Simulation
of the Philadelphia Amtrak station (Philadelphia Terminal Area Amtrak)
and of part of the Philadelphia Washington line.
How the idea was born.
Some time ago, while surfing the net for railroad signaling sites
I found a site, which I believe is no longer available,
which had the layout and signaling data of the Philadelphia hub
and of the Amtrak lines from New York, Harrisburg and Washington.
Using this very detailed material, with interest I started to
experiment with the Norac signaling system (the standard in the US),
which is a very different system from European signaling systems.
Slowly, the project took shape and this layout is the result.
Almost certainly, the schematics I got were not recent (circa 1992),
but with a lot of patience, I updated them, at least with regard to
the layout, by using Google Maps as reference.
Location
This section of the line is part of the North East Corridoor, which
on the Atlantic Coast of the United States, begins in Boston to the north,
and reaches Washington to the south, passing through New York and Philadelphia.
The simulated section is shown in the following map:
The section is about 30 miles in length, and includes the Philadelphia
station, and it goes as far as Perryville to the south, before Baltimore,
that is up to the end of the Philadelphia subdivision.
The station
is in the downtown area and is part of an larger interchange hub
which includes (at different levels), the regional network
managed by Septa (Southeaster Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).
In the following pages there's a more detailed description of all
the aspects, some significantly different from how the analogous
European systems work, so that it will be easier to manage the simulation.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Giampiero Caprino for his continuous
support and enhancement of Train Director, and Paolo Rosati
for the attention, the speed and the competence in giving me
suggestions and advice.
Also to Paolo Gronchi, from whose Bologna scenario of last year
I used ideas and solutions for my own simulation.
Lastly, to all who will provide observations, advice and
suggestions aimed at improving the scenario.
Guido
Motta, February 2014
|