Hey Bernie (bl4882)

[SuperFudd]

Hi Bernie,

In October 08 you posted the below to the forum. How has that route worked out for you? I went to the DLS to see if you had uploaded it but the DLS is down at the moment.
Since then I have been working on the WP, Stockton to Milpitas including the SP of coarse.

Don (SuperFudd)

Hi Superfudd,

Well, you're practically a neighbor. I hang out in Campbell. My route is a 75 mile stretch of the Espee Coast Division running from San Jose south, timetable east, nearly to Chualar and including Spreckels, just south of Salinas, and the defunct sugar plant. There are serious yards at Salinas, Watsonville (a truly bizarre yard), Santa Clara (Newhall, two yards in one), and San Jose (College Park), plus the Cahill Street (now Diridon) station. I'm just putting in the track at College Park and when I am done all the basic track will be in. I am using Fishlipsatwork's terrain.

It is a versatile route, with important branches to Los Gatos, Moss Landing, Monterey, Tres Pinos, New Almaden, and Spreckels, and a stretch of the Western Pacific from Milpitas to downtown San Jose. Because Fishlips did not shave down his terrain there is an opportunity to try to replicate the Pajaro Valley narrow gauge railroad - anachronistic but fun . There are two huge industries, one the Spreckels sugar plant that used to produce about 7500 tons of sugar a day during the beet campaign (should make a good scenario) and the other the lime rock quarry at Logan. I've stuck it in a mid-50s time warp so there is still plenty of single car load traffic, mostly food packing with hundreds of PFE reefers, together with the dawn of diesel freight and intermodal. My hope is to make it part of a set of a half dozen noncontiguous routes stretching from approximately San Luis Obispo through the East Bay and on over Donner Pass, maybe with the Peninsula line including one of those new cable car SF routes coming on the DLS. Projected completion date is End of the World. THINK BIG!

Anyhow, my slough issue is with the Salinas Valley, also the irrigation system Claus Spreckels built. As of now I've learned a lot about Tranz track, but need to turn my attention to scenery. I think I also need to get some sort of a handle on asset creation, since the focus of most Tranzers seems to be post 1980, which is a whole different world. As a life-long HO scaler I did my share of kit bashing and scratch building, but I am amazed what guys like Ben Dorsey and others can do with bits and bytes.

What are you working on?

Bernie

 

[bl4882]

TMI

Hi Superfudd,

It's going great.

The part mentioned in the quote is actually only the first of a projected seven or 8 segments to be connected by IPortals.

I started at San Jose, at milepost 44.3 and end of track has just passed Guadalupe at MP276.5. Cuesta grade was a bear. This covers parts I through III. Eventually, the route will terminate at Oxnard with part IV, though I may go further.

I am now also starting the move north to Oakland from San Jose, having unearthed some vintage maps and sources of info that will let me replicate the trackage. From there I expect to go eastward at least as far as Sacramento. The San Francisco port and industrial areas - to those too young to remember, SF once had an industrial area in the days when it manufactured things other than government - is in the mix. Maybe I can induce Ben Dorsey to do the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge? Thinking Key System here.

My concentration is on track and making it as realistic as I can force the program - TRS2006 - to render it. I'm using as many reference books as I can lay my hands on, track charts, free standing room diagrams, Sanborn fire insurance maps, such SPINS and TIP booklets as I can find, the Internet, and current and historic USGS maps. All is done on DEM terrain.

Right now my entire emphasis is on track. Why still? Well, for one thing, last September I trashed everying I had done until then, and restarted from scratch. For another, practially all of the turnouts are laid using prototype dimensions and formulae, with frog numbers ranging from #8 to #24, plus some special work. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to lay a good switch, sometimes less depending on difficulty in sketching and laying it out. There are well over 800 turnouts in the San Jose to Salinas segment alone, and when finished - soon? - the number could easily push 900. Including parts II and III, I am already over 1000. Takes time.

I'm experimenting with some scenic effects and will start some scenery when I believe I am skilled enough. Right now most of my scenery efforts tend to look like a Fairyland scene.

Here are some "baby pictures."

You may be interested in this map. This is the San Jose area with about 80% of the industrial trackage in. North is to the right. From east to west you can see the Wobblie's William Street yard, Cahill, as it then was - now Diridon, Station, WP terminal, College Park yard, San Jose engine facility and shops, and Santa Clara/Newhall yard.

http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=img001.jpg

Here are some pics from a recent operating session, running the Overnight from its stop in San Jose to Salinas.

The Overnight merchandise train departing Santa Clara/Newhall after its San Jose stop in the early evening. The helper will cut off at Gilroy.
http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=overnightdepartingNewhall.jpg

Taking the main southbound, timetable east, past Cahill Station, as was before 1971
http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=overnightrunningpastCahill.jpg

Picking up speed leaving downtown San Jose
http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=overnightdepartingdowntown.jpg

Running past Lick, origin of the New Almaden branch, at 55
http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=runningpastLick.jpg

Pausing at Watsonville at dusk to pick pick up some TOFCs
http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=overnightatWatsonville.jpg

I've been thinking of publishing these in the nude, as it were, for anyone who wants to tweak them and scenic and signal them to suit their needs. But It won't be on the DLS. I can't think of a reason to hassle that just to have them kicked off in September. Maybe on a third party site, if there is any interest.

If you would be interested in some sort of collaboration and info sharing, please PM me.

Bernie

 

[SuperFudd]

OK Bernie. I never used PM. I did not have it enabled. I just now enabled it. Looks like it will be awhile before it taked effect.

In the mean time,
I am most interested in your plans for San Jose and Oakland. Are you just doing the coast (Mulford) route thru Newark or also the lines, SP and WP via Niles and Decoto?
Mine, circa 1962, incudes the Mulford line Drawbridge to Hayward (Baumberg), the WP Milpitas Ford plant to Hayward (Carpenter) and the SP Milpitas to Hayward (Carpenter). To the North and South of the area I have portals. West of Newark towards the Dumbarton is also a portal. East of Niles I have track layed all the way to Stockton, both the SP and the WP. North of Stockton on the SP and WP are portals as are the ATSF East and West of Stockton. I have a portal on the SP South towards Bakersfield from Lathrop. I will also represent two short lines within Stockton. Oh yes, I also have the Moccoco line terminated in a portal North of Tracy.
All track is in but there is some tweaking to be done. Currently I am trying to get the signaling set for best AI operation.

Sounds impressive, right? Well, not so much so. I use ~3 to 1 compression. I have cheated by starting out with AJ Fox's Altamont Commuter Express route. I am doing major rework of his part though. Another thing is I am trying to use only TS2009 built in stuff. Within those considerable limitations I am trying to do as well as I can. I am not too concerned about anything more than 1/4 mile from the track.
This, my first "route" will probably be my last. I will go back to "layouts". Much more bang for the hour.

I have been using TerraServer, now MSR Maps, allot. I also have some Department Of The Interior Geological Survey maps. Google Street Level is also handy.

That should do for now.