South Devon Railways

[kendo353]

Hi People. thought i'd say hello. sorry if this is in the wrong place.

i grew up in South Devon, England. and am playing with Trainz to recreate
the railways and feelings of my youth (1970s). There is a london-penzance
mainline, and two preserved steam railways within a 10 mile radius.

Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway
Dart Valley Railway

In days gone by, we also had a dairy factory, a bacon factory, and a lumber factory with wharf. All of which i'm looking forward to resurrecting with the trainz industry system.

Couple of Questions
===================
My modeller of choice is "lightwave". I can convert meshes to .3DS format,
but am unsure what to do with them then. Could somebody please point me in right direction? What's the art pipeline?

Any other Devon people about? I noticed somebody had done a South West Trains multiple unit, and I was wondering if there was any existing tracks or layouts of the region, that i could have a look at?

thankyou.
nice to meet you all.

 

[stagecoach]

Hello Kendo353 and welcome
Yes there are a few of us from devon and there are several devon routes.
I started the main line from just north of exeter down to south of newton abbot with the exmouth line from exeter and the old teign valley and mortonhamstead line. This route is still to be finished and is heavy on content. I released it as devon lines on the dls in its unfinished state with the intention of upgrading to newer version of trainz to complete it, but have reverted back to 04 again. The layout is based around the 1960 period and also allows for boats to be used around the exe estuary area. www.devontrainz.co.uk has screenshots of the route but does need to be updated at some time.

Hope you enjoy it. keith

PS Angelah is doing the line from london to penzance in a more modern time period.

 

[johnwhelan]

Hi People. thought i'd say hello. sorry if this is in the wrong place.

i grew up in South Devon, England. and am playing with Trainz to recreate
the railways and feelings of my youth (1970s). There is a london-penzance
mainline, and two preserved steam railways within a 10 mile radius.

Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway
Dart Valley Railway

In days gone by, we also had a dairy factory, a bacon factory, and a lumber factory with wharf. All of which i'm looking forward to resurrecting with the trainz industry system.

Couple of Questions
===================
My modeller of choice is "lightwave". I can convert meshes to .3DS format,
but am unsure what to do with them then. Could somebody please point me in right direction? What's the art pipeline?

Any other Devon people about? I noticed somebody had done a South West Trains multiple unit, and I was wondering if there was any existing tracks or layouts of the region, that i could have a look at?

thankyou.
nice to meet you all.

See if you can get from lightwave into Blender, that might be easier than working with .3ds files or use Blender itself if you know the basics of 3d creation. That way you can control the polys and normal mapping etc a lot easier.

There should be a fair amount of suitable assets available to make a start. Are you into layout creation or asset creation? If asset creation reskinning or repainting is easier than building a steam loco from scratch.

Cheerio John

 

[kendo353]

I started the main line from just north of exeter down to south of newton abbot with the exmouth line from exeter and the old teign valley and mortonhamstead line.

aahh...yes, i know the area fairly well. Exeter is a bit of a challenge? I was thinking of stopping my layout at Newton Abbot, and having portals linking to and from London. Totnes, with it's light industries, turntable and goods sheds is going to be at the center. All gone now. Just another stop on the way to London. sometimes not all progress is marvellous.

I released it as devon lines on the dls in its unfinished state with the intention of upgrading to newer version of trainz to complete it, but have reverted back to 04 again. The layout is based around the 1960 period and also allows for boats to be used around the exe estuary area.

sounds good. when i get DLS access, i'll definitely have a look. it would be nice to join the two maps up, if possible. How many boards does it cover?

www.devonlines.co.uk has screenshots of the route but does need to be updated at some time.

alas, the link did not work.

Are you into layout creation or asset creation?

thanks for the info, John. The blender interface has put me off before, but a couple of years down the road, i'm hoping there are more conversion tools available now. First off, I would like to build my layout, and then, if needed, bulk it out with homemade assets. I wouldn't have the time + patience for whole locos, but a few scratchbuilt sheds isn't out of the question. thanks for the help.

 

[stagecoach]

aahh...yes, i know the area fairly well. Exeter is a bit of a challenge?
sounds good. when i get DLS access, i'll definitely have a look. it would be nice to join the two maps up, if possible. How many boards does it cover?


alas, the link did not work. quote]

My fault, as I said it needs updating so have not been there for a while. Should be www.devontrainz.co.uk

 

[johnwhelan]

I'm not certain which period of time you are modeling but there is a fair bit of GWR Broad Gauge stock around and a few layouts if you want to try your hand at something slightly different.

Cheerio John

 

[kendo353]

@Stagecoach thanks for the new link. just downloaded your 'Exeter' from the DLS. and found a Cornwall/Devon route up there too. happy bunny.

@JohnWhelan cheers John. Noticed that you've put up a ton of GWR stuff up on DLS, which will be fine for the Paignton steam railway stock.

Surprisingly, wiki also has extensive data on all South Devon stations.
sorted.

 

[johnwhelan]

@JohnWhelan cheers John. Noticed that you've put up a ton of GWR stuff up on DLS, which will be fine for the Paignton steam railway stock.

Have a dig on the web site http://trainz-carriage-wagon-works.com/ Bob Sanders whom I work with is also into GWR items. I think I have more GWR reference books than anything else so most models are actually GWR first then repainted or reskinned into something else.

Cheerio John

 

[stagecoach]

Hi Kendo353 Exeter was my first atempt with the original trainz, bit primative, Devon lines 2004 is the complete route from exeter to newton abbot i also did a session that showed how the trains changed at exeter central, under the same name.

 

[kendo353]

I think I have more GWR reference books than anything else

it shows. your work inspired me to take a wander down and have a look at the real thing today. I saw GWR 4255 (Fearless?) reverse hauling a couple of Pullman observation carriages. Thanks for your time and trouble, John. it's lovely stuff. authentic, atmospheric.. and i'm very grateful.

Devon lines 2004 is the complete route from exeter to newton abbot

lol... it's HUGE. i looked at 'Devon/Cornwall' earlier today... that's gargantuan, too. Makes the simple layout i was contemplating look distinctly small fry. But at least I know now that trainz is up for the challenge. Thanks for your hard work too. Many happy hours of tinkering ahead.

cheers...

 

[Len2480]

Hi kendo353..I also grew up in your part of the world,though a bit before 1970...went to school in Totnes. Edward 1st.Grammar on main street...remember well the quay with its cider factory,(spent many a happy!!hour there during the lunch break}lumber mill etc.and the bacon factory...They used to shunt the wagons with horses,as the locomotives were only allowed as far as the main road crossing(No gates)also used to swim in the leat??..I have the track diagram of the line to the quay if you are interested,and all the branches from Exeter to Launceston..Leonard.

 

[kendo353]

Hi Leonard

went to school in Totnes. Edward 1st.Grammar on main street

i know it well. it's still there. and still used for education (of adults).

remember well the quay with its cider factory,(spent many a happy!!hour there during the lunch break}lumber mill etc.and the bacon factory

the rails were still there, running across the plains in the 70's, but i think everything has been smoothed over to accomodate the tourists now. Reeves lumber yard is gone. The bacon factory has been turned into a morrisons supermarket (i still recall the squealing of the pigs). And the warehouses of the cider factory and quay have been turned into paper thin loft apartments which sell for 250k+ (named "Apple Wharf"). i think you saw the best of it, as the place has no soul now.

I have the track diagram of the line to the quay if you are interested,and all the branches from Exeter to Launceston

yes please. that would be great. thankyou very much.
I'm moving out of the area soon, and the layouts would be much appreciated.

I have a small book entitled "The Ashburton line" which lists the history of the bluebell line, and stations from Staverton to London, but there is so much other rail history to the region that i feel should be recorded somewhere.

pleasure to have met you.
and thanks for the help.

ken

 

[Len2480]

Yep those were the good old days...Just remembered was Edward 6th Grammar school...I actually lived in Paignton..and used to ride the old Western National buses to school.....Also during my naval days...spent many an hour on Totnes station in the early hours,waiting for the overnight from Paddington via Bristol....Use to call it the Owl.to get me to the dockyard...was pulled by a King with a Hall or Manor pilot,to get over the Daiton incline,which then would be taken off at Brent.Even in those days it was always late.Was quite a sight in the winter mornings both belching clouds of steam,but I digress.If you have an E mail address I can send the track plan as an attachement....Leonard.

 

[kester]

Western time

Yep those were the good old days...Just remembered was Edward 6th Grammar school...I actually lived in Paignton..and used to ride the old Western National buses to school.....Also during my naval days...spent many an hour on Totnes station in the early hours,waiting for the overnight from Paddington via Bristol....Use to call it the Owl.to get me to the dockyard...was pulled by a King with a Hall or Manor pilot,to get over the Daiton incline,which then would be taken off at Brent.Even in those days it was always late.Was quite a sight in the winter mornings both belching clouds of steam,but I digress.If you have an E mail address I can send the track plan as an attachement....Leonard.

But of course they we running on Great Western time then. My family worked out of Newton Abbot one as a shunter one as a guard.

Although I'm Born and bread Hampshire I still love Devon, and like to visit the Restoration railways when ever I can

ttfn kester

 

[kendo353]

I actually lived in Paignton.

same. moved back down here from london.
"the best place to be, beside the sea".
it hasn't changed much in 40+ years.

during my naval days

lol....i'm ex-navy too. small world, eh?
guess there wasn't much else for devon folk to do.

but I digress.

i'm glad. nothing's better than an eye-witness account.

If you have an E mail address

will PM you. Cheers Leonard.

My family worked out of Newton Abbot one as a shunter one as a guard

nice to meet you, Kester. We call it "Newton Armpit". I remember David & Charles publishing had a couple of GWR carriages up on a siding close to their offices in the 70's. But they've long since gone now. Oh, and "Tiny" the little NG steam engine.

I still love Devon, and like to visit the Restoration railways when ever I can

It is a beautiful county, with scenery unlike anywhere else in the world.
the Dart Valley railway has recently seen lottery funding, i think. because it's a lot easier to get to the littlehempston station from Totnes now (across a nicely sculpted pedestrian bridge).

cheers...

 

[Len2480]

Thanks for all the kind words.....,being in the navy in the late forties through to the early seventies.Spent a lot of time travelling on the old steamers with bag and hammock....Used to travel home weekends from Glasgow...16 hours...the last two coaches were through to Plymouth.and they would drop them off at Carlilse or Crewe.and then tack them on to the one from Edinburgh,and going back tack us on to the London express.Plus the usual Waterloo Pompey..Weymouth for Portland..backing into Dorchester...and the boat train going through the streets of Weymouth.and of course the Torbay Epress...slip coach for Westbury..I often wonder how they managed to do that,and what if it wasn't going fast enough to get to the station....in my younger days early 30's used to live in Saltash and travel on the old push pull flyer to Plymouth,though I think the locomotive used to be in the middle.So you can see why I'm a rail fan..(GWR)..and I started with a hornby dublo!tin track.Guess it puts me right up there with the oldies..Leonard