Making Model Railroadz

Status
Not open for further replies.
A very nice layout, Chris - and you have certainly emphasised how long it can take to add good scenery even to a limited space. I often wonder how those who create large layouts in Trainz, many baseboards, manage to do it!

I'm tempted to take one of the station modules I made some time ago and follow your example. (To be honest, I began doing so some time ago but as usual got sidetracked into more content creation...)

Ray
 
I think the big factor is the project becomes a doable, how many of us have several of these:

ozark_northern_tb.jpg


A TransDem'd route that has only been started but miles and miles 'til completion.

The Model Railroadz concept allows a "complete" system in a small space.

Harold


As a model railroader, growing up, I always dreamt about having that "big layout", manageability be darned, in recent years, it seems more and more model railroaders are getting the same idea, yes, the concept of Model Trainz, and Model Railroadz is something very viable, it does allow one to build something, and actually get it to a finished state, just like solid modeling, never really finished, as we all know, anything you did yesterday you can do better tomorrow, that was my concept years ago when I started building my Withlacoochee River Rwy., and in fact, I did start building a solid model railroad from actually doing my planning by making the WRR in V scale first, that was all the way back in TRS2004 and TRS2006, as things turned out, I had a lot more fun with my V scale railroad, today, after several incarnations of the Withlacoochee River, its still runs in TS2012, and the TRS2006 version is available for download.

Was it the same concept we are utilizing in this theme we call Model Railroadz? No, not at all, but it is a one baseboard route that is quite a bit of fun if your into watching trains run, if your into prototypical operations, then the concept for the WRR is really different from that, and was from the start, but this concept of Model Railroadz and Model Trainz is spot on for those wishing to have something reach a completed state.

Another thing, this very concept got me to get much more active in Trainz again, now mind you, over the last couple of years, the wife and I have been hit by some situations curtailed almost all of my funtime anything, not just Trainz, but also my DAZ time and even actual solid model building time, we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel now(I know, its just a freight train coming through), so have been able to do a lot more with my simulators, especially TS2012.
 
Started in Spring last year, still a good way to go - making some assets as I go along.
As Hminky says a model railway sized route becomes 'doable' even with limited time available, but he temptation is to add loads and loads of detail.

I have the same problem with my non-model railroad Trainz routes, as well. So I do what I used to do with my physical model railroad. I create small "scenes" with lots of detail scattered through the rest of the route. As I mentioned in another thread long ago; when I found myself adding rose bushes to the front yard of a house three blocks from the nearest track I knew I had a problem.:D
 
This sure beats making mistakes when putting saw to wood! :p

At any rate, I'm having a tough time with some of the features in Trainz. My chosen scale is N, and I'm finding the field of view (FOV) a bit strange. Using Imperial units, I checked measurements for length and width and the proportions appear fine, as does placing track and other content on the baseboard, but setting heights makes the room looked squashed. Worse, the table top, set at 42", looks as though it would be at my knee height, rather than just above my waist. Is this normal for Trainz? Would adding a trainzoptions.txt to my user folder allow more control over my FOV, and if so, what would the recommended settings be?

Finally, I have an idea for a small section of multi-deck, which requires me to raise the height of ground level. The problem I'm running into is the navigation within my baseboard. Raising the ground also forces my viewpoint to be no lower than wherever ground height is, which makes it tough to work on the lower section. Is there a setting for going underground while in Surveyor (wire frame mode isn't what I'm after).

Regardless of any shortcomings in Trainz or my own ability, I'm having a great time with this! :)
 
Hey Marc, since you've got the first buildings done "for the other one"...what about a multi-deck YVRR layout? :)
 
Sadly, I lost the source assets in a hard drive crash a couple of years ago. I still have the drawings though, so it shouldn't be too hard to start over.
 
...I'm finding the field of view (FOV) a bit strange... ...Would adding a trainzoptions.txt to my user folder allow more control over my FOV, and if so, what would the recommended settings be?...

Have a look here:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Trainz/Trainzoptions.txt

-SurveyorFOV might be worth a try.

Note for the casual reader: Many of the settings which were in trainzoptions.txt can be set in game nowadays, apart from these it's normally best to leave other settings possible in trainzoptions.txt alone.

...setting heights makes the room looked squashed...

Not quite sure what you mean here, a screenshot would help. Remember you will need to use a brick wall for the 'room' that is scaled to your chosen working scale (in your case 'N').

...Worse, the table top, set at 42", looks as though it would be at my knee height, rather than just above my waist. Is this normal for Trainz? ...

Your baseboard top needs to be at about 185 (18.5 x 10m baseboard squares) above the floor. Remember that anything you are using to judge the appearance of the 'room' from needs to be scaled as well (to what would be full sized at your chosen working scale)..

Finally, I have an idea for a small section of multi-deck, which requires me to raise the height of ground level. The problem I'm running into is the navigation within my baseboard. Raising the ground also forces my viewpoint to be no lower than wherever ground height is, which makes it tough to work on the lower section. Is there a setting for going underground while in Surveyor (wire frame mode isn't what I'm after)....

I'm not aware of any settings to do this. You could set the track at 'x' distance above baseboard level using the Advanced settings (Vertex Height) in the Track tab and then use a scenery object or objects to represent the ground under the track. You might also want to see if putting items in different layers helps when editing.

Chris
 
Hi Chris,

Thank you for your answer. So as to get back on topic, I will start a new thread. :)
 
Warning: Unsupported file type for 'C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Temp\Model Trainz'
Error: Unable to open CDP file ' Wall Spline one DES-3.cdp' for reading

If you are still having problems with these and get this error try using import CDP rather than double cliicking worked for me.
 
Hi all, first post here, and a brand-new, first time user of Trainz. It seems very cool so far!

I am very interested in these model railroad -style layouts and have a quick newbie question about functionality for Inglenook and Timesaver -style layouts:

Is it possible to set things up so that the rolling stock is randomly placed amongst a series of permitted locations at the beginning of each operating session?

I know there are some random-element features possible, just wasn't sure how far they went.
 
Hi folks,

I finally got my head around the process of creating new content so they work properly in Trainz. The following items should appear on the DLS soon®:

Wood parquet floor splines:

MRR: HO Wood Flooring 1 <kuid:1776:300001>
MRR: N Wood Flooring 1 <kuid:1776:300002>
MRR: O Wood Flooring 1 <kuid:1776:300003>

Walls suitable for HO, N, and O-scale roomz with moulding trim in full (1), half (1/2), and quarter (1/4) baseboard lengths:

MRR: HO Wall White 1 <kuid:1776:300004>
MRR: HO Wall Blue 1 <kuid:1776:300005>
MRR: HO Wall Sand 1 <kuid:1776:300006>
MRR: HO Wall White 1/2 <kuid:1776:300007>
MRR: HO Wall Blue 1/2 <kuid:1776:300008>
MRR: HO Wall Sand 1/2 <kuid:1776:300009>
MRR: HO Wall White 1/4 <kuid:1776:300010>
MRR: HO Wall Blue 1/4 <kuid:1776:300011>
MRR: HO Wall Sand 1/4 <kuid:1776:300012>
MRR: N Wall White 1 <kuid:1776:300013>
MRR: N Wall Blue 1 <kuid:1776:300014>
MRR: N Wall Sand 1 <kuid:1776:300015>
MRR: N Wall White 1/2 <kuid:1776:300016>
MRR: N Wall Blue 1/2 <kuid:1776:300017>
MRR: N Wall Sand 1/2 <kuid:1776:300018>
MRR: N Wall White 1/4 <kuid:1776:300019>
MRR: N Wall Blue 1/4 <kuid:1776:300020>
MRR: N Wall Sand 1/4 <kuid:1776:300021>
MRR: O Wall White 1 <kuid:1776:300022>
MRR: O Wall Blue 1 <kuid:1776:300023>
MRR: O Wall Sand 1 <kuid:1776:300024>
MRR: O Wall White 1/2 <kuid:1776:300025>
MRR: O Wall Blue 1/2 <kuid:1776:300026>
MRR: O Wall Sand 1/2 <kuid:1776:300027>
MRR: O Wall White 1/4 <kuid:1776:300028>
MRR: O Wall Blue 1/4 <kuid:1776:300029>
MRR: O Wall Sand 1/4 <kuid:1776:300030>

Ceiling panel splines:

MRR: HO White Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300031>
MRR: HO Black Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300032>
MRR: N White Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300033>
MRR: N Black Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300034>
MRR: O White Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300035>
MRR: O Black Ceiling Panels <kuid:1776:300036>

All files can be filtered using "hoscale, nscale, or oscale". Have fun! :)
 
A few additional items for the Trainz cave and awaiting approval: staircases and wall end caps. Staircases, when used with walls (any), can be configured wide to use banisters or narrow without or a banister to one side if desired. Wall end caps can be used create room separations or combined into columns that match one of the wall sets I uploaded earlier. :)
 
Thank you hack for uploading these. Items, looking forward to trying them out. This entire concept is a great idea. I'm moving into a new condo soon which has a full basement and plenty of room for o scale. I'm thinking that this concept will greatly aid in the planning and not to mention the operation of my layout. I think the only things left are a furnace and water heater.
 
A few model railway assets on the way to the DLS - Complete walls (to enclose the whole baseboard) in single baseboard and double baseboard sizes, a tiled floor (single baseboard sized) and some digholes.

The walls and floor are scaled for OO/HO (4mm - 1ft), the walls are in grey block work and the floor is brown tiles but you may re-skin and release versions with other textures and sizes - see details in the asset licenses.

Other assets to follow.

Edit:

Also uploaded are:

A door so that you can get out of the room, should you want to.
A spline - wood panelling. Scenery (fixed sized) versions to follow.
A Scale ruler object - The first one is in 'N', other scales will be added.

My thanks to 'Hack' for the testing and comments on the ruler asset.

Second Edit:

A scenery version of the baseboard edging (fixed length 720 m = 1 baseboard) has been uploaded together with a minor cosmetic fix to the spline version so they both match. The scenery version will be better in the use of computer system resources, so use this where you can.

Third Edit:

Uploaded in March were the following model railway assets,

The first are 6 (mainly Swiss) railway & tram pictures for you railway room walls.

C+ MR PIC Narrow Tram Picture,<kuid:243828:100314>
C+ MR PIC Train on Mountain Top Picture,<kuid:243828:100313>
C+ MR PIC Blue Train in Snow Picture,<kuid:243828:100312>
C+ MR PIC Pink Pig Picture,<kuid:243828:100311>
C+ MR PIC 3 Tuns Picture,<kuid:243828:100310> This is my local pub - I'm in the picture !
C+ MR PIC Dawlish Picture,<kuid:243828:100308> An old picture, taken near the spot where the sea wall and track washed away this winter.

A full baseboard sized railway room floor - wood planks (with normal map).

C+ MR BBF Wood Planks 1,<kuid:243828:100274>

A series of matching block walling assets to create railway rooms of various sizes.

C+ MR 1BB 2W Corner Grey Block 1,<kuid:243828:100261>
C+ MR 1BB 1W Grey Block 1,<kuid:243828:100260>
C+ MR 1BB 2W Parallel Grey Block 1,<kuid:243828:100259>
C+ MR 1BB 3W Grey Block 1,<kuid:243828:100258>





 
Last edited:
How can we get the simulatortrain assets since the link is dead and eso's routes look funny floating in the air?
Also I am still missing 22alpha assets. It waas stated in the screenshots thread that they were all in the MWG packs, but sadly they are not.
Missing:
175455:100800
175455:100868
175455:100880
175455:100897
Also I did try a google search and got no results.
 
TS2012 - I'm ready to pull my hair out, if I had some left. I am trying to build a layout using the methods in the video from Hminky. I have the room, baseboard, and walls. I want to dig some holes, and then cover them with a spine surface followed by changing the height of the spline to achieve the floor look that Hminky does. I am unable to get the floor surface (spline surface) to drop no matter what I do. The floor (spline surface) stays at the same height as the baseboard. I have watched the video several times, varied the order of the steps involved, and had a stiff drink - I still can't get it to work. Is there a printed tutorial somewhere that I can't find, despite much searching? I must be missing something.

Tia

Willie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top