Back again, folks. I’ve been working on Petticoat Junction for the most part lately, trying to get it to more of a semi-finished level so that it doesn’t look as utterly barren as it used to when compared to the rest of the route. I’ve also gone around other parts of the route here and there to change or fix a few things, though there is still more to do – mostly redoing some texture work and adding new grass and turfFX. I do still have to build the town of Muley Gap, but I’ve been putting it off for some reason I can’t explain. Also, want to let you know about my new rules for updates here on my end. First, I am now using Postimage for my screenshots instead of DeviantArt, as the latter downsizes my images (Here is a
LINK to my gallery). Second, I am going to limit each of my posts to five images max. Thirdly, I am now going to only upload one post per day, rather than multiple posts with all of my latest screenshots, allowing me to pace myself a bit better. Now, on with the show!
First up is a shot of the new coal texture at the Castle Peak coal dealer. I wasn’t happy with the previous texture, as it was very clearly a 2D texture and I want to try and use exclusively PBR/FX textures on this route if I can manage to do so. The new texture looks a heck of a lot better than the old one did, but sadly, the bulk update/replace tool seems to no longer function on HD terrain, so I have to replace all of the coal textures individually. Really hopeful that Surveyor 2.0 will receive a similar tool sometime soon.
I fiddled with the textures at Castle Peak in a few other areas as well, adding a worn-down path area around the dock, shed, and loading pens of the livestock enclosure. It was only after doing this that I realized a crucial error I made – I didn’t include any way for the livestock to get into the pens, or for the cowboys to leave! Oh well, something I’ll have to fix later if I can remember to do it…
This shot shows off the new road bridge crossing the CP&P’s mainline at Aspen Ridge. In previous shots, the road bridge was a long wooden pony truss, but I found this one on the DLS recently and it stuck with me. I finally tried it out as a replacement and decided to keep it – this bridge is more visually striking than the original was, so it makes for a more aesthetic set piece. I also replaced the abutments and moved them back a bit, which required me to adjust the terrain around the abutments, but it turned out pretty well. I have toyed with the idea of adding a small flagstop station here, along with a stairway leading to the hotel at the top of the ridge, but I may save that for a future rendition of this scene on a larger version of the CP&P that I’ve been dreaming of.
Now we come to the work being done at Petticoat Junction. Starting with the engine facility, I moved the handcar shed beyond the yard office to make room for an ash pit just in front of the turntable. I also moved the bunkhouse and section house to a new location behind the engine service track – they were originally located to the right of the picture, where you can see the ends of the new yard (more on that in the next image). You can also see some of the new roads and paths that I’ve added, since I’ve been starting to define a road network around the area.
This image shows off the new five track yard I added. The original was a much larger four-track yard with a pair of arrival/departure tracks, but it’s location beyond the engine facility on the branch line was awkward and not one I enjoyed in any way. This new yard is admittedly smaller and has only a single arrival/departure track, but its placement is much more central to the operations. I tried to design the yard in a way that would allow me to easily convert the leftmost yard track into a second arrival/departure track if necessary, but I believe that such a future change would still involve a fair amount of work to make it fit properly (unfortunately). Still, the yard is well laid out, giving the switcher a long drill track, a track where trains can arrive or depart the yard without interrupting the yard switcher, and the yard engine also has easy access to the caboose and passenger car storage tracks.