Is the route too long? What are your opinions on long routes?

My Polar Bear express route is 260km long (about 180 miles), much of it single track and built to real world using Transdem. Some stretches are 50km with nothing but snow and pine trees to look at with the odd bridge. My question is do players find long stretches of sitting on single track doing nothing boring, or enjoyable as that is real world railroading?

I was thinking about maybe chopping out the middle sections but I have no idea how I would join up the two halves.

So long as it loads and runs fine, I for one enjoy long runs through wilderness and mountain/forest scenery.

My two current "big" projects, while not being quite that length are somewhere in the region of 90 - 100 miles. The only practical way for an individual working alone to produce a route of this length is to pick a prototype where the bulk of the scenery can be applied fairly quickly via copy and paste.

Perhaps you could add little dioramas at intervals, perhaps a bear (there is one on the DLS) or a group of moose near the track to add interest. Also make sure civilization is well represented, nothing like doing a night run through the darkened forest and seeing the pinprick lights of a small town slowly approaching in the distance.

I like long routes. As long as they aren't the same old thing the whole length of the route. And as long as they're done realistically. That means with small towns along the way (I'm talking USA routes), A farm once in a while--- just anything to break up the journey. I've downloaded too many routes that were blah (including some Payware) with horrible and unrealistic scenery, no traffic (hate those routes with no traffic), no track signs (mile post markers, whistle signs, etc.), crappy texturing, etc.

If you're not going to make it look nice, interesting, and entertaining, then just forget it.

BTW, I'm a Cab Mode guy so it has to look good from the cab.

Just MY opinions and preferences.

Cheers,

Dave

I just concentrate on trackwork, and adjusting hills and cuts ... a few bridges and buildings ... no textures, nor twees and schwubbery ... all of that is just fluffy filler

I also like long routes which are interesting to run, otherwise, I fall asleep in the cab which has happened more than once. I took Dermmy's East Kentucky, merged that with Dave Snow's Ozark Valley and Cotton Belt routes, then added in three two more routes by Jointed Rail, MSG Sapper, and finally Dermmy's Evansville at the end. With multiple portals and AI trains running, the route gets pretty busy as I switch and run the coal trains, commuter rail, or another long manifest freight myself.

Now, I've had this route running okay in TS12, and not so well in T:ANE. It loads up fine in T:ANE, but then there are consist loading timeouts and other weird things happening. As time goes on, the signals stop working, perhaps after an hour of operation. The AI will sit at a red signal that displays a message stating no train approaching. Pressing pause and waiting a few seconds will get the script going again. This was never an issue with TS12. I have rationalized down some of the signals as I thought there were maybe too many signals, but that didn't help.

Anyway long routes are great but just use caution with the number of consists, which are sadly needed otherwise you'll be driving for hours without seeing anything.

John

I don't mind if there is something interesting to see or do every 5 to 10 miles. When I make a fictional route I make a whistle stop, small town, mine, etc. about every 5 miles. I drive in the cab so as long as it looks good from the cab is all that matters to me.

Thanks for the replies guys. The route is real world, so right now there are a few flag stops along the route but not a ton. The Polar Bear Express runs from Cochrane Ontario to Moosonee Ontario, the only way to get to Moosonee is by train. I was thinking last night that I may "break" the real world and throw in a larger town or two between the two main towns and the flag stops. The route is basically open terrain covered in snow, or terrain covered in snow covered pine trees, and lots of bridges. Some pictures are on this thread: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/show...a-based-routes&p=1520847&posted=1#post1520847

I would find it boring to be honest and even more so as the two projects I am working on have a lot of detail and are based on real situations. One was a city tramway (long gone) covering nearly 120 miles of streets and the other a presently existing rail system of over 300 miles so far. So a long route with hardly any scenery doesn't catch my eye or mind!

I also like long routes. Interesting scenery details spread along the route help keep the interest up but then if it is a prototypical route, those real engine drivers also have to watch a lot of nothing so that is proto too.

IIRC, the Polar Bear express makes ad hoc stops all along the route where someone has arranged for a pickup or drop-off in the middle of nowhere. Add a few of those to spice up the route.

There are, of course, other factors such as train speed. A 100 mile run through forest and tundra at 80 MPH will pass quite quickly, whereas one at 25 MPH, particularly if this is imposed due to condition of track rather than for curvature/gradients might drag for even the most devoted fan of long routes.

If there are things to do during the low speed run, it could still be entertaining.

On a related topic, how do real world train drivers cope with long boring routes where the passing scenery is monotonous, there is nothing but long stretches of empty in front and the track disappears in the vanishing point ahead?

I think they sleep