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Hello all,I just downloaded and set up this route, well I just don't know where to begin! WOW, I thought I was watching a movie. Unbelievable! What detail, I really felt it was all real. All you route developers are truly masters of your trade. Thank you all for giving us such masterpieces, thank you again!Mike

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RE: Lehigh Valley, Curt, Feb-01-03, 12:21 PM, (1) RE: Lehigh Valley, KeltikSylk, Feb-01-03, 03:54 PM, (2) RE: Lehigh Valley, Coonskin, Feb-07-03, 10:33 PM, (4) RE: Lehigh Valley, sooner, Feb-07-03, 10:55 PM, (5) RE: Lehigh Valley, lhubartt, Feb-07-03, 09:16 PM, (3) RE: Lehigh Valley, lhubartt, Feb-08-03, 07:49 PM, (6) RE: Lehigh Valley, cnj1524, Feb-09-03, 06:47 PM, (7) RE: Lehigh Valley, kevarc, Feb-09-03, 09:54 PM, (8)

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Yeah, I just downloaded this route as well. Just started running it, but so far, so good!

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Since you brought it up...I don't usually download routes. I don't get the time to run on them and they end up being test tracks for models. The Lehigh Valley, however, is a different story altogether...I have never been to Raton or Cajon Pass or any number of other places that inspire MSTS routes. I was raised in Philadelphia, but even the NEC isn't that familiar. We lived in Northeast Philly, near the Philadelphia to New York main stem. When I was a kid, that was my idea of a railroad (that and the Bustleton branch that ran behind our neighborhood).After I met my wife, however, I spent a great deal of time in the Lehigh Valley's area of Pennsylvania. To visit her cousins we spent a lot of time driving through Allentown, Bethlehem, Lehighton, and other towns along Routes 209 or 191. Of all those places, the one I loved to visit the most was Jim Thorp. Well, actually old Mauch Chunk to some of the folks on the CNJ side of the river (including myself). I always considered the east side "Jim Thorp". We would eat breakfast in the diner near the Jersey Central depot. Once we had lunch in the Switzerland Hotel with a friend from Lake Constance, Germany. I had told him how parts of Europe had reminded me of Mauch Chunk. I also joked about being able to show him "real" miners. After we sat down he pointed towards a group of gray haired men at the bar and teased me about it, saying "Gee Frank, are those REAL miners?.We visited many times, even went the tourist route through the Packer Mansion or "the haunted jail cell" in Carbon County courthouse. Even the five and dime near the music hall, the little junk shop nearby, and the road (ex-Carbon County Traction right of way) to Lansford are pleasant memories. Once in a while we would wander the streets, especially the ones that backed up to Bear Mountain. As I recall, nearly every rowhouse seemed very small and built right into the rock. The old church across Route 191 from the CNJ depot. That mill building or whatever that houses the small hobby shop and model railroad display right next door to the station. It's on the side where the "talking" Coke machine used to be. Beyond that there's a tiny gas station tucked in between the tracks and the main road. I remember gassin' up my motorcycle after a beautiful ride though the Pennsylvania hills.We used to take the kids to dinner in the old ballroom high above Mauch Chunk. One of my favorite things was to stand on that deck and watch the sun go down. In the valley below, the steam locomotive on the tourist train would have her fire banked for the night, a wisp of smoke rising in the clear autumn air. I could understand why they called this place the "Switzerland of America". I'd try to imagine what Mauch Chunk was like when passenger traffic hit well over twenty trains a day. I'd try to imagine a time when the Ballroom itself was a place to be, and the Dorsey Brothers or Glenn Miller nearly rocked the old place into the valley below. Every once in a while while we were watching a long drag would snake it's way along the river and up the gorge. Seems it was always pulled by a quartet of blue and gray D&H U-boats. After it passed we'd watch night settle on the little town. Count the lights that came on in the houses and streets. I would stand there until night reached the mountain top and the stars came out. Only then would I reluctantly get ready to go home to Philadelphia. The ballroom was closed years ago to make room for some survivalist camp or other such nonsense. I wish I'd had the million bucks to buy the mountain and take it back to what it was, what it should always be. That's the way thing go, isn't it? The place where you could watch camelback or streamlined Pacifics stop to take on a helper became an Acme supermarket. The Jersey Central side is now a museum full of pieces of what will never be again. It's been well over a decade since I felt the presence of those massive hills or heard the Lehigh gurgle through the rapids. I still remember it fondly.Anyway...That may give you some idea why it was so cool to run out from under that concrete bridge, round the curve and see Bear Mountain staring me in the face. I have never been anyplace in my life quite like the parking lot of the CNJ station. If you go in the winter, after the crowds are gone and the gorge is quiet, you can feel those mountains closing in on you. It's like standing in a cathedral after the congregation has left. Especially when it's snowing.For many years I wanted to build a model railroad that captured what I knew of Mauch Chunk. My wish was to see those two railroads compete with each other and the river through the Lehigh Gorge. I never got around to it. Now, due to the efforts of people I have never met, that wish has come true. My thanks to Werner and anyone who helped him make this possible. Your work means a lot more than you might think.

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No "yarn" this time...Just an interesting stroll down the path of a confirmed rail enthusiast sharing his reasons for loving an old departed friend.Happy rail's to 'ya Frank. Enjoy the fact that through the magic of MSTS, the Lehigh rolls again.Andre "Coonskin" Ming

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Thanks for that evocative rememberance. You ought to be a travel writer. Now I'll enjoy this great route even more.

bud

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Hi, I'm relatively new to this forum and want to say how much I appreciate it. I just downloaded the Lehigh Valley route too and it's an awesome piece of work. I have run into one problem. Running from Jim Thorpe CNJ Yard to Lehighton, any locomotive I run keeps drailing right around the Lehighton Engine Terminal. Doesn't matter what speed. Also, a lot of the tracks appeard to be misaligned. Anybody else seen this problem? Larry Hubartt

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Well, well. I found the answer to my own question. I dicovered that build 11, 12, or 13 of file tsection.dat in my route directory creates derailing problems. Only the tsection.dat that comes packed with the route works without any problems. Today, I started from Egypt yard, going south through Catasaugua's Readying Yard, then North along the back route North through Bath and Bender Junctions, and Danielsville and went all the way North to Jim Thorpe Yard. Not a single problem. An incredible route. I'll be following this finish work on this route with great interest. Larry Hubartt

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You need to download X-Tracks if you have not done so as of yet. This has cleared up derailing problems for me.Jay

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LAST EDITED ON Feb-09-03 AT 09:59 PM (EDT)

3Dtrains has a free CNJ F unit.
me thinks it would be a good thing to get.
never know when it will get into an activity!
the free passenger cars would be good also!The first activity will be a Curmudgeon Railfan Trip. The conductors will be Don and Chuck. Just two names I picked out of the blue!
Kevin Arceneaux
It is time for Amtrak to become a fallen flag!

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