"Kitbashed" Industry show & tell (1360X768)

edion2

New member
I'll show you mine . . . If you show me yours.

Lets share ideas on putting together an industry with contents available on DLS.

Before we go on . . . I've been Trainzing for only 3 months so comments on my stuff to help improve my route building technique is welcomed.

If you decide to show us yours . . . . don't forget the "TELL" part. Tell us how the industry serves your route . . . tell us a little about your route.

My route is "Southern Cal Western" loosely based in Southern California and is a fictitious route. The season is late spring to early summer. My favorite time of the year. The route is far from finished but the mainline between two cities is almost done and a branch line from each city is just about done. 2 to 4 branch line from each city is planned. Its a large route. 30 minute drive between cities, 22 minute drive to branch yard and industries. When finished in a year or so, it should be a 3 to 4 hour drive between two farthest cities.

I like to run trains with 30 to 50 freight cars and 10 to 20 car passenger trains. I thought about Industries and could not find ones that are large enough to visually seem to be able handle a 30 car train.

I'm sure, like many of you I've decided to "kit-bash" industries from contents available from DLS. I've done a few and I'm starting to run out of ideas. So I thought if we shared ideas . . . we can all benefit.

Here are mine . . . a couple now and more later.

This is my very first . . . like many of you its a small coal mine. In my world its been there for over 40 years . . . therefore the strange yard layout. 40 years ago it was producing only 4 or 5 car load of coal a day. Today it produces 30 to 40 car loads a day. The yard was enlarged but was never redesigned. You can only load 6 cars at a time so some shunting is required. (Most of my images are 1360 pixel wide)




 
Continued . . .

This is my second industry, a cement plant . . . heavily kit-bashed from 2 cement plant found on DLS plus a bunch of others thrown in. All load/unload is with MIN. "J&M Cement" plant has its own limestone quarry and produces bulk and bagged cement product. It consumes sand (silica), the second main ingredient and diesel fuel for the various equipment. Cement production uses aluminum as the third ingredient. I intend to add that when I find out in what form a cement plant receives aluminum . . . anyone know? Cement bags are produced in the building adjacent to the bulk loader. The consist is 24 2-bay cement hoppers, 10 boxcars for cement bags on pallet, 8 Bethgons loaded with sand and 6 tankers of diesel fuel.













Show us your industry incarnations. This is a SHOW AND TELL . . . don't forget the TELL part .
 
Ok . . . continuing on.

This is my coal burning power plant. Its located about 45 minutes driving distance away from the coal mine above. Its a "Southern California Edison" plant. It can consume half the output of coal from the mine. Another one will exist in the future on the opposite end of the route and that one will send power to Las Vegas . . . Hmmmm . . . I might need another coal mine. As in may cities, industrial stuff is located at the edge of suburban area and this one is no exception. It used to be in the middle of farm land and orchards but suburbia is right up against it today.

Buildings and smoke stacks were added to one of the power stations on DLS.



Show and tell your industry on your route here . . .
 
I'm still waiting to see some pics of your industries . . . lets see em.

Less than a mile down from the power plant above are my two other industries served by this short branch line from Vista Valley.

This one is "General Appliance Co.", an appliance manufacturer that produces refrigerators, dish washers, washing machines and dryers for 3 major brands "Kenmore", "Whirlpool" and "Roeper". It produces appliance in crates/boxes stacked on pallets for shipping. It consumes coils of steel, stainless steel and aluminum. It also consumes "electronic parts in crates/boxes on pallets" as well as lumber for crates and pallets for the larger items. Boxcars are loaded in the front and coils, parts and lumber are unloaded in the back. Two MIN was used so there is no "load animation" . . . some day I'll figure out how to do that.

I'm sure you recognize the structures I used to kit-bash together this industry. All available on DLS. When a facility is large, the only option left to the owners is to locate it on the outskirts on or near an existing shipping artery, in this case, an existing branch line that served the power plant.

Even in the virtual world that we operate, flat farmland and orchards are easily converted into future industry sites ! So as you can see, I have plenty of growth potential on this branch line.



Ok guys . . . some of you must have some industries on your route you'd want to show & tell . . . lets see them.
 
This is from my re-creation of the Tilcon of North Branford Connecticut's "Branford Steam Railroad" aka BSRR. This is a small route roughly 6-8 miles of track.This route in real life handles many things,rock,crushed rock,you catch the rare coal car or two and the rare fuel train...
I initially tried to use aurans built in coal mine just as a place holder,and it kinda looked dumb....
Then I found through the forums some awesome looking quarry,mining buildings etc...And gave them a try.
USApic1.jpg

Fueltrain2.jpg

mine17.jpg

mine15.jpg

Please excuse the Russian steam I was a little bored but it does show the industry:)
mine9.jpg

mine12.jpg

mine11.jpg

mine10.jpg
 
Gandalf,

Very Nice ! Thats a believable industry !

I agree . . . I too plopped a "ready-made" from the DLS . . . and it looked dumb. No disrespect to the creators of the "ready-made" industries. Some of us are just a little more hung up on "visual believability".

Sure gives me some ideas for my next mine. :)
 
Ok . . . Right next door to my "General Appliance" industry . . . Is a "Ralfs/Krogers" suermarket chain distribution center. (For the international people, Ralfs & Krogers are US supermarket chains)

Most chain retail stores have "regional distribution centers". So if you have a "distribution center" of chain supermarket you can "dump" ALL your food related loads there. The trucks will deliver from the distribution center to each retail stores in the region.

Along the same line of thinking . . . if you create a "distribution center" for your department stores and discount chains like "Office Depot", "Staples", Wal Mart", "Costco", "Sears", "Macy's" etc. you will have industries that can take any kind of loads you will carry from just about any "small industries" you can imagine.

I'm planning on several "regional distribution centers". I like to use real and existing business names because it sure makes making the signs a little easier. . . and more believable.



Show us yours soon !
 
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wonderful shots edion!

Here's my kitbashed industry. It's [FONT=Verdana, Arial]bendorsey's [/FONT]rotary coal transfer but I added SG rails on the top so now it just looks like guide rails and I replaced the track at the bottom with coal storage bins.
screen479yu3.jpg

screen480ta5.jpg

sorry there's no textures, my route is still in the early stages.
 
Here's mine. This is Dredd metals. It's an aluminum company that receives various kinds of aluminum. Some in ingot, some bar, and some billet. It ships two things, the first being aluminum cans, and the second being rolled aluminum.

Sorry there isn't a perfect pic of it, but this is made from Andi's station roofs, the kit industrial buildings on the DLS, a coil handling crane, and an aluminum unloading area. Oh, and one of shoves docks.

Screen_013.jpg


Screen_009-2.jpg


Screen_012-1.jpg


It's a really tight turn at that last, so I may modify it some or just have a note limiting the train to one car at a time there.

This is another business I'm working on. It's a car unloading area for distribution to various carlots. It also serves as a start point for a Road Railer service. I'm debating having containers, but I'm not so sure I want that.

There's actually a couple of stubbed tracks out of view here that have no connection. They're for storage of the road railer bogeys.

Screen_002-3.jpg


Also, ignore the russian locomotive.
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ONE VAPORIZER
 
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So thats how you add guiderails . . . haven't thought of that


magicmaker,

Ahaa . . . Perestroyka R.R. !

I have two wishes . . . I think you'll agree.

#1 We need a whole lot more of "industry clutter". Its so hard to fill up open spaces.

#2 I wish someone will create concrete and asphalt texture "group" . . .
One "new", and companion matching textures of "weathered", "cracked", "potholes" and anything else that naturally happens to paved surfaces.

Very tight curves are common at industry sights.

I'm gonna have to get that coil unloading crane. Is it part of a ready made industry or just a scenery object on DLS?

Thanks
 
It's just a scenery object. The asphalt you see is a spline actually. Real pain to get lined up, but it works pretty well.

After posting the pics, I found out that it could be possible for Russian locos to be in the US. In fact there were a few brought over but they only ended up stuck behind a fence for several years before being sold off (one I think) to industrial use.

As to the clutter, you're exactly right. I've had to poke through the DLS several times before I could find a few things that fit.
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California Dispensaries
 
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Here is another industry of mine. Everything you see except the sign on the building is on DLS. Load and unload is with MIN & MI.

This is a produce and fruit processing co-op, "Lendale Produce Processing Co-Op". Located in the middle of farmlands. This is where all the surrounding farmer's harvests are cleaned, sorted and packaged for the consumer. Most fruits and produce are trucked here for processing from member farms.

There is a daily pickup of "fruit pallets" and "produce pallets" loaded into reefers. The run is in the afternoon and is express delivered to supermarket distribution centers so the product can be on the shelf within 48 hours from the time they were harvested.

The consist is twenty BX 60 & BX 70 series modern reefers and 6 tankers full of diesel fuel for the various farm equipment.

Note : another attempt to make that ugly concrete tanker unloader a bit more like that something that might actually exist . . . ;-)

I also had to tone down the "extremely bright" BX reefers to make it usable. It was so bright you couldn't see any details on them.

I included a couple of shots on the return loop that goes through the adjoining fields.




Anyone else with a nice industries made from different contents on DLS ??

Show & tell please.
 
I'll take some more tonight. I've got a Rail Rebuilder that I'm just about to finish, as well as an old oil depot and some industry located off an old tramway.
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CuteandSexy live
 
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I've been following this thread with great interest. I might learn a few tricks and get a few ideas for my own stuff.

So here, in the interests of sharing, are some screenies of a southern hemisphere railway travelling east to west 'somewhere'.

This is Flockton's Flourmill. It receives wheat and grain from neighbouring plains and packs out flour in bulk, in bagged pallet loads in vans (boxcars) and in containers for export via the nearby harbour. It is built entirely out of bits and pieces cobbled together.



Here a loco shunts bulk grain wagons over the unloading grille. The grain is conveyed by the yellow conveyor to the storage tower.






The grain storage tower is connected to the processing plant and mill by the green conveyor. This view is from the adjacent station of Clanderboye. A footbridge is provided for Flockton's employees from both platforms of the station into Flockton's premises.







The view west from the station. The flour storage silos have been created by 'blending' two single units into one larger one. The flour wagons under the silos are being loaded for bulk shipment.







The west end of the complex. The left gate gives access to the flour silos and the grain unloader and the east end gate. The right gate gives access to the fuel tank siding which also goes all the way round to the east gate as well as to the packing warehouse and container loading areas which are dead ends. The loco in the yard through the right gate is awaiting the loading of a consignment of containers.







This is the main gate for all road access. There is a gatekeeper's hut behind which is the warehouse that bags the flour and loads it onto the pallets. The green conveyor takes flour from the mill on the right to the packing warehouse. The smoke in the distance is from the loco waiting on the containers.







The container loading facility. The packing warehouse is to the right (blue) and there is another long term storage warehouse on the left in the distance (yellow). There is also a small maintenance workshop for the trucks and factory vehicles. The container flats to the right are on a small storage siding.







The tank cars deliver diesel fuel to the storage tanks which supply fuel for most of the industrial machinery as well as for the trucks and factory vehicles.







This view gives an overview of the complex from the east end gates. The station is in the distance on the right. There is still an enormous amount of texturing to do as well as buildings and factories nearby. Maybe one day...


Edit:-

I notice from looking at these shots that I have my proportions muddled up. The amount of flour produced from grain is considerably less; it is a reductive process after all. To cope with the amount of flour held in the silos and warehouses I should have capacity for nearly three times as much grain! Fortunately you can see that there is plenty of available space east of the grain tower to insert several banks of grain silos. Plus ca change!



Cheers

Nix
 
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midland,

Very nice ! Sure glad to know I'm not the only one with affinty for MEGA industries. But this size facility is truely BELIEVABLE . . . and a 50 car (wagons I guess . . .) train would not look out of place next to it.

I see that security is tight with fence all around with gates for tracks. I never thought of using gates for tracks . . . are those active gates that open when a train approaches ? If it is . . . I GOTTA HAVE THOSE !! :udrool:

That yellow and blue building, it might be the same one I used for my Produce Processing facility . . . is it? BUT I only have the green ones. what are those buildings called so I can find them on DLS.

Have you tried creating signs for your insusty. Re-skinning an existing sign is so easy. I use the large one called "Factory Sign 1" on DLS. The attached file is a .tga so if you have photoshop you can easily re-skin them. It adds to the realism.

So, now that you have al this flour . . . you cant send it ALL over seas . . . Looks like you need a national brand . . . BREAKFAST CEREAL MANUFACTUFING PLANT and A BREAD BAKING PLANT and SNACK COMPANY !! Lots of manufacturer need flour . . . and they will need CORN SYRUP and SUGAR !! There is a whole line of industries that deal just in packaging boxes for all the manufactured products. Oh . . . you need a supermarket distribution center for all the flour products to go to !!

Geee. . . looks like you have a lot of industries to build ! :hehe:

I just started on my "short distance industry branch" . . . its gonna have a number not-so-mega manufacturers, another supermarket distribution center, office product distribution center, discount store distribution center and a full sea port . . . Port of San Angeles ! Its about a 120 baseboard addition. So much to do.

If you have any more . . . we want to see more !

Good job !!

Ed
 
The gate you actually see in the screenshots is by Tafweb and is

Siding_Gate_2 [FONT=Verdana, Arial]KUID:[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]1942:38107

but I reconfigured the config.txt so that the track adopts the track joined to it. Since I did that boat did the same thing but uploaded it to the DLS so we can all use it!

[/FONT]SEN CITY Siding_Gate_2 [FONT=Verdana, Arial]KUID:[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]76656:60024


The advantage of boat's gate is that the track matches the track you're using and therefore (IMHO) looks better. I must remember to change the gate I've used to boat's version of it before I upload my layout to the DLS or you won't get the results you see in my screenshots!

And yes the gates open as a train approaches it.

Search on the DLS using "warehouse" as your keyword. There are a gazillion warehouses in a fantastic variety of styles and sizes. The ones you mentioned are

[/FONT]Warehouse2_blue [FONT=Verdana, Arial]KUID:[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]30671:27021[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial]
by LLJ (the LARS guy) and is part of a pack. I would recommend getting the pack.

I'm pretty sure the larger yellow warehouse is

[/FONT]Warehouse1_yellow_name [FONT=Verdana, Arial]KUID:[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]30671:27015

also by LLJ but with a nameable sign on the side.

I hadn't thought of your signmaking method but I may well give it a try. It is nice to make them look personalised.



Cheers

Nix
[/FONT]
 
midland,

Thanks for the info. The gates DO OPEN . . . how cool !!

About the signs . . . I haven't figured out how to edit ".texture" files yet, and a lot of them use that file to paint the "wireframe". But many use the .tga file instead. Many paint type programs can read .tga files. I use photoshop cause I get it from work.

I get logos and images from the real company's web sites to use for my signs. I can never upload my signs because I don't have permission to distribute those copyrighted images. In Photoshop I can re-size the logos to fit the .tga file from the "Factory Sign" from DLS. I created a blank one in Photoshop so I just "clone" a new one, then change the "usename" in "config.txt" with a new name. Then I write over the .tga file with the image I created in Photoshop. "Comit" new sign and it will show up in the "Object" list. Using known logos on signs immediately identifies an industry / building as what its all about.

The "Factory Sign" is a bit tricky to place. The default height is pretty high up in the air. You almost have to be right over it looking down at the top to pick it to change elevation or move it. If you pick the middle of the sign, you often end up picking an object behind it. Takes a little practice placing the sign on a building but well worth the effort.

Thanks
 
Its been a while since I posted in this thread.

This is my latest incarnation on my S.C. Western route . . . The Westside Industrial Park !

I thought I would try something different by using an asset that was mainly designed by the creator to be a "background object". I'm sure you've seen this on DLS an downloaded it . . . it is from dmdrake's "Cityscape" series. This is the one called the "Warehouse District" and they comes in a few sizes and spline versions to match. I like the "grouped objects" version so thats what I used.

This is what it looks like.



I used 4 of these to create the starting point for my Industrial Park. I apologize that the areas outside the Industrial Park bounadry isn't textured yet. Its work in progress.

Here is the over all view of the Industrial Park



THE STORY ; I don't know about you but it helps me to come up with a brief history or story to explain things the way they are.
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It was built 30 years ago in the middle of orange groves. It started out as just warehouses. and was serviced by a small railroad back then. When the railroad went belly-up, S.C Western bought the trackage that extended beyond to the Port of San Angeles. 15 years ago the property changed hands and the new corporate owner has decided to upgrade and beautify the property to try to attract some larger corporate tenants as a "light industry" location. Since the advent of the "container", it makes more and more sense for large companies to have assembly / manufacturing / processing plant near a major port. These are light industries purchased or partnered with larger corporation to manufacture / assemble the company's product.

Few years ago, there was an accident between a 4 wheel drive vehicle and a train. Even at the slow speeds trains operate on a site like this, the car got wedged, mangled and killed the occupants. NTSB investigated and the railroad was not at fault. In co-operation with OSHA, NTSB & OSHA came up with a mandate that all tracks except at designated crossing and tracks on paved areas, must be fenced in to discourage crossings over rail & ballast areas of the tracks on site. A chain link fence was erected in compliance. The only problem was, now the maintenance of the tracks within these fences fell on the shoulders of the railroad. Due to recent cut backs, "cosmetic" maintenance, like weeding, happens only once or twice a year, so the tracks look a bit over grown.
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Good story, don't you think? All that to justify overgrown tracks and a bunch of trees around the property.

The problem with using assets that were "meant to be background objects", they don't look "great" up close. The PLUS about dmdrake's buildings are . . . he uses photo of actual buildings as textures for his mesh. I prefer this type of building than the very brightly colored buildings . . . which distinctly looks very "simulated". These buildings were not made with detailed mesh to keep them "low-poly" so everything is "flat".

To make this type of asset reasonably realistic, you will need to use a lot of "eye-candy" (trees, shrubs, vehicles and track side objects) to detract attention away from the short comings of the buildings. I wasn't sure how it will turn out . . . but it came out pretty acceptable.

Here are some general screen shots around the Industrial Park.


(Cont'd in next post . . .)
 
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