looking for a bit of help with a major project

[Bansheguy]

I'm an old dog that doesn't learn new tricks as well as he used to. I dont have any trouble with the Trainz program itself, but I do with the creation programs. For the most part I can get around this by using whats already out there, but I cant do that for my route location itself.

I tried testing out a program to make terrain maps from DEMs, and failed miserably. So I am looking for someone to do that for me, and for all those that will be able to get the route for free when its done.

I need to give a bit of background, to understand the route I am trying to do.

I grew up in and around Williamsport, Pennsylvania. At that time, there were SIX active rail lines coming into or thru the Williamsport area. Most areas are lucky to have even one active line, and we had six! On top of that, since railroads have been around, there have been so many in this area, that even the experts cant remember all of them.

Today, all but two are gone now. But from a historical point of view, this area is a treasure trove for anyone interested in just about any sort of railroading. We had mainlines, and branch lines, standard and narrow gauges, hauled coal, lumber, logs, people, and just about everything else. We had motive power ranging from 4-wheel yard engines, to Shays and Climaxes, to big steamers on the mains, and diesels in the later years.

My own personal interests, are branch lines and narrow gauge logging lines, And it was those interests that got me started on doing research on this area. And led me to an idea for a project.

My idea, started as a what-if fictional modern day prototype, that used narrow gauge track to access parts of the area that are often even inaccessible to narrow country roads, in order to do logging in a sustainable way (As opposed to the old type of clear cut logging of the past.).

Then Trainz came alone, and opened my eyes to new possibilities. Why limit myself to just one small narrow gauge line in some out of the way valley? Using Trains, it should be possible to put new tracks on all those old abandoned lines. Completely realistic, maybe not, but it would be very entertaining. It would also be potentially very educational, in showing people where all these old routes thru this area used to be, and maybe give some ideas on how railroads might be useful even today.

The area I am looking to model, runs from Williamsport, about 50 miles north, to the towns of Troy and Mansfield, and--in places--10 to 20 miles on either side of that main route. And the route would include a "mainline" serving the three large towns, as well as branch lines serving mining and logging areas. And, thanks to something I picked up from a certain European rail line, this route, while using narrow gauge track, could easily serve as a bridge line, to transport standard gauge cars, piggy-back, on specially designed "sled" cars. (The real "sled" cars are so low, that in high grass, you cant even see the sleds, so it looks like standard gauge cars are somehow moving down narrow gauge tracks. The video what a blast to watch!)

This route would be a lot of fun for just about everyone. And I am going into it with the idea that it will NOT be a paid route, but a free one, so everyone can enjoy it.

But this project is certainly more than I can do by myself. I can do a lot, but not all of it. And I am hindered by a couple sizable problems. For one, I am disabled, and can no longer work for a living. This has both a good and bad side. On the plus side, I would have lots of time for developing the route. But on the negative side, I dont have much money to work with, and my mind is not what it used to be. For example, right now I am using the UTC version of the program. I plan to upgrade ASAFP, but for now that's what I have to work with. For another thing, I can't seem to master any of the content creation or map making programs. I've tried, and will continue to try, but so far I just cant seem to get my head around how to use the things.

So, I am looking for someone who has the map making program, and knows how to use it, to create the basic terrain maps of the area (Doing all the mountains by hand would take a LIFETIME!). And after the map is done, and some track is in place, there will be a chance for content creators to have some fun, creating new things for the route. (Just think, a MODERN DAY prototype, that can use old equipment for weekend excursions, and NEW equipment for revenue work on weekdays. I dont know of any modern USA 3-foot equipment, other than 4-wheel yard locos. There is some from other countries, but they wouldn't look right on an American route. So creators would have a wide open field to work in!)

I want to make it clear tho, this is all voluntary, since I cant afford to pay anyone to help me. Tho anyone helping will have access to the route map before anyone else does.

For anyone interested in helping, you can reach me here, or you can email me at bansheguy at yahoo (of course DOT com.). (That should keep bots from harvesting my email. Real people should have no trouble putting the pieces of the real addy together.) Oh, I do have a social life, so I sometimes go days without checking my email.

 

[Ryanad9]

Helping out

Sounds like i sweet map ill be sending you a pm. can't wait for this map to develop

 

[Bansheguy]

I do have a couple very small test maps.

The yard map has a substantial yard at Trout Run, which would be roughly the center of the route, and the point near which branch lines enter the main line. the test map has a yard, a continuous-run loop, a short thru-town branch where the line goest thru the small town to get to the other side of a major highway (On the final map, that branch would follow Rt 15 north to Mansfield, Pa.), and a grade testing ladder, to test loco performance on some of the grades the finished route is likely to see (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 percent grades.). The finished map should have a 3% max on the mainlines, but may have grades of 10% or more on logging branches.

Then there is the tiny Williamsport Interchange map. Building a new railroad into Williamsport would be grossly expensive, if done the usual way. Most of the old right of ways were bought up and built up, so that now it would cost millions of dollars to buy up land for a new right of way to the tracks in the Newberry section of Williamsport. Realistically, a modern short line RR could not afford that, so the engineers had to come up with an affordable alternative. There were two possibilities, one mundane, long, and posed grade problems as well as expensive right of way purchases, and one that was flat out crazy. This map tested out doing it the crazy way, to see if it actually COULD be done. The line would climb the dike north of town, cross it, and come down the other side to run on the shoreline of the Lycoming Creek, crossing it once about halfway. From there, it would drive down the creek bed, just above the normal level of the creek, and pass UNDER 3 road bridges. It would then climb up a sloping steel bridge, crossing the creek a second time, before going up and over the dike on the other side. It would then take a hairpin turn, before entering existing standard gauge trackage for the final half mile to the interchange and terminal facility. This map only models the trackage from the interchange area, to the third road bridge, and includes the dikes, bridges, creek bed, and creek. The route IS possible, but requires a short 6% grade, where crossing the creek and and getting to the top of the dike on the other side, before an existing--but no longer used--RR bridge. If concrete ties and concrete anchor pilings are used, along with a lift or swing bridge. then flooding damage to the trackage there should be minimal, and there should be little to snag any flood debris coming down the creek. It would not be cheap, but it could be done for far less than buying normal right of way would cost, at the expense of those couple miles of trackage being out of service any time the creek is up. The map is short, but very interesting, considering its just a one track line a mile and a half long.

I'd be happy to share them with anyone interested. But they are not finished maps by any stretch of the imagination. I made them just to test out whats possible in those two locations. And the mountains in the Trout Run area were done by hand, and bear little resemblance to the real things. But the yard area itself does have scenery, including a mountain, a creek, a RR dike building project, roads, highway, and even a small trailer park (Had to use tractor trailers to simulate the mobile homes.). And the map does have working signals on the continuous run line, so it can be used with auto pilot trains, barely, so someone can work the yard, while a train is on auto on the main line..

 

[sniper297]

I haven't tried DEM in Trainz yet, but I did a fictional route for Railworks that used DEM data from Williamsport. Only been to Williamsport once in my life, 30 years ago in a Cessna 150, the reason it stuck in my mind was the spectacular scenery.

 

[Bansheguy]

One of the big reasons I want DEM based maps for this area, is to make that scenery an integral part of the route. whatever else anyone says about this area, everyone agrees the scenery is fantastic. Its too bad the Trainz program doesn't have the draw distance to take full advantage of some of it, but parts of the planned line would still be amazing.

 

[Bansheguy]

I made up a CDP file containing the two test maps. At present I have nowhere online to post them for downloading, so if anybody wants to check them out, I would have to email them to you. The file is about 600K, or a bit more than half a meg in size, in case anyone wanting them has a slow net connection.