Layout Bashing or how to get more enjoyment out of Trianz Model Railroad....

[Railhead000]

Layout Bashing or how to get more enjoyment out of Trainz Model Railroad....

First off some background. I have not had a Trainz version for over a decade since first two editions, with that being said I have had MS Train Sim, Run8, TS 2015/16/17 and now this. A lot of feedback has been said about the Surveyor mode being unavailable for "Payware" layouts/routes. You either don't care or really dislike it but let us move on and over that. What you can do is what I call "Layout Bashing" sort of like kit bashing for those into model trains, when you take parts from different models (buildings) and put them together to form 1 model or a scene.....for Layout bashing your not putting different layouts together but you are modifying one which is allowable. You are limited in what you can do but if your creative you can have a blast.

My route of choice in TMR is the Brazemore Yard layout because it has such potential. Multi industries and a lot of room for long unit trains plus its very friendly for multi train AI operations. So after getting bored with the basic Brazemore Yard layout rather quickly, I thought what can I do to improve it's looks and operational design.....Brazemore Version 2.0 has arrived !

The picture below show a barren piece of land that is just uninteresting......

The following pics show a brand new added industry that fits perfectly...I also added some flood lights for night time operations and a tractor on the right side for some detail:




Small space but with a large opportunity for some unit grain trains.

This was my training wheels sort of, now this facility is placed directly over trees and shrubs and I then added trees to the edges and around the back to make it blend in, sort of "bashed" it into place if you will since you can't delete native items from the route. You can cover them with other items as long as its not changing the ground textures or depth etc.....I will be adding more installments to this thread to show what things can be done. I hope you like the ideas and can create your own.

 

[Railhead000]

Basemore vers. 2.0.....next installment

Buildings on a layout can make or break it. It comes down to the details....details add life to a scene and make it more realistic and less fake if you will. Take for example this rather dull building on the Brazemore layout....not much life to it and looks almost abandoned but notice what I did to the second picture: Also placed some broken railroad ties on the bottom right side.







I added cars and a basketball court along with benches that have people sitting on them. And some light poles for night time hoops watching.....what a difference a little detail can make.....

 

[Railhead000]

Next up its time for some fun on the farm......

This was another wasted space in my eyes that had potential....ironically "farming" themes were at the bottom of my list for trains until I came across the Bazemore layout. They were made for each other as you will see.. Freeware from third party sites like Jointed Rails and RRMods can save almost any boring areas. All you need is a little imagination and a lot of free time......





As you can see here, the details stand out......tractors, people, the scene comes to life, if you look closely there is a gated entrance, a garbage can, the feed mill is attached to a loading ramp and pallets hide the connection of the two pieces making it look like one set.......had a lot of fun with this, tractor on the flatcar and ramp with a person looking into one....I wanted that small town feeling with the tractor lot.

 

[blueodessey]

Nice thread and a Picture is worth 1000 words,

I'm in agreement, keep the thread going, as I'm sure with the Advent of Trainz Layout Version, and even T:ANE itself we have lots of new folks trying to find their way around unfamiliar land. According to your history, you had much experience that can benefit others.

 

[Railhead000]

Layout Bashing or how to get more enjoymernt out of Trianz Model Railroad.... part 2

Alright the next "upgrading" I did was for the are below, rather on the bland side of things, so I got to thinking.......


I spent a lot of time getting my ideas together before going with the following:



As you can see a major overhaul was done here, I think successfully. First I added a fence around the perimeter. After that the construction scene was added, tractors, cones, containers, pipes, safety cones and a portable modular offices (two put together to form one).
Next a guard shack with a guard inside and some stop signs and no trespassing signs and lights for the night to complete this area. To the right you notice in the first picture the warehouse has no doors on the sides that face us. Jointed Rail offers some freebies to make any wall into a receiving area as you can tell. Just add some trailers and your set. There is also a forklift hauling a dumpster and some 55 gallon drums to add to the scene. The parked cars have a piece of guard fail in front of them acting as a bumper and the rear docks have some more drums and smaller trucks waiting for loading. A few construction workers complete the scene. I also made sure to add a light post to each door of the warehouse. At night they really stand out.
The next shot is a work in progress....as you can see I have only added an all weather covering for the supplies but it does make it look better, sometimes just a little detail will go a long way.





This area just needed a little of the "used in look" so a added another forklift with a dumpster, and for the steel industry across the street put a dumpster against its side wall, added some steel beams for the area along with an older flat bed that was still putting miles in.

Next up was a barren warehouse wall that could use a little detail. Some parked cars against another guard rail bumper and a someone sitting down on the steps with a bicycle leaning against the rails. Also put a flood light next to the tracks and added a water tower to the side of the warehouse to finish it up.





Stay tuned for more coming soon !!!

 

[Railhead000]

BLVD LOPEZ MA1

Nice thread and a Picture is worth 1000 words,

I'm in agreement, keep the thread going, as I'm sure with the Advent of Trainz Layout Version, and even T:ANE itself we have lots of new folks trying to find their way around unfamiliar land. According to your history, you had much experience that can benefit others.

Thank you, I have added a few more......as the saying goes "work in progress" if you realize the capacity if with the limits of Surveyor for payware you can make some really interesting scenes.

 

[Railhead000]

Another adventure n detailing..............

This area below left me scratching my head....a loading ramp and some coal ?????? Hmmm not much really here. This turned out to be one of my favorites:
Before:




After:



This was one took some time especially finding a building that could cover both tracks.....good bye coal hello grain.....
So new grain elevator added with 2 entrances for deliveries or outbounds. Added some lights again for the night. Parked some grain trucks on the side and used trees and pallets to cover up bushes sticking out of the new building. The rear scene is quite nice. Some utility trucks and a crew with portable generator that has a floodlight attachment that works plus makes a humming sound and vibrates just like the real ones. Put a Chevy pickup with its owner. It's hard to see in these shots but there is a stone sign that lights up at night with the name of the grain elevator located next to the fence to the right of the pick up along with no trespassing signs.

Now the height adjustment tool can be used for several things such as putting a forklift, truck and person on the ramp in the rear or even for attaching lights to the sides or roofs of buildings.....

 

[Railhead000]

Prime Realestate for Sale...............

So I came across this empty lot and thought, hmmm what would fit in this small space and amongst the other businesses in the area.....well those businesses use trucks and trucks breakdown so why not a small truck repair shed ????

Before and then after on the side:




And the back:




Added some older semis and some rusted out junkers. Put some tires around the front and a small cart. Added some rusted steel rails and old railroad ties in the back. Waste Management dumpster on the side plus a small junk pile in the rear, Propane tank on the side facing the tracks. Line the rear wall with broken furniture and a beat up water heater that has seen way better days but fits in perfectly here.

Updated: Found some more items, fuel pumps, cab and flatbed trailer......



Now I believe the scene is more complete.....

The Northern Propane distributor is a small area and I only added a semi cab/trailer and 2 parked trailers....


The propane tanker trailers are from Jointed Rails freeware set and the white cab can be found under "sap" on the download station. He has a lot of great vehicles and some other scenic items available.
(Also the flatbed with the bulldozer was created by sap.)

 

[Railhead000]

Somebody dial 911.............

I like this scene as one of my favorites and one of the first ones I made:

Before:



After:



And a night shot !



So a lot of detail in small space, street lamps installed, small table with umbrella on left side of building, Porsche parked car has rear lights on at night, emergency vehicles have flashing lights at night, added fire under car that generates smoke and moves realistically in wind. And if you look real closely I replaced the older street lamps in the night shot with more modern ones as seen in the day shot.


Another empty lot...........................



This area was perfect for a combination Feed mill and tractor lot............merged the off loading ramp with the mill and used pallets to hide where they connected. Added hay bales, tractors, entrance gate and some people looking for a deal on Deeres.

 

[Railhead000]

Great deal on a Deer .......

So these pix are from another thread but I wanted tp consolidate them into this one. As you can see, another small space that has potential.......





Another area with a lot of detail......combined the feed mill with a ramp and hid the connecting pieces with the pallets. Added tractors and hay bales oh my.. gated entrance, garbage can on side of mill. Added a few people shopping for a deal.
Was never much of a fan of trains and farming until I got the Brazemore layout in TMR, long unit trains going to the elevators and supplying the mills with a local run. Lumber products and chemical facilities plus warehouses...this layout has a lot going for it. I will post more pix as I complete scenes. Hope this makes people realize you can add a lot of interesting details even with the limitations of Surveyor on payware routes.

Enjoy !!!

 

[Railwoodman]

First , welcome to trainz . Have been enjoying you your shots , they helped me to decide weather to get the newest addition . Liking the route a lot .

Matt

 

[Railhead000]

First , welcome to trainz . Have been enjoying you your shots , they helped me to decide weather to get the newest addition . Liking the route a lot .

Matt

Thank you. It has been quite a while since I last had a Trainz edition. I chose the Brazemore Yard layout for being able to run long unit trains and also perform "local" runs to service the industrial areas. Now I have some decent grain facilities serviced by the large yard. This layout is perfect for modern railroading , I have had 90 unit long trains with 5 lead locos having no trouble getting around. I also like the Franklin Avenue industrial layout but it is too small for larger locos and freight cars. Turns out Brazemore Yard is perfect for my needs.




Also to note is how you can change the seasons and the effects on foliage....At the beginning of a session choose the "Environment" button and then choose the "Date" section. Here you can change the month and as you can tell from the
above shots , one is summer and the other is fall. This is also the area to choose the "Time" for day or night. For the below shot I entered 21:30 (military time) which is 9:30 pm



And that portable generator night shot I mentioned earlier.......late night work crew


Now for a little more "bashing"

As you can see in the first shot this warehouse area was pretty empty. First thing I did was add the construction scene as you see below, adding the tractors and pile of dirt plus some containers and cones to block any unwanted traffic out. Next I fenced in the area and added a portable office and some cars next to it and threw in some construction workers and a pile of pipes.


The next thing I decided to do was add some warehouse receiving doors care of Jointed Rail. They are easy to use just use the height adjustment tool to raise them then slide them up against the walls and you have a new loading/unloading section. Next I added some trailers and added a few more doors to the right side with some trailers. On the rear facing side with doors already there I placed some flat bed trucks in front of them next to pallets and some 55 gallon drums
I also added a guard shack with "No Trespassing" and "Stop" signs. Inside the shack is a guard on constant watch. On the other side of the lot are some cars I stuck in front of a piece of guard rail acting as a bumper and some parked trailers. There is also a forklift moving a dumpster in front of some 55 gallon drums. Each of the doors to the warehouse has its own light for viewing at night. This scene really shows what can be done with just having the ability to add items. Now it looks like the warehouse is open for business. Comments or questions and possibly a request................welcomed

 

[Roy3b3]

A great thread - Very informative - Keep it up.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[BobbyB]

You have done some amazing work here. TRM is all locked up but you have demonstrated just what can be done with a locked route. Really great work.
Congrats
Bob
P.S.
Thanks for sharing what you have done.

 

[Railhead000]

You have done some amazing work here. TRM is all locked up but you have demonstrated just what can be done with a locked route. Really great work.
Congrats
Bob
P.S.
Thanks for sharing what you have done.

Thank you. I like to think even though the layouts are "locked" you can still manage to make things a bit more distinct with a little imagination....

So for those of you who own the Brazemore Yard layout I am sure you are familiar with the Barn in one of the corners of the layout......

Not that I have anything against barns but I thought it would be more fitting to have some grain structures since this was a grain hauling layout for me. So I just dropped these four silos right over the barn and for a little detail added the
building inspector...


The lumberyard did not have much activity going on.......

So I added some forklifts and a truck getting loaded in the rear. I also placed a parked car in the front and added lights for night deliveries...

I made a few changes to the building supply distributor that I posted previously...first I found some open storage sheds that match better and added a cab to the parked semi with concrete pipes on it. I also put in some
bulk trailers with cabs at the bottom of the picture....


And finally I added some intermodal cabs to the warehouse scene from earlier...I saw them at a warehouse where I live with no rail access and thought that the cabs were small and maneuverable plus they were
probably good on fuel and easy to park so I added a couple....

 

[blueodessey]

Somebody here has become very creative, and it looks great......Definitely coming back here to shop the pictures for ideas, thank you so much for sharing.

 

[Richarde57]

I'm very impressed!

Spending a half hour to watch your pictures.
That's great.

Please don't stop and keep on going with this cool thread.

☼☼

 

[Railhead000]

Somebody here has become very creative, and it looks great......Definitely coming back here to shop the pictures for ideas, thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks for the comment and hang around because "lunch time" is just around the corner......

This area was lacking a quick place to stop by to grab a bite while on lunch.....


I always liked the idea of local crews stopping for lunch not to far from where they work so this piece of land became home to "Paradise Diner" a place where it may not necessarily look like paradise but the burgers make up for it.
Business has been so good the diner could afford to repave it's parking lot...after adding the parking lot and diner I placed some construction workers repaving the lot with a steam roller and dump truck.
Look closely and you will noticed I placed a construction worker inside the steam roller and have a couple of streets lights on the sides of the lot for a people wanting to stop by for a night time snack.



The engineer from the local switcher is heading over to the diner to grab some grub.....this is actually an animated figure that walks away and then back towards the BNSF engine, a very useful item. I will be adding
some more details to the diner and parking area so this is a "work in progress"

 

[Railhead000]

I'm very impressed!

Spending a half hour to watch your pictures.
That's great.

Please don't stop and keep on going with this cool thread.

☼☼

Thanks and I hope you enjoy what you see.............I still have some more places I would like to customize, some brain storming sessions are in order.....

 

[BobbyB]

I sure hope to see all this fine fine work released as a session one day soon. I'm inspired by what you are doing.
Thanks
Bob