Northeast Corridor, anyone ?

Mr.Jingles

Master of Disaster
I installed MSTS about a week ago and just cannot stop running the Acela from Washington to Philadelphia.
I also asked if anyone was doing the route for TRS, but it seems not, so I took the liberty and am trying to get it done in my sparce free time.

Today I played around for 3 hours with DEMs and HOGs and 1 hour with Basemaps and this is what I got so far :



The entire Washington DC area 30m DEM correct terrain and Basemapped Google images for accurate Track and Object placement.
Not too bad for about 4 hours work, what do you think ?
In the second picture you can see in the foreground at Washington's Union Station that I begun laying some basic track, just for testing now.

But do not expect too much yet, as I have almost no free time (because of work and life) this is probably going to take ages to complete.
Maybe I was just thinking I'll show what can be done in such a short time with the tools we have at hand and it's late already, so I go to bed now and leave you mouth-watering and craving for more with these 2 screenshots :D .

I also took a look at TransDEM, but as I am not even sure if I will finish this project I don't think I should shell out 20 € for it when there are excellent freeware tools out there.

Any kind of feedback is welcome.
Considered release date : Unknown :hehe:

This thread will be updated with new screenshots as I get things done.

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
Sweet! Man, I can't wait to check that out! I wish someone would do that for Pittsburgh, PA or Atlanta, GA! That google map overlay would save me alot of time!:cool:
 
Me and a friend started NEC2k7 a while ago, we're planning on doing a route with custom addons and such, care to join?

email me (amtrakid @ yahoo dot com)

Corey
 
Sweet!!! :D :D :) :)
I went to Washington DC for a class trip!! On the way we saw an Amtrak facility!!! That was cool!! No one else cared though.....and I have no pics of it..... :( :( :(
 
Have you checked out NEC 47583:100009 and NEC NJ 59012:102579 on the DLS in Layouts ?

Hmm, thanks. I must have been blind, I spent a half day searching for Layouts based arount the Northeast Corridor area, but was unable to find anything. I also must have overseen fishlipsatwork's NEC New York area DEM.

I will download the NEC Layout sometime soon and give it a try.
Wish that I had not missed that when I searched, but it is a great learning experience anyways, playing with DEM, TIGER, HOG, Basemaps, etc.

That google map overlay would save me alot of time!:cool:

It is not really rocket science, hehe.
- Go to http://maps.google.com
- Zoom in to "200 ft / 100 m" (Lower Left Corner)
- Switch to "Satellite" Image (Upper Right Corner)
- Take a Screenshot
- Paste the Screenshot into a Graphics Program (GIMP, Paint.Net, Photoshop, ...)
- Cut out a 1024x1024 area and paste it into a new empty 1024x1024 file
- Save this as .JPG (with distortions) or 24 Bit .TGA without compression (no distortions, but larger file)
- Follow the manual at http://www.g0akh.f2s.com/Trainz/Basemap_tutorial.html
- Done
In order to be able to cut out a 1024x1024 Image from Google Maps you should have a Screen Resolution of at least 1600x1200.
If your monitor does not support that it is going to complicate things a bit more of course.

... care to join?

No, not right now.
This is so far just a small hobby project and I don't want to get any "delays" into your project if you are expecting to get things done until a specific date, etc.
Maybe I'll come back to that.

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
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Mr.Jingles, im not a fan of American routes or Trains for that matter, however, having also played this on MSTS i can't wait for this.

I wish you good luck with this task.

Sam

Edit, Question, what program are you using to make the Dems?
 
... what program are you using to make the Dems?

I am using MicroDEM and Informations from this Step-by-Step Tutorial to create freely available DEMs from this Site.
It is very user friendly and gets you started within an hour.

Have you checked out NEC 47583:100009 and NEC NJ 59012:102579 on the DLS in Layouts ?

I have now checked out both layouts you mentioned.
The NEC NJ is basically just a DEM terrain which I created myself already and the NEC route is extremely unspectecular, low detail, not ptototypical and has bad trackwork, textures and a general unspectacular feeling, plus the terrain is cut off right next to the track, so there are no surrounding terrain baseboards.
... not satisfying

So I will continue with my project, but again : Don't get too excited yet.
Maybe when I finished all the Trackwork, Texturing and Object placements :).

Targeted "Features" of my layout :
- Accurate Rail Tracks
- Accurate Roads next to the Tracks (Textures further away)

I would need help for :
- Speed Limitations along the route with their exact locations, directions, etc.
- Positions and Types of Signals (partially clear already)

What I would like to, but cannot do :
- Add backdrops along the route on each side
.. so I will just leave 2 Baseboards textured and sparely vegetated on each side of the Rail Tracks (as performance allows it, when the main part of the route is done)

When it's done :
- Some default Sessions for instant entertainment

If all this is do-able as a hobby-project that started out of boredom is a whole different story though :hehe:

Time will tell.

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
Ish, if you don't mind I'm going to use most of your excellent, low poly, high quality buildings :D.
They make excellent Skylines and high performant cities.

The bigger cities will not be with correct buildings too, as in the real thing, but this may be as close as I can get.
I also have to build Washington's Union Station part-wise so that it integrates nicely with the track. Not an easy task.

Right now I have to find some missing DEMs first, as there are about 20 holes in my map to stuff up :).

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
Ish, if you don't mind I'm going to use most of your excellent, low poly, high quality buildings :D.
They make excellent Skylines and high performant cities.

The bigger cities will not be with correct buildings too, as in the real thing, but this may be as close as I can get.
I also have to build Washington's Union Station part-wise so that it integrates nicely with the track. Not an easy task.

Right now I have to find some missing DEMs first, as there are about 20 holes in my map to stuff up :).

Tata
Mr.Jingles

Excellent ... :) I'll keep an eye on this thread to see your progress ... Dem data is so useful, in that it gives a guide to where to go ...

Good Luck with it!!!:wave:
Ishie
 
I've used ish's great buildings in all of my routes and they come out looking great. I can't wait for this!
Just so I know are you gonna be doing the whole NEC? If you are,I would love to help you when you get to NJ,and maybe I could add in the NJT NEC as well to give it a more realistic feel.
Just a thought for when that time ever comes:D
 
Hi Gandalf

This is what I have in mind :


(Click to Enlarge)

Step 1 will be to finish the part from Washington DC to Philadelphia.
Step 2 is to extend the route up to New York.
Step 3, if I am still motivated by then, is to finish the entire Acela Express Route serviced by Amtrak all the way up to Boston which would result in an End-to-End drive time of about 7 hours.

My plan was that I would model routes connecting to this one about 1 km off the main line and place a portal there, but feel free to extend it as you like when I'm done, but first I have to get some more things done.

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
Hi Mr. Jingles!!
Sorry I must have missed your first message.
Trainz Pro Routes is doing NEC too! All the trackage from DC to Philly is in, and about 1 6th is sceniced. All DEM. Once that is done, will go Philly North eventually.
If you are interested in helping with the project, or testing, let me know!
It is wonderful running Acelas at 120 mph.
Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore and DC proper cities are pretty will sceniced, but most of the areas in between are not yet.
Lemme know!
Jeff
 
notice none of these so called routes have more then a few pictures, no one ever updates anyone on progress, and nothing is ever released

as with so much content people are "making" for trainz

ill believe it when i see it
 
Me and a friend started NEC2k7 a while ago, we're planning on doing a route with custom addons and such, care to join?

No, not right now.
This is so far just a small hobby project and I don't want to get any "delays" into your project if you are expecting to get things done until a specific date, etc.
Maybe I'll come back to that.

Tata
Mr.Jingles

Knowing Corey; you wouldn't be too bound to a timeline... if there even is one.

peter
 
A while back one of the German creators was making it, connyxy I think from Bavaria. I'll take any and all of them if they're uploaded. :)

Cheers

AJ
 
Hi Mr. Jingles!!
Sorry I must have missed your first message.
Trainz Pro Routes is doing NEC too! All the trackage from DC to Philly is in, and about 1 6th is sceniced. All DEM. Once that is done, will go Philly North eventually.
If you are interested in helping with the project, or testing, let me know!
It is wonderful running Acelas at 120 mph.
Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore and DC proper cities are pretty will sceniced, but most of the areas in between are not yet.
Lemme know!
Jeff

Hi Jeff

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated for not letting me step in the dark.
I am constantly visiting the TPR and other great route and content creator homepages, but was unable to find any info, so I thought I'd start this project myself. I was considering it 1 year ago too but time didn't allow me to, back then.
But it is good to know that this project is on its way already by such a great group as TPR, so I can rest assured that it will meet all the highly expected standards in quality :D.

I guess it would be a good learning process for me to "beta test" that route of yours, so if you have trust in me, feel free to let me know if I'm in :).

Knowing now that you have almost finished it, I can now proceed with my version as a pure learning process of prototypical route building.
I have just finished the trackwork around the Washington DC station which is extremely accurate yesterday, but at the exit to the staging and maintenance yards I had to trick a bit because there is no 6-degree double slip switch from andi06, only a 10-degree double slip.
I will post some screenshots this weekend and maybe andi06 is even building a 6-degree double slip switch for me so it will look like the real thing again :p.

My status right now is that I have all the DEM terrain and HOG textures from Washington all the way up to Boston, but I am concentrating on the part from Washington to Philadelphia and have split that up into 3 smaller maps for now.
HOG has done a pretty good job in giving the route its basic texture too and all in all it is going along very smoothly.

I am also interested in knowing how you are doing your route-building and the tools / resources you are using.
Google Earth and Live Earth are giving pretty good, sharp satellite images, but I cannot see underground or through buildings so I have no clue which tracks are going where under the Washington Station for example.
Signalling and speedlimits are another thing and I'm having a hard time finding informations about them.

All in all I wish you good luck with your project !

Tata
Mr.Jingles
 
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