Railfan Gaming > New & Improved Steam--2--UP 843 East to Cajon Pass

A few threads down, I posted a few "introductory shots" of the UP FEF-3 Norther 843...the Hugh Reilly upgrade of the UP Mega Steam Pack.

I'm very impressed with the sound, physics, and appearance of the FEF-3 (still haven't downloaded the Challengers, but did get the Big Boys, which you must have as they have some core files required by the FEF-3 Northerns and the Challengers as well). The cabview, for example...the backhead on the 800s, Challengers, and Big Boys being quite similar on these ALCO designs.

(1) The Hugh Reilly UP 843 allows for a Headout View on the Fireman's Side as well as the standard Engineer's Headout View. Thus, we get a nice vantage point from the Firemnan's side with this 12-car excursion special (they ran them even back then "In the Day") of the train crossing over to the Number 1 Main Track at Verdemont, CA, MP 73.9, allowing for an easier climb over Cajon Pass. The UP 843 had good physics regarding tractive effort and drawbar horsepower. She's slippery at high cutoff settings, if you're operating at too high a speed (this gal goes all the way to 89 percent on the cutoff), and, in the 35 MPH ascent up the west slope of Cajon, the UP 843 was able to maintain 27 to 28 MPH with this properly-weighted mixture of Gaetan Belanger UP cars, a few NALW UP cars, and, some from the UPPass Set available on TrainSim.Com, while sagging down to 17 MPH when the grade stiffened close to the summit (I'm not sure...am fairly certain...that she would have "laid down" had I tried to tough it out going up the Eastbound No. 2 Main Track.

(2) The UP Pocatello, and the UP Dome immediately ahead, beautifully rendered by Gaetan Belaenger, as the train crosses over to the No. 1 Main Track:

(3) The Engineer's view from the UP 843 East as he looks back on a substantial train of Armour Yellow varnish:

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(4) The UP 843 East passes the Cargill Plant just east of Verdemont:

(5) 843 passing a scenic area in the vicinity of MP 70 on the 3DTS Cajon Pass: High Desert Edition:

(6) In the cab, facing the instrumentation, we are down to 30 MPH, and that's the last we will see of any speed above 27 or 28 MPH until we crest the Summit:

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(7) The UP 843 East at Blue Cut, MP 65:

(8) The mighty FEF-3 is at full throttle with the reverser in a deep cutoff setting at 27 MPH at Cajon:

(9) The UP 843 and it's long yellow train curve around at MP 62, between Cajon and Alray:

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(10) The Fireman is keeping the pressure right under the pressure where the pop offs will vent precious steam in the 300 psi boiler, and, the engineer is constantly fine-tuning the reverse and shooting sand when the drivers let loose in a high-speed slip--the cause of which can be seen from the Fireman's side: a 2.4 percent spike in the gradient between Cajon and Alray that is visible to the naked eye. As MY first trip up Cajon with this train consist, I wasn't sure we'd even make it up the "easy side," but, we did:

(11) Not to be repetitous, but, it is from the Fireman's side that the entrance to Tunnel No. 1 at Alray, soon to be a thing of the past, here in 2007, is visible:

(12) The UP 843 emerges from Tunnel No. 1 at Alray:

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(13) The struggle not yet ended, the UP 843 East emerges from Tunnel No. 2 at Alray:

(14) We've made it!!! The UP 843, its struggle soon to end, will soon be riding the brakes down the east slope of Cajon, and, later, will be in 70 MPH, then, 90 MPH territory enroute to Barstow, CA. At this point, as the FEF-3 reaches level track, then, soon to be heading down, you can see the yellow train in the distance, almost in a bow shape, as the rear of the train is still hanging off the incline:

(15) Speed rapidly building, held back by working light power against a Minimum Reduction of disk brakes, the UP 843 East is seen here between Summit and Martinez--the color, texture, and volume of the exhaust smoke tells it ALL, here:

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Great screens Red, and great captions too. You are the master of screenshots here on TO!

kodachrome9319 Wrote:
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> Great screens Red, and great captions too. You are
> the master of screenshots here on TO!

Thanks for the compliment! Hopefully, a few folks will download this new set of engines, and they will see how enjoyable they are to operate. There are a few patches involved, but it's worth it. Also, the 3DTS Cajon and Tehachapi routes, and Donner, are a pleasure to operate on, and, good for screenshots. Really looking forward to their new "Mystery Route" set in the Southwest. If I were going to bet, I'd say Beaumont Hill on the Sunset Route, but...I could be wrong. Their statement "in Southwest California" narrows it a bit, but certainly doesn't CONFINE the possiblity to the Sunset Route.

Red Wrote:
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> kodachrome9319 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great screens Red, and great captions too. You
> are
> > the master of screenshots here on TO!
>
> Thanks for the compliment! Hopefully, a few folks
> will download this new set of engines, and they
> will see how enjoyable they are to operate. There
> are a few patches involved, but it's worth it.
> Also, the 3DTS Cajon and Tehachapi routes, and
> Donner, are a pleasure to operate on, and, good
> for screenshots. Really looking forward to their
> new "Mystery Route" set in the Southwest. If I
> were going to bet, I'd say Beaumont Hill on the
> Sunset Route, but...I could be wrong. Their
> statement "in Southwest California" narrows it a
> bit, but certainly doesn't CONFINE the possiblity
> to the Sunset Route.


It could be like the UP Alhambra Sub, or a Metrolink trackage? Hopefully it'll be a passenger line!