North Central Colorado

Excellent work Jim, that is one amazing route you got going there. I feel this will be a must download once released ( I hope your going to release it :) )

Cheers

Trent
 
How far are ya actually going to make this route go???


Thanks Bryan, Tanvares and WCL.

The baseboard total is over 2200, last I counted. The cutoff is south Longmont, CO to a few miles north of Cheyenne, WY. You can use the map on page 1 for a reference.

A portion of the total route (north Fort Collins_01) will be a free download when done, along with content, including buildings, track, structures and textures .

Here's the problem I'm now facing. I go in for surgery #3 this coming Tuesday, July 21st. This makes 3 since last October.

I'm told the recovery time on this one will be longer than the previous surgeries.
Short story long...... I'm not sure after Tuesday how long it'll be before I can sit down in front of my PC again. I was hoping to have this route section ready for upload before going back in, but that's not going to happen. Please wish me luck :)

I'm planning to get out tomorrow morning to see the UP #844 steamer running from Denver up to Cheyenne. I'll plant myself at the La Salle yard for good viewing. The 844 goes the yard speed limit through La Salle and then might make a quick stop at the UP station just north in Greeley. I'm not sure I'll win the race between La Salle and Greeley :hehe:.

BTW, it would be fun to run into another Trainzer out there!
 
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Short story long...... I'm not sure after Tuesday how long it'll be before I can sit down in front of my PC again.

Piker...wireless keyboards provide no such excuse, take a load off your "Bama" and lie down to Trainz!:hehe:

Okay, just kidding, I know how hard it is to Trainz when you can't squeeze the "new hope locker" into a comfy chair!

I'll be praying for you, and a successful third time's a charm operation.:)
 
Thanks Bryan, Tanvares and WCL.

The baseboard total is over 2200, last I counted. The cutoff is south Longmont, CO to a few miles north of Cheyenne, WY. You can use the map on page 1 for a reference.

A portion of the total route (north Fort Collins_01) will be a free download when done, along with content, including buildings, track, structures and textures .

Here's the problem I'm now facing. I go in for surgery #3 this coming Tuesday, July 21st. This makes 3 since last October.

I'm told the recovery time on this one will be longer than the previous surgeries.
Short story long...... I'm not sure after Tuesday how long it'll be before I can sit down in front of my PC again. I was hoping to have this route section ready for upload before going back in, but that's not going to happen. Please wish me luck :)

I'm planning to get out tomorrow morning to see the UP #844 steamer running from Denver up to Cheyenne. I'll plant myself at the La Salle yard for good viewing. The 844 goes the yard speed limit through La Salle and then might make a quick stop at the UP station just north in Greeley. I'm not sure I'll win the race between La Salle and Greeley :hehe:.

BTW, it would be fun to run into another Trainzer out there!

Wow, that is a LOT of baseboards!

I hope your surgery goes well and that you will be healthy soon! Please take good care of yourself and don't worry about rushing back to this. Your health is the most important thing...

:wave:

Gisa ^^
 
Thanks Bryan, Tanvares and WCL.
Here's the problem I'm now facing. I go in for surgery #3 this coming Tuesday, July 21st. This makes 3 since last October.

Good luck, and I hope you will be well soon.
Your layout is for me - as a lover of American landscapes - a revelation about how the Colorado High Plains really are.
 
Thanks Ed, Gisa, and Colorado71,

Hi Colo71,

The elevation climbs a couple thousand feet between Fort Collins and north of Cheyenne. It's a nice run with a variety of scenery.
I'm always on sensory overload when getting in those rural areas. Thanks for the inspiration! Someday I hope to visit Romania, as that's where my family originates from, going back to well before Moby Dick was a minnow.

My "day job" starts up again in mid August, so that's the deadline for being able to physically get around again. That will be a challenge.
Your prayers are much appreciated! :)

Hi WCL,

There's quite a few baseboards that are only there to support backdrops. In some areas for the overall route, any unnecessary baseboards will be deleted, and probably a few more added if it enhances the view.

For the first download release, we're looking at the following section inside the orange border:

The main activities in this route include switching at the North Yard,
Sinnard Industrial, and the Anheuser Busch brewery. Challenges include meeting delivery and pickup deadlines, and keeping the main lines clear for north and southbound trains.





Overstock storage track along the BH branch. The entire BH will be in the 1954 version.





Black Hollow Jct (Plummer, CO) looking SE

[


Looking NE - the BNSF main passes through the property of Holter
Cattle Co. heading North toward Budweiser:





Much time this past week has been focused on redoing ground, sky, and structures textures by lowering the color saturation and then re-installing them. Before it felt like I was watching a TV with color up too high.....like the old days when you wanted to get your money's worth :)
 
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Very nice update and pics there Jim. Take care and before you know it we'll be all back to chatting at the Barber Shop.

:)
 
Thanks Bryan,

This probably will be the last mega-post for a while. It might as well be a little different from the norm.

The Budweiser Brewery has felt the effects of the recessional cutbacks. Business is very slow in comparison to the productivity from a year ago.

This Bud division employees quite a few people from the area, and many have seen their hours cut back from a full time 40 hour week to working only two days a week. It's hard to live on just 2 days wages.

This next event happened recently out at the Bud plant. From what started as a typically uneventful day at the Budweiser Brewery, turned into a near tragedy for the community just down the hill.

The continuing tale of The Runaway Obama Box Car


[


The boxcar on the end somehow uncoupled and the brake was not set! How could that happen?? It began to roll downward at a very slow pace, going completely unnoticed.





The runaway boxcar continued slowly on its downward path. If someone in the rail yard did see it rolling away, they kept their mouth shut out of fear that they might be blamed.

[


As the car passed the security gates of the Bud Brewery, it began to pick up speed down the sloping tracks. With the usual tight security monitoring the activity at the Bud plant, how did this car get through undetected!?







Continued.............
 
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The car gained momentum, but did not appear to alarm anyone within view from their homes or yards. The people of the community were too wrapped up in their own routines to alarm others that this boxcar was on the loose.





Here's where this story gets REALLY SCARY :eek:


About a mile south down the tracks, this poor innocent girl's foot got caught in the rails and was right in its path. The mass of corrupted metal continued picking up speed on it's downward destructive journey!

Still struggling to get her foot loose, she looked north up the tracks in horror as she caught the reflection of the approaching boxcar!



She screamed to get the attention of a man to her left, who was looking the other way.

She tried to catch her breath as she struggled to get the words out when explaining about her foot being stuck. She finally got through to him by yelling " HELP ME! THERE'S A TRAIN COMMING!! .

The man got on his cell phone, remained perfectly calm and reassured her that "help is on the way"

"PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME GET MY FOOT LOOSE!!"
she pleaded.


The man gave her a thumbs up and said,

"A tow truck will be here shortly." :Y:

"The girl screamed again, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT TRAIN!??"



Keeping a safe distance away from the tracks, the man coolly responded with a laugh, " That's not a train, it's just a boxcar and it's moving slowly. It will come to a stop any time now. You have nothing to worry about."

(He called for a tow truck??)




:eek:





Fortunately, a wise and competent woman on the right was grilling Alaskan Salmon on her barbecue when she saw what was happening on the tracks. She assessed the situation immediately, took action, courageously ran up to the embankment, freed the girl from the tracks and pulled her to safety within seconds before the boxcar came racing by!







[




The man on the left (a reporter for NBC) said " See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about!"





Unfortunately, there was another man further down the track that was struck by the boxcar as he tried to switch the runaway onto a derail track. We'll check on his status......... coming right up..... continued
 
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Oh no; not gonna let this thread sink!
Nice story Jim! It's so great to be living in a time of Unicorns and Butterflies, truly the masses are gifted with a leader from the heavens! All praise to the Obama boxcar!:hehe: Let us hope it smashes through any opposition in it's path, and reduces all clear thinking individuals to rubble! (much like this forum) I eagerly anticipate the conclusion to your story....although I have read the original, I am awaiting the government sanctioned "official" version so I know what to think!

再見,

Comrade Ed:wave:
 
Well thanks Ed. There are several ways this story could go....

I'm home now and resting up.

I had an interesting experience arriving at home from the hospital.

I locked myself out!
I arrived at home having to use a walker and couldn't find my house key. There's a spare key in a hiding place, but unable to reach it without having to climb.....( I didn't think that one through very well before I left)

A distant neighbor, knowing there was nobody home and not used to seeing me in a walker,
called the police, thinking it was some thief trying to break in. While taking swipes at the key, the police arrived quietly, parked across the street out of my view, and saw me knock the key down to where I could reach it. I then let myself in. This must have looked pretty suspicious, knowing how the crime rate has really gone up in the last few months.

Next thing I know, they ask me to step outside, ask me for my ID and started questioning me.

It really startled me, however this was an unusual opportunity to thank them profusely for their courageous and wonderful work they do in the community.
It was a very positive experience and makes me feel good to know that somebody's looking out for me.

I'll be checking in now and then, and hopefully get back to full speed on this route! :)
 
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Whew! I'm glad that worked out for you as it did. I have to say though that I find myself a little outraged by your behavior. Didn't they know who you are? Surely, a man of your stature in your community, an educated man, if you will, surely you should have verbally dressed them down. With a walker in your hands, you may have even been able to claim age discrimination or some such!

Well, not knowing all the facts Jim, but knowing you are a friend of mine, I'd have to say you acted stupidly!;)
 
Facts?? Ya dun need no stinking facts. Facts are overrated.

Little do they know that I contacted the ACLU after they left. This is clearly a case of ............. profiling............ of some sort or another.
 
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Here's one from last Sunday for UP 844 fans.

The 844 is heading from Denver to Cheyenne along the Greeley Subdivision on the last run of the Cheyenne's Frontier Day celebration.

The location is Greeley, Colorado. This is looking south with the bean factory as a backdrop at the north Greeley wye.



 
Jim,

What is the kuid of those roads used in your screen shot (page 1)? I'm using TRS2004. I've been looking for some quality US roads for a long time.
 
Hello drickets from KC/MO

Those are reskins of one of Maddy's Yarn roads. The texture used is from the Frontage Rd near the tracks.

I'll include those as part of the content when this route and assets gets uploaded to DLS.
 
That is a great pic of the UP #844 there Jim. So that's where it was hiding this weekend! We missed it at the Train Festival 2009 in Owosso, MI. The SP #4449 Daylight was there, along with the Nickel Plate Road #765 and of course home of the Pere Marquette #1225. It would have been great to have the 844 there. Maybe next year.

:)
 
Hey thanks, Bryan!

I was shooting video at the same time, so I could get the 844 sounds echoing off those old silos.
What a thrill! I'll never get tired of that!

Say Bryan, you got to see some great locos! I'd love to have been there. :)

I'm not sure what the 844 is doing this weekend, but here's a UP schedule link.


http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/excurs/schedule.shtml
 
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No problem Jim!

Yah it was great to see so much steam power in one place. I bet there hasn't been that much steam in one location in a lot of years; at least in Michigan. The air was positively coated in soot by afternoon. All were present but the SP 4449 Daylight, as it was out on its all-day excursion with $90 a seat paying passengers. It went from Owosso, to Alma, MI and back. So sadly I did not get to see it.

The PM 1225 was down with a blown flue as well, so it was not operable. Later in the day it was moved; rather dramatically I might add by 3 0-4-0s to it's overnight parking spot! You can see that in a couple of YouTube videos.

So I don't want to hijack your awesome North Central Colorado thread, I'll redirect to my Train Festival 2009 thread for those that are interested:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=36343&highlight=Festival

Cheers!

"And now back to our regularly scheduled program..."
 
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