steamboateng
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Buildingthe NE Mass Route – page 3
Paintingthe picture
As mentioned previously, I have started to build the route at Rockport,Ma. Rockport is a small town noted for its fisherman, artist colony,scenic shoreline and even its granite. As towns go, it certainly is the most picturesque of all the towns on the route, and as such it deserves some special consideration in recreating it in Trainz.
First,let's get a handle on what our limitations are; which is quite simply the content available in the Trainz database. Buildings, bridges, roads, track, track side items and terrain paint are all defined within the database. The database, in an artistic sense, is our palate to paint a picture. That is a picture of a particular place at a particular time, viewed with our own subjective preferences.
For me, choosing assets from the palate can be filtered by defining first the era or decade I am building in: roughly 1945-1955. With a time frame to reference, I can define the architecture associated with theplace: wood frame clapboard and ceder shingle; a mix of Victorian style and New England simplicity. And lastly, but surely the most important, is the geology of the place: short beaches, rocky shorelines, rolling pastures of granite and grass, with abundant deciduous vegetation and lots of ocean.
It may be well to spend some thought on these initial observations. Many of the assets we choose here will be recurrent throughout the entire route, setting a background motif through which our principal subject, the railroad, winds its way.
Pictures shape our picture
Photographs;our own, or downloaded from the internet, help to capture the sense of a place.
I have about 70 photos and postcards of Rockport, dating from the present to the 1890's, filed away on disk for reference. The geographic and architectural details gleaned from these graphics assist not only in recreating a building or landmark, but contribute to the creative process: the distilled elements of observation coalescing into its own picture, which we attempt to recreate.
Walk the ground
Of course a walking tour of a town or facility is the surest way to grab a sense of its 'history'.
I haven't been to Rockport in more than 35 years. I hardly remember the place at all. But it sounds like a great place for a weekend getaway with the Chief Mate, to shake off the Winter doldrums, now that the sun has reappeared.
In conclusion
This blog entry is a short insight into my own thoughts regarding route building. It is by no means the final word. How we approach a subject is purely subjective. Below are a few links to screen shots of my progress to date.
Building up Rockport:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/BuildingupRockport.jpg
Local Commute:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/LocalcommuteatRockport.jpg
Rockport Station looking east:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/RockportStation-LookingEast.jpg
Yourcomments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.
mbk3/10/12
Paintingthe picture
As mentioned previously, I have started to build the route at Rockport,Ma. Rockport is a small town noted for its fisherman, artist colony,scenic shoreline and even its granite. As towns go, it certainly is the most picturesque of all the towns on the route, and as such it deserves some special consideration in recreating it in Trainz.
First,let's get a handle on what our limitations are; which is quite simply the content available in the Trainz database. Buildings, bridges, roads, track, track side items and terrain paint are all defined within the database. The database, in an artistic sense, is our palate to paint a picture. That is a picture of a particular place at a particular time, viewed with our own subjective preferences.
For me, choosing assets from the palate can be filtered by defining first the era or decade I am building in: roughly 1945-1955. With a time frame to reference, I can define the architecture associated with theplace: wood frame clapboard and ceder shingle; a mix of Victorian style and New England simplicity. And lastly, but surely the most important, is the geology of the place: short beaches, rocky shorelines, rolling pastures of granite and grass, with abundant deciduous vegetation and lots of ocean.
It may be well to spend some thought on these initial observations. Many of the assets we choose here will be recurrent throughout the entire route, setting a background motif through which our principal subject, the railroad, winds its way.
Pictures shape our picture
Photographs;our own, or downloaded from the internet, help to capture the sense of a place.
I have about 70 photos and postcards of Rockport, dating from the present to the 1890's, filed away on disk for reference. The geographic and architectural details gleaned from these graphics assist not only in recreating a building or landmark, but contribute to the creative process: the distilled elements of observation coalescing into its own picture, which we attempt to recreate.
Walk the ground
Of course a walking tour of a town or facility is the surest way to grab a sense of its 'history'.
I haven't been to Rockport in more than 35 years. I hardly remember the place at all. But it sounds like a great place for a weekend getaway with the Chief Mate, to shake off the Winter doldrums, now that the sun has reappeared.
In conclusion
This blog entry is a short insight into my own thoughts regarding route building. It is by no means the final word. How we approach a subject is purely subjective. Below are a few links to screen shots of my progress to date.
Building up Rockport:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/BuildingupRockport.jpg
Local Commute:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/LocalcommuteatRockport.jpg
Rockport Station looking east:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/RockportStation-LookingEast.jpg
Yourcomments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.
mbk3/10/12