Project: Halsiburg (1024*768, thumbnailed)

[SeanW]

For the last < a year I've been working on and off on a fictional, generally Western world, electric railway layout named Halsiburg after the main city in the route. It's coming along reasonably well and is developed enough for me to show some screenshots.

The basis for the route is, Western world location - designed to be both familiar and foreign to anyone in the Western world (North America, Europe) with a high specification rail and road network, 4 track mainline, some freight trackage, a Metro line and some tram lines, 3 large and posh cities with suburbs, a vast motorway and dual carriageway system for bus and road fans,

Furthermore in the last 2 weeks I decided to add a transport museum with steam engine specials.
You can vote for your favourite steam engine in a special request for input thread here:
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=39076

Anyways, here are some screenshots. Comments below each thumbnail, click on each for full size.

(Obsolete pics of Trepaul, Maplewood Beaches and Candlemas City removed)


Candlemas Junction - here the slow and fast lines are reunited and will run from here on in a slow-fast-fast-slow quad track configuration.


We're on the Halsiburg side of the Uranium river now, this shot is looking backwards towards Trepaul and Candlemas City.

 

[SeanW]

Babylon pass coal mines: there are 4 coal tipper bays, 2 are used for the mainline, 2 for a narrow gauge line that runs to a power station. The mainline bays can be accessed from the main lines in either direction and trains can return to the main line in either direction. Full grade separation is provided to prevent interference with the express tracks in the centre.


An AI driven narrow gauge train carries a small-ish load of coal to a power plant a short distance away.


The passenger station at Babylon Pass - something of a rual getaway for urban Halsiburgians, there is a resort hotel and McDonalds here in some forest.


A forestry just outside the Halsiburg city limits.


We've just crossed into Halsiburg, and here is a small residential area named "Portside View" becuase you can see the Seaport from here, across the bay. A Metro system for Halsiburg starts at the passenger ferry terminal at the Seaport, but for residents in this screenshot, a local mainline station is provided.


A grade separated set of re-entry lines carry trains from the Seaport and a second power plant, back onto the mainline in both directions. We're looking at an industrial part of town (still under construction)


Still in the industrial zone but getting close to the Financial District.


Halsiburg's financial district.


Halsiburg Central station, upper level. This is a full station, where both local and express trains stop.


The lower level of Halsiburg Central, the Metro line that started at the Seaport uses these two platforms.

 

[SeanW]

A further out view of the station and the financial district.


Downtown. A lower density commercial area with a mix of offices and shops. The Metro has a stop here but the mainline will have no further stops in Halsiburg city.


Past the Downtown area, we go into the Warehouse District. Again there is a Metro stop here (not shown) but mainline trains race past. You may notice there's another dual carriageway here.


FedEx has a big operation here ...


... But they also have some competition :hehe:

Leaving the Warehouse District, we enter a downmarket residentail area named Melfeather. Again there is a Metro station here, and the dual carriageway that started in the Warehouse district also goes through.


Crossing the Western city line, we come to Ceyleron, one of two immediate suburbs.


Ceyleron has a local mainline station, here is a close up.


Palm views is right beside Ceyleron, and it has a Metro station.

 

[SeanW]

Last post:


The Metro line approaches Halsiburg Airport, a freight line to the Airport fuelling and goods delivery facilites curves off to the left.


The front doors of the Airport terminal. There is a tram station in the background.


The tram stop you saw before.

Next up is the Airport parking area. I couldn't use the airport train station for the mainline for 3 reasons:
1) It's too small
2) I needed a 4 platform station
3) Too steep a curve would be needed to get around the runway for going West. So I put the Airport mainline station about 500M to 1KM away, in a remote parking area. The tram you saw so far is laid to connect the parking area and station to the terminal.


The tram station in the remote parking area.


Coming into the airport station from the direction of Ceyleron.

On the Riesa side of the station, looking backwards towards Ceyleron and Halsiburg.


Moving West ... I haven't got much done from here on out yet.

 

[whistlehead]

This is looking good, keep up the good work.

 

[SeanW]

More shots

Thanks Whistlehead, I intend to continue

Here are some more shots: Man this is going to rock, if I ever get it finished.


Here is a Cab View of Damon taking an empty coal train to the Babylon Pass Mines. I've seriously restructured the trackside scenery in this area, and this is the payoff



Funabashi Metro station and Parking Area. On the far right you can see the Connex Class 508s that serve as the Metro carriages, and the Funabashi Metro station that is the Western terminus of the Metro


A residential side street in Funabashi, not far from the Metro station.


A farm shot that I didn't put in previous posts.

Also a BIG
THANK YOU :wave:
To TransportFan, whos blank highway signs, released under a "feel free to reskin" license, will allow me to festoon my divided highways and 4 lane roads with appropriate navigational road signage, a process I have already started. Keep an eye on this page for new screenshots of the route Motorway system. Bus fans in particular might enjoy it.

 

[SeanW]

More shots, this time the focus is on Candlemas City.

By seanw_whiplash at 2009-04-20
Self Explanitory


An apartment development in Candlemas City.

By seanw_whiplash at 2009-04-20
This grade separated junction is the border between the Candlemas City Expressway (Motorway) and the Trepaul Dual Carriageway (lower quality divided highway). First of 3 pics of the junction.

The MPU Roadside Service Area in Candlemas City.

By seanw_whiplash at 2009-04-20
The start of the Candlemas City Expressway/end of the Trepaul Dual Carriageway, heading towards Halsiburg.

 

[SeanW]

The slums ...

In earlier posts, I wrote about a poor section of Halsiburg called Melfeather. Initially, I had decided to build it as something of an "urban regeneration" project, but recently I changed course and decided to make it a horrible, unapologetic slum.

I'll go back to thumbnailed pics for this one.

From about 200m inside Ceyleron from the Halsiburg/Ceyleron border, this shot shows a distant view of Melfeather. Looks alright?


Unfortunately, on this city border, it's the City of Nightmares.


500m further into Halsiburg on the MR100 motorway, there's a plume of smoke over the carriageway ...


And we soon find the cause - a pile of rubbish and old cars has been set on fire ... but the best is yet to come

 

[SeanW]

One of the locals decided to share his (or her?) thoughts on politics via graffiti on this motorway onramp sign.


When this sign went up, all it did was point motorists in the direction of Trepaul and Candlemas City. Now it suggests they should hit the accelerator and make haste getting there ...


Another junk pile, this time on waste ground in between the buildings.

 

[Transportfan]

Also a BIG
THANK YOU :wave:
To TransportFan, whos blank highway signs, released under a "feel free to reskin" license, will allow me to festoon my divided highways and 4 lane roads with appropriate navigational road signage, a process I have already started. Keep an eye on this page for new screenshots of the route Motorway system. Bus fans in particular might enjoy it.

Thanks. It's cool seeing my reskinned signs in somebody's screenshots. BTW, Sean, where did you get the font for the signs? It looks like Clearview.

 

[SeanW]

I'm almost 100% certain the font is Lucida Sans Unicode.

The font blending style is normal Anti Aliasing, which I view as superior to Clear Type. I have my Windows XP display set to "Standard" which affects how text is laid down, even in Paintbrush. The Graffitied signs are normal modified highway signs with airbrushing.

I am also using Paint Shop Pro v4. (very old, likely also takes its cue from Windows settings).

 

[stephenp]

Halsiburg

Your layout looks superb. Where did you get the motorway road signs from which you can presumably edit as you wish? Stephen.

 

[SeanW]

@StephenP

Check out TransportFans assets on Download Station. He has a number of blank highway signs there, posted under a "feel free to reskin" license.

When you have the correct base asset, clone it and make changes to the clone, using Edit in Explorer and Edit in Content Creator Plus as required. Clone a new one each time you need a new sign. If you are not in any way familiar with reskinning, I can somewhat explain the changes you would need to make, so let me know.

@TransportFan:

Just wait till I get the NR100 (the main motorway / dual carriageway which I needed the signs for) planned out properly. Then I'm going to take more of those Exit signs of yours and really put on a display :udrool:

I've also started messing around with Paintshed, so I will post some more pics soon.

 

[Euphod]

Very nice, good attention to detail, it's easy to see the work you've put into this!

 

[SeanW]

Some paintshed reskins ...

Edit: Test bed pics reduced the "thumbnail" form.

Thanks for your kind words Euphod.

Anyways, here are some Paintshed reskin pics for your pleasure:
(note these were taken in a "test bed" route, not in Halsiburg itself)



This pic is a view of a Halsiburg Rail high speed long distance coach - a modified BREL Mk3 carriage. I intend to run it behind either an SBB Re460 or a Deutsche Bahn Class 180. I had planned to make it all bright green and had even reskinned the Re460 to match, but I couldn't contact the original creator to OK it so I'm going to use the unmodified red one and adjusted the carriage paint scheme instead.



This is the classic old train that you will be driving if you choose the "Rail Museum" session - a modified Mark 2 A coach has been rebranded "Ceyleron Transportation Museum" and will run behind an LNER A4 Mallard. You can see a "Halsiburg Rail" branding mask that has been 'removed.' giving clues about its pre-Museum service.

 

[SeanW]

Project update: Although I have made scattered progress since May, I have found that working on a bit here and a bit there is disconcerting and time wasting. To that end, I've decided to start at the Eastern end of my route and move West as each portion is complete.

The Easternmost point on my route is the city of Trepaul. This is where the main line ends and there will be a city tram line, which I've done a few days work on by now. But this wouldn't be a "Project Halsiburg" post, if there weren't pics to show :hehe:


This is Trepaul Central, the terminal station for the main line. I plan to start the "Museum steamer" session from here, and have designated T.C. as a 3 platform station, Platform 1 will be "special" plaform where the LNER Mallard and Ceyleron Transportation Museum coaches will run from. Trains from here will use the local line.
Platform 2 is the day-to-day local services platform. Trains coming from/going to here will make all local stops to Halsiburg and Reisa.
Platform 3 is the platform for express trains. From here, a TGV or Mk3s pulled by an Re460, will run non-stop to Halsiburg Central, Halsiburg Airport, Reisa and Lexingtown (outside the Halsiburg prefecture, and not built yet).

This pic is old - I've since added the catenary wire.


Another view of the Ceyleron museum set pulling out of P1 - ignore those yellow things, they're just platform guides for Surveyor.


Looking towards Trepaul Central from the bottom of Halsiburg Avenue, the tram line runs around the corner to a stop just outside T.C. Beyond the junction is the NR100 Trepaul dual carriageway, Candlemas City is 10km down that road and Halsiburg, Ceyleron etc are further away on the Motorway section (MR100)


Looking at the same junction, this time from the Trepaul Dual Carriageway.


Seaside Park tram station at the top of Halsiburg Avenue, beyond this there is a long curved bridge to Trepaul Island, where there will be a high end residential area, beyond that will be the Northern Sea Airfield.


One of my favourite pics, this shows the approach from the curved bridge to the mainland.


Halsiburg Avenue tram stop.

<obsolete pic removed>

 

[mitch456yui]

Wow

Hi,
Just came across your thread and............WOW!
This route is amazing if you ask me. :udrool: :udrool: :mop: :mop:
Its got everything, big city, industrial areas, tram lines. Its fantastamazing!
Cant wait till its done, will it be on the DLS?!
Thanks

 

[SeanW]

Thank you Mitch, and yes I will be posting this to DLS. I've decided to focus on just the city of Trepaul for now, and I may post just the Trepaul tramway as a Beta route + sessions (on it's own) first.

The Beta will give anyone interested a good idea of what I'm trying to accomplish and give me an opportunity to solicit feedback, constructive critiques, and perhaps some help with finer touches.

Full release of the entire route will probably be some time next year. Hopefully early next year.

More screenshots coming in the next couple of days.

 

[SeanW]

More shots of the Trepaul tramway.

As promised, here's a minor update. I've more or less finished working on the Trepaul tram line East of the citys main railway station. Just a bit more work to be done on the scenery on Trepaul Island and then I can move on to the Western section (I've laid out about 7km of tram line plus overhead wiring and lineside scenery. So far).

Anyways, here's the first pic:

Looking towards the Northern Sea Airfield, this is a particualrly high end residential area behind the tram line and some shops on the boulevard. The tram line 'behind' goes back towards the Mainland. Ahead, there's a narrow strip of land connecting the residential/light commercial main part of Trepaul Island to another landbank used for the Northern Sea Airfield.


Trepaul Island tram stop, as viewed from the side. In this shot, the station is on the other side of the boulevard, we're looking towards the Mainland with the Northern Sea Airfield being 'behind.'



Trepaul Island station by night, again looking towards the Northern Sea Airfield.

http://img6.imageshack.us/i/56trepaulisland4.jpg/
Another shot of Trepaul Island tram stop, this time from the parking area.


First snap of the Northern Sea Airfield. In this shot, the tram line (which runs single track at this point, explanation below) is behind the bush with the palm trees.

The Trepaul tram line ends at a "loopback" turn just outside the Northern Sea Airfield. There are no junctions or levers, driving a tram you basically run onto a single line section that returns you onto the other track going back to the Mainland. There are two single-track stations here, N.S.A. Area 8 and N.S.A. Area 1.


Another snap from the other side of the N.S.A. this time by night.

 

[SeanW]

More shots to show. It is currently my plan to have Trepaul, and some tram sessions, ready for a Beta stage release to DLS sometime next month.

This post will be a mix of thumbnails and full size (800 by 600) shots.


A tram crossing on Trepaul Island in the nighttime.


Standing on Halsiburg Avenue, looking towards the NR100 and Trepaul Central, the tram line curves around the junction to the right.

Standing at Trepaul Central tram stop, looking South.


Looking North from Trepaul Central tram stop.


City Hall

A tram stop for the Whyte Towers Group


Roughly 2km down from the Whyte Towers Group, the tram line crosses the NR100 dual carriageway and the main railway line on a suspension bridge. This shot shows the approach to the bridge, looking back towards Trepaul Central.

Cross the bridge, this shot shows the tram line at the top of Jennings Avenue, and an appropriate tram station.

A shopping side street off Jennings Avenue.

More shops and a PCWorld further down Jennings Avenue.