steamboateng
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NEMass Route – pg 10
The Rockport Quarries
My inquiry into Rockport's history led me eventually to the quarries.There are many old quarries located north of town. The largest was the Rockport Quarries, which remained operational until 1933 or so, and provided stone for projects throughout the East, including Boston's State House, the Brooklyn Bridge and the base of the Statue of Liberty. The economic collapse, which brought on the Great Depression, pretty much put an end to the industry in any large scale. At its height, the quarries rivaled the fishing industry for Rockport's economic base.
In my capacity as Chief Financial Officer for all virtual Industries,banks and ice cream parlors in NE Mass, and having unlimited digital dollars at my disposal I've made a decision to revive the Rockport quarries, including its two foot gauge railway. The company built a stone bridge, now part of Rt 127, which still exists, under which the railway ran, hauling stone to its own piers, to be loaded on coastal steamers.
Modeling the quarries themselves was a bit of a task, using USGS maps, GoogleEarth, period photos and my very own feet and eyes to capture a sense of the place. The stone textures are composed from three different textures varied and re-sized to get the effect. The two foot railway is also a problem as I'm not satisfied with any of the two foot gauge track available to TS10 or TS12. Also, I have included one of Ben Dorsey's industrial diesels for locomotion, until I can find a satisfactory narrow gauge tank engine. Nor can I find any suitable wagons for hauling the stone. The quarries used large air compressors to power the various winches, air hammers and drills. There is little on the DLS to replicate this machinery. As such, the quarries are still a project in the making. I have includes several screen shots of the progress to date.
Building a shoreline
Capturing the New England seashore is, again, a matter of matching observation to pallet. (You remember the pallet, right?) I used what was available. The rocky shore here is old and weathered smooth. I used the same three textures on the rocky shore as I did for the quarries.The sand along the New England coast isn't quite as yellow as that shown, but will suffice until something better comes along. I emphasized the high water line with a stoney texture, a reminder of the nor'easters and hurricanes which frequently visit the area.
The quarries not only provided the stone for breakwaters, but also for retaining walls and erosion protection along the beaches. I had a difficult time finding a suitable texture for these elements, but finally did come across one that applied itself seamlessly. I think the results are a good match! Check out the screen shots and you judge.
General discussion – Repetition, repetition, repetition....
Most experienced Trainzer's know that repetition of assets is one of the secrets of building a smoothly operating route. Fetching the various assets is time consuming and a load on computer memory. Utilizing existing assets over and over again is an efficient counter to stutters and burps. In building the NE Mass Route I have made a conscious effort to reuse those assets while providing a mix with enough variety to compliment Mother Nature's randomness. This is an ongoing effort of trial and error for each base-board, while maintaining consistency to the route as a whole.
I have included several screen shots from a height to illustrate the method.
All screenies can be found here:
Link:http://s1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/NE Masspg10/
Thanks again for following along. More rambling to come......
mbk
5/20/12
The Rockport Quarries
My inquiry into Rockport's history led me eventually to the quarries.There are many old quarries located north of town. The largest was the Rockport Quarries, which remained operational until 1933 or so, and provided stone for projects throughout the East, including Boston's State House, the Brooklyn Bridge and the base of the Statue of Liberty. The economic collapse, which brought on the Great Depression, pretty much put an end to the industry in any large scale. At its height, the quarries rivaled the fishing industry for Rockport's economic base.
In my capacity as Chief Financial Officer for all virtual Industries,banks and ice cream parlors in NE Mass, and having unlimited digital dollars at my disposal I've made a decision to revive the Rockport quarries, including its two foot gauge railway. The company built a stone bridge, now part of Rt 127, which still exists, under which the railway ran, hauling stone to its own piers, to be loaded on coastal steamers.
Modeling the quarries themselves was a bit of a task, using USGS maps, GoogleEarth, period photos and my very own feet and eyes to capture a sense of the place. The stone textures are composed from three different textures varied and re-sized to get the effect. The two foot railway is also a problem as I'm not satisfied with any of the two foot gauge track available to TS10 or TS12. Also, I have included one of Ben Dorsey's industrial diesels for locomotion, until I can find a satisfactory narrow gauge tank engine. Nor can I find any suitable wagons for hauling the stone. The quarries used large air compressors to power the various winches, air hammers and drills. There is little on the DLS to replicate this machinery. As such, the quarries are still a project in the making. I have includes several screen shots of the progress to date.
Building a shoreline
Capturing the New England seashore is, again, a matter of matching observation to pallet. (You remember the pallet, right?) I used what was available. The rocky shore here is old and weathered smooth. I used the same three textures on the rocky shore as I did for the quarries.The sand along the New England coast isn't quite as yellow as that shown, but will suffice until something better comes along. I emphasized the high water line with a stoney texture, a reminder of the nor'easters and hurricanes which frequently visit the area.
The quarries not only provided the stone for breakwaters, but also for retaining walls and erosion protection along the beaches. I had a difficult time finding a suitable texture for these elements, but finally did come across one that applied itself seamlessly. I think the results are a good match! Check out the screen shots and you judge.
General discussion – Repetition, repetition, repetition....
Most experienced Trainzer's know that repetition of assets is one of the secrets of building a smoothly operating route. Fetching the various assets is time consuming and a load on computer memory. Utilizing existing assets over and over again is an efficient counter to stutters and burps. In building the NE Mass Route I have made a conscious effort to reuse those assets while providing a mix with enough variety to compliment Mother Nature's randomness. This is an ongoing effort of trial and error for each base-board, while maintaining consistency to the route as a whole.
I have included several screen shots from a height to illustrate the method.
All screenies can be found here:
Link:http://s1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/NE Masspg10/
Thanks again for following along. More rambling to come......
mbk
5/20/12