Highlad Valley in TRS2010EE

[tbob]

Highland Valley in TRS2010EE

Howdy everyone,

I know alot of you are going to roll your eyes and groan and go, "God, this kid's screwing around with this route again!". Well, I've got a better computer than I had with my prior attempts, there's better content, and it just bugs me that I never finished this project.

So before I go to bed tonight, here's some WIP on what I've been up to. I'm trying to give this route a total facelift.

More details to come, enjoy :wave:

 

[Euphod]

Looking good for such a venerable route!

 

[jointedrail]

Sorry but Highland Valley is an all time favorite for me. One of the first routes I was able to customize back in the days. HV is one of the first best of the best routes and still provides hours of fun today. I in fact still have a version I have modified up to TS12 standards. Once a winner always a winner. This one is like a rubix cube. It never gets old, unless you are a genius.... But then again it's still fun, genius or not, and I'm certainly not a genius... All time winner of all time. If there were a TRAINZ hall of fame, this route would qualify hands down.

Mike

Thanks CeeBee, hope you are well!

 

[jmeinig]

tbob, where are those screens taken on the Highland Valley? Or are those shots on a new part?

 

[tbob]

@ Ed: Thanks Ed, I hope I can keep it up, there's alot of detail still to be added haha

@ Mike: It was the first route I ran when I first got TRS2004 and I fell in love with it... I have 04 installed on my Gram's computer to keep my sanity incase I get bored, so I still run the original every once in awhile

@ jmeinig: The shot with the FL9's is at the roundhouse in Greenwood, I added a dead line behind the roundhouse, replaced the warehouses with industrial buildings, and built a naval pier. The RS1 is on a spur I built to access the new warehouses and the deadline. The Union Station's original main building remains but I've expanded the number of tracks serving the station from 2 to 4. The platform closest to the station serves inbound long distance (passengers getting off) trains, the inner tracks serve commuter trains, and the far platform serves outbound long distance (passengers getting on) trains. Yard facilities have become more detailed with coaling and watering for steam service at the roundhouse and a diesel shop and coach storage at the opposite end of the yard.

 

[Euphod]

I remember running Highland Valley on a mash-up I did of four of them end to end... as JR said; CeeBee did a hell of of a job on what can be considered a seminal route for Trainz!

Keep on with your variation though; it only proves the superiority of the platform for route building.:wave:

 

[WCL]

Where is the original route at?? On the DLS???

 

[tbob]

I had to import it from TRS2006

 

[sawyer811]

Did you expand the route? I'm not sure you could cram all that on 4 baseboards

Well, there is that 2004 version on the DLS that's 16 baseboards. I did a minimal mod of it, stringing catenary part of the length of the track, and adding a staging yard at one end so trains could enter and exit the layout. Greenwood became an interchange point, where electric motors were swapped for steam and/or diesel locomotives for the rest of the trip up the valley. Sadly, i lost it when i switched from TS2009 to TS2010

oh well, enough about me, your route looks amazing! You've inspired me to try again to mod the HVRR!

 

[tbob]

So far I've added only one baseboard in Greenwood to accomodate the new roundhouse and port. To give the impression of access to other railroads I plan on simply placing three tunnels on the mainline in different locations, this way I can make stories more interesting. Electrification is planned with catenary from Greenwood to Lumby and third rail joining the catenary from a junction between Greenwood and Lumby for New York Central (later Metro-North) use. I have plans to do three time periods, a 50's/60's era as shown above (New Haven RR), a period of decay based on the 80's (Conrail/Amtrak/Early MTA), and a modern version (CSX/NS/Amtrak/Metro-North). Greenwood's just about done scenery-wise, next I'll be heading up the Afton Branch.

 

[tbob]

Sub-conscious Inspiration

I've manage to get work started on the Afton Branch and have managed to get to Robins and got quite a bit done there. Taking a look back I stopped to look where the Afton Branch crossed over the mainline and got to thinking to myself, "Why does that look so damn familiar?". Taking a break I went online just looking at trains when this came up...

Somehow I managed to draw inspiration from Dykeman's on Metro-North's Beacon Line without realizing it, haha. Anywho, here's a screen for tonight before I hit the sheets...

Enjoy!

 

[Euphod]

Keep on it Tbob, it's looking great!

 

[PereMarquette1225fan]

I am liking what I am seeing. This is delicious stuff. -like M. Bison- YES! YES!

 

[tbob]

Ok, here's the first story from the route. I know there's alot of bare spots and stupid little things missing or wrong, but the route's still WIP. Enjoy!

The Afton Branch has several RDC shuttles which run between Greenwood and Highland that cover a majority of the passenger services for the immediate area. To access the outside world, there are two locomotive-hauled services that originate and terminate on the branch. The "Limited Highlander" is typically a 6 - 8 car train hauled by a pair of DL109's as pictured here, as the "Limited" enters the town of Robbins...

Robbins has a single-platform station, where the other locomotive-hauled service, the "Highland Roamer" makes it's stop. The "Roamer" is typically a short consist hauled by a single engine. All Highland-bound trains are required to stop here while Greenwood-bound services may pass this stop if no reservations are made for Robbins.

The "Limited" gets it's name because it's a limited-stop service, stopping only at Robbins, Greenwood, Lumby, then down to the New Haven mainline to the railroad's name city. The "Roamer" is the opposite, making all station stops along the route to New Haven.

The railroad has an outpost in Robbins, where it stores a 44-tonner for MoW and rescue service in case of an incident on the branch. Before a locomotive would have to run from as far away as Greenwood or Highland, which are busy enough without incidents, to deal with any problems.

Further down the branch, the U.S. Army has a small base. After WWII, Highland Valley was seen as an excellent area to train Engineering Divisions due to the various terrain elements. The base is home to several units performing many projects, including damming the run-off-made river into the lake which causes several flooding issues in the area. The base has a flagstop for troops to be dropped off and to get off the base for awhile.

Continued...

 

[iceman2117]

Nice Scenic tbob.

g'ice

 

[WCL]

Where did that lil switcher come from???

 

[tbob]

The "Limited" prepares to come off the Afton Branch and enter the yard in Greenwood.

Running on the Highland Division mainline, the "Limited" is seen passing the coach storage tracks behind the diesel shops. In the foreground is the yard bypass, for trains entering and exiting the branch that are not stopping in Greenwood.

The back door of the diesel shops. The shop here is well known by the other railroads in the region for it's excellence, therefore many non-New Haven locomotives can be seen there at any given time.

The "Limited" slows for it's stop in Greenwood. Trains picking up passengers typically arrive on Track 4 (farthest from the station) but due to track work, it will arrive on Track 1.

Continued...

 

[tbob]

The "Limited" makes it's stop in Greenwood. The Union Station here is home to the New Haven Railroad with the New York Central, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National using it as well.

Greenwood provides homes to two other stations as well. The freight house which transfers freight for less-than-car-load jobs, express baggage, and mail. The Army has a station for troop movements between Lumby and Greenwood. After the war, the Engineering Division in Highland Valley imported a pair of English 4COR EMU's for shuttle service on a line they built. To avoid the hassle of depending on public transportation, all on-duty troops access Greenwood on this line. No off duty G.I.'s may use it.

And to wrap up this story, we have shots of the yard, the pier, and two night shots for a classy touch.

More screens to come as the route progresses...

 

[tbob]

@ Ice: Thank you! I'm trying really hard to make this route feel very atmospheric and scenic.

@ WCL: It's a reskin I made of the ol' 44-Tonner, check my name on the DLS, it's up there.

 

[knifeswitch1]

Killer stuff Jesse, I've always loved seeing the work you did on Highland - glad to see you still getting it done. :wave: