Snow High Valley Distr Ctr (High Resolution 950x532) Approx

Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific/YTube/ Msg for Oleg

A Blessed Sunday to all,

Prayers are said for the War in Ukraine and Oleg family.

So what has Blue been up to, well, I finished my Roof Repairs on outside, I still need to Structural ones inside the Attic, Bracing, Etc for Cracked and sagging Rafters.

Had to call a Bee Keeper out to relocate a newly arrived Queen Bee who had moved into our Attic over Winter, and Mr's Blue is allergic to Bee Stings. I am ok, have been stung before no adverse reactions, lucky for me. No Bees were harmed or killed during Relocation process. If you have a Bee issue, it's Spring time around the corner, and Bees are becoming active, by all means, seek a Bee Keeper. Bees are in decline at the moment, so they need our help, and we need them! Just not inside our homes, Attic's Etc.
------------------------------------------------
Over to Trainz, I took a little time out to do some inventory and cleaning out of Obsoletes, Faulty, and anything else not needed, due to Aging Versions of Assets.

Happy to Report out of 75 Faulty Assets, 32 got fixed and the Rest were given to the Recycle Barrel.

In the last couple of weeks, I downloaded the following Routes to play and check out.

Be sure to check this one:

<kuid:439337:101650> SAP Yard Merge Module from MSGSapper, this is great Yard setup if your making a Route and need a Yard to handle storage, Sort etc......

Want to see a Snippet of what cool things you can do with Trainz? Make sure this single Tile display is installed in Trainz. Now you can't merge it into any of your Routes, I tried, and it would let me. Unless someone knows if it can be Cloned? It would b really handy for me, as temp template when I am working on Route Changes.....Just thinking out loud here.

<kuid2:661281:200019:8> Content Samples #1
<kuid2:523:19723701:1> waterfall_sample0
<kuid2:47439:25650:2> waterfall_sample
<kuid2:175455:100887:1> JR Sample Tower


Misc other Routes:

Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific
<kuid2:69871:3539:1> TRS19 - The Yuan Gulch RR Co - NG Trainz Model Layout
<kuid:455032:102411> Alexville & Western V2 convert 006
Indiana Western TS19
<Westminster and Western Shore Model Railroad
<Hamilton Harbor
<TRS-19 Sea Port Industrial
<kuid2:605579:100204:8> Industrial Switching
<kuid:1003203:100153> Balezino - Mosti
<Bathurst to Lithgow
=======================================================================================
Picks for today are from Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific (MSGSapper Rte)


ATSF local bringing empties and some loads for Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Interchange siding.

Conductor has called the Engineer, let him know our Caboose is in the clear.

We line up the Consist on Siding, and Roscoe Crews will pick it up from here.

Break our Consist here and head up to Building for New Orders before we leave Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Lines.

UBoat is old but very powerful and reliable unit.

Navigate up to Local Dispatch Office here for Train Orders

Working with order equipt here, and looks like it is Red for now, Roscoe Crews are inbound from points unknown.....Dispatcher will line us up once we get our new paperwork for Return back to ATSF Main lines. Few miles West of here.

Iron looks good, we switched for next small siding with dispatch office ahead there on Right. Also used for small off loading of Freight Office too.


Picking up our next set of Orders for ATSF loco, returns back with Loads/Empties outbound from

Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific (Short Line RR) this area is our Local interchange between ATSF Class 1 and this line Class 3 I think?
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Comment from Blue: This gentleman is terrific Narrator, Teacher Etc.
East Terminal Railway in the Sunshine State!

https://youtu.be/ycP2Mcg3lm4

The East Terminal Railway is a "Last Mile " railway in Ohio. But get around, get around.... I get around! This video is about the great state of Florida, the great people and the great spots to watch the past, present and even the future of railroading. Meaning...Atlantic Coast Line, CSX and FEC, and Bright line. The past, present, and future.

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Comments from Blue: Small RR that is not well known? And is a Fallen Flag!
Cleveland's Flats Industrial Railroad

Enjoy a definitive documentary of the final days of regular operations on the Flats Industrial Railroad. In 2020, Grain Graft’s Cleveland, Ohio flour processing mill announced its closure, and so I set out to capture as much footage as I could before the operation changed forever. FIRR SW1500 1222 is the star of the show, and we’ll see some dynamic switching operations and learn a few lessons in history.

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WATCO's Michigan Short-line Railroads

https://youtu.be/S495EfYkvB4

WATCO's two Michigan railroads are the Grand Elk and the Ann Arbor. Serving communities in southern Michigan, WATCO's resourceful shorelines have a unique heritage.
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Train With Chugging DPU, 3 Track RR Crossing At End Of Railroad Yard, Cincinnati Ohio Trains

https://youtu.be/26tk00X4IAo

Norfolk Southern Trains in Cincinnati, Ohio. Track Ends In Road, Still Used For Switching The Railroad Yard in Saint Bernard, Cincinnati, Ohio. 3 Track Railway Crossing and Train With DPU. Train with 3 locomotives including Union Pacific Railroad going over a big railroad bridge over Mill Creek and under Baltimore & Ohio Railroad signals that are still used every day by Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Indiana & Ohio Railway. All 3 tracks in the railroad crossing on Vine Street are in use. The one track that ends just across the road is used by locomotives when changing tracks at the end of the yard. Watch out for the pot holes on Canal Ridge Rd. I don't know who maintains the road but erosion is starting to become a problem so be careful if you Rail fan there. What did you think about the clean and shiny locomotive leading the first train. It looks new but it is about 23 years old. Maybe it has a new paint job.
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Cleveland, Ohio Industrial Valley Street Tour

https://youtu.be/JWvy4Oczn-E

Take a tour of the industrial valley or flats as some people call it of Cleveland, Ohio. Steel mills, railroads, and other related industry of the area.
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Comments from Blue:I know there are several Trolley n Tram enthusiasts here, I think you might enjoy this little Story, of who knew these were here?

Historic trolley cars uncovered after 75 years

https://youtu.be/2jSP0iqZ27s

In 1929 two former Rhode Island Company Trolley Cars were retired and sold off after being used in Woonsocket, RI. These cars were then set up as a diner, called the Purple Cat, which expanded sometime after. This expansion added a structure around the cars covering them up from view. Now the diner has been closed for years and the structure is being torn down. This demolition uncovered the cars after about 75 years. The cars are planned to be saved and repurposed as part of an antique shop on the former diner site. This video shows the exposed cars as well as demolition work that is currently in progress.

Filmed at 11 Money Hill Rd., Chepachet, RI on March 12, 2022
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Comments from Blue:/Sometimes, people make a decision that's for the best, under the light is this possible. In this case it was.....Salute to Amtrak for making it happen!
RIP Amtrak 66

https://youtu.be/RXTti4TO3Tc

if you don't know what happen it was involved in a wreck and was deemed a total loss and scrapped but however Unit number 130 took it's place and it was repainted into the Phase II paint scheme and it Is Now the New Phase II Heritage Unit!
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Comments from Blue:/She's Old, and there not making them anymore, don't laugh, cause this old Horse is getting a new lease on life!
TVA's RARE Fairbanks-Morse Locomotive Gets New Home in Chattanooga, Tennessee

https://youtu.be/59_oVybIqAw

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum announced the donation of a significant railroad locomotive from the Tennessee Valley Authority to the Railroad Museum’s collection, a Fairbanks-Morse model H16-66 #F3060. Built in 1958 and known as the “Baby” Trainmaster, the locomotive was a 1600 horsepower version of the 2400 H24-66 Trainmaster, at that time the most powerful single unit locomotive was built. The locomotive is one of the few surviving locomotives from this short-lived locomotive supplier.
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OK folks, I need to get my Taxes ready for the IRS, like taking medicine, I hate too, but have too, or things will get worse......Take care all, thanks for dropping in.....Peace and Good Health to all.....Best
 
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New Laptops to see/Content Mgr Query's/ Dense Tree Planting

Good Morning to all,

And Happy St Patrick's day, I have my Green, so no Pinch's today, well, you never know for sure, sometimes, a person will give a Good Pinch because, you deserved it! LOL. Another week has passed, as I prepare my Taxes for review, Hopefully, I can take my Shoe Box and get it all organized and done with so I play more Trainz and read more about Trainz22. Decide if I want to make the jump, or just wait a few months. Been watching with great anticipation of the New Surveyor 2 and the especially the Scrapbook thingy, Those parts of it look so cool, and our beloved Asset Creators have taken notice, and our making their Object of Art, and I love it. So awesome of idea that you can make something like this and share it with others.......How neat is that!!!

There is one thing I am beginning to notice on the Computer Front, my ASUS Rog if I remember correctly is going to be this December 4 yrs old, and folks remember, you only need to think, @ 3 years old, with today's fast moving Technology (especially including Artificial Intelligence) my Laptop has gained the title? Wait for it? Dinosaur, man that is really old. I should throw it out now?? Well not yet, I need to save some mula for a new one. And I have been window shopping this last week, thinking if I maybe I get a little money back from Taxes, I could afford one. Hmm, and this year, who knows if we get any money back? I sure don't

But if I do, and if I can convince Mr's Blue, I need something faster and Stronger, well, will see. But here is one I saw, I think fits the bill for what I am forwarding looking too!

LENOVO Legion 5i Pro Gen 7 Intel (16”) with RTX 3050 Ti (copy this line into your browser)

Now I also had to consider Reviews too:

https://buyersguide.org/laptops

https://bestreviews.com/gaming/computers/best-gaming-laptops

( This section is for the Newbie Folks to Trainz)

Part of playing with new Train Simulator is learning to use the Tools that come with it, granted today's Software dense and complicated with items for selection, it can overload one's mind. I came from the days of Pong on the TV, 2 balls moving around the screen, with simple control to play with. Look at your Gaming Mouse, Gaming Couch (Blue has seen them, hasn't owned one yet) Games of any sort have tons of Control Features, Windows for example has a lot going under the hood, Keystrokes if learned are the start of becoming a power user etc.

So here is something about using your Content Manager, which in my opinion is just as important as the game itself. When you need something, looking for something, or have something in particular, knowing how to whittle your request down, can and will save you lots of time.

One of my favorite things, learn to play with your Software, you learn by exploring, one caveat, always have a back up if you mess up, or the Program glitz's.

Here is a good example of the power by using user Filters to save you time and headache.

Initially we have an Asset Builder that makes things, and I just read in the Forum about Cool Asset, that you can use on your Route, will start with the predefined Filter "Author" now this by itself is Global Command, it will literally show you everything this person has made from Day one. In this case, 2458 items, but the older items on here are not going to work with New Versions of Trainz, so how do we cut this list down?


To start with, lets use the Power of Minimum Version, I am using 3.5 because that is the lowest Version that should work with most of the newer Trainz Programs. There are exceptions. But look at the Number now showing, 2458 has decreased to 1204, about 50% haircut? Nice!


This next Filter, saves me a lot of time, "Installed" Because I want to see what is left or Newer. Now we have dropped from 1204 to 249 items. Round figures guesstimate here, 75% more has been dismissed?


Add Filter "Obsolete" to the mix, 249 to 132, 45% haircut......Look at what we have done adding one Filter at a time to Author Query, and 2458 is down to 132, I think that is very workable for me and better results on getting the best all around items to view.....

Remember if you want the latest and most newer items, then take your Minimum Filter and raise the Number to 4.0, 4.2 or even higher, 4.7, granted Versions are seen in 5.0 now, Scrapbooks and other things......

Now I have saved my Custom Query for this Author and when I Click on it, this is how it shows.........

As you learn more about Content Manager, you'll find how powerful Data Base Query's work, when you learn what and how to ask the precise questions. I think it will make life a little simpler when your new to Trainz.
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Now most of us know, our Trainz, likes lots of Graphical power to give us the Frames we are looking for, 50-60 is nice, but some of us like me, with older 1050 GTI NVIDIA card have to find some ways to cut that down, givings us less Frame Stutter, and overheating of GPU too.

Lets take a look at this picture and see it affects Blue?


This is a medium size Route I downloaded, and I have the problem of lower Frames, one of problems, here, is too many Trees stuck close together, and my GPU can't keep up without some frame Stutter.


Looking in here, I can't even see thru this thick Forrest, If I can't then my GPU isn't going to do very well either.


I removed about 65% of the Trees, using Bulk Asset and Replacement Tool, which works very well, saved the Route to new Copy, different name.....


In this picture, we have 1-2 trees per grid square, and I needed to take 40% more of the remainder out.


And that of course was a bit too much open area, so I used the Ctrl-Z key too undue and I took only 15%, and now little to no Frame stutter for me. Just something to think about when download Routes and or make your own, I used to have HP Laptop with builtin shared GPU which was junk, I had horrible frame stutter, I don't encounter that near as much, and my Routes look much more realistic.

I would also say, now I think 6VRAM instead of 4Vram GPU are probably needed to allow the full potential of Trainz operations.. And SSD's are a must over Platter Drive Hard Drives, SSD are blazing speed. But again, they are compressed specialized memory Chips, and they Run Hot, so need Chill Pad Coolers for Laptops, and excellent or Water Cooled for Desktops, to keep the heat off. Heat will degrade your Chips and eventually cause and early failure.

One factor to learn, is MTBF, very important to know when your buying Whole Computer or Parts, and the Type Warranty.......

Ok, Time to get back to my Tax Prep, I didn't do Y Tube today, I will have on the next MSG Post.....

By all means, I welcome your viewpoints. Blue is never to old to learn, but it takes me longer to study and retain, that is just a fact of life as you get into your Golden Years......

Have wonderful day, maybe some Green Beer.......
 
Thanks for going over that tree thinning scenario Blue, that was very helpful to work through and I will keep that in my notes!
 
Dear Blue, I am glad to see that you continue with your master classes. ;)


Your friend Javier


Good Morning?

It's evening here, and yes thank you, I just to share what I have learned from this great Forum,

I remember well, how it was when I started with IPAD, Trainz Driver 2, and I it was rough for me, this Simulator for Trainz was like nothing I had played on before, I am an old Gamer from Pin Ball Wizard days in the Pizza Saloons....Playing a game cost a 25 cents back then, and I would bring 1/2 to 1 Roll of Quarters for change every week or two.......:p

Now look how gaming and simulation has come into the 21st Century........:confused:

Take care my friend, and I say prayers for happier days ahead......:)

Hugs from Blues house to yours..........;)
 
Breaking News,

Evening Folks,

Thought I would post something of interest here, I downloaded this Route, here is couple of Pictures, and more information .



Was testing this new Route on DSL, and decided why not some Snow in November, it worked too.


Like to see some more of this Route and find out Name Etc.......Head over to this link

https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...1895-for-TRS19&p=1918324&posted=1#post1918324

I think you will find some interesting back story on this newly released Route.......

Again, look how blessed we are with our Route Builders and Asset Creators..........

Got to run, back to grind of getting my Taxes ready, I needed just a bit of good diversion, and this did it for me.....

Peace and Good Health, a Blessed Sunday too.
 
Canadian Rocky Mtns/Reading Northern Rte/Y Tube

Good Thursday Morning all,

Finally got thru all my Tax Computations, and now will see what the IRS thinks about it....LOL

So, I decided to spend a little Mula on Trainz this week as a reward to myself for my hard accounting work, taxes are no fun. EEK!

Bought this layout for my ASUS Laptop, too big for Lenovo and GPU will Choke on Frames.....my top Frames are 18-30.


Trainz Route: Canadian Rocky Mountains - Rogers Pass is compatible with the following versions of Trainz:
- TANE build 74710 (or higher)
- TANE SP1 build 80341 (or higher)

If I recall it comes with 4 builtin Sessions you can run, the main reason I purchased was missing Roys Train Locomotives and Rolling Stock that is Payware for a few Routes I downloaded in the past and lately......Problem is, I don't know if this Route was the one that has all of them, or if I am going to need to buy 2-3 more of his Payware Routes to get it all, @ 39$ a pop, I might need to wait to try and get them on Sale. What I need to do now, it cross check my Roy's Trainz Assets on Lenovo vs my ASUS which I haven't downloaded the Route yet, too see if I got some of them or not?

If nothing else Roy makes some amazing Canadian Routes with awesome looking Forest and high Mountains. Long Routes to run a Freight or Passenger if that's your interest........Check the Pictures shown on DLC on Trainz store, easily allows you to see if that particular Route is what your interested in.



If anyone knows which Route these come out of I welcome the help. Thanks
--------------------------------------------------------
Pics for the week:



In Trainz, one of the coolest things, is to get the Sun when it near the end of day, now this Pic is not Trainz but just a representation, if you have the right ambient Cloud Choice, Sun Color etc, you can, and with Shadows on, getting something very near this, just look @ Sir Dan Gavels, or other great Route Builders Pictures.....


The Reason I show this Picture, one of things in my Bucket list to try and recreate, is build some smaller Mountains like this. I know, it is Pie in Sky, I may never be able to do, but I want to experiment on some blank Tiles.


Take a look behind the Rocky Mountaineer Consist, and the beautiful Alps like looking Snow Covered, Craggy Mountain Hard Scape......When I first saw this Picture in TRS19 for sale, one the Locomotive caught my eye, and two, the Mountain Scenery was really inspiring to me, if it was ever possible to Duplicate these Mountains in Trainz, eye candy for sure. One can only Dream.....


Now this is for the Newbie Folks, this is what happens when one of your Routes Freezes on you, Trainz won't do anything and you have invoke the CTRL-ALT-DELETE command or similar to force trainz to close. You end with Open Edit files with Zero size File. Meaning that trainz crashed and the files were open to commit, and nothing to Commit. So you'll need to delete these Zero length Files. They are merely placeholders which stay in Content Manager till you clean them out......Just something to know.
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Installed the latest SP5 Patch file for TRS2019. About 29 Meg File, 30 seconds or less, slight DBR Build, easy breezy for me. Did not lose any Routes or PIC lists that I can see.




97 Seconds for DBR repair which normal Ops routine when you have new Update to Trainz OS.

Something I try to do after a new update is try "Delete Missing Assets" or a Merge, I didn't have any Merge Projects at the time.


I really don't know anything about this particular RR Company, but the Route looked interesting so I downloaded and liked what I saw. This is a good size layout as you can see from the Picture. <kuid:87135:100774> READING & NORTHERN TRS19 (post-2020) "etozorak" is creator. Kudos to him on well made Route.

Instead of pasting the Authors Notes here, I save the Word Count total to allow me for other things I want to discuss and Share.
=======================================================================================================
Blues Y Tube Pics of the week:

Train Struggling With DPU On Steep Grade, Down To A Crawl, 2 Trains Passing At Railroad Crossing NS

https://youtu.be/uWDHQxhlyiw

Train Working Hard on steep grade with mid train DPU. Mid Train Locomotive is working hard running loud to just get the Norfolk Southern Railroad mixed freight up the hill. Then an NS train stops at the top of the grade to change crews and then drops down the hill. The train is going down the hill when a train passes the train going up the hill.
=======================================================================================================
Baldwin Locomotive Works 60000

https://youtu.be/AEIy1z3Yu3g
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Southern Pacific The Missing Years VHS

https://youtu.be/-N7BS1tZsuw
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Moving a 1952 Union Pacific caboose

https://youtu.be/RHcYDX3I69o
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Cab view of fairbanks morse locomotive

https://youtu.be/4GyGx0DDl4c

In cab Go Pro video of Fairbanks Morse H-12-44 at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina after national train day 2015. Covers going for a spin on the turntable and putting the loco away in the roundhouse.
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J&L 58 0-4-0T runs on the new eastern section straight away on the Youngstown Steel Heritage!

https://youtu.be/sHepVC8UzV4

Ravenna Rail fan 4070 and Coal and Steel Railroad Videos attended the operations of the J&L

https://youtu.be/3UL47Wya7Bs
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INDIANA RAILROAD DERAILMENT

https://youtu.be/6qUrg88iRNk

Terre Haute, Indiana grain train derailment on Indiana Railroad.
=======================================================================================================
Union Pacific Train Derailed, 13 Cars Plus 3 Engines Off the Tracks

https://youtu.be/rbHY8uNfG2c
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Nashville & Eastern Train Derailment in Mt Juliet, TN 3/21/2022

https://youtu.be/SeUEDSN_Ngw

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Pikes Peak Route (Colorado Midland, Midland Terminal Railways

https://youtu.be/bH09ab9MlkQ

The Colorado Midland was the first standard-gauge railroad to penetrate the Colorado Rockies. It connected with the Midland Terminal which served the legendary Cripple Creek mining district. Hundreds of historic photos enliven the history of both railroads. The video climaxes with motion pictures of the Midland Terminal—about 3 minutes of a 1930's passenger train, and 13 full-color minutes of ore and passenger trains in 1948-49. Listen to interviews with the crew on the very last train run by the railroad. Sadly, watch motion pictures of the scrapper lifting the rails.


That's a rap for today, thanks for dropping bay, stay Healthy Folks.

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Last Min add-on:

In case you missed this one tonight!

The iTrainz server will be offline for updates and maintenance from 10AM AEST (UTC+10) Monday 28th March 2022.

DLC provisioning services may be unavailable for up to 4 hours while the updates are performed. DLC purchases made during this period will not work immediately, but should automatically activate and download once the server is back online.

An announcement will be made on this forum thread when the work is complete.

N3V Games apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Terry Palmer
Programmer
N3V Games
 
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Hi Blue! I looked up some of those dependents for you:

All of the roystrainz assets (122860) show as being from Roger's Pass, so you should have them!

<kuid:47439:21679> forest1 sg by sirgibby is a TextureEnv. The only dependent I have for it is <kuid:429080:100126> DurangoToSilvertonTRS19_1895_1 by Sek_hakuna, so while I have Rogers Pass, it does not show as a dependent, although it DOES show as Modified, so maybe has to be downloaded from Trainzone? It is here at this link listed with a group as "Author Unknown" for some reason: http://www.trainzone.co.nz/ground.htm

<kuid2:146087:35250:1> barile by robertoconti is a barrel I show as modified. Again, the only dependent is <kuid:429080:100126> DurangoToSilvertonTRS19_1895_1 by Sek_hakuna. I know I must have just downloaded that from somewhere (Modified), probably TrainzItalia, but a search for either barile or barrel on their site gets no results. Maybe you could PM Sek_Hakuna.

Sorry I did not help with these when you posted them on his thread!
 
Hi Blue! I looked up some of those dependents for you:

All of the roystrainz assets (122860) show as being from Roger's Pass, so you should have them!

Sorry I did not help with these when you posted them on his thread!

Good Evening Forester1,

First thank you for helping, and not to worry about missing the request. I miss things too..........:)

Just checked my Route inventory, I do have Rogers Pass, and now only missing one item the Barrel So I'll just sag another one to fill in for that.

Enjoy your weekend Sir. :wave:
 
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Levi & Appalachian TANE?/Train Engine into Lumber Yard?

Good all,

Today we had a great rainstorm roll thru our very dry area, actually the whole state got some much-needed

moisture. We need lot more, since the last time it rained was New Years, some 3 months ago. Hoping for April Showers and May Flowers.

This week I downloaded huge Route, <kuid2:549274:101522:3> Levi & Appalachian TANE which fit into my Lenovo, but it is too large needs more Graphics power than it has, so deleted and move it into my ASUS ROG, where there it'll have a good home. And it is a Dem Route,

Authors Notes:The L&A is a fictional route based on a real world TransDEM map from Levi Kentucky to Norwood Ohio just north of Cincinnati. This route is a combination of long mainline runs, good sized switching yards, lots of industries, and two large passenger terminals. I would say this route is semi prototypical, but mostly based on being a rail fanning route. This route has lots of details and many assets and will tax all but top end gaming computer. I hope you enjoy the route. Dave Thai1On.

And I downloaded these other small Routes, ue them as Merge Pieces with some other ones.

<kuid:455032:102547> NCTD Oceanside - San Diego - Phase 1 - Amtrak Coaster Sprinter 001

This is the first Phase of a route which will eventually run from the Stuart Mesa Service Yard all the way down to the San Diego holding Yard. Phase 1 is based on a concept and design by Brendan McReynolds (brendansbiz). Route and scenery construction is by Robert Cooper (robert3a0) using Google Earth. Tracks are provided by Jointed Rail. Phase 1 of the route is 12.3 miles long and runs between the Stuart Mesa Service Yard and Poinsettia and took 11 months to complete.

<kuid:455032:102543> NSWGR Semaphore Creek Branch-line 01

A mythical branch-line leading off the main Sydney / Melbourne line, Semaphore Creek Branch-line runs through typical Southern NSW countryside.

<kuid:455032:102540> NSWGR Humula to Melaney 01

This route is based on Jake's NSWGR Humula. It is a fictional NSW country branch-line as found in many parts of NSW until the early 1970s. I have depicted the branch running off the main Sydney to Melbourne line running light passenger and freight to the mythical township of Melaney.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight's Pic's


Lumber Yard gets Train Engine at wrong end of Spur?



He Joe, why is this Engine going into a dead end Spur?

Hmm. To late now, hope he stops in time before hitting a 3 foot Concrete Burm....Ouch

5 feet to spare, turns out, it was new Engineer on this Route, and didn't know there is not Run Around Track here, he needed to do it in the Yard and do a reverse push back.......Good thing, he was obeying track speed.....LOL
=======================================================================================================
Blues Y Tube Pics of the week:For my Rail Motor Fans....!
Steam Rail-motor 93 struggles uphill to Bodmin

https://youtu.be/oA8C3rekE1Y

93 with a full load approaching Bodmin General from Boscarne Junction. 5/1/13
=======================================================================================================
Cheltenham model railway exhibition 02/04/2022

https://youtu.be/wzOgDW1wkkU

The Weekend of the 2nd & 3rd of April saw the Cheltenham GWR Modellers Group hold the second model railway exhibition since returning after lock down back in October, and featured twelve excellently modeled layouts on display.
=======================================================================================================
Comment:Our US Rail Yards are shrinking, but why?
Rail yard destruction

https://youtu.be/8dpdt5DTgj4

CSX is tearing down all the buildings and shanties out of the Erwin, Tennessee, CSX yard!
=======================================================================================================
The Only Big Boy to Suffer a Fatal Accident 🚂 The Wreck of 4005 🚂 History in the Dark

https://youtu.be/UBwg0p14Duw

he Union Pacific Big Boy is one of the most famous locomotives ever created. They were incredibly successful and had an excellent record overall. However, on one occasion, a Big Boy did suffer a fatal accident. This is the story of the wreck of Big Boy 4005.
=======================================================================================================
Railroad Restoration: South Coast Rail - Fall River Station Update - 3/26/2022

https://youtu.be/ysSJN3JcCeo

Since last update more work on the Fall River Station platform has happened. 3/26/2022 Fall River, MA
&
South Coast Rail: Ballasting new track in Fall River, MA - 5/1/2021
https://youtu.be/iPUs0ybIhYE
=======================================================================================================
Comments Necessity is the Mother of Invention, in this case it works quite well....!
The Beast in the East KBR 925 Railroad Brush Cutter

https://youtu.be/sUcTEjxBP08

Get a close up tour of an awesome Knox Kershaw KBR 925 Railroad Brush Cutter
including an in cab tour and ride up track in the machine. This brush cutter
is an amazing machine, it refuses to bog down even while cutting heavy
brush on both sides of the track at the same time.

We had rented this machine in 2018 and it was unavailable since then.
There are very few of these KBR 925 brush cutters around
here in the east. The truck driver that brought this one in told me
that CSX made one similar to this for their own use and he had hauled it for
them many times. He also told me he was happy to get ours off his
truck, it's a rather heavy machine. This one is a rental from RELAM (Railway
Equipment Leasing and Maintenance)

We have 16.8 miles of track here. We rented this machine for 1 month
at an expense of $10,000. Most of the days we cut we had to jump around
a train running, there were a few days we had no trains and all day track,
and a few days we didn't run it at all, but all told it took us about 3 weeks
to cut both sides of the track the entire 16.8 miles.
=======================================================================================================
Comment:mad:7:54 Ck out the Old Signals, which are turned off on this Short line, they are Originals!
School Bus Gets To Wait For Rock Train! What Are NS Locos Doing On Cincinnati Eastern Railroad??

https://youtu.be/i_x4f3tcA88

Bus Arrives At Railroad Crossing Just As A Huge Rock Train Is Coming! What Are Norfolk Southern Locomotives Doing On This Railroad Line? Train Stops In Mount Orab. A school bus gets to the railroad crossing in Sardinia, Ohio just as a Cincinnati Eastern Railroad train is coming. Lucky kids! This is a short train chase from Mount Orab, Ohio to Sardinia, Ohio. First we see the train stop in Mount Orab. It only stopped for a minute and then went to Sardinia. A railroad official got on the train for a minute and then got off. Then a lucky bus gets to wait for the train in Sardinia. Next, we see a little railroad switching on the east end of Sardinia. They needed to get a car out of the siding and a couple of NS locomotives were in the way. That was pretty cool to see the NS locomotives go back and forth over the crossing. That was common until about 8 years ago of course. But it was an interesting scene to see 4 locomotives moving on the main line. Last scene is the train going behind an abandoned church just west of Macon, Ohio. Filmed March 21, 2022
=======================================================================================================
Comments: Ck out Military Loco Power in Red Livery Fort Campbell.
CSX Military Train S864-11 Handed Over to United States Army Railroad at Hopkinsville Kentucky USAX

https://youtu.be/qu54IsX68kg
=======================================================================================================
Comments: Some Nickle Plate love for us Old Timers!
NS unit leading Nickel Plate Road and BNSF in Altoona, PA on 04/02/22

https://youtu.be/PaWcOYanCwY
=======================================================================================================
Comments: Just like Flat Tire, a Broken brake hose can ruin the day, eh, Cost $$$$$$
CSX Power Move On O800 Blows Brake Line and Causes a Traffic Jam

https://youtu.be/JphHyBt5rgQ

Here's a power move I was lucky enough to catch being assembled in the Plant City Yard! They were taking locomotives to Winston Yard. However, when one blows a brake hose and locks the train up, it causes a major traffic jam on the S-line, blocking it up and backing up the Tropicana train, the Zephyr, and a Bone Valley phosphate train. I will post the videos of the Zephyr and the Juice Train soon. #8096 is a SD40-2, #s 780 and 940 are both ES44AH models, #s 4677, 4686, and 4689 are all SD70M models, and #8595 is a SD50.

That's a rap for today, thanks for dropping bay, stay Healthy Folks.
 
The Tale of 2 Routes involved in Merge Mania incident!

Good Evening all,

Well this week is the Sordid Tale of 2 Routes, one or both exhibiting and/or in Collusion with TRS2019 Premium, and possibly to our new Friend PBR, I haven't figured out the bad guy just yet.

I'm sure I have your attention, OK so here's the lowdown. One dark night, late in the evening, it must have been close to the bewitching hour, I decided it was time to play the Old Merge game.

Suspects were primary #1 NCTD San Diego

Suspect #2 1950 The Glory Days

Put them together for a Merge, 30 mins later still not finished, so Blue did an 3 finger key salute, AKA Ctrl Alt Delete, invoked the windows master assassin, and shut down the merge operation! Rebooted Suspect #3 Trainz.

And now the who done the dirty deed?

Remember my motto, a Picture is worth a 1000 Words at least, or Seeing is believing!


I have seen this in Routes before, but one of the Routes had lots of Trees and Buildings lay over the Tile in hanging for Dear life on the edge of brink? It may be fine if your not merging?

This nothing to do with the Merge, I decided I wanted to extend the Ocean area on NTCD Route , and was pasting some Textures with Water BLue Textures to see how it would look, more pictures later.

I think the colors and and low Hills I created on the edge came out nicely.

Water added, I think this will work......More Pics later on.

Found some houses pushed into each other, so did some spacing out, my GPU was complaining. Thinned out Shrubs and Trees.

I added some low rolling hills for effect.

So here is where things get quite Weird, The merge did not complete,.I reopened the Routes as one, found there was all Assets, Tracks etc, but no Tiles underneath,,, The Assets lost there elevation, but had Height limit lines showing me where they should be.

Question was, how do I fix this mess, can I fix it, well, Necessity is the Mother of Invention, and I am the Crazy Merge Maniac, so nothing like a good challenge, or NO GOOD DEED left undone.....LOL

1st thing to do, was try sliding a Tile under the Track and see if it would hold, as you can see here, it does hold, but I didn't want the PBR Texture, I would have to work in Wire Mode View, So I changed the Grids to Default plain Grid, not PBR like this.....

As you can see here with some elevation, it hard to see the Tracks to figure how everything is going to be move into proper Elevation with this PBR Texture obscuring my view.

Here is a picture showing the 2 Routes merged with PBR Tiles. Each Route is 12-14 long miles in length, which means they are not even considered large Routes, maybe 50-75 tiles each witch is nothing for a Merge,I have merge 50-100 mile Routes before with no problem.

I don't have the space for the whole story, my next post with continue with how I overcame this weird situation......This picture, all the trees are hanging up the Sky, 20-250 feet in the air, I'll explain that later message Post......

Was there a good outcome on this, I'll let you think about that, and show the results later.......
=======================================================================================================
Blues YouTube Pics of the week:

What is left of the South Side Works and HK Porter Plant?

https://youtu.be/381FwySLJHU

Today we take a break from working on the narrow gauge to go to Pittsburgh to see what is left of the J&L South Side Works and the HK Porter Locomotive Works.
=======================================================================================================
Using Radar Gun On Freight Trains! Green Caboose On Long Train! Train W/DPU, Union Pacific Railroad

https://youtu.be/ZChrP5moJ9g

Checking Train Speed With A Radar Gun! How Fast Are These Freight Trains Going? Looong Train With A Green Caboose! Union Pacific Railroad led train with 2 Union Pacific Railroad DPUs in the middle of the train! Guess how fast each train is going and then see the answer. First train was booking and then slowed way down as it passed. Second train was booking and sped up with a caboose on the rear. It is rare to see a caboose on a big freight train so this was really cool! This is the Norfolk Southern mainline. First train is in Florence, Kentucky and the next train is in Crittenden, Kentucky. I just bought this radar gun and this is the very first time that I have used it. I am going to find the fastest trains that I can and use the radar gun again soon. Keep in mind that this is only for fun=======================================================================================================
Partial ride around the line on the newly re-powered open car.

https://youtu.be/fg6EAThAn9g

The maiden run of the open car after its re-powering, taken in July of 2021. This little fella really gets up and moves now, even if it doesn't have much tractive effort due to being so light. Toward the end of the video you will be riding on the section of the line that as of this writing no longer exists, because I have re-routed the mainline in that section. Observant viewers will see the progress on the new roadbed off to the right, and also notice that the material yard stub track has been removed in preparation for moving the switch. More on that project in a later video!
=======================================================================================================
Very Last Video G&W New England Central 608 packs South through Mansfield Depot Connecticut

https://youtu.be/evBBs3uK1tA

Well everyone that's a wrap for 2021 from Palmer Massachusetts with CSX and NECR to long trains and to close flooding, and the Remnants of Tropical storm Ida and more! Genesee and Wyoming New England Central 608 was the last train to film before headed home for the last day of 2021, be sure to tune in January 2022 as it will be the last week of daytime operations of 608 before they switch to 610 for night operations.
=======================================================================================================
Manned Helpers on Soldier Summit

https://youtu.be/gkFuS2PzWm4

Union Pacific and Utah Railway trains use manned helper engines mid-train to tackle the 2.4% climb up the east side of Soldier Summit. Beginning at Helper, Utah, watch trains tackle the stiff mountain grade through the Price River Canyon to Colton, east of the summit.
The thunder of high-horsepower diesel locomotives is what this program is all about. Union Pacific GE AC4400's, 60/44AC's, and GEVO's, along with Utah Railway MK50-3's, SD50's, and even a GP40 take part in this show of raw horsepower verses gravity!
=======================================================================================================
Nebkota Railway F Units and BN C30-7's on Crawford Hill in Nebraska

https://youtu.be/zOgeV9SXY70

Nebkota Railway F Units and BN C30-7's on Crawford Hill in Nebraska

Let’s go back in time to 1998 in the Panhandle of Nebraska. It is in the Pine Ridge region that we see operations on the former Chicago and North Western Cowboy Line. After the CNW abandoned the segment between Long Pine and Chadron, a portion of the line from Merriman to Chadron was revived and operated by Nebkota Railway. What made this railroad special was its use of an A-B-A set of F units. The fun was only short lived however, as the Nebkota sold the locomotives to the Canadian Pacific for use on their executive trains a year later. We get a chance to view these classics from in the cab and track-side as they navigate the sand hills country of western Nebraska.

Shortly after, we headed over to Crawford Hill to catch a few trains being led with the soon to be retired GE C30-7’s. These heavy trains are captured with SD40-2 helper sets as they grind up the 2.2% grade of the hill.

Great trains, awesome scenery and the sights and sounds of Sandpipers and Western Meadowlarks give you a sense of serenity as we visit north west Nebraska.
=======================================================================================================
Bay Colony Railroad Watuppa Branch - December 2021-January 2022

https://youtu.be/Lkn6m0pttgM
=======================================================================================================
Tehachapi_(1991) SP "Oil Cans" Exit Tunnel #5

https://youtu.be/wXpTRpn_fuQ

³³ Happy New Year!!! A New Years treat for all the rail fans out there.³³
Southern Pacific's "Oil Cans" exits Tunnel #5 in Tehachapi Aug '91. Lead units put out more smoke in contrast to helper units, usually it's the opposite.
=======================================================================================================
Extreme Train Railway Tracks Replacement Modern Technology - Amazing Rail Building Machines 2021

https://youtu.be/3V1Q9Iga_3s

Thanks for watching the video Amazing Rail Building Machines 2021
=======================================================================================================
That's a rap for today, thanks for dropping bay, stay Healthy Folks.
 
Great job as always, Blue, you are braver than I when it comes to merging routes, truly the master merger! And as always, some fascinating videos!
 
Good morning from France, mister Blue.
It seems that the link in your signature,
Snow High Valley Distr New (High Resolution)

does not works.
But I have found (google is my friend) that thread.
Wow. huge work ! ! ! I like how you precisely put the tracks and the levers.
To answer to your question about the read lines in Moscow, it seems to be attachment points for the high intensity electric wires : you can find them also for the high voltage power lines, in Ural mountains route.

Regards



Good Evening to you Jean,

Thank you for visiting my Thread, and the kind words........I appreciate the info on Moscow Route, I don't know a lot about Electrical infrastructure on European Routes, it looks a bit Complicated, but is so well done, interesting to look at.....I try to learn a bit more about all the things I not educated on........

I think I do not yet have the Ural Route purchased, Payware? But now from your answer, I think I will consider purchasing it........It's noted as a very nice Route to Drive, and great detail....

Sorry to here about the Link in my Name, I will have to see what I did wrong on that part......

Wishing you a Blessed Holiday and Good Health from Blues House to yours, across the Vast Pond that separates us.........Merci!
 
Awesome screenshots Blue!
Thanks for sharing :)

Just came to say happy [early] Easter to you and Mrs. Blue! :D
Hope everything is doing well for you.

Cheers
 
Awesome screenshots Blue!
Thanks for sharing :)

Just came to say happy [early] Easter to you and Mrs. Blue! :D
Hope everything is doing well for you.

Cheers


Thanks Hiawathamr,

It has been a busy two weeks for me and Mr's Blue, the most important thing, we are healthy as we age, other than I need to lose a tooth that has seen it's life. But will get an implant, hopefully it won't be too painful. :'(

The main thing, we need to get our poor Sun Baked Trim and Fascia Boards sanded, primed. Been busy vetting out the Contractors. Out of 7 selected To bid, one was 4X over the going rate, and wanted to do a host of other projects if he could up sell me (Ain't going to happen) Blue has been down that highway more than a few times, I'm on to the Scoundrel. Another one was trying to pitch how cool and experienced they were, come to find out they were hustlers and Scammers, 15 complaints, plus 2 recent one with California Better Business Bureau......Uh no, not with them!:(

And the Third one wanted under the table Cash.......Warranty? Hmmm,,,I don't think they have one, other than Verbal no written.:hehe:

Another one, 1/2 hour late to scheduled appointment, couldn't bother to call me and let me know they would be late......Very unprofessional !:sleep:

So out the remaining 3, a Painter with over 40 years of experience, moderate Prices, and quite welled schooled in their train.:cool:

Just like Trainz or anything else, you get out what you put into it, no pain, no gain......

Good thing, Quality Work, no short cuts, top Quality Paint, very expensive. I had already priced it out in 3 large Paint Companies, so I know exactly what I am getting....

Our California Sun is too strong, almost as bad as Arizona, now more than ever do to our Drought, and few days of Rain, with that said, you really can't skimp on Paint, or you will start losing your Wood to Peeling, Dry Rot, Termites the whole gamut.......It will be nice to see our place painted, it's , I am really embarrassed to say this, but it's probably been 20 some years since we painted it.......And actually, we do have to replace about 15 feet of Fascia Board.

BTW Your latest Illinois Route? I think that is the area, is looking really awesome...........:p

Thanks for dropping by, and wish you very Blessed Easter......
 
As always learning from you about the routes and I also appreciate those videos.:D
This work that you do here in the forum seems very important to me, you expose many ideas that many colleagues can apply in their routes; so......thank you very much.


Take care and Happy Easter to you and Mrs Blue.

Cheers
Javier
 
Contractors.... those things (as I'm going to call them) are fun and I personally never hear anything good from them. Most times I hear they take the money and never come and do the actual job or they get paid but claim they didn't so they come and destroy property. Terrible things. I wish you luck at finding a good and honest contractor (if there are a such thing these days).
As for the warrenty... best to get it in writing. I had something similar to this happened and they declined it so now I get important things in writing so they can't decline it anymore.

If you want, why not send some of your sun to me? It'll help warm up my area from the 40s / 50s for a change since most of the time its been cloudy. :p
Hopefully this summer will be better than last summer for you and that there will be more rain but I fear it won't be that way... I've saw from the internet that the water levels are low and still going down which isn't good.
Good luck with your many projects Blue. From the sounds of it you are going to be busy ;)

Yes that's the state the route is in - Illinois on one of the Metra lines. More to come :D

Cheers
 
Tale of 2 Rt's saga continues with Pics (No Y Tube today sorry)

Good Monday Morning,

Wow was it a busy Easter weekend, had Family Birthdays to attend, Easter Vigil, and before Blue turned around, the weekend had swooshed by, oh my word! Hope all of you had a Blessed Easter, as well, we pray for the People of Ukraine. I can't imagine how bad it is at this time in their lives.

This week is going to rather busy, as we have the Paint Contractor hired to paint all our old Fascia and Soffit areas, that have not been painted in probably 20-25 years. Way over due, beaten down by Mr Sun......It will sure make a our old 60+ year old house look better, for lack of better words here, our poor house definitely has some weathered looked areas. Peeling, Split Boards, 20 ft of replacement....LOL! EEK!

Alright, so I have been merging and reconstructing NTCD San Diego area Route with Glorious 1950's Route. Issue being, I couldn't get the Merge to complete, with Tiles of !950's Route, so we had to do a major repair....Tracks came in OK, but all Elevation fell to Zero, with lots of Skyward White Arrows, Trees, Houses, Track-age in the Air....Trainz was not happy with Blue on this Operation, as they say in the hospital, the Operation was not with Serious Complications!

But Blue was on the Hunt, and it was worth the time to try and Salvage this Merge, and I can and Did. A bit a smaller Route, it would probably not be worth it on large Scale Route. Just too much to remove and rebuild. Probably spent the better part of maybe 15-20 hours over the course of 3-4 days to in rehabbing and striping it down just what I needed for rebuilding and Elevation issues..

I also noted there is lots of areas, that seemed over stapled, and will adjust accordingly for my needs.

Am pinched for time, Workers will be here shortly, so just posting some Pics for you to follow along with me.......


So I downloaded some new Switchers from Control Point Simulations before they closed their site. And cobbled some Freight together to make a ruff run on this Merge Redo.

Checking Grade Elevation and Signal Aspects, and I really like that I can Drive n Switch to Surveyor mode on the Fly, So cool and saves so much time for Error checking.

Signal Placement needs adjustment, and I am adding some Spur points for Freight Operations....Checking Load and Unload Functions too with existing Industry's.

I'm using plain Grid without Textures so I can see how my Grades and Geography is coming along, Mountains are really roughed in and far from finished, important I get the Tracks location and Elevation the way I want it.....The Finish work will come in stages, I want the Rail part of the Route working with good Signal Aspect.

Going to revamp a lot of roads and especially density and types of houses Etc.......One other thing, I forgot to mention that there is Narrow Gauge up in the Top of the Mountains too, and I would want to make an Interchange between the Gauges, for offloading and Transfer needs, I know there so Wood Industry Assets that have dual gauge, I just don't remember the names at the moment, if any of you do, I could use a bit of help with the Names....Thanks.

As you can see there are some very steep mountains in here, which is fine, but I need to get them redrawn, after the Rails are set.....Elevation is 0-300 Feet approx......It'll be fun, I enjoy making Mountain Scenery..And Water sights Etc......

Freight house where we tie up for the night, are original Point of Departure was Freight Yard in San Diego,,,,,,

One thing I noticed is Crossing lights shut off quickly so I need to check the equip, and something might be missing, I might have deleted when I went thru knocking out different Assets to clear paths for Construction....

Traffic on Parallel Roads works great.


Painters just arrived, got run.......

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy your week. Peace and good Health to all.
 
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