CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 1 of 21
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CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 1 of 21 CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Porters, PA - Hagerstown, MD © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 2 of 21 Contents Page Introduction 3 History 4 Operations 6 Signals and Signs 9 Signaling Custom Scenarios 10 Scenarios 11 Locomotives 14 Cab Controls 17 Rolling Stock 20 Credits and Acknowledgements 21 © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 3 of 21 INTRODUCTION CSX’s Hanover Subdivision is a remarkable rail line that packs an extraordinary variety of topography, operating challenges, tonnage – and American history – into the 62 route miles that stretch from Hagerstown, Maryland to Hanover Pennsylvania and the nearby junction at Porters. What is today CSX’s Hanover Subdivision was for decades a route of the much beloved Western Maryland Railway and the line was (and is) nicknamed “The Dutch Line” for is passage through the region’s beautiful and oft- times rugged “Pennsylvania Dutch” countryside. High Iron Simulations has re-created for Train Simulator the western portion of the Hanover Subdivision (the complete CSX subdivision extends on eastward to Baltimore, Maryland), and the route features urban settings at Hanover, Gettysburg, and Hagerstown; the rugged and demanding crossing of South Mountain (the northern extension of the Blue Ridge) and Jack’s Mountain; more than 20 lineside shippers including massive aggregates, cement, and agricultural facilities; © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 4 of 21 interchanges with four railroads; and passage through rolling farmland that translates into a “saw tooth” gradient profile and “roller coaster” railroading. The Hanover Subdivision passes, too, through “Hallowed Ground” – a portion of the American Civil War Gettysburg battlefield where, on July 1, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed in the first of three days of unrelenting battle. Indeed, it was from Gettysburg’s railroad station on Carlisle Street that President Abraham Lincoln arrived by train four months after the battle to give his monumental “Gettysburg Address.” HISTORY Today’s CSX Hanover Subdivision is, by American railroading standards, relatively ancient, with the oldest portions of the line dating to the 1850s. Like so many rail lines, the route was born via an alphabet soup of small railroads that eventually were merged to, in this case, form portions of the Western Maryland Railway. It was on May 27, 1852 that the Maryland General Assembly issued a charter to link the Baltimore area and Hagerstown. The character was originally granted to the Baltimore, Carroll & Frederick Railroad, but was soon amended to give name to the Western Maryland Railroad. This charter route, eventually to be constructed via Emory Grove and Highfield to Hagerstown, had reached Union Bridge by 1862. Further to the north, several small railroads were being built which were destined to become part of the Hanover Subdivision. The Hanover Branch Railroad was built from Hanover Junction (some 14 miles east of the town of Hanover) via Porters to Hanover in 1851-52. And west from Hanover, the Gettysburg Railroad was constructed, reaching its namesake town in 1858. Then came the American Civil War – and construction on both the Western Maryland charter line and the line via Gettysburg would not resume until after the war’s end. © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 5 of 21 The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1-3, 1863, as the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under the command of Lt. General Robert E. Lee clashed with the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General George Gordon Meade. The initial hard fighting occurred west of Gettysburg along McPherson and Seminary ridges. At the time, the completed railroad extended only into Gettysburg from the east, but the grading had been completed further west. What is today known as the “the Railway Cut” was the scene of hard and brutal fighting and is now part of the preserved and magnificent Gettysburg National Military Park. Four months after the battle, via the Hanover Branch Railroad and the Gettysburg Railroad, President Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg to give his “Gettysburg Address” at the consecration of the then-new National Cemetery at Gettysburg. En route to Gettysburg, Lincoln changed trains and spoke to an assembled crowd at Hanover. Following the war, work on the railroads finally resumed in 1868. The Western Maryland charter line reached Highfield (via Thurmont) and Hagerstown in 1872, opening what would be WM’s direct Baltimore-Hagerstown route. To the north, what had become known as the Baltimore & Hanover Railroad and the Gettysburg Railroad were extended to Orrtanna by 1885. A year later, Western Maryland took control of those railroads (consolidated as the Baltimore & Harrisburg Railway). In 1889, under the guise of the Baltimore & Harrisburg, WM extended the line from Orrtanna, up the east slope of South Mountain to Highfield, thus giving the railroad two routes between Emory Grove and Highfield. In 1893, the B&H also opened a line from Porters Junction, just east of Hanover, to York, Pennsylvania. For nearly a century to follow, the two lines across the mountains served as important arteries for the Western Maryland, handling both locally originated traffic and bridge traffic moving on Western Maryland’s “Alpha Jet” priority freights. Passenger service was always something of an afterthought on the Western Maryland and scheduled service on the “Dutch Line” was gone by the 1950s, although the route over the years was host to many special excursions spawned by the © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 6 of 21 attractive calling cards of historic Gettysburg and the beautiful countryside. Although the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad gained control of the Western Maryland in the late 1920s, the WM operated largely independently until the 1973 formation of Chessie System (which integrated the operations of the Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio, and Western Maryland). In turn, Chessie was absorbed in 1987 into CSX Transportation. Today, the Hagerstown – Highfield – Gettysburg – Hanover – Emory Grove line is the heart of the CSX Hanover Subdivision. The ex-WM line from Highfield to Emory Grove via Union Bridge was, beginning in 1983, spun off to the short line Maryland Midland, which remains an active interchange partner with the Hanover Subdivision. The ex-WM line from Porters Junction north to York was sold in 1989 to short line York Railway. Also an active interchange partner with CSX, York Rail additionally operates an “island” section of ex-Pennsylvania Railroad industrial trackage in Hanover. OPERATIONS Given that much of the Hanover Subdivision was built both early and economically, the route is a demanding one. Its crossings of South and Jack’s mountains feature grades of more than 1.5 percent on the east and west slopes. Both slopes were home to helper operations in the Western Maryland era. The line is often circuitous and features horseshoes at Greenstone and Fairfield on the east slope and a single tunnel on Jack’s Mountain. Even apart from the mountain crossing, the railroad tends to be an “up one hill and down another” property as it passes through rolling farmlands. Indeed, the nature of the “Dutch Line” earned it a second, less-eloquent nickname, “the tapeworm.” © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 7 of 21 The Hanover Subdivision connects with the Norfolk Southern Lurgan Branch and Hagerstown District and the CSX Lurgan Subdivision at Hagerstown; the Maryland Midland at Highfield and Emory Grove; the Gettysburg & Northern (an ex- Reading line) at Gettysburg; and York Rail at Porters and Hanover. The route is rich in originating tonnage, much of which is aggregates, cement, and agricultural products. Especially large quarry operations actively served by the railroad are located at Security, Greenstone, and Bittinger. Operations on the Hanover Subdivision are primarily based at Hagerstown and Hanover. The route in not signaled and is operated via Direct Traffic Control (DTC) block occupancy. Based on recent operations, the mainstays of the Hanover Subdivision are symbol trains D795 and D797, which operate over the length of the line between Hagerstown and Hanover. D795 operates westbound from Hanover and D797 eastbound from Hagerstown. On occasion, these trains will operate as “turns,” which meet at Highfield and swap tonnage. D795 and D797 are carded Monday through Friday, but also operate frequently on weekends as D995 and D997. Operating east from Hanover toward Emory Grove and Baltimore is the D796, which typically handles the interchange with York Rail at Porters. A job designated D778 works the local industries in and around Hanover. During the months when road construction and such is ongoing, unit stone trains, nicknamed “Rock Runners,” operate from the massive quarry complex at Bittinger to various locations around Baltimore. These trains are designated K493 (empties west) and K492 (loads east). © Copyright 2020 by High Iron Simulations and Dovetail Games CSX Hanover Subdivision: "The Dutch Line" Owner's Manual: Page 8 of 21 CSX operates “extras” when required and these train are typically given designations with “9” as their first symbol digit. To reach its “island” operation at Hanover, York Rail has trackage (but not haulage) rights between Porters and Hanover. Although train lengths on the Hanover Subdivision are typically moderate, the combination of heavy commodities and the demanding topography of the route results in the line hosting a wide variety of CSX motive power, most frequently six-axle power, including the EMD SD40-2, SD40-3, SD50 and GE’s C40-8W, AC4400CW, and ES44AC.