SB&D Route (Prototypical, Fictional)

R

Roadwolf

Route Engineer
Looking for a fellow trainz buff to give me constructive feedback of my route as I progress.

I used DRM to create a rough cross section of a route, which I am building from scratch. The area I choose to steal the DRM data from was Newfoundland, as it offers many grade challenges. The route exists on a fictional land, which acts as a landbridge between 2 major landmasses. The route is about 200 route miles long, if not longer by the time i finish. It is already upwards of 150 route miles and i still have quite a way to go.

Many small ocean side towns reside along the route, and several industries. These include Iron Ore mines, Coal Mines, Forrestry, Corn and Wheat farming, Fishing and sea food (which is transported on reefers), Oil and other chemicals.

I will upload a CDP for whoever wants to try it out...

I am personally using a lot of CN rolling stock for this route, and the signals and signage are all modeled after CN styles.

You can view some early pictures of one of the towns here:
http://www.roadwolf.ca/blog/?p=616
 
I downloaded a route on the DLS, I will look it up, and tell you what it is. It was amazing with warfs, piers, and swamp lands of New England topography. You might like to take a look at it. Very prototypical !

Information upcomming, soon:cool:
 
You should look at: Down East Fishing Village-by GFisher

Is quite a gem of a route.
Is a really well detailed 12 baseboard route. The use of textures, swamps, reeds and grass's really makes this route feel so real.
 
Looking at the pictures provided it looks very promising. PM me if you want, I will gladly test it out.

hert:wave:
 
SB&D Route

http://www.roadwolf.ca/blog/?p=642

Updated pictures...

Roadwolf_20100823_0006.jpg


http://www.railsexy.com/sb&d/SB&D Route 0.1.6.cdp

And there is the route for anyone who wants to try it out.

Some basics:

- Blue lines are lines which designate the general layout of the route and its main branches.

- Pink lines are lines which designate a difference in terrain landscaping. This is for designing only.

- Bookmarks 1 thru 9 are key points / planned towns along the way. They space out roughly every 20 miles or so. Getting around the 270 mile long route is not easy, and as such these bookmarks make it a little easier.

- Bookmark 10 is located near bookmark 5. This bookmark is used for landscaping, and there are plots there from which I can derive my various terrain themes.

- Between bookmark 1 and bookmark 4 the terrain will be generally mixed forest and grassland at lower levels with pine at altitudes.

- between bookmark 4 and bookmark 6 the landscape will be mainly grassland with some arid spots. The lake at bookmark 5 will be surrounded by some forrests.

- between bookmarks 6 and 9 the terrain will be similar to the first section, however more lush and similar to a northern rain forest.

- A yard will likely be placed between bookmark 3 and 4.

- as the route develops in normal use, new tracks will be added and eventually a high speed rail line will attempt to follow the main line. segments of these construction projects will be played out by construction crews which will be placed on the route while those projects are underway.

- likewise, the route will generally start off at base terrain with a track, with perhaps some roads. from there farms will sprout up, homes will spring up and industries will spring up. The route will be fairly barren riht off the bat, but with suggestions from users and perhaps with some sort of interactivity, users will be able to suggest industries and locations or perhaps even obtain land themselves which they could build on, and i would integrate it into the public route. The only exceptions will be St Johns, Barrie and Dundas, which will retain basic industries in order to provide some initial challenges.

- the route will be released once it is out of beta on a regular basis with updates and sessions to offer some challenge.

- At the moment the forest around Barrie, St Johns and Dundas is an older choice, which will very likely be replaced with the type of terrain seen around the 3rd bookmark. Compare the two styles and let me know which one you prefer. :)

I value all opinions and criticism. This is my first time making a route which i intend to be used as a community map... So I do value your input.
 
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Currently on Version 0.1.8 which includes the yard facility. Let me touch that up and I will upload an updated file over the next day or so.
 
Very nice looking route, Roadwolf.

I live in eastern New England and the terrain is very similar to where I live. This will be a very nice addition to the Trainz community.

Good luck with the project.

John
 
IsambardKingdomBrunel said:
Thanks mate, i am just downloading it to have a look.

Keep going for the 200 miles, the longer the better. :D

thanks,
IKB.
Click to expand...

Well 250 miles is a long run in itself. Considering most of the route is limited to 45mph... It would take hours to drive. I imagine it will take me several months to get the basic scenery in place at least! Maybe once this route is done, I will consider an add on for it :)

JCitron said:
Very nice looking route, Roadwolf.

I live in eastern New England and the terrain is very similar to where I live. This will be a very nice addition to the Trainz community.

Good luck with the project.

John
Click to expand...


Thanks :) I am trying to detail it as close as possible to what it might look like. As usual, the rivers in the valleys are tricky... Any advice on how to make decent looking rivers?
 
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Strange coincidence finding this thread as, fed up with the "usual" UK/Europe or conventional North American route, I was contemplating something from Newfoundland for a new project. At the moment verdict is out on whether to attempt part of the main line over "Topsail" or more self contained like the Bonavista branch.

Either way should be an interesting project as the reference material I've found so far shows incredibly rugged terrain with steep gradients and sharp curves. Kind of like the Kyle of Lochalsh line with attitude...

If it happens, as a compromise I would probably build the route as standard gauge to maximise the extensive resources available in TS2009.
 
Roadwolf said:
Well 250 miles is a long run in itself. Considering most of the route is limited to 45mph... It would take hours to drive. I imagine it will take me several months to get the basic scenery in place at least! Maybe once this route is done, I will consider an add on for it :)

Thanks :) I am trying to detail it as close as possible to what it might look like. As usual, the rivers in the valleys are tricky... Any advice on how to make decent looking rivers?
Click to expand...

Rivers are some of the more difficult things to get right, as I've found out. What I find helps is using different colors for the different areas of the river. A beach area may contain a sandy color whereas the deeper water is darker earth. I'll also throw in rocks for the steep shoreline areas along with clumps of trees overhanging the shores like the Merrimack River or Shawsheen in my area.

The shore should be shallow in most areas unless the river is going through a mountain gorge. I use a road spline to flatten down the shoreline to a reasonable height above the water.

--- Take a road spline, most any road will do.
--- Put a spline down at the direction you want.
--- Use the height adjust to smooth the land under the road.

This is also great for smoothing hills and rounding out the landscape to get rid of the wedding cake effect caused by the grid.

--- Experiment, observe the natural scene and try to duplicate what you see.

Hope this helps.

John
 
Heads up for the "OP", experimenting a bit today and David Drakes various swamp textures when blended/mixed will give a good representation of the rugged Newfoundland terrain.
 
Yes the terrain is very challenging. I am taking a short break from working on the route at the moment, however I do plan to continue. But there are many sections of the route which prototypically would likely have to be limited to 30mph or slower due to sharp curves. Long viaducts and cuts / fills are also something you may encounter.

Thanks Vern, I will look into that :)
 
Well I've gone with the Bonavista branch which is coming along nicely with the track. There are a few straight sections where I guess 40 MPH might be a reasonable to speed, but curving round all the lakeshores I guess speed limits would be around 20 - 25 MPH.
 
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