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Some, BUT PERHAPS NOT ALL, of the trees in these shots are mine.

 

The Knoebel Lumber Company

by Josh Drumm

' Rooneth3808'

Trainz Eastern Routes

 

"The layout has some truth behind it; there is a Knoebel Lumber Company, and Knoebel's Amusement Park located just a few miles from my house, and the park is quite popular and famous in the region. The layout is set in the 1920's, and the Knoebel Lumber company owns the land, the railroad, the lumber mill, AND a luxurious wilderness resort. Operations are centered around log and lumber trains, and the daily passenger train to and from the hotel.

Many railroads in this area did the exact same thing decades ago. They provided excursions from the big cities on the east coast, to relaxing and secluded resorts nestled in the mountains, and they often build ornate hotels and resorts to encourage the traffic.

Here are some shots of the logging railroad's main town (or village) where the yard and lumber mill are located, and the hotel up on the mountain. Enjoy!!

 

 " dmdrake,
If you haven't noticed, I have converted to using your trees and tree splines in my layouts almost exclusively! They are absolutely awesome! ... Honestly, I can say that this layout most likely wouldn't have been constructed had it not been for your awesome trees. " Joss Dunn

Always good to hear that one helped realize a new creation from a fertile mind!
 

The village (that still needs a name) and lumber mill, the small yard is in the distance.
 

Village looking in the opposite direction

Tracks leaving town, the bridge to the left leads to one of the logging branches. The hill in the distance has been logged already.

Daily passenger train behind KNL's only non-geared steam engine heading up to the hotel. Luckily the grade on the mainline tops out around 3%. (and the train's actually headed back down the hill in the picture)

The Hotel

The town of Elysburg where the KLC connects with a standard guage railroad.
 

The most powerful locomotive on the KLC, shay #12, backs out of the Elysburg passing siding.
 

The tracks leaving Elysburg, before they enter into the dense pine forests.
 

Falls Station, where passengers can disembark to view the nearby Swisher Falls.

Falls station looking back towards Elysburg. The dense pine forests are still another 3/4 of a mile ahead. Swisher Falls is just out of the picture to the right.
 

The standard gauge/narrow gauge interchange yard just south of Elysburg.

Standard gauge Consolidation pushes two loaded coal cars up the unloading trestle. This is how the Knoebel Lumber Company gets it's coal to fuel the steam engines since there are no coal mines on the line.
 

Elysburg station overlooking the standard gauge mainline. These tracks are only modeled for a few hundred feet around Elysburg, but there are large reversing loops on each end, out of view, such that a train running at track speed will appear about every 5 minutes in Elysburg. If the layout proves popular enough, extending this line may be considered in an expansion.
 

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