Riverside Railway Company

[philskene]

For those who are curious, the "Riverside Railroad Company" route that has just arrived on the Download Staion uses a slightly revised and re-textured version of my earlier "BesideTheRiver" to link the Port Switching and Yard Switching Railroads.

The two companies decided to merge and reopen the scenic route between the port of Lys and the city of Diaspar.

Riverside Railroad is the classic short line railroad company - operating with a very tight budget with a multi-skilled but highly motivated workforce using second hand equipment to provide a high quality service to its customers.

Rail freight carried by the Company includes containers, Trailers on Flat Cars (TOFC), manufactured products, automobiles, bulk products, timber products, petrochemicals, plastics, scrap metal, aggregates and minerals.

AI trainz can be configured to operate on separated tracks at 3 minute headways. The AI routes interact with Player trains at numerous squeeze points and can present a challenge to operations.

Despite the high level of detail, frame rates are excellent on a mid-range P3.2 computer with a 256MB video card.

All assets required by this route are available from the Trainz Download Station and will be installed when the route is downloaded.

A detailed readme is included in the folder containing the route.

Detailed maps are also included in the folder. This map shows the overall route:

If you feel that you would like to join our little dedicated band of employees, look for this thumbnail on the Download Station:

I will be uploading sessions for the route shortly.

Phil

 

[twarner]

Thanks for another excellent route Phil.

Do you realise that the map enclosed with the basic route is labelled incorrectly? It shows Lys to the north and Diaspar to the south.

How I wish that I'd have read this thread first and seen its map without driving myself nearly mad trying to match the sub maps of Diaspar to Lys for the first session.:'(

Terry

 

[ex-railwayman]

Yet another winner from the philskene school of layout creations.....:mop:

I hope you are not thinking of merging ALL of your routes into one layout, as I don't think my laptop would cope mate....:hehe:

Thankz for your fabulous work anyway.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

 

[sethmcs]

More Screenies Please......

Great work Phil,

Could we have some more screenies to preview?

 

[lornyk5]

Yet another winner from the philskene school of layout creations.....:mop:

I hope you are not thinking of merging ALL of your routes into one layout, as I don't think my laptop would cope mate....:hehe:

Thankz for your fabulous work anyway.

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.

You know Phil that's not a bad idea. Would you consider merging your routes into a huge layout like the UMR at a later date(when you have the time) for those of us that have the pc to handle it? It would be amazing and open up all kinds of possibilities for those of us that like long sessions. The things you could do with it would be endless!

Just thinking out loud,

Lorin

 

[philskene]

Hi Terry --

Sorry about the mistake with the maps. I realized it too late.

You will find that the mpas that come with the sessions are correct.

ex-r --

Thanks.

The real killer I'm finding is the AI trainz. The route will cope with many more AIs than I use in my sessions, but frame rates certainly suffer.

sethmcs --

"more screenies" Sure. These come from sessions I have uploaded to the Download Station.

Phil

 

[twarner]

Hi Terry --

Sorry about the mistake with the maps. I realized it too late.

You will find that the mpas that come with the sessions are correct.

ex-r --

Thanks.

The real killer I'm finding is the AI trainz. The route will cope with many more AIs than I use in my sessions, but frame rates certainly suffer.

sethmcs --

"more screenies" Sure. These come from sessions I have uploaded to the Download Station.




Phil

Yes, I've now realised the maps are correct on the sessions but not knowing there was even a difference at first caused the confusion.

I now have no troubles with frame rates since I've upgraded to Core Duo 6600E CPU with 2 Gb ram and 8600gts graphics. Everything now runs as smooth as silk on your layouts.

A merge would certainly be good for me now.

Great screenies BTW.

Terry

 

[twarner]

Phil, could you please be kind enough to explain the following which all depends on my not having missed something obvious somewhere.

In Lys, as I see it, everything except for 'loco' and the transfer yard is accessed through junction 537. When leaving these industries northwards, this junction leads to a dead end line, the line to its west being the line that leads to the north. The only way I can see to access this line northbound is to reverse back over this junction and junction 533. Surely this is not practical or realistic for long consists, not least because it brings you into conflict with AI traffic at junctions 216, 192 and 217? I haven't tried to access the industries through junction 537 when coming southbound but would have thought that there will be similar problems. I would have thought that there would have been a couple of connecting switches north of 537.

Also there seems to be a merging of lines, buildings and portal BTRS where it descends into the ground.

Terry

 

[skiingiggy]

Hi Terry --

Phil

Would you please tell me where you got those passenger cars? They're pretty cool.

 

[iceman2117]

hi, ...

look here for Passenger car

http://www.kbs620.de/trainz/site/downloads.php?cat_id=3


greets ice

 

[philskene]

Hi Ice --

Topae has some excellent items of rolling stock on his site. Thanks for providing the link for skiingiggy.

I seem to recall some screen shots by you way back of large industrial plant and equipment that never seems to have made it to the Download Station. Was there a gas works or something? The last major work by you that I can remember is the AKW power station.

Is there anything that I should anticipate as I think about the next extension of "Urban IndustRail"?

Terry --

I try not to make things too easy !~! I try to put in a few challenges, for example, switching operations at Armour and interacting with those pesky AI trainz at the upper level of Lys.

The way Lys is intended to work is that trains coming from the north fight their way through the AI trainz and run straight through to the Transfer Yard at the south end, are split up and classified, then a switching movement takes freight cars down to the lower level using the dead end spur next to the auto unloading area as a headshunt.

Likewise, cars from the lower level are formed into consists at the Transfer Yard before heading north.

There is a thread in the Surveyors, Operations and Engineers Forum called "Operating like the prototype does". It made me realize that in real world even simple operations like making up a consist take several hours. Perhaps we in Trainz are in way too much of a hurry?

Phil

 

[Midland]

Perhaps we are Phil, perhaps we are... :hehe:

But I have to say the first time I wandered around your RRC layout (as opposed to the Port Switching Co as a stand alone) I noticed the absence of a very useful set of points at the north end of the backshunt from the harbour. I would gladly add them myself (we have the funds at the moment) but then all sessions would immediately become inoperative.

It does add a challenge and there is nothing wrong with a challenge, but it does create extra hassles if you're gonna run a hotshot tanker or container train from the harbour to Diaspar...



Cheers

Nix

 

[philskene]

Hmmm --

Hotshots on a Class 3 short line railroad?

Hadn't thought of that.

Perhaps a tautology ?~?

Phil

 

[Ferrous]

Hmmm --

Hotshots on a Class 3 short line railroad?

Hadn't thought of that.

Well, that's what I like to call the Polar Express and Day Out with Thomas runs down here (the only criteria for a Class 3 is to have a < US$ 10 mil income, right?).

 

[twarner]

Thanks for the explanation Phil, all is now revealed!

You did notice the other point that I bought up?

Terry

 

[philskene]

Terry --

"Also there seems to be a merging of lines, buildings and portal BTRS where it descends into the ground."

I was hoping you'd let me get away without responding to this!

Yes - the AI concrete tracks at Fingers Foundry at the north end of Lys don't quite follow prototypical practice. But there is a reason.

I wanted to give the impression of some Class 1 railroad track and activity, hence those three parallel tracks that curve away to the south west.

I also wanted to be able to generate and terminate AI trainz independently of the AI trainz that run though the upper level of Lys. Putting the portal behind the three parallel tracks seemed visually the best option. I did experiment with other arrangements, including lowering the portal and raising the other tracks, but they just didn't look right.

Hence the arrangement that you see.

I certainly admire those route builders who actually model the real world, complete with roads, houses, shops, fences, trees, foliage and all mass of detail we see in real life. But, hey man, I'm just a poor journeyman trying to give the impression of "being there" while keeping frame rates respectable and providing what I hope should be an entertaining experience. The road bridges, for example, actually serve the purpose of controlling sight distances as well as adding interest.

I sometimes think that maybe "experiential" is the word to describe my routes.

Phil

 

[twarner]

Terry --

I also wanted to be able to generate and terminate AI trainz independently of the AI trainz that run though the upper level of Lys. Putting the portal behind the three parallel tracks seemed visually the best option. I did experiment with other arrangements, including lowering the portal and raising the other tracks, but they just didn't look right.

Hence the arrangement that you see.

Phil

For me, the 3 sets of AI tracks actually run through the portal where it descends into the ground or put another way, the descending portal obscures the AI tracks, which was what I was trying to explain.

The AI tracks seem to terminate against a building without any buffers. Do AI trains actually run down there and if so what happens to them?

Terry

 

[Midland]

Always good on the framerates Phil, and when played in cab mode (is there any other mode?) works very well indeed. It's a proven technique.



Cheers

Nix

 

[philskene]

Hi Nix --

Thanks.

Hi Terry --

"For me, the 3 sets of AI tracks actually run through the portal where it descends into the ground ... "

Yes, that's the way that it is. I tried alternative arrangements, but for the driver of the player train this actually looks the best. It's only when you zoom out or use the 4-key view that the abnormality is obvious.

" ... or put another way, the descending portal obscures the AI tracks, which was what I was trying to explain."

Yes, I understand.

"The AI tracks seem to terminate against a building without any buffers."

Yes, that too is correct - it's a "design feature". Again, it's not visible when driving trains.

"Do AI trains actually run down there ... "

No.

" ... and if so what happens to them?"

They take the spur into the portal. If you try the "LogsR US" session, just lurk at Fingers Foundry for a while. You will find that AI tainz are emitted from that portal every four minutes. You can then run parallel to or behind one of them for most of the way to Diaspar.

Phil

 

[twarner]

Thanks for the explanations Phil.

So the 3 sets of AI tracks are basically there to give realism (simulating class one tracks alongside you when driving and curving away to a hidden destination) and there are never any trains running on them?

Have I got it right?

Sorry if I'm being a pain!

Terry