Kingwood Branch

Coal country railroading! The Baltimore & Ohio Kingwood Branch for Train Simulator brings to life classic early 1960s Appalachian railroading.

From the talented team that created the acclaimed Virtual New Haven Springfield Line, the B&O Kingwood Branch route delivers the extraordinary challenges of operating heavy diesel-powered coal trains over steep grades, tight curves, and rugged switchbacks.

Set in the northeast corner of West Virginia, this route is based upon the authentic West Virginia Northern Railroad, but is semi-fictional in that it is re-created as a Baltimore & Ohio branch line operation. The route includes a 10-mile roller coaster line between Kingwood and an interchange with the Baltimore & Ohio main line at Tunnelton and a 7-mile run to a large coal seam at Birds Creek. And along the way, numerous additional rugged spurs fan out up the wooded mountain valleys to wherever coal is produced.

The B&O Kingwood Branch route serves 14 mines including a mix of traditional underground and surface pit mines, as well as truck transfer sites for offline customers. Loads move from the mine tipples to the interchange yard at Tunnelton on the Mountain Sub main line of the B&O. Empties arrive at Tunnelton and are stored along the line and at Kingwood for delivery to customers. The route also includes a variety of non-mining lineside customers and features captivating branch-line passenger services

The Baltimore & Ohio Kingwood Branch route features a superb selection of locomotives, freight, and passenger equipment authentic to the 1960s-operating period. The locomotive is the versatile Electro-Motive GP9 in both B&O’s original livery and 1960s-era “Capitol” scheme. A traditional heavyweight 65-foot coach in B&O livery provides passenger service, and the route provides an extraordinary variety of freight equipment, including B&O class I-5, I-5D, and I-12 cabooses; 36-, 40-, and 50-foot boxcars in multiple liveries (including B&O, Chesapeake & Ohio, and Western Maryland); a B&O flatcar; B&O 52- and 65-foot gondolas; 55-ton and 70-ton coal hoppers in multiple variations and liveries; a tank car, B&O Airslide covered hopper; and wood- and steel refrigerator cars!

The Baltimore & Ohio Kingwood Branch will put you right to work with 13 highly authentic and challenging career scenarios that include freight, switching, and passenger duties as well as training runs on this rugged line. And the route includes a highly detailed and informative manual providing operating information, operating rules, maps, and timetables.

## EMD GP9

*See main article: EMD GP9*

The GP9 was one of EMD’s highly successful first generation "road switcher" diesel engines. This series of all-purpose locomotives is noteworthy for its high versatility, economic operations and great longevity with some units still in service even today, well over half a century after their first run. The GP9 was a common sight on the Baltimore & Ohio RR, over two hundred units of this type were on the roster and included both passenger and freight versions of the GP9.

## Scenarios

* Training Run Part 1, Tunnelton to Howesville
* Training Run Part 2, Climbing the Switchback
* Training Run Part 3, Descending the Switchback
* Work train to Snider
* Birds Creek Extra Part 1
* Birds Creek Extra Part 2
* Kingwood Coal Turn Part 1
* Kingwood Coal Turn Part 2
* Kingwood Extra
* Passenger Train No. 1 - Kingwood - Tunnelton
* Passenger Train No. 2 - Tunnelton - Birds Creek
* Passenger Train No. 3 - Birds Creek - Tunnelton
* Passenger Train No. 4 - Tunnelton - Kingwood