In 1952 a 7.5 magnitude earthquake (Richter scale) shut down the SP/ATSF Tehachapi mainlines. This event had an impact on the Coast Line (which I model). Many ATSF train were rerouted and showed up on the Coast Line which had a strong increase in traffic.

I model the early 1970s, though :-)

sometime in the 50's a major blizzard shut down the UP across Wyoming.  Traffic was diverted over the D&RG Moffit Tunnel route for several weeks.

my period, but I model the San Luis Valley,  quite a bit south and just a branch line.  There are re-routing caused by derailments,  but those are usually very local and short termed.

Construction projects can also cause problems at choke points ( i.e., tunnel reconstruction, landslides, bridge repairs/replacements )

Does offer new possibilities for traffic from nearby competitors.

I remember the Newhall earthquake shut down the line ( tunnel collaspe ) thru there to Palmdale in the 70's,  caused more problems for the SP than others.  They had to route trains east to Colton, over El Cajon pass to the cutoff ( still fairly new )  to Palmdale.

Good thinking!  More fodder for the devious mind.

johnP48

If you want to model exceptions rather than the usual go right ahead. After all it's your railroad (see rule #1). But a greater sense of reality might be obtained by depending less on exceptions and special one-time events.

YMMV

Charlie

I don't model that time period, but because the SP Valley Line got flooded out in several places, the SP had to run "hot" trains on the Willamette & Pacific RR Westside line - which they'd bought (or leased) from SP 3 years previously. In an interesting twist, because the WPRR didn't particularly trust the tracks at the time, they required SP to bring in 4-axle locomotives to run those frieghts through.

More recently, a derailment on the Valley Line just south of Salem, OR caused Amtrak to try and detour the northbound Coast Starlight over the (fmly WPRR, now PNWR) Oregon Electric line between Albany and Salem. Unfortunately they were blocked by a large tree that had fallen across the tracks after a previous train had passed through. They ended up backing 15 miles back to Albany by which time the Valley Line had been cleared.

It would have been wonderful to have Superliners doing street running down Front St. though....

I think there is a difference between modeling exceptions in terms of layout design and modeling exceptions in terms of operations. Unusual layout design elements can be jarring. Unusual operating circumstances add interest if not overdone.

As an example, my (ongoing) design for the Lyndonville Sub. in Vermont, the CP had the same schedule for almost 30 years. One CP/BM pool through train north. One pool through train south. One fast freight from St. Johnsbury in the middle of the Sub. I am fine with that since most of the time having a yard job, a through job, and a local is fine for me and a few friends. However, if I want to add some extras it would nice to have a reason to do so. That reason that determines what that extra traffic is. In my case could say that some issue occurs with the Central Vermont trackage into St Albans causing the daily fast freight Rocket to detour through my layout.. now I know what train it is.. when it should run.. what it should have in its consist.. all the benefits of having the real world model my operating exception. It would make sense and the person operating that train would know what their role is.

In a freelance railroad.. everything is made up.. so adding traffic is a little easier. On a railroad based on prototype operations you have to jump through some more hoops, or find a new prototype. Assuming the latter is not palettable, the former becomes the task at hand.

What I am looking at for operating interest are real world events that would influence my traffic:

1) The Maine Potato harvest

2) Trouble with CV track

3) Railfan trip

4) Some issue on my line that caused a pile up of freight (this really happened on the sub. a few years back when snow closed the line for a while)

5) Some big construction project (Big dig in boston has resulted in longer gravel trains from Ossippee to Boston..)

6) Depending on the era, troop movement.

Just like with a good freelance layout.. when you make something up, like extra traffic, you need a reason. A prototype railroad just has to reach a little deeper into the bag to find the reasons..

Chris

I must say that my first thought about modelling the 1951 Mississippi River flood would be to do a 4x8 layout:  Gloss Medium in "Big Muddy" brown covering the entire board.  Maybe a few boxcar roofs glued on for texture.

Hi Chris,

  It was interesting to see that you are looking at disruptions to rail infrastructure.  I am part of a research team at the University of Arkansas that is studying disruptions to the rail infrastructure.  If you are interested in talking more about this, please email me at hughdotmedalatgmaildotcom.

Hugh

I'm sure the Mississippi flooding Kansas would be a major event since the closest the Mississippi gets to Kansas is the other side of Missouri.  8-)

Flooding can cause railroads to reroute over higher, drier lines.  It can cause interchange gateways to change.  It can also divert barge traffic to rail.

But flooding only lasts a couple weeks to maybe months.  So any effects would be short lived.

In Kansas the Marias Des Cygnes River floods fairly often and impacts the MKT and the MP.

In the early 1900's Kansas City rail service was significantly disrupted by major flooding of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers which join in Kansas City.  This flood resulted in a major rebuilding effort and a joint venture of the 12 railroads in the Kansas City area to form the Kansas City Terminal RR and build the current Kansas City Union Station on higher ground away from the rivers.

The July 1951 Flood on the Missouri River system (not sure how much the Mississippi was affected) did much damage to Kansas City, KS and MO; and up stream to many cities and towns along the Kansas River and it's tributaries. In Topeka, KS, the ATSF (If I remember correctly) placed a couple of steam locomotives on a bridge over the Kansas R. to attempt to "stabilize" it. The attempt failed and the locos are still at the bottom of the river as far as I know. I am sure the "Kansas Division" of the UP was under water in most if not all of eastern Kansas for some time.

My grandmother lived in Topeka at the time. My ex-wife (at the age of 2) was taken out of her home in Manhattan, KS in a rowboat. My family was in California at the time (my dad was in the Navy). I heard much about it as a child.

The '51 flood was the "disaster of the century" until the June 6, 1966 F5 tornado hit Topeka. I have never seen so much destruction. I saw it after they had had the summer to clean up. I was on my way back the school in Manhattan at Kansas State.

In 1993 there was a flood to rival the '51 flood. The "flood control" dams that had been build in response to the '51 flood were not well managed and could not store the water they were supposed to. The result was more flooding on the lower reaches of the Kansas River that might have been.