#railroad map

NAS Lee Field, Green Cove Springs, Florida

I deeply apologize for not coming back to this alternate railroad history topic in over a year, I’ve had a lot of other things to do and i merely scratched the surface of this railroad history topic. and therefore, I’ve thought long and hard about this whole thing.

Aside from that apology, i thought to myself since I have Procreate, why not make maps of the 20 American railroads in my alternate history about said American railroads? And that’s what I did. Each map below shows the 20 railroads after they absorbed the smaller railroads as well as some of them expanding their networks in the 1980s wherever possible.

New York Central — this map shows the New York Central after the road to the future absorbed Boston & Maine, New Haven , Delaware & Hudson, Rutland Railroad, Bangor & Aroostook, Central Vermont And Maine Central railroads.

2. Pennsylvania Railroad — This map shows the size of the Pennsylvania Railroad after it absorbed Lehigh New England, Reading Lines/Railroad, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, Lehigh Valley, Lehigh and Hudson River, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Grand Trunk Western and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines railroads.

3. Chesapeake & Ohio — This map shows the Chesapeake & Ohio after it acquired the Erie Railroad, Lackawanna Railroad and New York, Ontario & Western Railway, plus the northern section of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad throughout the 50s and 60s, as well as expanding its network in the 80s.

4. Baltimore & Ohio — This map shows how big the Baltimore & Ohio got after America’s first railroad absorbed Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, Western Maryland, Wabash, Ann Arbor, Virginian railroads.

5. Union Pacific — Here, this is how big Union Pacific got after absorbing the Western Pacific and Rio Grande railroads, as well as adding more mainlines in the eighties.

6. Southern Pacific — This map shows the Southern Pacific after adding more mainlines to its network in the eighties.

7. Northern Pacific — For this map, it shows how big the Northern Pacific Railway got after absorbing the Chicago Great Western and Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range railroads, as well as adding more mainlines to its network in the eighties.

8. Milwaukee Road — This map shows how big the Milwaukee Road got after the “Route of the Hiawatha” expanded its network by widening its existing mainlines and adding more mainlines (wherever possible) and expanding to northeastern Minnesota throughout the eighties.

9. Burlington Route — This map shows the Burlington Route after it absorbed the Kansas City Southern in the early 1960s and later expanded its network in the eighties.

10. Chicago & NorthWestern — This map shows the size of Union Pacific’s ancient partner; the Chicago & NorthWestern, after it absorbed the Wisconsin Central and the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroads in the 60s plus expanding its network in the 80s.

11. Illinois Central — This network map shows how big the Illinois Central got after acquiring the Cotton Bell Route in the 60s plus expanding its network in the 80s.

12. Gulf Mobile & Ohio — This map shows the size of the arch rival of the Illinois Central; the Gulf Mobile & Ohio, after it acquired the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and Missorui-Kansas-Texas railroads

13. Norfolk & Western — Here, the map of the Norfolk & Western shows how big the N&W got after absorbing Nickel Plate Road and the (original) Norfolk Southern in throughout the 50s and 60s.

14. Southern Railway — This map of the Southern Railway shows how big the Southern got after absorbing Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railroad and the central section of the Louisville & Nashville railroad in the 50s and 60s, as well as expanding its network in the 80s.

15. Seaboard Air Line — here, the Seaboard Air Line is shown how big it got after acquiring the Central of Georgia and West Point Route railroads plus the southern section of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

16. Atlantic Coast Line — This map shows how big Atlantic Coast Line after it absorbed Clinchfield Railroad, Oneida and Western and Florida East Coast railroads throughout the late 50s to late 60s.

17. Santa Fe — This map shows the Santa Fe Railway after it absorbed half of the Frisco railroad in the early sixties and later expanded its network in the eighties.

18. Missouri Pacific — This map shows the size of the Missouri Pacific after it absorbed the other half of the Frisco railroad and the Texas & Pacific Railroad in the early to late sixties.

19. Great Northern — This map shows the size that Great northern Railway underwent after absorbing the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway and adding more mainlines.

20. Rock Island — This map right here shows how big the Chicago Rock island and Pacific Railroad, or the Rock Island Railroad for short, has gotten after absorbing the Colorado and Southern Railroad and adding more mainlines and connecting to other mainlines order Rock Island ownership.

One locomotive I’ve been thinking about regarding the alternate history of the American railroads is one of EMD’s most iconic locomotives; the…

EMD SD40-2

Now in the current timeline, 8 of the 20 railroads actually had SD40-2 diesels (and some still do), and those 8 railroads are…

Union Pacific

Milwaukee Road

Chicago & Northwestern

Southern Pacific

Missouri Pacific

Rock Island

Norfolk & Western

and…

Santa fe

Now what I’ve been thinking about regarding this iconic freight diesel locomotive in the alternative railroad history is the liveries the SD40-2 diesels would have under ownership of the other American railroads like the New York Central, Chesapeake & Ohio, Northern Pacific, Burlington Route and so on.

New York Central — It’d be very common for Central’s SD40-2 diesels to have the cigar band livery, given that they’re freight diesels. They can have the lightning stripe livery, but it’s very rare to see an SD40-2 with that livery and are usually spared for special rail events.

Pennsylvania Railroad — The Pennsy’s SD40-2 diesels would have the Brunswick green body or the Tuscan red body, with both bodies having yellowish gold “Pennsylvania” on the sides with the PRR keystone logo on the noses and rears.

Chesapeake & Ohio — Most of C&O’s SD40-2’s come in the same C&O livery as seen on C&O’s older GP30 diesles (like #3032). While some are in the same C&O livery as seen on C&O’s older E8 diesels, though SD40-2’s in that livery is a rare sight and reserved for special events.

Baltimore & Ohio — Most of Baltimore & Ohio’s SD40-2’s would come in the dark Royal Blue with yellow lettering and a yellow sill stripe, often called “dip scheme”; a common B&O livery for B&O freight locomotives, as seen on the B&O GP7’s and GP40’s. Some B&O SD40-2’s can have the livery as seen on B&O E units, but it’s very rare to see one in such livery.

Northern Pacific — Half of Northern Pacific’s SD40-2’s have the Pine Tree livery. The other half have the same NP livery as seen on NP’s older U25c diesels.

Burlington Route — Half of Burlington Route’s SD40-2 diesels have the Blackbird Scheme (as seen on the older CB&Q’s GP20 diesels) while the other half have the Redbird scheme (as seen on the older GP30 diesels).

Illinois Central — Most of Illinois Central’s SD40-2’s would come in the IC Black livery, making them pop out against other SD40-2’s from other railroad companies, especially with the "Deathstar" logo On the noses of Illinois Central’s SD40-2. Though some other IC SD40-2’s come in the same gray and black livery as seen on IC E8 #101.

Gulf Mobile & Ohio — Half of Gulf Mobile & Ohio’s SD40-2’s come in the GM&O red/white scheme (as seen on GM&O GP38-2 #742) while the other half would have the maroon and red with gold pin-striping livery (as seen on GM&O GP30 #512), paying homage to the GM&O’s early diesel days in the late 40s.

Southern Railway — Many of the SOU’s SD40-2’s have a dark green color with a white band and a good stripe, called the Virginia Green livery, and this livery was used on the Crescent Limited. Another SOU livery that the rest of SOU’s SD40-2’s have is the same SOU livery as seen on SOU’s GP7 diesels.

Seaboard Air Line — Half of the Seaboard Air Line’s SD40-2’s would have the "Jolly Green Giant" livery (as seen on SAL GP40 #626 for example) while the other half would have the — (as seen on the older SAL E4A #3002 for example).

Atlantic Coast Line — Some of Atlantic Coast Line’s SD40-2’s come in the ACL’s iconic “Royal Purple” livery. Most others of ACL’s SD40-2’s come in the

Great Northern — Great Northern SD40-2’s have the Empire Builder livery, like the earlier E units and F unites as the Empire Builder livery is the most associated livery of the Great Northern Railway. Though on very rare occasions, GN SD40-2’s have the Big Sky Blue livery.