Coal County [large pics]

nicky9499 · Apr 29, 2009

I'm sorry for not posting after so long. Relax; I've certainly not lost interest in this route. My mid-year examinations are taking place this week and the next, so for the time being progress will be slow (but ongoing nevertheless). Thereafter it will be summer holidays (three cheers in advance eh?). The perks of being a student, sigh.

Sorry for making you guys worry.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

nicky9499 · May 20, 2009

What you've been waiting for so long.

Work has been redirected to Wilhelmina Bay South. Much featured here are the new docks and industrial region.

A tank train runs though the station, bypassing the docks altogether - a rare sighting.

Because the harbour bypass track is already occupied by an empty SP ballast train.

nicky9499 · May 20, 2009

A scene some are familiar with:

nicky9499 · May 20, 2009

Leave comments, suggestions and constructive criticism where there's room for improvement okay?

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

cascaderailroad · May 20, 2009

Really nice route ! It has a real feel to it!...where can we find some of those old downtown city buildings ? What is your favorite type of track ?

nicky9499 · May 20, 2009

They come in packs and can be found at Trainzproroutes and Tall Trees & Boardwalk. Only downside is there's no night lighting. Overlooking that, they create very convincing urban areas.

If the tracks looks nice in general then I'd be happy to use them. As a rule of thumb I do not touch the default tracks provided out of the box. Given a choice I'd have used detailed 3 dimensional track, but because the LOD suddenly kicks in at a certain distance it doesn't look completely realistic. Ocemy's 3 dimensional tracks however, do not suffer from this effect.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

Euphod · May 20, 2009

I love your work Nicky, you truely have a talent for route building.

nicky9499 · May 20, 2009

Thank you Euphod, I'm flattered.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

evan123 · May 20, 2009

Street racing! Hahaha so clever!!! Excellence!

Steveo241 · May 21, 2009

Nicky,

First I want to say this is one of the greatest routes I have EVER seen in Trainz. It looks so realistic, and the city, like Euphod stated, looks believeable. In your desert pictures, the town reminds me of the old Gold Mine town of Rhyolite, Nevada...well, what it looked like in it's time.

Also, I found the green plants on brown soil creative. Not everything has to be real, but by the looks of it, you are trying to make everything super realistic, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Good...no...Amazing Work on this route, and I can't wait to see more shots!

Steveo241

nicky9499 · May 21, 2009

Thank you all for the encouragement, it is great motivation. Work on the route is going full steam ahead now that the mid year examinations are over.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

stouthm · May 21, 2009

You've been busy. I know you're creating in 09 but maybe down the line it can be used in 06. Keep up the work, a fine job.

nicky9499 · Aug 10, 2009

Despite my rather busy schedule of late, I've managed to squeeze out the eastern portals of Coal County (for version 1). Comments and criticism are welcome, but kindly not quote pictures.

Again, sorry for making you folks wait so long.

nicky9499 · Aug 10, 2009

This aerial shot clearly shows how the flying junction came about.

Got tangled up in the wires for a moment..

Fixing a broken whistle post.

nicky9499 · Aug 10, 2009

The annoying flickering points in Vista has forced the management to replace trackbeds.

While this siding was forced to close due to accidents on it's 3.5% grade.

nicky9499 · Aug 10, 2009

Upload speeds are horrendous at the moment, I'll leave this on overnight and post the rest tomorrow.

nicky9499 · Aug 10, 2009

Here's the next completed batch before I go to sleep for the night.
It's worth nothing that the Gran Rio yard is a purely fictitious one inspired by BNSF's Barstow Yard and not the other way round (a horribly inaccurate Barstow). The hump yard pictured is "bi-directional" - something I cooked up while doodling track plans during math.