One of the great things about trainz (as I mentioned previously) Is the ease and flexibilty of Surveyor that allows you build just about anything. I know many here on the forums build and are building prototypical-to-the-smallest-detail routes and layouts, whether from a DEM or freehand (and god help you if you do the latter). But with surveyor, the possibilites are endless. look at the roller-coasters on YouTube, for example.
Me, I freelance.
Now, I've said to acquaintances who model in HO-scale and the like and have been scoffed at. But honestly, there's no shame in freelancing. Sniper/philskene's PO&N is completely fictional, but still an awesome route to run. That said, I'm still waiting for someone to make SeaView V.5 for Trainz, weird locations and all.
Now personally, I prefer to follow Allen McClelland's example and "prototype freelance." Essentially, that means that while the route is fictional, is has just enough real-life thrown in to make it look like it could have existed in reality as a working railroad. My Williams Bay and North Western route is a perfect example of that: Roughly, the line parallels the route of the real-life Chicago Great Western, with completely fictional towns and cities...though Carlisle, the main terminal on the route, is loosely based on St. Joseph, MO. The Same could be said for the route of the train in the The Titfield Thunderbolt, which I am also working on. Yes, for the movie they used a real branch line whose abandoned grade you can still walk today, but the route is so ambiguous (the producers seemed to film the same places multiple times) that I have wiggle room. However, I try to do best to immulate british railroading practices when it comes to trackwork, station layout, yards and sidings, etc.
However, that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with it.
Tbob's thread on his reconstructed, New-Haven based Highland Valley layout recently inspired me to dust off my old rebuild of the same route. For mine, I used the larger Highland Valley 2004 available on the DLS, which is 16 baseboards rather than the original's four. Behind Greenwood yard, there is a large dead area full of trees. Part of it had already become part of the expanded city of Greenwood (now remaned Fort Smith...I'll get to that later) and another an industrial siding and the new freight sheds. however, that still left me with a huge area left to fill. So, wanting to add to the water on the layout, I threw in a Harbor.
Now, here's where things get interesting. I had already decided that my Highland Valley was located in the Ozark Mountians somehwere near the Missouri-Arkansas border. there's not really anyplace for a harbor for barges, let alone the big ocean-going ships I filled the place with (or the U-Boat I had prowling around the harbor entrance
) but hey, you know what, my railroad, MY RULES.
I wanted to avoid massive texture replacements if at all possible, the sole reason being I'm not that good at texuring (at least not yet, I'm learning though) the brown-grey ground textures lent itself readily to a fall-like setting, so I replaced the "as-delivered" trees with fall ones from dmdrake (which I'm growing to love...note to self, use his trees a heck of a lot more.) However, for the sake of some color, I threw in some that were still green, and others that were completely leafless. This rarely if ever happens in real life, but you know what, my railroad, my rules.
I added a new roundhouse, with coal dock, water plugs, sanding tower, and a diesel fueling point. The line is supposed to be modern, but it still runs steam, as does the Williams Bay and North Western--which the Highland Valley is supposedly a part of. It may not be prototypical for this day in age, but you know what, my railroad, my rules.
God knows that all my railroads have trackwork so complex in places that any real railroad would have a fatal heart attack if they saw that on their division. But you know what, my railroad, my rules.
The overriding priciple of all this, and indeed model railroading in general, whether HO-, N-, G-, or V-scale, is to have fun. I know that those who build large prototypical routes really enjoy what they do, and that's a-ok with me. I have just as much fun creating freelance lines where my wild imagination isn't reigned in by prototypical considerations of where the hell does this building go, does this track go here and here, and on and on. But if you aren't having fun doing what you're doing, something's wrong. Scrap that and move on. And whatever you find you like, embrace it and enjoy every second of it. THAT is what trainz is about.
Me, I freelance.
Now, I've said to acquaintances who model in HO-scale and the like and have been scoffed at. But honestly, there's no shame in freelancing. Sniper/philskene's PO&N is completely fictional, but still an awesome route to run. That said, I'm still waiting for someone to make SeaView V.5 for Trainz, weird locations and all.
Now personally, I prefer to follow Allen McClelland's example and "prototype freelance." Essentially, that means that while the route is fictional, is has just enough real-life thrown in to make it look like it could have existed in reality as a working railroad. My Williams Bay and North Western route is a perfect example of that: Roughly, the line parallels the route of the real-life Chicago Great Western, with completely fictional towns and cities...though Carlisle, the main terminal on the route, is loosely based on St. Joseph, MO. The Same could be said for the route of the train in the The Titfield Thunderbolt, which I am also working on. Yes, for the movie they used a real branch line whose abandoned grade you can still walk today, but the route is so ambiguous (the producers seemed to film the same places multiple times) that I have wiggle room. However, I try to do best to immulate british railroading practices when it comes to trackwork, station layout, yards and sidings, etc.
However, that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with it.
Tbob's thread on his reconstructed, New-Haven based Highland Valley layout recently inspired me to dust off my old rebuild of the same route. For mine, I used the larger Highland Valley 2004 available on the DLS, which is 16 baseboards rather than the original's four. Behind Greenwood yard, there is a large dead area full of trees. Part of it had already become part of the expanded city of Greenwood (now remaned Fort Smith...I'll get to that later) and another an industrial siding and the new freight sheds. however, that still left me with a huge area left to fill. So, wanting to add to the water on the layout, I threw in a Harbor.
Now, here's where things get interesting. I had already decided that my Highland Valley was located in the Ozark Mountians somehwere near the Missouri-Arkansas border. there's not really anyplace for a harbor for barges, let alone the big ocean-going ships I filled the place with (or the U-Boat I had prowling around the harbor entrance
) but hey, you know what, my railroad, MY RULES. I wanted to avoid massive texture replacements if at all possible, the sole reason being I'm not that good at texuring (at least not yet, I'm learning though) the brown-grey ground textures lent itself readily to a fall-like setting, so I replaced the "as-delivered" trees with fall ones from dmdrake (which I'm growing to love...note to self, use his trees a heck of a lot more.) However, for the sake of some color, I threw in some that were still green, and others that were completely leafless. This rarely if ever happens in real life, but you know what, my railroad, my rules.
I added a new roundhouse, with coal dock, water plugs, sanding tower, and a diesel fueling point. The line is supposed to be modern, but it still runs steam, as does the Williams Bay and North Western--which the Highland Valley is supposedly a part of. It may not be prototypical for this day in age, but you know what, my railroad, my rules.
God knows that all my railroads have trackwork so complex in places that any real railroad would have a fatal heart attack if they saw that on their division. But you know what, my railroad, my rules.
The overriding priciple of all this, and indeed model railroading in general, whether HO-, N-, G-, or V-scale, is to have fun. I know that those who build large prototypical routes really enjoy what they do, and that's a-ok with me. I have just as much fun creating freelance lines where my wild imagination isn't reigned in by prototypical considerations of where the hell does this building go, does this track go here and here, and on and on. But if you aren't having fun doing what you're doing, something's wrong. Scrap that and move on. And whatever you find you like, embrace it and enjoy every second of it. THAT is what trainz is about.