City Point USMRR Restoration Project

USS ALASKA

Captain
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Hello
I am the Project Director of a historical restoration project to do a complete digital re-creation of the 28 mile US Military Railroad from City Point to the battle lines of the siege of Petersburg 1864-65. Our team has been working on this project for a year but research started five years ago. Estimated completion - 2 years plus. I will post information as time allows. The route will be for use at museums, historical institutions and other researchers, as well as versions for release to those in interested in this era and history. The Route will include the complete modelling of the entire area from City Point to south of Petersburg, from the Atlantic coast to the city of Richmond and will include the river systems as we plan to include the naval events of that period of the war, all of the rolling stock, locomotives of the railroad, the military encampments of both sides, in full detail, the 180 military structures built by the construction corps at City Point as well as the town of Hopewell, other towns in the region and as stated, the naval vessels both military and civilian or chartered used as Transports: ironclads, gun boats, converted Ferryboats, tugs, monitors, schooners, ships and steam ships of all classes. The ships and trains will be operable by the user of the digital route and various historic events will be included in the simulation. Needless to say this has required a lot of research which is ongoing, and our staff includes first rate modellers and those skilled at virtual landscape creation. My regards to all here.

Chris Gerlach
Project Director
City Point Army Line USMRR 1865 Project.
Sir, here are some other papers that were not posted on the Railroads & Steam Locomotives forum that might be of value to you...




(with 3 other parts following this post)


HTHs,
USS ALASKA
 
Last edited:
Hello and sorry for the late reply. Yes those records. They are the gold mine of data that makes our work and the work of others in the field possible. I plan to be in touch with David the author of that excellent summary soon, our project due to its unique and novel nature requires us to reach points of "Proof of Concept" before fruitful interaction with established entities and levels of historical work is possible. We are reaching one of those points where our development and progress allow us to know what we need to ask for and about....so thanks for sharing with others that excellent article that we found last year and which helps us proceed. Some others we work in this field who we share notes and development progress with have been to the archives and shared some of their findings. One of the unique challenges of the collection is that most of the records were copied out in the cursive handwriting of the time, written with goosequill or steel pens and are at times quite challenging to read :smile: But we are fortunate that the librarians of that era realized the important of the collection and preserved it to this day. thanks again.
Chris
 
Back
Top