On30 ET&WNC R.R.

[davefoxx]

Not doing much in the layout room today but a little JFRTM.  I did pop those two passenger cars apart and cut the wires to turn out those awful flickering interior lights.  I never was a fan of lighted passenger cars, but these were particularly bad.  Look at the picture of the train on the trestle on the previous page, and you'll see what I mean.  Problem solved, though.

DFF

[wm3798]

I'm looking at the route map, which is very simplified, and the time table, which includes the station names, then comparing it to the current satellite maps.  I'm trying to trace it from the "Old Tweetsie Road" intersection at the 105 where it crosses the Watauga, and I just can't figure out how it got into Boone.  105 is pretty flat and straight from there back through Foscoe and on toward Linville, so I suspect the road is built on the grade.  But from that point going toward Boone, there's a valley to the left of the highway that looks like a reasonable enough approach, but in that area, the road itself climbs a pretty steep grade, and that valley just dies into a very steep hollow by the cement plant.   I don't have a topo map to reference, but it looks like it follows the Upper Laurel Fork north of the ridge that runs next to the 105, then curls back around to come in at the north side of Boone.  I'm pretty sure the depot stood a block above the main street, along Boone Creek near Water Street and W. Howard. (I recall seeing an historical marker in that vicinity, but we didn't go into town this year so I couldn't confirm it.)

Further confusing things, I always thought the Tweetsie amusement park was built on part of the original grade, but in looking at its location vis a vis the stations on the route map, the location of Old Tweetsie Road, and the park's location well to the south and east, it doesn't seem like that's possible.  There's also not much terrain between there and Boone that's plausible.

Having been able to ferret out most of the abandoned Ma&Pa over the years, as well as the BC&E here on the Shore, it's frustrating how completely the Tweetsie seems to evade tracing via satellite.



Anyone have any better information?  I just want to find any landmarks that might be helpful next time I visit the area.
Lee

[davefoxx]

@wm3798,

Tweetsie Railroad is not built on the former ET&WNC right-of-way.  It's just a loop of track near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  I agree that it's nearly impossible to find the ET&WNC right-of-way on Google Maps.  I'm guessing that a lot of the right-of-way became roads.  As far as the entry into Boone, I was looking at a Railroad Atlas not long ago, and I think the ET came into town from the south or southeast around U.S. Route 321 or N.C. Route 105.

DFF

[Chris333]

A lot of times you can turn on "terrain" in Google maps and boom be able to see the outline of roadbed that was impossible to see.

[wm3798]

Having driven in via 105, I can tell you it's a brutish hill coming up from the River.  Unless it was a crazy switchback, there's no way it follows the road up that way.
I'd be interested in seeing that map, though.
Lee

[davefoxx]

Having driven in via 105, I can tell you it's a brutish hill coming up from the River.  Unless it was a crazy switchback, there's no way it follows the road up that way.
I'd be interested in seeing that map, though.
Lee

I'll try to remember to pull that RR Atlas out tonight.  Stand by.

DFF

[p51]

The last time I was in the area was in 2005 and went to Tweetsie. I wanted to drive back through to Cranberry and the known ET&WNC right of way but didn't have the time to do so.
Keep in the mind, that line's been gone since 1940, when the mother of all hurricanes parked over the region and dumped feet of water. It killed line past Cranberry for good once the ICC saw the condition of the line and the old Linville River.

[Chris333]

This is a quickie I made. The yellow is an outline I could find in terrain and the red is just a general route that another map showed.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1c4GANEeBjbA0zzrK_falZI1EA76JB2xO&ll=36.20520517162784%2C-81.707847&z=14

[davefoxx]

I think you’re in the ballpark, Chris.  That’s definitely the direction that the ET entered Boone.

DFF

[p51]

I'd never noticed that the green-gold "50th anniversary paint job" models have the solid pilot wheels. The wartime black painted ones have the spoked wheels. Even my #14 had solid wheels. I'll be swapping those out soon. I really need to get around to weathering 14, putting real coal into the tender and adding crew figures...
That said, I have never run it in op sessions as 14 was in Alaska when I model the line in 1943. I'm tempted to rub off the 14 and turn it into 10 just for the heck of it, to have something few people have, as I also took another wartime black 12 and turned it into 9...

I also bought two of these tank cars, which are real good stand-ins for the ET&WNC's tankers:

Yeah, the undec tank cars are awfully close to the 600 series tankers the ET&WNC had. The only thing lacking is the small platform at the top of the ladder.
Sadly, by the time I model the ET&WNC in the 40s, only 604 and 600 were still on the property.
I made decals for the tank bodies, and while not perfect they look pretty decent if I do say so myself:

Here's the real thing, from the 30s:

I even included the Johnson City pressure test markings, as noted in Johnny Greybeal's excellent series of books on the ET&WNC...
I talked with a guy from Bachmann at the National train show in Portland about this. I gave him prints of high-res photos I took of my cars and the real thing, showing him they could finally have a ET&WNC car to sell with very little effort. He said he'd work up a prototype and show the powers that be...
...and nothing ever happened.
 
I'm so thankful Bachmann did those ten-wheelers in On30, but I have always been baffled as to why they never made a single RTR car with the road name.

[davefoxx]

@p51,

I haven't pulled my wartime No. 12 out of the box since I realized the pilot wheels on No. 14 were wrong, so if it turns out that I don't have to swap out those wheels, great!  Although, I'll admit that it's not hard, but I prefer not to have to manhandle the locomotive while performing the swap.

Those tanker decals of yours look really nice.  The weathering, too.  Kudos!

Wasn't No. 9 a slightly smaller ten-wheeler?  I thought only Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 14 were similar.  Not that the average person would ever notice.  Regardless, I'm so happy that No. 12 survives to this day.  Hard to believe that it's over 100 years old!

Well, your statement explains why I can't find any ET&WNC freight or passenger cars in On30!  Bachmann made an entire set of both in G scale.  The G scale bobber caboose, which admittedly is way too early for my era, is damn near perfect with minor modifications.  It's my favorite G scale model.  So, why not in On30, if Bachmann did the hard part and built and decorated the locomotives? 

DFF

[p51]

Those tanker decals of yours look really nice.  The weathering, too.  Kudos!

Wasn't No. 9 a slightly smaller ten-wheeler?

If you want, I can send you a digital file to print your own if you want. I'd be happy to share.
As for 9, yeah, it was just a little smaller but it just looks so good as I doubt anyone else has 9 in On30.

[davefoxx]

If you want, I can send you a digital file to print your own if you want. I'd be happy to share.
As for 9, yeah, it was just a little smaller but it just looks so good as I doubt anyone else has 9 in On30.

That'd be great.  I'll PM you my info.  I agree, no one else will have No. 9, so that will be cool.  No one has No. 13, either! 

Thanks!
DFF

[davefoxx]

@wm3798,

Unfortunately, the RR Atlas is not going to be any help, as it has no detail.  It's good for showing the relation to Tweetsie RR and the direction into Boone, but that's about it.  I think the right-of-way follows Route 105 for the most part.



DFF

[Chris333]

I found this:
http://cfordart.com/maps/ordersingle.html
Looks like they want you to buy it though.

Edit:
Here is a sample from it:
http://cfordart.com/maps/mapdetail.pdf

If you zoom in it is pretty detailed.