Ravenswood Town......Small Urban Tramway.

[hotgrove]

Rather than flood an established thread with screenies i will open a separate one and it can eventually drop down the pages.

Please excuse the lengthy summary on route info.
As the title suggests a small urban tramway set on 4 boards ( 2 x 2 ).

TRAMSTOPS.....they all work with one exception.......all the passenger options are set to zero to avoid the ugly look of people knee deep in concrete while waiting on platforms.
I then fill the platforms with passengers of my choice both static and animated.......trams will stop as normal......doors will open and close.....they will proceed to the next stop and so forth.......this is my own preferred method.

Tram signals are used throughout but they are merely scenery items......placed onto a strip of inv track and dragged into position just for effect.

The VTL catenary system is used except for the contact wire.
I use a bendy one (SGLM) which bends along with the track.
The only drawback being the hangers need to be carefully dragged into position but with a bit of patience it works out quite well.

ROAD TRAFFIC......ATLS traffic lights are used throughout but not the system hence they are all showing green and the traffic flow has no logic to it whatsoever.
I've used single lane traffic generators and added them in blocks and single stretches of road in an attempt to give the town a bit of life.
The traffic flow however is a big negative.

To give the town a bit more interest a small metro has been added in the form of 2 basic loops covering 5 over ground stations ( 3 of which are elevated ) and 11 U.G. stations.
The O.G. stations work the same way as the tram stops......all passenger options set to zero and platforms filled with people of my own choice.
The only set back being the front carriage doors are not opening on the 6 carriage trains.
The U.G. stations ( all kitbashed offerings ) are simply set up with trackmarks to stop and start the trains at the stations.

There are no junctions on the metro loops and as a bare minimum i suggest running 3 six carriage trains on each ( 6 trains in total )
The session i hope to add to the route has 5 trains on each ( 10 trains in total ) which is my recommendation as they spend most of the time under ground.

Below is the main station in the town and by far the most busiest......CENTRAL.
Platforms 1,4 and 5 are part of one loop.
Platforms 2,3 and 6 are part of the other loop.

 

[hotgrove]

I'll begin with a few of the kitbashed U.G stations which were obviously built before the town above was born.

 

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[hotgrove]

Thanks to all for the positive feedback.
What started off as an U.G. experiment has somehow morphed into a small town.

 

[hotgrove]

 

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[hotgrove]

For anyone who is planning to download here is the Metro station sequence for both loops in the event my session dosen't appear with the route.

All Metro U.G. stations are simply drive to TM......wait for ?........proceed.
All Metro O.G. stations are workable ( see first page ).......navigate to.......load.......wait for ?.........proceed.
Working Metro stations are Central......Oakfield.....Melrose......Willowbank........King Street.

LOOP 1......Central 1......Ashfield 1......Kelvinside 1......Waybridge 1......Central 5......Elsware Drive 1......Oakfield 4......Melrose 2......Willowbank 2......Oakfield 2......King Street 1......Fernhill 1......Milton 1......Darnley 1......Waybridge 4......Hickory Road 1......Barnhill 1......Central 4......Parkmill Road 1.

LOOP 2......Central 2......Aldgate 1......Central 3......Hickory Road 2......Waybridge 3......Darnley 2......Milton 2......Fernhill 2......King Street 2......Oakfield 1......Willowbank 1......Melrose 1......Oakfield 3......Elsware Drive 2......Central 6......Waybridge 2......Kelvinside 2......Ashfield 2.

Put both loops on repeat.

I would say 3 six carriage trains are required on each loop as a bare minimum.
The session i'm hoping will be available will have 5 six carriage trains running on each loop which brings the town to life.

A few more screenshots to add to show a few negatives and a final polish and i will be ready to upload.

Lunchtime for the construction workers.

 

[hotgrove]

Final polish now complete and session set up which took a full day.
A few more screenshots to illustrate the negatives.

As you can see the traffic flow has no logic to it.
I've basically added it in blocks and single stretches and tried to avoid crossing tram lines as much as possible.

I've used single lane traffic generators but they are visible in driver so every attempt was made to tuck them away in adjoining streets where there is no tram activity to avoid the look of cars suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
This however was not always possible and the traffic flow remains a big negative.

In the event i make a mess of uploading the session ( which is highly likely) this is the metro set up.

As mentioned in the route summary on page 1 the metro runs in 2 basic loops with no points on either.

CENTRAL.....the 6 trains will depart simultaneously.

OAKFIELD....both trains will depart simultaneously.

KING STREET ( which also has an adjoining tram link)......both trains will depart simultaneously.

This gives 5 six carriage trains on each loop ( 10 in total) which really brings the town to life.
No 2 trains will arrive at the same platform at the same time and it will run and run.
The only downside with the metro is the front carriage doors are not opening at the stations which i regard as a minor negative.

Inv tram levers are used throughout and they are numerous.
The tram station sequence runs in a loop which covers EVERY platform in the town except 1.
During the course of the tram cycle ( which is lengthy....1 hr 30 mins roughly) no tram will visit the same platform twice nor will 2 arrive at the same platform together.

As a starting point in the tram cycle i've used Trackmark Tram Depot 2 ( anywhere works as long as you adhere to the cycle which runs as follows ).

From my starting point Trackmark Tram Depot 2........Vernon St 1........Hampton Rd 1........Carson St 2........East Cen Drv 1........West Cen Drv 2........Renton St 2........Wallace St 2........East Cen Drv 2........Hilton St 2........West Cen Drv 1........Wallace St 1........Bothwell St 1........King St Tram 1........Skipton Way 1........Derwent St 1........Newbridge Rd 1........Melrose Gdns 2........Melrose Grv 1........Walnut Cres 1........Drive via Trackmark A........Holiday Inn 2........Melrose St 1........Melrose Gdns 1........Quarrywood Ave 2........Bank St 1........Brand St 1........Osprey Drv 1........Osprey Drv 3........Vernon St 2........Drive to Trackmark Tram Depot 1........Skipton Way 2........King St Tram 2........Bothwell St 2........Renton St 1........Hilton St 1........Carson St 1........Quarrywood Ave 1........Holiday Inn 1........Drive via Trackmark B........Melrose St 2........Newbridge Rd 2........Derwent St 2........Kenmure St 2........Bank St 2........Hampton Rd 2........Osprey Drv 4........Osprey Drv 2........Drive via Trackmark C........Drive to Trackmark Tram Depot 2........REPEAT.

On the session i'm hoping to add....... 9 trams are running through the town on the above loop and no 2 trams will arrive at the same platform together.
Once again in the session i'm hoping to add Trackmark Tram Depot 1 and 2 have i min wait before proceeding.

Another negative is.......... for no apparent reason trams slow down to almost grinding to a halt when approaching certain junctions before regaining speed.
It sorts itself out but is still an annoyance.

As an added feature i've added a couple of little trucks which put you amongst the road traffic and offer different views of the trams and metro as they go by.
You will find them on side streets and they run on inv track and will take you into suburban areas where the trams don't go.
They offer great cab views and i recommend driving about 13mph.

The small rollercoaster runs thus......Drive VIA trackmark rc1.........Drive TO trackmark rc2.......wait for 10 secs......REPEAT.
It will run to eternity.

If i manage to get the route up but not the session ( which would be a great pity ) i will leave info on route description to refer to this thread for instructions.
I will leave notification when upload is complete hopefully next couple of days.
If you're a fan of small routes then give it a shot

I'm done and need a pint or six.

 

[hotgrove]

Been a while and now i don't have the faintest idea how uploading a route and session works.

 

[jetekol]

You can do it in Content Manager, just mark your session and route, right click them, and choose "Upload to DLS", and wait a few days, and it'll be available at DLS Or do you have lots of objects from sites that aren't available on DLS?

 

[hotgrove]

Thanks jetekol i've done it before but it's been so long i have completely forgotten the process.
I'm going to look at that right now.
It's unusual that i build something i actually enjoy running myself so i would like to share it.
Most if not all of the content should be available on the DLS.
Regards......John.

 

[hotgrove]

Hello again Jetekol.
Task complete no errors no warnings.

I don't think the uploaded session is the one where the 6 trains depart CENTRAL simultaneously but i do think it is still the same session anyway at a different point in motion if that makes sense.
The route really needs the session with it as it took from early morning until teatime to set it up which was well worth the time and effort.
Regards.......John.