Track with no ballast

A

Approach_Medium

Trainz Addict
Hi;
I love some of the hi-res prototypical track, but all of it comes with ballast, leaving that unrealistic finely trimmed line where ballast ends and other texture begins.
It looks so much more prototypical when there isn't that clean cut line of ballast, yet I haven't seen much track that does not include ballast. There is track for bridges and tunnels, but that doesn't look right on mainline or branch line.
I just downloaded a total of 4 tracks without ballast by s301, named "VR SG..." and "VR BG..." which look good, but is this all I am going to find?
I guess I could try to "kit-bash" one or more of the ballasted tracks, but I don't think I can open the .im files to edit them.
I have looked only on DLS so far, so now I'm off to other sites in my quest. I am looking for mainline track (132lb), branch line track which I can also use in yards (maybe 90lb).

Thanks for your help

FW
 
Bridge Track kuid 63290:38076.

There are also several rail only tracks on the DLS (no ties or ballast).

Ben
 
I've got that one. Not bad, but still not as detailed as these for example: us mainline (4m) by sg1 (kuid:35848:70510), or 132lb US Wood MBTA MRT by gfisher (kuid:106916:10389), or any of the SAM track.
Is there a way I can edit the track to remove the ballast?

FW
 
Hi,

Only the creator of the mesh can remove the ballast part of the mesh, so the answer to the question about removing the ballast part is No, you can not.
As a user, you need to contact the creator of the asset and ask for a no ballast version.

Best wishes

Linda
 
Is there a FREE creation tool I could use to create my own track from photos?
I would have to get permission from the railroads to photograph their tracks on their property, but if I could get that, and the photos I might be able to do something.

FW
 
I've done a bit of work with Google Sketchup a while back, but nothing complicated; just simple diagram with dimensions for my house when I did a wiring project.
I have played a bit with Blender, but always gave up before getting very far due to loss of interest. Maybe it's time I do learn one or both of these tools to I can create something...

FW
 
I also did not like "that unrealistic finely trimmed line where ballast ends and other texture begins".
Have a look to what I did:

TrackFade.jpg


As you can see especially on the blue ground, the ballast is "fading out" - even some single stones lie outside.
I did not build a new track - creating a new track needs a lot of experience with gmax or so. I just took an available track from the Downloadstation and added/altered the alpha-channel:

transp-bw.jpg


White in this picture means: Here you see the track, black makes the track transparent - the underlying ground shows through. The white spots right / left show up as the outside stones.
I did this all with TRS 2004 (I am a dinosaur, still enjoying it). So I do not know how you can change an alpha-channel in your version. But perhaps someone other can give you help with this.
As I used the original track from another content-creator, I did not upload it to the DLS - I only wanted to use it for myself. If you want to publish it, you need the content creators permission.
Have a look down to "My content" - there are splines using this effect and can be placed between / aside of streets or tracks.
Good luck

jost62
 
Last edited:
Check out the MSG-Sapper's track. He made some or modified some from the SAM series. (user Samplaire) that will do what you want. I have used his track without ballast a few times myself.

John
 
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