Route Creation Tips?

Lately I've been wanting to get a little more serious with creating routes. In the past it was just for the heck of it and I never really took my time. Maybe that's why they never turned out quite right. *ahem* Anyhoo, Does anyone have any tips, I guess?
A major problem is, I never really knew quite what I was doing, nor do I have any 'inspiration' at the moment.
For instance, last night I sat down with a nice large sheet of paper and a pencil; in an attempt to plan the route first. I had nothing. I knew I wanted to use a lumber mill and a forestry, but as for placement, scenery, just nothing at all was coming to mind. That part I'll have to figure out on my own, but as for application of the actual ideas; anyone got any tips or suggestions? Any and all are welcome and vastly appreciated.

Keep it simple and start small. We all harbour ambitions of building a 200 mile network but you need to temper that with reality, or you'll burn out and end up with a load of grand, but binned, ideas (trust me!!).

Browse on line for model railway trackplans and see if those are of interest, I'm sure Googling "Logging Model Railroads" would bring up a selection. In addition to the top down plans, look at the screenshots to see how the modellers have applied detail and created little dioramas. Consider investing in track plan books from Kalmbach, plenty of ideas in there, often with sketches of how the scenery would look.

Is there a miniature (model engineering) railroad near where you live? Often these look quite good scaled up to prototype size (8x for a 7.5 inch line) and the plan offers a long run and interesting operation in a relatively small overall area.

Look in the screenshots section here, both the prototype and model railway sections for ideas and inspiration. There's some screens of payware Romanian routes in the Payware section, not my cup of tea but they show how to achieve a realistic looking environment around the tracks.

When the time comes to apply scenery, look to use high quality items such as Ultra Treez and Textures (though not sure if these work in TS2010). Use a subtle blend of texture, adjust the brush density as necessary and the [] keys to swirl the mix.

Route building isn't really something that can be taught, it's learned by experience, making mistakes and starting over.

I hadn't thought of looking up existing blueprints. That's definitely a place to start. Thanks a bunch.
Unfortunately, there is no railroad of any kind where I am; just a track that goes through and that's it, as well as a small yard but for the most part there's truly nothing.


You know, I think I have an idea. I'll take Highland Valley Industries and rather than merely modifying small bits here and there, modify a great portion of it instead; transform it; to a certain degree.

I would suggest as your first layout a simple 'shunting' layout like a small yard, or mine, or even a small terminus station which will allow offer many hours of driving potential but doesn't have to involve exhaustive route creation.

I feel compelled to mention that this won't be my first route; not by a long shot. I've made.... oh man.... like 5-10 total. The kicker though is, none of them are really all that good and were built really just for the fun of building and nothing else.

I fine that I look at a bunch of VERY GOOD routes and try and get a idea of what I want
but I can't seem to get the same essence and then I run out of ideas so it gets put to one side and forgotton
The other trouble I have is the detail its lost on me
Chris Sullivan
NEW ZEALAND

My biggest bane is getting those super fancy ground textures looking just right; so I tend to rely on scenery. Lots of trees....

Also, isn't there a piece of fixed track that acts like an industry, loading and unloading whatever you choose? I thought there was. Sort of need that for my current project area.....

Cameron,

There are all great ideas and thoughts on this to start. Texturing is probably one of the most difficult aspects of route building. Laying track is technical and can be tricky, but getting the textures to blend is difficult. I suggest looking at what others have done in the past. Check out the routes on www.checkrail.com by Dermmy, and those on the DLS by Dave Snow, and George Fisher to gets some ideas for both trackwork and texturing.

But the biggest suggestions I can give you for route building are to observe, experiment, and keep learning. Start small and build up from that point where you might even start over a few times before you get the hang of what you really want. This is the other reason I suggest downloading these routes. They will give you ideas and how-to do things. One of the most helpful things, believe it or not, is taking a break from route building periodically. I find that I'll go great guns on a route then get stale, so rather than completely go stale, I'll drive other routes, poke on the web as I look at maps, pictures, and read rail history accounts to get ideas for my long-term route. Sometimes I'll break from my big projects and work on a smaller one. This break away gives me a chance to refresh and come back again with a renewed energy that allows me to continue building. My current, long term project route, is about 180 miles long and I've worked on this project since early 2005. This route is in its 4th revision where I have removed sections and replaced them with newer and better construction. There are still sections in there that date back to the original route build, but have been rebuilt and retextured again to newer standards.

Regarding industries. Yes, there are some multi-industry new assets which are just that a fixed track that can be configured to create or take in products for you to deliver.

Awesome advice, JC. Here's what I thought I'd do, going into greater detail. I decided to take Highland Valley industries, and kind of convert it, working on small areas at a time. Right now, at the very end of the line (Tip top of the mountain) I'm converting from simple sidings and a turn table to sort of a logging camp. There's a particular route in my head that gave me the ideas, but I'm not sure. I want to say Northbay County but I'm not 100%. The particular scenario is in NG, using the vulcan.
Either way, the thought process behind this, is to practice manipulating what is already there to sort of get an idea on how things come to be, rather than starting from scratch and having no real sense of direction. I'll post some screenshots once it's really taken shape, and/or completed.

cameronhoward said:

My biggest bane is getting those super fancy ground textures looking just right; so I tend to rely on scenery. Lots of trees....

Also, isn't there a piece of fixed track that acts like an industry, loading and unloading whatever you choose? I thought there was. Sort of need that for my current project area.....

Click to expand...

Some textures work well on flat surfaces, and others only look good on hillsides, cliffs, etc. It's trial and error for me.

As for the industry track, use your filter and look for "Mulitple Industry New" (it's in the Objects menu, not Track). I prefer these. Somewhere there's a tutorial explaining how to set them up. It's really a snap, once you get the hang of it.

-Vic

I'll agree 100% on that. Funny how that works.
Anyhoo, I've decided to switch what my goal is. I don't know anything about logging camps, so.... yeah. I do best on abandoned/run down/scrap stuff; so I thought either A, a scrap yard or B a larger, abandoned yard/ factory complex..... something. I'll post some screenshots once it's done. Same area, different thing.

Here are my tips, Cameron.

Since I'm lazy, here's a link to my response the last time a member of the Trainz community asked the same question in April 2013 that you are asking now; here's another link to my answer to a similar question in 2009.

I doubt that there were ever more than a few tens of miles of track anywhere in the world that were built just to build a railroad. Every other mile of track outside of those few tens of miles was built for one purpose--to make money by providing a transportation service. And the way they laid the track and the way the operated the railroad depended upon the transportation services they provided, and the perceived needs of the customers of those services.

In my experience, the better the backstory, the better the route, though there are exceptions. Neary every conceivable question about why, or how something was done in the route should be answerable from the backstory, in order to provide history and context. And the more you know about the area, and the industry or industries you are proposing to model, the better your route will be. Placing the mill (in your original post) in a particular place will make it easier to construct a convincing terrain, and place other features realistically. Placing it in a particular time will make it easier to have other details, like the sizes and types of locomotives, and passenger and freight cars, and even shed light on operations. A small, backwoods shortline is more likely to be served by a mixed train, than by the 20th Century Limited.

ns

cameronhoward said:

Awesome advice, JC. Here's what I thought I'd do, going into greater detail. I decided to take Highland Valley industries, and kind of convert it, working on small areas at a time. Right now, at the very end of the line (Tip top of the mountain) I'm converting from simple sidings and a turn table to sort of a logging camp. There's a particular route in my head that gave me the ideas, but I'm not sure. I want to say Northbay County but I'm not 100%. The particular scenario is in NG, using the vulcan.
Either way, the thought process behind this, is to practice manipulating what is already there to sort of get an idea on how things come to be, rather than starting from scratch and having no real sense of direction. I'll post some screenshots once it's really taken shape, and/or completed.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea. Actually when I did my first experiments in Surveyor, I actually took other people's routes and "pulled them apart" and practiced laying track to get an idea how to do it. For me it was 1000-plus-percent better than MSTS ever was. Anyway, once I saw how stuff worked, I went on and built my own routes. I actually had a plan in my head from when I first built part of the railroad as N-scale layout. Two iterations later and for other reasons, I found the virtual world much better. Anyway, the route has been un-mothballed and moved forward after sitting idle for about 2 years.

One of things that helps "jell" a route together is having a purpose and a backstory. The purpose keeps things on track, no pun intended so the theme stays the same, and the purpose gives the line a reason for existing. You'll see what I mean later on as you build a bigger route, but starting where you are is the best thing. And just remember, always have fun at it. When things become a drag, walk away and do something else.

John

Something I like to do is expriment. There's a few things I've played with a lot that people haven't seen (Man I loved that time I went to see if I could make the Mt Cleveland Volcano in Trainz, it did work, but it lacked so much in textures, that there was no real way it could have been reality). I'm somebody who basically is crazy and just let's craziness flow on to the boards, thus routes generally don't go far, but I have had a few that might one day make it somewhere.
Check this out, it provides some information that might be of some use!
http://railfan-photoshop.weebly.com/something-for-those-newbies.html

I know, this one is for a video, but I use this rule for pratically everything I do.
http://railfan-photoshop.weebly.com/believeable-videos.html

As mentioned before, looking at other routes, and then disecting their makings can really show one the inner-workings of a good route.
For me, I really need to learn to start small, but dang its so hard.
Probably the two hardest things you're going to encounter is texturing, and placing grasses, shrubs, flowers, weeds, and trees realistically. The best creators can put all 4 of those together, and make a sight you wouldn't believe.
Also note that copy and paste is a wonderful tool! As routes get bigger, you'll find zillions of uses for the wonderful thing called copy and paste.
And always remember to interject some of you into the route, I mean what good is the route if the route is not for you? It's no good at all. A fine Trainz content creator once told me "Create for Yourself and not others." That basically means that when you create for others you are going to get burnt out and not want to do it anymore. Another thing is, Trainz IS NOT NOR WILL EVER BE a competition on who's a better creator! As long as you remember those, you'll be having hours of fun!

ALWAYS START SMALL, then go big !

I'm absolutely blown away at the responses I'm getting. Truly amazing. Thank you, all of you.

One thing I would like to share, more of just as a story if nothing else; but three years ago I took a sheet of plywood and paper, then taped the paper down to the board. I sat down at my card table, took my ruler (mainly for use as a straight edge) and I put together a route I called "Dynex Universal". Best layout I've ever made. Yeah it really shambles in comparison to other routes; looking at it for what it is.... it wasn't all bad. I will say this though. Trees. Trees holy moly trees. Every space that didn't have something had trees. Thank God for copy and paste.
And, actually, It started out as simply adding on to Harbor Master, but as time went on I used the actual Harbor Master section less and less; to not at all; so I ended up deleting the harbor master sections and keeping just Dynex Universal.
I think after I go back into the swing of things, I'll see if I can't use Dynex to some extend; in terms of the blueprints. But, as for now, modifying then creating my own seems to be the route I take with everything.
Thank you all so much. I'm very grateful.

Sorry if this one is already mentioned:
Tips and Tricks in Surveyor.

Personal tip:
Stay patience. Rome was not build in a day, neither is your route.
A good route takes time, a lot of time. I am not talking hours; I am talking weeks, months, maybe years.

oknotsen said:

Sorry if this one is already mentioned:
Tips and Tricks in Surveyor.

Personal tip:
Stay patience. Rome was not build in a day, neither is your route.
A good route takes time, a lot of time. I am not talking hours; I am talking weeks, months, maybe years.

Click to expand...

Good advice. I've been working on my "Socal Overload" route for two years. Just saved a few days ago as version 3.0. Onward! (Version 2.0 is on the Black Pages now...)

Vic

I've got some screenshots to share!
http://imgur.com/a/6GHST/embed#0
All comments/suggestions welcome.

Nice start! Keep up the great work.

John

thanks for the feedback!