East Regional
The East Regional is a series of passenger and commuter rail lines operated by Ashwood Southeastern Railroad. The whole system stretches from Ashwood’s Union Station all the way to Quincy, serving several other towns in between.
History
[edit | edit source]Discontinuation of the Ashwood & Quincy Special (1971)
[edit | edit source]On October 3rd, 1971, the A&SE had discontinued their premier passenger line, the Ashwood & Quincy Special, due to it underperforming as most people traveling between Ashwood and Quincy opted to use personal vehicles for transport. During its last year, the service only saw around 1,700 passengers, compared to the previous year with around 10,000 passengers. After the service ended, Ashwood & Southeastern would sell off the remaining passenger equipment to companies in the US and Canada. The old stations at Brook, Sterry, Deadwood and New Limon would be most demolished save for the depots in Brook and Deadwood. The two terminus stations, Ashwood Union Station and Quincy Union Station remained as is. Ashwood still saw use by other lines and Quincy was still used by the Quincy Southern and eventually the Quincy Transit Authority would use the station for their light rail.
Service Revival (Late 2000's-2019)
[edit | edit source]In the late 2000’s, interest in reviving or opening a new service between Ashwood and Quincy was growing. The only alternative to driving by that point was either taking a bus or flying from the Copper Mountain Airport to Quincy International, which was very impractical and costly. When higher ups at ASER were asked about it, they said they would “consider it”. In early 2012, work on improving the track between Ashwood and Evergreen went underway. On March 29th, 2014, ASER announced that they would begin working on a new line to bypass Sierra Pass, a mountain pass that was a huge obstacle for fast passenger service. Work on the new line, dubbed the “Sierra Cutoff” began on April 18th, 2014. Construction was completed on September 3rd, 2016. At the same time, ASER fully unveiled the complete plan for a new passenger service called the East Regional. Work began on restoring the old stations and building new ones. The first version of the service, the East Regional, running between Ashwood and Quincy, with stops in Brook, Sterry, Deadwood, Silver Ridge and New Limon, started daily service on June 11th, 2017. A stop in Evergreen would later be added on July 18th, 2019. The second version, the East Regional Express, opened on April 30th, 2018, which provided a faster “express” service, bypassing stops in Brook, Sterry (after 2023), Deadwood (before 2023), Evergreen (after 2019), and New Limon. The third and final version, the East Local Regional, opened on August 23rd, 2019 as a frequent commuter rail service between Ashwood and Deadwood, serving all existing stops in between. All three services proved to be a success, with the East Regional and East Local Regional becoming very popular with tourists and commuters respectively.
East Local Regional Expansion (2021-2026)
[edit | edit source]On July 9th, 2021, Ashwood Southeastern announced that they would be double tracking the line between Ashwood and Sterry to allow for more frequent service on the East Local Regional and to allow less delays between passenger trains and freight trains that used the same route. Part of the plan was to finally move all main rail traffic away from Sierra Pass and on to the Sierra Cutoff. A new stop in Sterry Valley, a town between Brook and Sterry, was also proposed but has yet to get the green light to begin construction. Work on double tracking and rebuilding parts of the right of way began in fall 2021. The biggest challenge was double tracking and regrading the line between Ashwood and the railroad location Cutoff Junction. The whole right of way had to be basically entirely rebuilt. Work on that part was completed in 2025. The old route over Sierra Pass between Big Ten and Sierra (Sterry Valley) was leased to the Sierra Valley Railroad. The new double track on the entire line save for a small part in Sterry was completed in early 2026. A new transit center in Deadwood was completed by 2023, featuring several new bus platforms, two track platforms, a new plaza mall and a connection to CMTA’s subway service.
Operations
[edit | edit source]Stations
[edit | edit source]| Station | Service(s) |
| Ashwood, CM (Union Station) | East Regional, East Regional Express, East Local Regional |
| Brook, CM | East Regional, East Local Regional |
| Sterry, CM | East Regional, East Local Regional |
| Deadwood, CM (Deadwood Transit Center) | East Regional, East Regional Express, East Local Regional |
| Evergreen, CM | East Regional |
| Silver Ridge, CM | East Regional, East Regional Express |
| New Limon, LM | East Regional |
| Quincy, LM | East Regional, East Regional Express |
Consists & Daily Operations
[edit | edit source]The East Regional typically uses 1-2 EMD GP40PH’s and three coach cars. This train runs two times a day in each direction, departing the originating stations around 08:00 and 16:00. For the Evergreen stop, this train has to make a backup procedure as Evergreen is a dead end station.
The East Regional Express typically uses 1-2 EMD GP40PH’s and two coach cars. This train runs once a day in each direction, normally departing the originating station around noon. Both this train and the East Regional have to make backup procedures for Ashwood and Quincy.
The East Local Regional typically uses a single EMD GP40PH (facing east), a coach car and a cab car. This train runs hourly in each direction. This is the only train to not make any backup procedures. At Deadwood, the operator switches to the cab car.