2 Lane road with 1 Lane Bridge

[Orloldman]

I am working on a route based in the 1950s.

I am looking for a 1 lane bridge that allows car traffic to travel in both directions. I would be attaching a 2 lane road to it on both ends. These types of bridges (creek size) were typical in many rural locations were traffic was light.

Does such a thing exist for Trainz?

Thanks
Duane

 

[itareus]

Hi Duane,

I'm not aware of any such, but check out authors "Bendorsey" and "Vulcan" both of whom have produced "special" bridges.

You could also use a non traffic single lane bridge along with Andi06's - AJS Traffic (Invisible),<kuid:122285:1122> and Boat's ATSL system (See http://www.boatztrainz.co.uk/page2.htm ) or similar to make it work - it would be a bit complicated to set up.

Cheers

Chris

 

[bendorsey]

The "trick" for traffic on a one lane bridge is to offset the track (road) attachment points in Gmax so the traffic in the direction you want is centered on the one lane roadway. The traffic the other direction is floating in mid air but that can be stopped by connecting a very short section of traffic producing road spline to the end. It will generate traffic in the direction of the bridge but not in the other direction.

I've made a number of bridges with one way traffic but I've never made one with traffic in both direction on the same lane. I see how to do it but I'm not certain how to alternate the direction of the traffic (cars in one direction for a while then cars in the other direction for a while). Might require scripting (of which I am abyssimally ignorant) and depend on weather auto traffic can be controlled by scripting at all (I have no idea).

Ben

 

[itareus]

.....I'm not certain how to alternate the direction of the traffic (cars in one direction for a while then cars in the other direction for a while)........

Hi Ben,

I believe this could be done with Boat's ATLS (Traffic Light System) with or without the visible traffic lights. It need not be part of the bridge itself. Maybe somebody with more knowledge of ATLS than myself could tell us how......

Cheers

Chris

 

[Orloldman]

Thanks for all the feedback. It would be interesting to see if something like this can be worked in Trainz. I'm only at the reskinning level so this may be something I have to skip (put in a temp 2 laner) for now and come back to them when I learn more of what I am doing.

As a kid growing up in SW Pennsylvania, we loved these bridges because they were always higher then the actual roads connected to them. With a little speed, driving over them was like a cheap roller coaster, although a good way to get car sick. With little traffic, they were fun but I do recall a few close calls. Looked at from the side, they were basic concrete decked with sides (railings) made from concrete that looked a bit like an old upright cast iron radiator. There were quite a few on rural roads in coal country.

The route I am working on is from central Florida and, truth be told, I am not sure what the bridges here actually looked like. Only view I have is directly overhead from Dept of Agriculture aerial photos from 1957. Probably concrete. Today, these bridges have been replaced by 2 lane ones in each direction.

I can't use the rail bridges opposite the roads as guides as they were wood piling types but they date to before 1900, when the roads were just wagon paths and the creeks slow and shallow.

Duane

 

[bendorsey]

If you have some photos and basic dimensions I can make them for you.

Ben

 

[Orloldman]

Thanks for your kind offer. I am trying to run down some photos as I think I have some from a mid 1960s fishing trip along some canals here.

If memory serves, the bridges were simple concrete structures with steel guardrails approaches that "funneled" the cars onto the bridge. Much like your "Road Bridge (concrete) 1" asset, except the bridge "sides" were more modern, made of concrete and topped with those metal guardrails that are kinda "wave" shaped when looked at end on - like these but with a single hortizontal tube http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/bridgerail/br053000.cfm . Guardrails would have been placed at or before and about at the same angle as the retaining walls you have in your model with warning markings on them. They didn't work the greatest as cars went into the canals and creeks alot!

It may be the weekend before I can find and scan a photo - if I have one.

Thanks again.

Duane

 

[itareus]

You might be interested in this thread about ATLS. There is a demo available which includes a single lane (roadworks) traffic system that should work for the bridge.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=52855

 

[nbrettoner]

Hi Ben & interested parties,

This is an interesting subject that stretches back in time some years, to when I believe Stryker was attempting something similar.

Ben this two-into-one road traffic scenario is what Craig (Seeseeme) & I face, with the Tocumwal centre-lift section bridge. My intention was to have an invisible "drivable" road spline going across, as does the rail line. However it just may be now possible to have normal traffic flow effectively controlled, & merged two-into-one lane, across the bridge?.
Either way, we need (for our Narrandera_Tocumwal project) to have an effective way of controlling the traffic flow of:
......rail (south-north & north-south)
......road (south-north & north-south)
......River traffic (west-east & east-west).

Somewhat complex, however I believe now feasible to achieve?. :wave:

 

[bendorsey]

Once I make the bridge ya'll can play with it to your hearts content, lol.

Ben

 

[stagecoach]

Ben this two-into-one road traffic scenario is what Craig (Seeseeme) & I face, with the Tocumwal centre-lift section bridge. My intention was to have an invisible "drivable" road spline going across, as does the rail line. However it just may be now possible to have normal traffic flow effectively controlled, & merged two-into-one lane, across the bridge?.
Either way, we need (for our Narrandera_Tocumwal project) to have an effective way of controlling the traffic flow of:
......rail (south-north & north-south)
......road (south-north & north-south)
......River traffic (west-east & east-west).

Somewhat complex, however I believe now feasible to achieve?. :wave:

See the ATLS thread http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=52855&highlight=atls a screen shot of single lane traffic passing some road works. This is all controlled by the ATLS and it is possible to use it to control all the other requirements of your route. You could set it up so that ships approaching the bridge would set the trains and traffic to stop while the bridge is open and then when the ship has cleared return control to the train and traffic. If I had some idea how you have the bridge portion set up I could put together a demo of what I mean.

 

[stagecoach]

For those interestd Ive done a little demo with Boat, Train, Road across a bridge. As the question of this thread was two lanes into a single lane ive had to improvise with the bridge. nbrettoner wanted a lift bridge so ive made do with the bascule bridge (the bridge needs to have a road and rail across the main span for it to look right but the set up is the same). This demo shows how using the ATLS assets you can have a fully automatic operation of road traffic crossing in single lane bridge with trains also crossing in the same space and have boats passing beneath without any of them running into each other and all waiting for each other to complete their tasks.