On my layout, I am modeling a brach line that runs northwest out of Westminster, SC to CLayton, GA via Long Creek, SC. The fictional branch parralels the rout of the real US Route 76, which runs on an almost perfect diagonal. My question is, in prototype pratice, would this brach be designated as running north to south or east to west?
Are you modeling a prototype, or freelancing? If you’re following a prototype, find out how it designated the branch.
If you’re freelancing, the decision is up to you – though it might help to think about how the freelanced line of which your branch is a part ran. If it primarily paralleled the coast, running mainly north-south, that’s how the branch would be designated too. If it extended inland from the coast, the main line – and your branch – would probably be designated east-west.
That said, most prototype railroads I’ve heard of referred to themselves as east-west.
Roads are numbered as follows odd numbers are North-South and even numbers are East-West. So since the route you are following is labeled US76 then it is technically an East-West route no matter what direction it goes, you could then follow suite with your railroad.
Rick J [2c]
Most railroads run east and west. A train leaving Grand Central Station is moving compass north, but if it is a New York Central train it is westbound. If it is a New Haven train, then it is eastbound. Thus on the New Haven, any train moving in the direction of New York City is a westbound train, since like a tree; Its root is NYC, and everything branches from that.
So, here in North Dakota, the distal end of a branch would usually be west, and it attaches to the main line in the east, for in the days when the railroads were built civilization was in the east.
New York City Transit runs north and south, so there are some anomalies on the line. The (J) train runs south from Jamaica to Broad Street. But the (M) train from Metropolitan Avenue diverts to 6th Avenue where it is running north. Its north terminal is now 71st Street, Forest Hills. So the tracks on Broadway in Brooklyn would appear to be both northbound and southbound at once, even if they look like ther are going east and west.
The bottom line: YOUR TIMETABLE tells you what direction you are going.
On my previous layout I had two main lines, one ran east and west, the other north and south. The timetable ran North East to South West, since a through train from the south could only go north or east, but could not go west. It is fun to play with: I find making timetables to be an interesting aspect of model railroading.
ROAR
If you follow my prototype (or one in the United Kingdom) your trains don’t run according to a compass. They run Up and Down. So on my layout, a Down train from Takami to Minamijima climbs a 2.5% grade between Haruyama and Tomikawa. The corresponding train in the opposite direction runs downgrade to go Up.
Why? Takami is closer to Tokyo than Minamijima. Thus the trains from the Central Japan Alps run Up to Tokyo, which is a seaport partially built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay.
Fun, isn’t it?
Even more fun. There was a town in, I believe, Iowa, served by two railroads. Each ran scheduled trains east - west. The parallel tracks ran through the town parallel to the main street, on a due north - due south alignment. You guessed it!
(In case you didn’t, an eastbound on one road could meet an eastbound on the other road - hopefuly, not head on.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
As a freelance, you could easily pick either way Clayton as West or North. But perhaps you could tie to the prototype. A SR timetable I have shows Greenville as North of Westminister in the Charlotte Division. So, if this were a branch served by the SR, Clayton would likely be considered Southbound by timetable direction since it would be South of Charlotte (at least as of the 1941 timetable I have). For example, the Lockhart Branch, which is part of the Columbia Division, run almost directly East of where it joins the main, yet is considered Westbound
The Toledo Terminal railroad formed a loop around the City of Toledo. A railroad owend jointly by several of the large railroads that went into Toledo. Now that the upper river bridge is not used they don’t form a loop around the city anymore, but they have Direction A and Direction B, depending on if you were moving Clockwise or Counter clockwise. So you could be noncomittal and call it direction A or B if you so choose. I like the thought that if it parallels a US route that runs east-west then you could use that as your justification, but hey its your railroad so you can designate it whatever you think sounds best to you.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River RR
If train A leaves Westminster, SC, and Train B leaves Clayton GA, which direction is Train C going in?
No seriously, Interstate Route 88 Runs diagonally from Binghamton NY to Albany, NY in a W to E direction. It is designated as E-W highway {W from ALbany on it will get you further W to Binghamton}.
I would adopt the same for the railroad, UNLESS you can find a prototype that offers a different example.
{And from the east coast, it would seem most trains would run W from the {E} coast, whether they reach the coast or not.}
[8-|]
If you are traveling in an easterly direction through the Panama Canal, where do you come out?
West, the Panama Canal Pacific Entrance is East of the Carribbean (Atlantic) Entrance so although traveling east you are actually going west.
Rick J
More accurately, you will be traveling just slightly east of due south to reach the Pacific Ocean.
I wonder what the NS vs EW standard is on the Panama Railroad. It does parallel the canal, more or less.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - 'way Down from Tokyo, Up from Nagoya)
Which is further east? Los Angeles CA or Reno NV?
I’m sure you have figured out by now that there is no hard and fast rule on this. CSX’s Bostic yard (former Clinchfield) runs diagonally but is considered north/south by the railroad. It gets really strange where the Monroe Subdivision going to Charlotte ties into the yard. This track goes east by the compass but CSX calls it North. They can have two trains leaving Bostic Yard going North but the trains are actually going in different directions, one north and one east. [:S]
"…Lion asked:
Which is further east? Los Angeles CA or Reno NV?"
Does Lion want to use the Republican or Democratic compass???
rrb
Just to be clear, US Highways and the Interstate system use this North-South = odd, East-West = even convention. But just like railroads, that often does not correspond to the actual compass direction.
US 40 comes East to Baltimore, then turns to a NNE heading up the east coast - but the signs still say east - even as it is almost exactly parrallel to Interstate 95 North from Baltimore to Philly.
So you can get to Philly from Baltimore by going North on US-1, or East on US-40, or North on I-95 and as you go along US-40 on one side of you is the PRR and on the other side the B&O - both running “East -West”. Two railroads and three major highways all going the same place yet with different discriptions of direction.
But, numbering practices for state and local roads vary consideribly from state to state.
Maryland for example is generally the oposite, but there are exceptions to that.
Most North American railroads throughout history have considered themselves East-West.
Sheldon
dti406 is 100% right,it’s your railroad and YOU make the rules until the TSA decides gets involved.
LION uses a good solid conservative compass.
But look at a map… Reno is about 100 miles WEST of Los Angeles.
Now for your next lesson, Philadelphia is 40° north of the equator. If you travel due south from Philadelphia until you are 40° south of the equator where will you be?
ROAR
On Cape Cod, ROute 6 hiway runs from Sagamore at the canal end to the very tip in Province town. ROute 6 goes N-S as it is south of Boston. WHere it turns and goes in the northerly direction from the “elbow” of the Cape around Orleans {Chatham area} North to the tip at Provincetown it is listed as “Route 6 Southbound” going TO Provincetown, and listed as going “Northbound” from Provincetown south down to Orleans.
THe idea is that the Route 6 still runs SOUTH out of Boston Area! Hence its N-S designation.
So no regular road is completely accurate in the N-S or E-W directions, and the OP is probably thinking we are all nuts.
He should name his RR’s direction which ever way he wants for the general direction it is supposed to go.
Now, If train A leaves Los Angeles at 11PM , and Train B leaves Chicago at 9 PM, When will Train C arrive in Boulder CIty, Colorado? And where will the California Zephyr be at the time of the arrival of Train C?
[8-|]
Historically, most railroads have chosen to run “Timetable east-west” as opposed to north-south. That has little to do with actual direction, it’s how the railroad schedules meets and stops in their timetable. it’s not unusual for a train going south or even southwest to be running “timetable east” according to the railroad. For example on the New York Central, New York City was “timetable east” of Albany, even though Albany is pretty much due north of New York City. A train leaving NYC would go through Albany on it’s way to Chicago, so by the timetable Albany was west of NYC and east of Chicago.
It’s a little like rivers - a river like the Mississippi runs north-south so only has two banks, west and east. In some places, like running from Ft. Snelling / Mendota to downtown St. Paul, the river runs northeast, so in that area the west bank is on the east side of the river. [;)]
Two of my favorite railroads had different orientational set ups. The Southern Pacific was an East-West railroad. If a train was travelling away from San Francisco it was eastbound no matter what compass direction it was actually travelling. Trains moving toward San Francisco were always westbound.
The Cotton Belt on the other hand was a North-South railroad. I’m not sure what this was based on. And the Cotton Belt became a Southern Pacific subsidiary in 1932, but continued in its independent way of running trains North and South.
Ed in Kentucky