Saluda. In American railroading, it is a word and a place that require no introduction. To append the phrase that made it railroading legend, Saluda was “The steepest standard gauge, mainline railway grade in the U. S.” And soon, the Saluda Grade: Asheville – Spartanburg route is coming to Train Simulator Classic!
Introduction And History
Tucked in the southwest corner of North Carolina along the east face of the towering and magnificent Blue Ridge Mountains, Saluda Mountain stood astride the Southern Railway’s Carolina Division. The Carolina Division was large and bustling, extending from Charleston and Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina, and yet it was the remarkable railroad grade standing between the mountain hamlets of Melrose and Saluda, North Carolina that made the route both an American railroading icon and a name to be respected and, on occasion, feared by railroaders. Between Melrose and Saluda, stood a railroad grade averaging 4.7 percent – thus Saluda’s claim as America’s steepest standard-gauge mainline grade.
How could it be that a key rail route of the great Southern Railway hosted a grade of nearly 5 percent? Simply put, there was no choice. The Blue Ridge Mountains are among the tallest in the Appalachian Chain and the eastern slope of the range largely lacks foothills to allow for a gentler climb. In history, the Saluda line was the great endeavor of Southern Railway predecessor Spartanburg & Asheville, and so it was the “S&A” climbed the mountain the hard (which is to say, steep) way. The line opened in 1878 and thirteen years later Southern Railway took control and operated the route for nine decades, until 1982 when Southern and Norfolk & Western joined to form today’s Norfolk Southern.
Giant Norfolk Southern operated over Saluda Grade until 2001, when tonnage on the line no longer justified its use as a through route. Today, the eastern portion of the line (Spartanburg – Landrum) remains a part of the Norfolk Southern system, while the western segment (Asheville – East Flat Rock) is operated by regional railroad Blue Ridge Southern.
Route Across The Blue Ridge
As created for Train Simulator Classic by High Iron Simulations, the Saluda Grade: Asheville —Spartanburg route extends 70 route miles between Asheville North Carolina, and Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the Southern and early NS years, the line was known as the “A&S,” while later it was NS’s “W Line.” Asheville, set amid the splendor of the Blue Ridge, is a famous tourist destination and home to the Biltmore Mansion of railroad tycoon George Vanderbilt. In railroading terms, it was (and is) a focal point of railroading, as Southern Railway lines from all directions converged at Asheville.
Spartanburg, South Carolina, similarly was (and is) a busy junction between Southern Railway lines including the Saluda Grade route and the Southern Railway main line (stretching between Washington, D. C. and New Orleans, Louisiana). Both Asheville and Spartanburg (Hayne) are home to large rail yards.
Between Asheville and Spartanburg, the Saluda Grade route wends its way over and through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The legendary climb to Saluda from Melrose, with its 4.7 per cent grade is the signature element of the line, but it is far from the sole challenging feature of the route. In crossing the Blue Ridge, the line calls upon numerous additional grades of more than 1 per cent, and the rolling, “saw tooth” profile of the line makes operating trains a constant engineer’s challenge of effective throttle and braking use.
The route as created for Train Simulator Classic is also remarkably rich in rail-served lineside industries, lengthy spurs, and branches. There are more than 40 rail-served industries along the route, including the Skyland coal-fired power plant, the Cane Creek industrial complex, wood and lumber yards, and numerous cement, quarry, warehousing, and manufacturing industries. In the era represented by the route, a number of attractive ex-Southern Railway depots were extant and are included at trackside.
The Saluda Grade route is signaled single track, with lengthy passing tracks at key locations, including Asheville, Buena Vista, Naples, Hendersonville, Saluda, Melrose, Campobello, and Hayne. Track speed over much of the line is 40 mph, with the most treacherous mountain sections limited to 20 mph.
Legendary Saluda Grade
Few challenges in all of American railroading exceeded that of ascending and descending the 4.7 grade between Saluda and Melrose, and special procedures were utilized to ensure safe operations.
For the majority of trains climbing the grade westbound, “doubling” or “tripling” the grade between Melrose and Saluda was required. Once the first section of a train was taken to Saluda, the locomotives would return running light to Melrose and repeat the process. When the entire train was atop Saluda and reassembled, the train would continue west to Asheville.
Descending the grade was an even more daunting challenge. The descent process began when trains arrived at Saluda. Eastbound trains with 30 cars or less were required to stop west of Stop Board No. 1, while longer trains made their stop no later than Stop Board No. 2. Once stopped, an inspection was made, air brakes were fully charged, and retainers were typically set.
Upon the brakes being charged and retainers set, the train could begin its descent and dynamic brakes were immediately applied. Air brake applications were used as necessary in concert with dynamic braking to control speed. Descent speed between Saluda and Melrose was not to exceed 8 mph for trains and 15 mph for light locomotives. For a train moving at 8 mph, this required 22 minutes from Saluda to pass a timing board near Melrose. Retainers would be reset upon reaching either Melrose or Tryon pending the weight of the train.
The upcoming Saluda Grade route for Train Simulator Classic replicates the procedures and challenges of operating on the historic grade with remarkable authenticity. Get ready for taking on the challenge of this Pro Range route with a video guide created by Smokebox and manuals from the dev team. You can find these through the below links.
- Saluda Grade Manual (External link)
- Saluda Grade Brake Guide (External link)
- Saluda Grade Video Guide (External link and below!)
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Operations And Equipment
The upcoming Saluda Grade route for Train Simulator Classic will include three realistic Norfolk Southern Electro-Motive diesel locomotives: a high-nose (ex-Southern Railway) SD40-2 with bi-directional controls; a low-nose (ex-Norfolk & Western) SD40-2 with standard controls; and a high-nose, AAR-truck-equipped (ex-Southern) GP35. All three locomotive types are all-new models, and each features advanced braking and operating features. Joining the diesels with be a selection of ten types of freight rolling stock and ten realistic career scenarios.
The Saluda Grade: Asheville-Spartanburg route for Train Simulator Classic is set circa 1984-1994, in the formative years of Norfolk Southern operations, and during the NS era, the Saluda Grade route hosted a range of freight operations, including:
- Manifest Freights: Manifest (mixed consist) freights were the workhorses of the route, operating between Asheville and Spartanburg.
- The Belmont Coal Train: Over the final decades of Saluda operations, the queen of the line was the massive Belmont Coal Train which operated east over the route while making a trip from a mine at Andover, Virginia to a powerplant at Belmont, North Carolina. To bring these loaded trains of as much as 13,500-tons down the Saluda Grade required extraordinary care. The loaded trains often were equipped with four six-axle locomotives on the head-end and three more placed mid-train. Accordingly, the heavily loaded and long Belmont trains did not make a halt at the Saluda stop boards. The returning Belmont empties often were also routed via Saluda and because the entire train was empty, these trains could ascend the grade in a single section.
- Woodchip Trains: A major tonnage staple on the Saluda route in its later years was dedicated woodchip trains operating west and bound for a paper mill in Canton, North Carolina. These were typically the heaviest tonnage trains to ascend Saluda Grade. Over the length of the line, the trains operated with consists of 39 heavy woodchip hoppers and from Melrose to Saluda the trains were taken to the summit in three 13-car cuts.
- Locals and Turns: To serve its many lineside rail shippers, the route called upon locals and “turns.” Notable among these was a busy local/switching job working out of Hayne Yard nicknamed “the Rouster Job,” and turns serving the “TR Line” branch at Hendersonville and the Skyland power plant
Saluda was, simply put, home to some of America’s most captivating and challenging railroading, look out for this route soon on Train Simulator Classic.
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