Maximum number of baseboard tiles?

[Approach_Medium]

I am trying to create a very large railroad, based on prototype rr's in Northern NJ and SE New York states.
I am laying down rough routes prior to generating my routes using TransDem.
I am wondering what the max number of baseboard tiles is for TRS2006.

Thanks

FW

 

[Gandalf0444]

I really don't think there is any...or if there is I haven't reached it yet:hehe: My route is pushing 110 baseboards:wave: And there is still a lot more to be added lol

 

[Tokkyu40]

I've heard of routes over 2,000 boards. Performance can drag sometimes, and loading is done while you have tea, but it can be done.

Claude

 

[gfisher]

I have a route of about 1200 baseboards and it loads and runs fairly well, so I wouldn't think size is a real problem. What railroad are you thinking about modeling, just out of curiosity?

 

[switchdoc]

There is a definite maximum number of baseboards - but I do not think that anyone will have endurance enough to use it up.

The number of 8-bit-words in the groundfile must fit into an integer*4 constant that is the groundfile can be 4.3 billion 8-bit-words long. To define one board somewhat less than 200,000 8-bit-words are needed. This would give more than 20,000 boards for one layout.

I cant tell how long it would take for this monster to load or how many objects you might be able to put in or track splinepoints, but I would say somewhere between 20,000 to 25,000 boards might be the numerical limit.

Norbert

 

[Vern]

I once accidentally created a terrain in Transdem that came over 1Gb in size for the ground file and cmp refused to import it, citing excessive file size so there must be an upper limit somewhere. ISTR an untextured/sceneried board comes in at around 200kb uncompressed.

Of course the more tiles, the slower Surveyor runs in particular when saving the route.

And of course the $64k problem - how do you optimise it down so it zips to a cdp file of < 40mb which is the maximum size permitted on the DLS? (A problem I may well face extending my West Highland route).

 

[Approach_Medium]

I have a route of about 1200 baseboards and it loads and runs fairly well, so I wouldn't think size is a real problem. What railroad are you thinking about modeling, just out of curiosity?

I started out with the CSX Riverline which begins in Jersey City NJ and runs to Selkirk NY, about 150 miles north.
I need to extend the line south and west to the Newark NJ yards, so that I have a source for my trains. There is another large yard up in Selkirk.

While laying out a rough route in TransDem, I started to ask myself why not include the NYS&W?
It parallels the Riverline from Secaucus to Ridgefield Park, then heads west and north and finally meets the Metro North owned Port Jervis line in Campbell Hall NY.
Then, once in Campbell Hall, NYSW trains would head west to Binghamton, and points west on the 'Lower Tier' line.

There are lots of abandoned routes in the Warwick-Campbell Hall-Newburgh area, including one that used to cross the Poughkeepsie bridge and head east into CT.
It would be interesting to have some of those abandoned lines as well.
And of course I cannot forget the old Northern branch that runs from North Bergen to Tappan NY.

Then, what about New Jersey Transit? Do I want to put those routes in as well?

I think I have to make a decision to narrow the number of lines I will model, or my route will be unusable. It will take a long time to load, and I will never get close to painting textures and adding buildings to it.

In the process of investigating the area, I've had a lot of fun with Google Earth tracing out the old lines. It's amazing at how many of them can still be seen from the sky.
Many are now bike trails, and that really helps to preserve the history.

FW

 

[gfisher]

Thanks, FW. It would be fun to see someone do the Suzie Q. I have even considered doing it myself from time to time.

 

[Tokkyu40]

...I think I have to make a decision to narrow the number of lines I will model, or my route will be unusable...
FW

And unbuiildable. It sounds like you're project was quickly approaching the limit of the human lifespan!!!
Maybe start with an interesting section of the mainline and finish that before extending to the next area.

Claude

 

[Martynas]

My Illinois central - West Missury route (any progress), is over 7000 baseboards...

 

[Approach_Medium]

My Illinois central - West Missury route (any progress), is over 7000 baseboards...

How did you build so big? TransDem, or what?
In TransDem, it appears that somewhere around 4,000 baseboards (actually created after filtering) is the max.
I was trying to build a route that is about 150 miles long N-S, and about 60 miles E-W, but I had to remove several branches to lower the baseboard count (using a filter of 2 bbds in TransDem) before TRS2006 would not refuse to import it.

The next problem I had was more perplexing: My route kept cutting off about 5mi south of the northern terminus.
I only managed to get the entire N-S route by cutting off a lot of the E-W route.
It was really more than one RR route anyway, and I now have the entire CSX Riverline from Bayonne NJ to Selkirk NY.
I've included the Newark, Kearny, and Secaucus yards, as well as the Selkirk yard. I've also got the Newburgh industrial spur, the NJT Main and Bergen line to about Suffern, the Pascack Velley line to Spring Valley, and the old Northern from NB to Tappan NY.

When I attempted to merge the two sections (the East-West routes, including the Suzy-Q) with the North-South Riverline, the World Origin apparently got screwed up.
When I tried to fix it in TransDem, it was still not right. The track splines are way off between the two sections.
If I figure out how to join the routes, I'll have one huge chunk of US railroad.

So, I'm curious; How did you get your 7,000 baseboards?

FW

 

[Martynas]

In the route start baseboards is over 9000, gnd file sice is 656mb, cdp not working - gnd file sice to large.
Today baseboards is over 7000, gnd file sice is 456 mb (60mb in cdp). This route is 7 DEM maps merge for one.

 

[Approach_Medium]

In the route start baseboards is over 9000, gnd file sice is 656mb, cdp not working - gnd file sice to large.
Today baseboards is over 7000, gnd file sice is 456 mb (60mb in cdp). This route is 7 DEM maps merge for one.

So, you're saying that it's the .gnd file size that causes the error in CMP and it's refusal to import.

Do I need to set the filter in TransDem to 1 baseboard to reduce .gnd file size?
I don't want that, as I won't have room for anything except the tracks then!
I like to keep it at 2 baseboards.

What would happen if I want to add baseboard tiles after TransDem has created, and CMP has imported the route?
Will it still work with Transdem?
I suppose I can experiment with this.

FW