train until we ended with the Np class locomotive, that you now see. In 1947 we decided we had reached the pinnacle with the old cars and decided to upgrade to keep our commitment to our passengers."
At this time another spot of light appears, this time two tracks behind the president, and the unmistakable growl of an Alco prime mover is heard. This time a set of waxed PA-1s, hauling a train of lightweight cars, bursts through the paper and stops behind the tender of the Np.
"We started with the PAs, which you see, and kept on upgrading until we are now using, on some trains, the new Genesis P-42s. We kept upgrading our trains to keep up with the changing times.
"It is now time, at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, to introduce the next level of passenger train travel."
He now points to his right and a third spot of light appears, with a sound unlike you’ve heard before. It almost sounds like a jet engine. This time a curvilinear, engine appears through the paper, hauling a matched set of angular cars. It pulls to a stop directly behind the president.
"These train sets will not only be used between Camden and Chicago, on The Phantom, but also between Washington and Chicago, on the Westwind. We have upgraded our infrastructure to handle increased speeds and are confident that times between the end points can be reduced by one to two hours.
"It is our commitment to our passengers that keeps us pressing forward with new technology as it proven and economically viable to implement.
"Ladies and gentlemen I now, officially, present for your inspection, the newest incarnation of The Phantom."
As he finishes you notice that the doors on the train set open and the VIPs enter the first car. You eventually get to enter and find that you are in the baggage area of the first car. As you walk towards the rear you find that there are sleeping quarters on both sides. A sign indicates that this is the dormitory for the crew members. You walk through a set of doors and cross into the next car. With some surprise you notice that there is no separation between the diaphragms. A SJ&W employee tells you that this train set is semi-permanently coupled together. The next car you find is a sleeper. It is outfitted in soothing tones and everything seems to be very comfortable. The third car is a duplicate of the second.
The fourth car is the diner. It seems to be a throw back, in style, to the grand diners of railroading's heyday. On the tables are linen tablecloths, napkins and fine china, with the The Phantom's logo. It is remarked that the linen and china will be used on every train and is not just for display. A menu is also displayed and it also harks back to the glory days. On it are prime rib, fresh salmon and other delicacies.
The next car is the lounge car, also harking back to the glory days. No tables and booths here, but comfortable couches, chairs and side tables. A look at the counter shows that a large selection of goodies will be available for purchase. The sixth and seventh cars are coaches that seem to be quite comfortable. The chairs seem to be more like recliners found in your living room than seating in a train. There are power outlets at each seat and connections for networking. A sign indicates that the networking outlets are connected to a roof mounted antenna that connects to a SJ&W owned, trackside, wi-fi network. There are also jacks for headphones and selection sheet for satellite radio stations.
The eighth car is also a coach, but with only one set of doors, unlike cars two through seven that had doors on both ends. The first car also had only one set of doors. This car has a sign indicating that it is a "Quiet Car" and no loud noises will be tolerated.
As you pass out of the car and get ready to dis-embark you look through the open doorway into the other locomotive. You can see part of the prime mover and associated equipment. Everything is polished and clean. You see a sign that says, "Keep it clean! Make your job easier!" The SJ&W is keeping with its tradition of cleanliness in everything it does.
As you leave someone hands you a souvenir brochure that mentions all that you have seen and other tidbits of information.
Before you leave you head towards the front of the display and are able to get a shot of the past, present and future of the SJ&W’s passenger operations.
The end.
-----------
Here are some drawings of the equipment I'm talking about. Click on images for larger, way larger, views.
The Np steam locomotive - it is based on the SP GS-4 class:
The PA diesel set:
The new train set. It is a turbine version of Amtrak's Acela train set. Note that the drawing doesn't accurately reflect the proper angles on the power car:
As for the other engines mentioned, the P-42 Genesis, they are the diesels that Amtrak uses on most of their long distance trains.
Here are some photos of how I see the scene. I haven't the room for the coach yard, yet. I also haven't painted the equipment to match the drawings. That will be done, though of the models pictured only to the Acela set. Hopefully by 2010 I will be able to pose the models to correspond with the story. ;=3
Side view:
A 3/4 angle view from the front:
Finally a shot of the full layout
The flagship train for the SJ&W is The Phantom. It departs Camden, NJ and Chicago at 8pm local time and it would take about 18.5 hours to get to the other city. I figure that Camden not only had not gotten depressed, but had thrived, and became a twin city of Philly, much like Tampa - St. Pete and Minneapolis - St. Paul. I have even came up with a time line on different innovations of The Phantom.
So here is a story that takes place 3 years in the future, if the SJ&W was a real railroad.
---------------
It is the year 2010 and you are heading towards the South Jersey & Western's Camden coach yards. You were lucky to get one of the limited number of tickets for the SJ&W's unveiling of their new passenger train. There has been speculation in the railroad press on what this new train would be. There had been photos of a mystery train set wrapped in white plastic. The SJ&W had also upgraded all their track, signaling, and infrastructure between Camden and Chicago, through Carlisle, PA, and Washington to Avondale, PA. There had been rumors of test trains running in excess of one hundred miles per hour on some sections.
You arrive at the coach yard's east end, on the south side. The day is a perfect spring day. It seems that the event planners knew what they were doing. There is a flat car gaily decorated with seats and a podium with the SJ&W herald on the front. To your left is a large screen with paper blocking 3 tracks. As you watch a crowd of well-dressed people climb the stairs to the flat car and take their seats. A well-known man, the president of the SJ&W, steps up to the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press and invited guests, welcome to a historic day for the South Jersey and Western. We are here to usher in a new age in rail passenger travel.
"As you know in 1922 we introduced The Phantom to the traveling public."
As he says this a bright spot appears on the paper blockade and grows smaller and brighter, along with the chuff of a steam locomotive. Then a gleaming Np class steam engine bursts through the paper, 3 tracks behind the flat car, and pulls to stop with the tender behind the president. Behind the tender is a heavyweight set of The Phantom.
The president continues, "We continued to improve the train until we ended with the Np class locomotive, that you now see. In 1947 we decided we had reached the pinnacle with the old cars and decided to upgrade to keep our commitment to our passengers."
At this time another spot of light appears, this time two tracks behind the president, and the unmistakable growl of an Alco prime mover is heard. This time a set of waxed PA-1s, hauling a train of lightweight cars, bursts through the paper and stops behind the tender of the Np.
"We started with the PAs, which you see, and kept on upgrading until we are now using, on some trains, the new Genesis P-42s. We kept upgrading our trains to keep up with the changing times.
"It is now time, at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, to introduce the next level of passenger train travel."
He now points to his right and a third spot of light appears, with a sound unlike you’ve heard before. It almost sounds like a jet engine. This time a curvilinear, engine appears through the paper, hauling a matched set of angular cars. It pulls to a stop directly behind the president.
"These train sets will not only be used between Camden and Chicago, on The Phantom, but also between Washington and Chicago, on the Westwind. We have upgraded our infrastructure to handle increased speeds and are confident that times between the end points can be reduced by one to two hours.
"It is our commitment to our passengers that keeps us pressing forward with new technology as it proven and economically viable to implement.
"Ladies and gentlemen I now, officially, present for your inspection, the newest incarnation of The Phantom."
As he finishes you notice that the doors on the train set open and the VIPs enter the first car. You eventually get to enter and find that you are in the baggage area of the first car. As you walk towards the rear you find that there are sleeping quarters on both sides. A sign indicates that this is the dormitory for the crew members. You walk through a set of doors and cross into the next car. With some surprise you notice that there is no separation between the diaphragms. A SJ&W employee tells you that this train set is semi-permanently coupled together. The next car you find is a sleeper. It is outfitted in soothing tones and everything seems to be very comfortable. The third car is a duplicate of the second.
The fourth car is the diner. It seems to be a throw back, in style, to the grand diners of railroading's heyday. On the tables are linen tablecloths, napkins and fine china, with the The Phantom's logo. It is remarked that the linen and china will be used on every train and is not just for display. A menu is also displayed and it also harks back to the glory days. On it are prime rib, fresh salmon and other delicacies.
The next car is the lounge car, also harking back to the glory days. No tables and booths here, but comfortable couches, chairs and side tables. A look at the counter shows that a large selection of goodies will be available for purchase. The sixth and seventh cars are coaches that seem to be quite comfortable. The chairs seem to be more like recliners found in your living room than seating in a train. There are power outlets at each seat and connections for networking. A sign indicates that the networking outlets are connected to a roof mounted antenna that connects to a SJ&W owned, trackside, wi-fi network. There are also jacks for headphones and selection sheet for satellite radio stations.
The eighth car is also a coach, but with only one set of doors, unlike cars two through seven that had doors on both ends. The first car also had only one set of doors. This car has a sign indicating that it is a "Quiet Car" and no loud noises will be tolerated.
As you pass out of the car and get ready to dis-embark you look through the open doorway into the other locomotive. You can see part of the prime mover and associated equipment. Everything is polished and clean. You see a sign that says, "Keep it clean! Make your job easier!" The SJ&W is keeping with its tradition of cleanliness in everything it does.
As you leave someone hands you a souvenir brochure that mentions all that you have seen and other tidbits of information.
Before you leave you head towards the front of the display and are able to get a shot of the past, present and future of the SJ&W’s passenger operations.
The end.
-----------
Here are some drawings of the equipment I'm talking about. Click on images for larger, way larger, views.
The Np steam locomotive - it is based on the SP GS-4 class:
The PA diesel set:
The new train set. It is a turbine version of Amtrak's Acela train set. Note that the drawing doesn't accurately reflect the proper angles on the power car:
As for the other engines mentioned, the P-42 Genesis, they are the diesels that Amtrak uses on most of their long distance trains.
Here are some photos of how I see the scene. I haven't the room for the coach yard, yet. I also haven't painted the equipment to match the drawings. That will be done, though of the models pictured only to the Acela set. Hopefully by 2010 I will be able to pose the models to correspond with the story. ;=3
Side view:
A 3/4 angle view from the front:
Finally a shot of the full layout
