Snow High Valley Distr Ctr (High Resolution 950x532) Approx

Flaam High Mountaiin areas

Evening all,

Been busy downloading some new Cliff Splines from Dangavel, amazing artist and creator he is with his Uintah Railway. Thank you sir for the awesome assets you made for us.....

Working on fixing about 550 Faulty Assets, that'll take the rest of this year and probably next LOL....WIP for sure...And I am for now staying with T:ANE.

Below is a load of Grain headed to the ports below thru some mighty canyons.

The from the highest part of Route as we cross the great divide and see the steep Valley floor below.

I have lots of Texture fixing to do, but for now, we must make sure our Rails are where we need them to be and at the right Gradient %

I plan on greening the floors in the passes, it just too drab for me.....So it will look quite a lot different once I recolor and plant this area with some type of trees and Scrub suitable for the this high altitude area.......For now it is quite Rocky and barren landscape.......

Might need to push the Ridges out a little more in this narrow area.......

These switchers due a swell job, and they have ample horsepower for my needs........

Here is there ID and Loco number.....I have to research this type of Power to understand what it offers........

And as we cross the Valley from lower level Road to somewhat higher, you can see some Winter Snow cover, I added this to the tops of Mountain I made, and if it works OK, I will probably add the level lower and more Snow, to give more color variety to our Scene.......I really like these Gondolas too.......I think they fit in just about right for this European Route.

That'll due for now......Thank you for coming by..........
 
A Blessed Sunday to all,


Been away Camping for the last time this year.......And it was great, weather was perfect....

So now to what have I been up too, well I got some more European Locomotives and Rolling Stock off DSL by some Polish Asset makers.....And they work nice on my Routes for those parts of the world....

Fixing more of my Faulty Assets and throwing out the ones I can't fix with Mesh and Re skin is not the same as Parent errors, that T:ANE throws back at me.......LOL Only about 540 errors to go.......

Also downloaded a huge file from Sir Dan Gavels Cliffs, he made for the Unitah Route.....Thank You Dangavel for your great creations.....I plan on using them for Maria's Pass once I learn how to position them.

As per Maria's Pass, I have been redrawing lots of the Farm Crop Fields, and re leveling other parts of the Route.. Adding small Branch lines off the main lines, and one farely large branch line to serve the Farmers located in the boon dock parts of the Route.

And I did a bypass Line of an intersecting Main to another part of the central part of the Main lines........This is by way of Tunnel Track coming off and going under the mainline, and then coming into the other side via the Throat end of long sort Yard, and it will allow, turnaround moves both Freight and Power only moves to bypass a bottleneck area, where 2 Tracks come into one single main and lots of interchange Tracks between two working Mains that intersect each other........

Did some relocation of few creeks in the area, and cut back on some others......Just for my taste......nothing wrong with original layout.....I am one of those crazy folks that likes to tinker around with someone else's work to allow different set of ideas and what not.........I get an idea when I trans versing their Route and put it into motion if I can........

Now to the pictures of today.......

We are on the Aussie Merge Route and running some night operations........

It's 1:00AM in the morining on a Cold Winter Night.......Running thru Aussie Land part of the Route, this is coming into Waldavalle I think.

We are coming thru with some loads to drop off..........

We are going to move Cement loads and Rail Gons in the wee hours of the morning.......It's quit in the town, except for the sound of Steam hard at work here.

Look like we are on way thru the mountains to the next point of drop off. Weather is fair for now, but it's probably about -10 degrees.

I like this Caboose, and I hear they make some Great Coffee and Soups for cold nights like these.........All my Trains get a Caboose..........I like to see how the back end of the Train is looking, and these Cabooses handle my needs nicely.

CN7700's pulling thru a local yard.........We are just got our manifest load, and ready to take the main, Papers are in order...

I sure hope the Engineer remembers to turn on his head light.....?

Restricting Signal ahead, but will maintain our 50 MPH......No other opposing trains tonight, as long as we maintain our speed.Pitch Black out there tonight.

Wasn't kidding about the Pitch Black ,can't see more than 40 feet ahead of you,,,,,But you sure can see the yards out here they are brightly lit,,,,,just as it should be.......

And this is what it looks like as we pull in from the dark mysterious Canyons of some very high elevation.........

A Sad side note folks, I lost a good friend due to Alzheimer's, Veteran, and wonderful person to hang out with, He will be buried in a Military Cemetery this next week......It's been probably over 5 years since he was diagnosed, and this is a terrible disease to watch take someone's mind away over time......

I pray none of you ever have to deal with horrid disease, and that one day Science will find a cure.....

I bid you all a good week ahead.......And as always, thank you for coming by to visit here........
 
Good Morning all,

This weekend I will attend the Services of Dear lost friend, Veteran for our Country who lost his life to 5 yr battle of Alzheimer....I will miss him, but I know he is much better place.

So on to Trainz......You recall that I harp a lot on backups for Trainz files, well, again, last night while working on Maria's Pass doing some heavy Texture Color changes, I went to go save revision number 36....And it saved OK, except as I always, I look over the map and became aghast as I see 2/3's of the tiles are blank and elevation is gone! What happened here?

Well, one of the cardinal sins here, I did too much area without saving each section.....And I know better.....I made this mistake a couple of times before......

And now the wild card for this catastrophe, carbonate was backing up 60k of files while I was working on the Route.....Again I know better, and it was a dumb move on my part......

Now there is a light at the end of tunnel, fortunately for me, I had a good working copy of the 3 hrs before I did the all this work.......

What does this mean in the end result, I lost 3 hours of tedious Texture Changes, but now I have my work from the earlier part of the evening and not 2/3 blank tiles, and months of lost work.

I maintain 3 backups if not 4 copies of current Route Changes, and in this Route, I have made 36 changes in the last 4-5 months, lots of tedious Track, waterway and other cool changes......

So the message here, keep 3 or more files for backup, and keep external backup's as well........I know some of you have lost your Drives, Computers etc........It has happened to me as well......It's no fun and your stomach just sinks when it happens at most unexpected times, well, there is no good time, As I found out last night........

So enough on that, lets go see Maria's Pass here.......

NS Power is dropping off some farm equipment as we move down the Branch.

Looks like we broke a Coupler here, so our Conductor is bringing one done to do a Change Out.

Huge Factory Operation in Metals here, I think they handle Aluminum.

Looking out across the Valley here, I plan on adding some different types of Trees here and few other things.

Coupler repaired and we are on our way with mixed loads including MOW of way worker cars and Kitchens....Lots of MOW work scheduled this year.

Got my Caboose here, it's a good day with beautifull weather.....I also plan to do some Snow level work on this Route for the mountain tops.....

This Factory has Electrical Sub Station to make sure it has lots of Raw Power for Metal work and fabrication that is done here....I made a few track changes, and did another way of approach Track from the Right to clear up a bottle neck with shunting Loads and Empties.

This bridge now sets about 15 feet higher, in fact I raised all the Bridges higher.

Coming thru a very nice area with lots of Lakes and Rivers running thru the area.......

Moving some Coal loads into a Power Station.......

I think that'll do for today.....Have good week all........
 
Union Pacific Roseville Yds / Flaam Route Changes etc.

Good day everyone,

Visiting in Sacramento now after laying to rest a WWII Veteran that passed from Alzheimer's. He had a good life, and we will miss him. It was very sobering to visit a National Memorial and here the sound of Taps as he is interned to rest with his Fellow Brothers and Sisters.

Today is a day of rest for us with our good friends, so I decided to take a few minutes and post some more pictures......

While up here, I got to see Union Pacific Roseville Yards, what a huge Yard it is.......Sorry I wasn't able to take some pictures, but here is the link to this remarkable Yard. I saw some very interesting Rolling Stock, and have no Idea what the items where, set to say, they were probably from an era before I was born.......

https://www.google.com/search?clien...1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.3d4HF83tvXc

I saw the Black Snow Blower on one end the Yard as we drove thru Downtown Roseville.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/union-pacific-railroad-roseville

http://www.internationalrailfair.com/rvyard.html

Roseville is quint little Town and recommend if your ever up this way, come see this City:

Roseville is the largest city in Placer County, California, United States, in the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of 2016, the US Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 132,683 Interstate 80 runs through Roseville and State Route 65 runs through part of the northern edge of the city. Wikipedia

https://www.google.com/search?q=Roseville+Ca&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1


Over to Flaam route here, this area is the new Oil Refinery up in the high mountain area, off the side of our Dams.

Running TC3 here, they are great engines and pull their weight for the heavy Tankers that will need to move.

A grain Train runs across the Flaam Plains, Cold out here as we pass into the Fall time of year. Checking Grades and Lights etc for now.........Textures will change quite a bit, and I plan on adding some Snow to the Mountain Tops too.......I want to get some more Contrast than this Drab Gray Granite look.......

In this area, I'm working in Wire View, and it allows me to change the elevation and place products more easily as the computer doesn't have to try and make Color adjustments all the time as I'm modelling the area........One of things I do when I can, is just lay out all the pieces I need for the Job a t hand, can't always do it like this, but when I have a clear vision of what I want, This works very well.

Another view of the area that will be transformed.....Also, while I think about it, another reason to lay all the Assets out, is too see if there enough room here for what I want to do. And in this particular case, I found the Hills where not cut back far enough for me, So I ended up cutting another 30-40 feet into the Hillsides. After that, most everything fit.

Moving Gons and Tankers around here to see if I have enough Track Capacity, and the right pass thru Team Tracks.

Don't let all this open area fool you, it will be full of Machinery and more Rail Tracks.

Another Wire View of newly placed assets our in place. And I am very happy with the way this is working out.......

Only thing that didn't appear right, was the color on this Oil Refinery so I replaced with something of a more suitable Color.......I do want to use this one in another smaller area by itself and will look better isolated....I might try to Clone the Asset and modify the colors a bit.....That is for my bucket list........

Dragging some Gons out for transfer........

And after getting across the large divide, we prepare to go into the deep gorges and narrow Canyons. This will be the last of the Sun for quite a while........We are up pretty high here and it freezes at night, so we have to use lots of Switch Warmers in the Winter time, otherwise we have a big problem......

Thanks for dropping by.....Enjoy your weekend.
 
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KCS Hilliam Sub & Riv R.R. merge

Good evening Friends,

Been a long day driving back home from Northern Ca.........But save it to say, it's good to be home tonight......Sad Note, the LA Dodgers couldn't pull it off tonight, and the Stats said they probably wouldn't either, just too many Games down in the final playoffs........

Anyway, here are some Photo's of KCS Hilliam Sub & Riv R.R
....

It doesn't show as clear as when your in Surveyor, but the if you look carefully there is Green Lamp in the middle of 2nd Light Quadrant, and last one on bottom is a Lunar Light. Which is really cool.. I patched some remarks on Lunar Lights from the link below..........

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/62494.aspx

The aspect of a Lunar signal is a bluish white light...
The indication is proceed at restricted speed.
GCOR rule 9.1.11

Most of the time you find a Lunar at yard entrance or sidings, it is used to control access to a yard from a main line, and vice versa.

and

lunars on csx basically mean to stop then proceed after getting clearance from the dispatcher. CSX also uses them for when they have trains playing follow the leader on the main.
stay safe

And here is another Lunar aspect leading into 3 track main, and basically you don't fly thru here, since there are several Switch Puzzles ahead, plus you are verifying the Aspect with Local Dispatch for the Diamonds ahead......Ready to stop around the corner if needed.....It helps keep heavy traffic corridors moving but at a safe speed too accommodate changes with some many main Tracks merging ahead here.........

Just got the ok to pull our String of Full Oil Tankers out of the yard, we had to line up about 6-7 switches to get the Green instead of Restricting aspect, even-though will maintain 15-20 MPH. Dont want to derail on Curve, it could prove fatal and Environmentally not good for us either.......

Putting my Con Rail power into heavy haul mode here as a OIL CAN special headed to the Power Plant down South of here.

Got out of the yard, and head thru a River Swing Bridge here.....No Ships at the moment, but if we did have one, it would be 30 min delay at the minimum, the Bridge Master keeps in contact with our dispatch to Coordinate our Consists movements 24/7.......Ships have some type of Schedule but like the Railroad, conditions in Voyage, Weather Etc, cause delays and schedule changes, AKA nature of the beast.......LOL

A long peek of our Mainlines going to the River overpass in a late afternoon Sun.....Lots and Lots of work to complete on this Merged Route..........

A view of the Oil Refinery and some relayed tracks, I also need to drop in another Tile in the middle so this will look right, maybe 2 Tiles, but that will come after I finish my Track laying first.........OOPS, I just realized, I had an issue with some items on the missing Tile, so I had to delete it out to clear the Assets leftover from the merge........

Up ahead here, see the Diamonds and lots of Signals too allow for safe movement between double Track mains, and a bypass Track for switching on the left here.

Signal Tower was put in here to make sure this area does not bottleneck.......

A junk Train takes some Caterpillar Blades headed to Construction Camp........There's a hill cutting project for a large developer we service......

Across the River Safely and we are on our way to another Refinery for processing the Oil to Gas product.......

That's it for today.......Thanks for coming by.........
 
Evening All,

Where has this month gone, guess we are all very busy in our lives. Wishing you a Happy Halloween, and enjoy your Candy.

Took some NS power and made a run thru the Mountains, during a light Snow Storm.

Coming Round the Mountain and all is good. I plan to change the type of trees here and put in some different ones......Density is an issue with my Graphics card, so I plan to do some thinning out.

Some of Dave Snows Tankers here........Really nice work by him..........

Looking out thru the Cab here as we head thru the frosty air.

Snow hasn't come down to this level yet, Slush is the order of the day for now.

Cold, Foggy and Chilly as we meander thru the high mountain passes. So far are Signals are working great....

Got a break from the weather now, wait 5 mins and it can change in a heart beat.......

Milepost 1198 and the Clouds just came in over the top of the Mountains and Snow is coming down really hard now......We slow the Train down......for Safety reasons, it is harder to see the Signal Aspects now.

We made it thru the pass now....And headed down into the Lower Valleys.....Will see how far we get in today's on off Snowy weather.

Crossing the many Rivers in the area, and there are a lot.....They really make the Route look good, I plan adding some Shrub to some the Water Edges, Reeds, Water Lilly's Etc.

Been very busy working on our New Sand and Gravel, and Coal Operation....Well, there is more, but you'll have to wait for the Pictures to see how I did it.....Been tooling around for last week on this Quarry area, adding some of this, and some that type assets.........

That'll do for now.........Watch for the Ghosts tomorrow........LOL
 
Happy Nov and some more Maria's Pass Winter Snowstorm

Morning all,

Hard to believe it is Nov, and thanksgiving and Xmas will soon be here, another quick year.......

So I have been reworking my Sand and Gravel and Coal Ore Mining project, I was a very bad Blue,,,,,up to 4:00AM tinkering around, actually I think it was partly Mr's Blue's fault, she was trying to find me some snow shoes for a Trip coming up late this year in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and I really do hope there will be some Snow there to great us.......

Anyway the pictures below are during a Snow Storm, and our train is coming thru Belton Station at a reduced speed so as not chill the waiting passengers anymore than they are now, at .....15 degrees BRRRRRRRRR!

Tracks are good, Switch warmers are working, and our MOW's are out there watching key points of the Railroad for any Stress fractures due to low Temps in the area....Think of Alaska RR's....,Man that is one tuff environment to be in.......

Storm has abated for now.....And if I recall correctly this is the Empire Builder really cool colors too boot. A fan favorite I think among many........

https://www.gnrhs.org/75th_anniversary.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=Empire+Builder+passenger+Train&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

https://www.american-rails.com/builder.html

Our front passes quick moving Freight on the 2nd Mainline here.......Speed is great on the Mains today, no defects so far....

Enteresting Power move on the other side here, wonder where these fella's our headed too....Parts unknown.......But the Dispatchers know where......LOL

Inside our Empire Builder Cab, wow, have things changed from this build, amazing when you think about it, One fact remains though, this baby, if maintaned and we do! Simple and efficient, reliable and never gives us a problem....You take care of her, and she take care of you.........Beautiful Blue Skies ahead for now.....

Oh and see the Draw cord for the whistle on the Right, like a Lamp Shade Cord, only heavier Rope.......Nice Touch I think.....Kudos to the Asset Builder on this one....!

Hmm....Looks like we have some Rare Switch power going thru here....I think these are 1500Horse.....I know they can pull, I used to see similar pull some amazing hustler moves and short moves from the Port to LA Yards....Do to their Low Gearing, these guys can put out the work........We got a Green/Clear lets get the move on boys, I hear the Hot Empire Builder is in the area today..........Mgt wants no Delay to the Empire Builder, it has lots of VIP's on memorial run today.......

I dropped in some links on this Engine, but I couldn't find a lot on it...........Hope these links will help........I never saw these run in my area, or at least I don't remember seeing them here?

https://www.google.com/search?q=Sou...IHXj3Aa0Q9QEwAnoECAMQCA#imgrc=f_FxhqQOV5L86M:

Southern Pacific HS18aT4 Phase 1 'Heavy Switcher'. Built by Carelton Engine Works.

https://www.google.com/search?clien...tLbeAhWkFzQIHUiDAq8QvgUILigB&biw=1535&bih=741

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_switcher

Oh so nice.............Glad I was able to get a hold these SP Swithers......they are special.....Look how the Cab is set in the middle for visual clearance.

Swooose and Empire Flys thru at 65-70 Mph....Traffic didn't wait more than 2 mins here.......Lucky them, wait till one of our long Freight Drags comes thru......

Between cities here , we get to see lots of Open Fields and Silos etc, definitely Farm Country.......Nice area....

Nice Front Shot here as we pass another Freight on a very busy corridor here......

Well time to run, got a lot of Honey Does on tap for today, lots of Maintenance items as well..........

You all have a great day, and thanks for peeking in here........Much more to show you on my Sand and Grave project......I promise you'll see the pictures soon.....
 
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Freight on the Midnight Run Aussie Merge Route

Good Morning all,

Well the most important thing, our Day Light Saving ended, so now my day becomes much shorter in the afternoon, and a whole lot darker after 4:00PM, I hate time changes, it serves no good purpose for me........OK, Let's get on to the fun stuff...

Over on Aussie Merge, we have late night Freighter rolling thru the middle of night, while the towns folk are fast asleep.......

Coming thru the open Range, we pass a Clear, and I really like these signals, by design they show Right or left switch designation with White very bright lights.

Ah, I see a late night Passenger Train getting ready to make a morning Run, for now, it will get Fuel, Food and a Crew in a few hours.........

Dispatcher Office is alive and well, as the Crew Change has just occurred, and orders are being signed off and printed for the next days work orders, well it is the next day, it's just after midnight now. Cold and overcast but no rain or snow for them moment.

I really like this Silver Livery here,,,,,And they run great and sound great........A lone light or two is burning in the midnight evening at one of the Freight Depots in the upper Rail Yard.

Ah ha, someone is up burning the midnight oil as we pass by....Maybe they are watching a good movie, playing a card game.

Little Store here, sign says Cheap Cigs, wow, back then they were, not so anymore these days.......Good head of Steam on the Passenger Freight.

Bright engine light shines ahead as our Train forges thru a dark and cold prairie here........In the far end, you can see what looks light Nat Gas Tanks, chilling on a Cool Evening....

A distant View from a hill top, a great looking Smoke Plume rises into the Cold Night air as we look far from across the wide divide.

Looks like we have Burlington Old time work car here, wonder if it Carried the mail, I bet it did, but don't quote me.......I have been wrong before......

It's hard to see, but we have lots of crossing Tracks here on this multi Mainline Route, they allow easy access into the City

And for the final event, I have another Steam Train running thru the night, with lots of Freight in the night, C&O Steamer, might be one of K&L Fine Steam Engines I bought.......

Their equipment runs great and looks fantastic.......Always happy to buy trains from their outfit.......

Well, got lots to do on short day of Sunshine, so see you all a bit later..........

Thanks for coming by to see me, and all of you have a very blessed day too..........
 
Love your screenshots and the story that goes along with them:)

I hate time changes, it serves no good purpose for me
That I can totally agree, I see no purpose in it whatsoever, I just see it where you are tired more than before...



I have been working on a route, so far I haven't decided to even release it yet as I'm always changing something, or adding to it:hehe:


Peace,
 
Love your screenshots and the story that goes along with them:)


That I can totally agree, I see no purpose in it whatsoever, I just see it where you are tired more than before...



I have been working on a route, so far I haven't decided to even release it yet as I'm always changing something, or adding to it:hehe:


Peace,

:wave: Good day sir,

Thanks for coming buy and nice commentary too.

You know as I post pictures each time, I want to add a little story, sometimes it works, and sometimes I come up kind of empty, or I guess they call it writers Cramp..........

As for the Time Change Law.

I was listening to a radio show today while out on drive back home, and there was a representative of the Legislature talking about what it was, and how it runs nationwide, and come to find out, this Vote is too give the legislature the approval to institute the change in the law and submit too the Federal Government.......Apparently because it was voted in by the Citizens the process of changing has to re-approved by our vote tomorrow.......And it is multi step process......So maybe someday, will get rid of the time change? But at least they are following the letter of the LAW.

Was wondering what you've been up to as of late, sounds cool with new Route, good luck with your creation. Can't wait to see it......
 
Your welcome:)

That would be nice if it was removed, as I personally don't see a purpose in it anymore, but that's just from my view.. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the voting on that says..

As for the route part, if you want, I can post some screenshots of it. Right now I'm trying to get like 5-10 sessions to go with it since its 40 miles long from Point A to Point B, with a few branchlines.:)
 
We like Pictures of New Routes in Progress

Your welcome:)

That would be nice if it was removed, as I personally don't see a purpose in it anymore, but that's just from my view.. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the voting on that says..

As for the route part, if you want, I can post some screenshots of it. Right now I'm trying to get like 5-10 sessions to go with it since its 40 miles long from Point A to Point B, with a few branch lines.:)

Yup on the Votes, it will be interesting too see which way it goes.........Tomorrow, I mean today, Wow it is already the bewitching hour here, I need to get to bed........:hehe:

:udrool: For the pictures absolutely, whenever you get some time......Great to see Pictures of your Route Building...........A picture is worth a 1000 Words in my neck of the woods.

And I think it speaks highly of you that take the time to add Sessions to your Route!

;) In my estimation, for someone that hasn't downloaded the Route before, it helps personalize it and you get "Tour De Force" of what the Creator was thinking when he put it together, for me it's a great educational tool when I download a Route.
 
Yup on the Votes, it will be interesting too see which way it goes.........Tomorrow, I mean today, Wow it is already the bewitching hour here, I need to get to bed........:hehe:

:udrool: For the pictures absolutely, whenever you get some time......Great to see Pictures of your Route Building...........A picture is worth a 1000 Words in my neck of the woods.

And I think it speaks highly of you that take the time to add Sessions to your Route!

;) In my estimation, for someone that hasn't downloaded the Route before, it helps personalize it and you get "Tour De Force" of what the Creator was thinking when he put it together, for me it's a great educational tool when I download a Route.
I already beaten you to the bed part, as after I sent my post, and done a few other things, I went to bed:hehe:

Anyway, with the picture request, here are a few.. most of the locomotives are going to be changed to better ones

9dBeCcR.jpg

jqSpomM.jpg



And of course, can't forget the seasonal changes

GLIXsFw.jpg

flZe2Dl.jpg

77uOg0P.jpg

r9XLilG.jpg



Enjoy!
 
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by hiawathamr

I already beaten you to the bed part, as after I sent my post, and done a few other things, I went to bed:hehe:

Anyway, with the picture request, here are a few.. most of the locomotives are going to be changed to better ones
=========================================================================

Wow.....I like it already, especially the Snow Scene........

And the Fall Colors look great since that means it is Seasonal.........I have to remember to use Seasonal Trees when I plant on my Routes.........One of things I want to do on Marias Pass is check the Date and see if there change of Colors for fall and Winter, at the moment, I think I have it in Spring Date selected at the moment.

I have kept these pictures to work from, someday maybe I want to try and make this type scene below, (First picture) on a Route,

I really like unusual Rock Formations that catch the eye!

In this Photo I have no idea where it is from, but I belief this might be a old Volcano that collapsed, not sure, but isn't it amazing too see. And what Rain and Water and Wind corrosion have done over time to what I think is Softer Rock?

For Marias Pass, we have tall, not as tall as these, but I think I want to paste Snow over the top half or 1/3 top of the Mountains to give some color variety as a nice contrast from White tops to Green midriff area, then the lower end can be Darker more rough looking Rocky area...Etc. Now if I can do it, that's the Kicker, it's one thing to dream about what the Minds eye can create, totally another if that person can make it come to fruition......But at least I can dream on and see what happens.......

This is more like what I want to do with Striking White and Rough Scary Ridges of Granite or whatever sticking out thru the Gentle Snow, I say that with much respect. I sure some folks have tried to hike these rough looking mountains, and well, might not have made it too to the top for one reason or another. But this picture is so Striking when you look at it from a distance......

Sorry no Trains seen, I know there must be some tracks close......These might even be part of the Colorado Rockies, sorry Folks, I'm just not sure. But I picked this up from somewhere........


Looks really good.. hiawathamr..Thanks for Sharing.......
 
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by hiawathamr

I already beaten you to the bed part, as after I sent my post, and done a few other things, I went to bed:hehe:

Anyway, with the picture request, here are a few.. most of the locomotives are going to be changed to better ones
=========================================================================

Wow.....I like it already, especially the Snow Scene........

And the Fall Colors look great since that means it is Seasonal.........I have to remember to use Seasonal Trees when I plant on my Routes.........One of things I want to do on Marias Pass is check the Date and see if there change of Colors for fall and Winter, at the moment, I think I have it in Spring Date selected at the moment.

I have kept these pictures to work from, someday maybe I want to try and make this type scene below, (First picture) on a Route,

I really like unusual Rock Formations that catch the eye!

In this Photo I have no idea where it is from, but I belief this might be a old Volcano that collapsed, not sure, but isn't it amazing too see. And what Rain and Water and Wind corrosion have done over time to what I think is Softer Rock?


Looks really good.. hiawathamr..Thanks for Sharing.......
Thank you for your kind words; I do try to make it worth download:)

I'm just going to say, making seasonal routes isn't an easy task, as you are pretty much limited in assets you can used and such. After this route, I think I plan to do a summer one in TRS19 and see how that turns out. If worse comes to worse, you can always go back to TANE they say lol.

I'd say it was a once an active volcano, just by the looks of it, but not 100% sure as I didn't study that kind of things when I was in school:hehe:. I will say though, it does look really peaceful.

Anyway, your welcome!
 
Thank you for your kind words; I do try to make it worth download:)

I'm just going to say, making seasonal routes isn't an easy task, as you are pretty much limited in assets you can used and such. After this route, I think I plan to do a summer one in TRS19 and see how that turns out. If worse comes to worse, you can always go back to TANE they say lol.

I'd say it was a once an active volcano, just by the looks of it, but not 100% sure as I didn't study that kind of things when I was in school:hehe:. I will say though, it does look really peaceful.

Anyway, your welcome!

:wave: Thank you sir, and as per TANE vs TRS19, I kind of think, and I don't want to be too critical about the Versions, but when I moved from TS-12 to TANE it was not an easy task, because of the increased Error Checking, the change of Game Engine vs ARN and other longer processes that we use to be able to do, along with many older Assets that simply looked horrid or didn't work at all.

;) With that said, I think it somewhat of similar situation with T:ANE vs TRS19, with changed software, unexpected things happen, and you will generally give up some, or several things for the greater good of the enhanced newer Software. I would say this is A-Typical just like the newer versions of MAC OS X/Win10 issues that we have all experienced. I'm especially keen with Database issues with Windows and other Software programs, it drove me banana's especially when I had to give up my Old Home Grown Database Programs, which I loved and admired so much.

I think that is the same here in the respect that as a Company Up Versions it's Software, there are going to be Scripts, Assets, and other things that will not work, or need to upgraded to work in the new environment. It becomes as they say, the Dealer's Choice, and in that vein of thought, then ultimately the we, the consumer, have a selection of Choice here.

For me, I like right where I am now with T:ANE, as even after a year and 1/2 of use, I am still learning about T:ANE's Quirks and dislikes for certain Assets.

The 64k question then comes into play here: how long, how far back version wise can a company write the new software to be Backward compatible, and then you need to ask Bill Gates and Windows Software Writers, how that has worked out for them over the course of years. So at the least, I have to say it is a very Slippery Slope Development wise........

The other side of this problem area, you have Asset builders who do things quite differently when they build items, and this causes problems too, but that is the nature of the Beast, so in the end game, we do the best we can with what we have. And I as a consumer, Game Player etc, I am grateful for all the Assets provided, without which we wouldn't have as near much the great toys to add to our Routes.
 
Good Evening all,

Spent part of my day with the Dentist, now that is over, and mouth feels more human, time to get some Pics in here for you all.

So before we talk about that, will just touch a bit here on "Timber Ridge Line" Ver 2.6 by Author Klinger, so now that I have the Route Downloaded and set to play on, I needed to check my Assets for D&RGW and RGS which according to the Author have run Narrow Gauge (3 Foot Gauge), even though this is Dual Gauge Route, I figured I didn't have enough of the right NG assets, like a heavy Rail Crane on Flatcar and several Combines, so I went thru and looked for some item on DLS and found a few....Now I need to put them in the Route and start running the Rails.....Such an exciting Route to run on.....

Downloaded some Wikipedia info too, so I can understand more of this famous RR did in the last 110 years......Pretty amazing when you think about what they went thru with Financial, and War issues almost to the Brink of disaster in some cases! Enough for this.....

Lets hop over to FLaam Route and look at my Oil Refinery Center up in the high mountains.

Alright so in this overhead, you'll see the Lakes and Dams above where the heavy Ice and Rain flows end up, to give nice pristine water to Residents all through the mountains here into as far as the seaport below, about 35 miles away more or less......

The refinery was built when i saw some opening land in the rugged mountain passes and Canyon area, it only necessitated digging out another 100 Feet of low hills to accomodate what I needed and viewed as perfect working area near the main lines.....We have 30 different storage tanks for different Oil and Gas items......

It took quite a while to find the buildings and run the Rails where we could do fills and runarounds with our Tanker Cars, and not get stuck in one end or the other here. We could had one way in and out, but sometimes I prefer multi Loop pattern when I can get it within the confines of medium size area. What is hard, is getting those Curves just right, and not too tight for the locomotives.......

Here are the Gas Storage on the left, mixed Oil and Gas in the middle, and small Refinery on the Right with Torch burn offs....And you can see a string of Cars I pulled in for testing. Because of all the different routes in here, I signaled it to the max for safety purposes, you have lots of Blind Curves behind the Tanks, I don't want any head collisions occurring......

Across the Lake, here is a front view.....I need to redo the Texture on Bottom left, it does work....But that's OK, it did before I made elevation changes, and the cuts for the lake changed this from a top view to Side view it classed with the other color here....No big thing, I'll blend out with a better pattern and color........Who said you get this done in a week.....LOL

A side overhead view here, I think you can really see how I rounded the Tracks thru and around all the Tank Farms here.

Shunting empties back in here to get filled today. And the Grade if I recall is 1.5 to 2.00% just for a short distance and then it flattens out....Didn't plan it this steep, but it just worked that way.........You know how it is..........I have an old Steel Crane in the back to load our Scrap Metal from Construction and Re mods on going all the time with Oil Center....Takes 2 Gondolas to fill up on Spur.......Try to make this area interesting.........

Back view on the side here so you can see the rails reflected better, and get an idea of how I made it all work.....You see it comes into a Throat at the front, with dedicated approach track off the main, so there is no following the main, when load of Rakes of several Cars with load/empties etc. Mainline passenger Trains, can skate right on buy, and we don't effect them, as long as we have their Schedule......

Back of the other side here with empty gons for lots of Scrap metal, old machinery, pipes from wells etc. See we have portable hydraulic heavy lift Crane here all the time, there is plenty to do on Re mods and Engine replacements etc in this industrial yard, be it said, time is money, and time waits for no one, not even the busy Railroad, so it is on point that we have our Tools, equipment when and where we need it for Critical Repairs, maintenance etc. You know the Drill.....Especially in these altitudes where we could get Snowed or Rained in......Got to think ahead here.

Another way to put it into terms of understanding, our community etc depends heavily on the Railroad, and sometimes, lots of times, we can get thru when Trucks, Ships might not be able too. Just ask Alaskan Railroad how they work in the Cold Winters....I have watched many of their History Movies on TV.....Simply a concerted, down to earth, no BS dedication to JOB #1 up there..........

Recall I said I had this yard signaled to the max, well the 3-4 Dispatchers here in upper Story have control of all these signals plus the mainline all the way down to the Port areas. For now, and that will change, as their are other others that will have dense industry and need Local Dispatch to handle the Freight and passenger movement efficiently up and down the mountain.......I will see to that, you can count on it......It's called a master plan, be pro active, not reactive, keep ahead of the game, because, and I can tell you this lots of experience, the Game can and will change.......Preparation, training, maintenance, respect for all workers, up/down, sideways from the Owner down is a must, if not, well never mind, you know already and probably experienced it. I know I have, and it won't happen here if I can help it........

My little switchers are hard at work here pushing/shoving the loads around......Passenger Train is due thru here in the next hour, and one mainline has to be clear, or all hell will break lose for me......No problem, everything is figured out, and our tracks thanks to Great MOW planning, has plenty of reserve capacity..........

First rake of empties is headed in off the main.....Oh btw, this huge building is where our Suites work, and is also Research arm for the site, with Scientist and other essential teams needed to run this professionally, and safely.........I forgot. I have mainline Switch Tower here just around the corner from the other one..........Oops....I get so wrapped up, I forgot where I put some items........

That's about it for today......Thank you for dropping in........Will have Timber Line Picks coming......I didn't forget.........

Night now........
 
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California Wiidfires and Narrow Gauge Pics

Good Day all, but not for several out here where I live in California,

Recall I told you all in the past, we have had the worst Drought ever, 7 years now, that I can remember, I have lived here for almost 70 yrs, and have good memories of rainfall, in some cases, it was 1-2 weeks of Rain, we thought as School Children our Sun was not coming back. Well now, we fear the Sun is here too stay and the Rain has not come back......

Of course in some years after the Fires, we had heavy rains, and you know what comes down from the Hills and other Fire scorched areas and more folks will pass away.

Please say a Prayer if you could, because one of these Fires is burning from the Mountains to the Sea, in a very Destructive way, and it is beholden to no one.......Thanksgiving is on the Horizon, so it will be a very tough time for those whose homes are no more. I posted a link below that has videos and Story on this horrible fire.........

https://www.google.com/search?clien...KHbmdBUEQ1QII3QEoBA&biw=1308&bih=721&dpr=1.25

Lets jump over to some more happier things:

I downloaded this Route recently, and finally have started to run on it:

After pre looking the Route over and figuring what Gauge of Train Assets I needed too Run.

This Route is so cool with Dual Gauge setup because the Builder has integrated both Dual Gauge Track combo and Separate Narrow Gauge Running in a unique way...........You have to see how he did it.......

I had to look several times too see where the Gauges are separated and where they merge together, like at Passenger and yard points.

The Author did a MASTERFUL job of creating this route, and at the onset here, I highly recommend you try this one out and should find as I have? You will not be disappointed, by the Texture Colors, the variety of Scenery, (love the towns) everything spaced out or Bunched tight, including some Street Running for shunting ans Engine House Storage Etc.....I'm amazed at what this Route has to offer.......

Now I need to be honest here, My first love is Standard Gauge a lot, Why you ask?

Because I was raised around Standard Gauge, never saw much of Narrow Gauge, but for some trips with my Parents, and I could probably count that on one Hand.......

However, in Trainz, with reading the Narrow Gauge Threads, and seeing the Pictures of what, how, and where these Routes can run, and what in real life people due with Narrow Gauge, Himalaya comes to mind, along with many others.

I now even more so, hold a very high respect for the Narrow Gauges, with full appreciation of the Craft and World in which Narrow Gauge operates.....Touche!

Here is the Author's Notes:

Timber Ridge Line

Deep in the Colorado Mountains, lies the small town of Timber Ridge. For years, the D&RGW and RGS have run Narrow Gauge (3 Foot Gauge) Trains into Timber Ridge and the other towns in the area.
This area is a rich natural wonder, that includes the Towns of Timber Ridge, Red Valley, and Montview. This place is a Scenic Wonder, Which allows the Rio Grande to run tourist trains through the area, along side the regular Passenger runs. There is a Large Mining area
just South of Timber Ridge with Ore and Coal production. There is also a Meat Packing Plant in Timber Ridge, and a Large Cattle Farm about 6 or so miles down the Track. There area also many other industries within the Route.

This layout is the Result of over 7 Months worth of work at the time I Typed this title. The First version of the route was around 35 Miles of Main Line Narrow Gauge. However, while working on the layout, Trainz locked up and I was forced to close it, when I got back, I discovered the
Config file had corrupted, all the work was lost. This second version I think is not nearly as good as the first, the first version had almost perfect grades and landscape, this one has much steeper grades where there are grades, but overall is very flat. However with the experience I
have gained since the first version, this new one is much more playable, and far better planned out. Also I must admit, as much fun as it was to run over 35 Miles of Main Line track....With the low speed of narrow gauge trains, it took a very long time to go from one end to the other.
Son in many ways, the 12 or so miles of this route is far more playable then the first 35 miles of the old route.

This route REQUIRES TRS2006 with SP1 installed, I have had problems in the past with people getting 'map not found' errors, this I was told was because people trying to run the route did not have SP1 installed, causing the error. Most of the content should be on the DLS, I barely have any
payware content on my computer, so if anything is missing, I will bet its free on
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

END OF AUTHOR'S NOTES:


Ok, So here is a picture of the whole Route as it looks, the Dark areas are forest. light Gray or Brown Color is Desert and open range area, in middle. At the bottom Left is White and Greyish, that Snow and high mountain Climb area.

Closer look here...........I am starting the Run from the upper Right side where the Gauges are parallel and apart.

You can see there is a lot of Desert in the mid section, on the righ the Gauges are separate in some spots, and they merge up and overal in the middle., it's a little hard to explain, but as I show the picture where we run, you'll get a much better idea how it was done, again, hats off to the Author.......

Ok, now here, on the left is Snow Country with hard Grades, I don't know the exact % of Grades, but he says some of them are Steep. I can tell you the Steamers I running will have good strength to pull up those Grades.

I didn't say earlier, but this is the end point behind us, and the Author put in Portals, which I'll save to the last here, months from now, I want to get running first.

I scoured the Web etc, for more NG both 30 and 36 inch Track Gauges here. I just had an epiphany somewhere on this Route, I think I setup a small 18inch mining spot with some Mine Cars etc that come into the 30 inch track for Transfer, one of my routes has this in it, I just don't recall which one.........

So what I did here, it hard to see, I assembled every NG to these 2 types, 30"/36" and laid them out too see what I had and what ran Ok...

We got a start over River divide here with #488 Rio Grande headed into to town on a bright Sunny Day.

Recall, I said the Towns are both spread out and Bunched, here with some Street Running Etc, Look at how great this is here.

Tracks have nice spacing, and the town is both compact and open, depending on where you look and Run your trains.......We just pulled in with a Double header and all the cars I could find, I know I have more, hidden in my inventory, because not all of the Assets are labeled Narrow Gauge by their Asset Creators......

Here is the overhead of the previous picture......And these are where, in the middle section, going up the middle, the 30" track separates and goes North on the Second Leg of the track.....

Here are some of the little Guys I downloaded for Standard Gauge Streeter and MOW Carts..........

On back track grabbed EMD? and some Coal cars to add to my Assets.......The engine is nicely done and detailed.

One of you made some WAR Ships, so I grabbed them for one of my larger Routes.......Thank you for some great Creations...They look awesome

I believe these are from here:

https://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?83836-Military-Tainz

coutumariee


Well, tomorrow, I'm headed off for short Gambling Trip with Friends in Nevada......Hope you enjoyed the pics today.......Thanks for visiting here.....And there will be much more to discuss about TIMBER RIDGE Route too! You can take that one to the Bank.........Cheers
 
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Smooth out tight curves, add water Oasis in Desert, realiign some Rail Yards Etc.

Evening Folks,

I wanted to post this in the Morning, however a 30 min business meeting, ended up with being 3.5 hour meeting, so the day just wizzed by, you plan out your day, and then the Matrix kicks in, and all bets are off......LOL

So, while away in Laughlin, I did some serious Route manipulation, redoing sharp corners of Curves, Adding some Water Oasis for the Desert Dry area. Changing some track Elevation.

And smoothing out the Textures where I change Track Curves and straight line alignments......

But I have to say, I really like this Route......And I had another epiphany, this route is signaled as far as I tell, with all invisible Signals, which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that, and it may have been a temporary thing? I don't know.....So I had the thought of using Semaphores which should look quite nice, but will come at a later time......

Here is link for additional info on the Timber Ridge, btw , I was in error, with the name, I called it the Timber line, it is the Timber Ridge line, my bad.....An aply named the Grades and Topography for sure..........

https://www.google.com/search?sourc....0.94.94.1......0....1j2..gws-wiz.wv63EFXPOEg

Here is a section of the area which I am retooling the hard Curves etc........

This is a Wire Mode Schematic of one Rail Yards I am changing, I could have deleted the whole yard, but I wanted to preserve the idea of which it was laid out, but change the Yard in a way too, get the mainline as straight threw , rather than going thru a ton of Switch inter lays......So what I did, was push all the Rail Yard and associated Switches off the Main, about 30' feet to the bottom.

Disconnect one of the main Switch Legs:

Next go over to the Wye, and extend the Throat where the WYE comes down, to give more gentler Curve, about 50 feet longer.

Next running a straight Tape Measure From the Right where single mainline bifurcates into 2 mains, stretch the line clear over to the left, where you see the large Loop going into what I think they call Dog Bone, which turns back into a smaller Loop just below these words, and then heads into a Siding (upper left of picture)

You can't see this here but the Dog Bones head from Zero % to 2.75% Rate of Climb.

When I finish with this part, there are 2 Mainlines above the Rail Yard, one goes thru unabated by Yard Traffic, etc, the other just passes thru a few switches. So if we have Passenger Trains, and we will, they can go thru Main #1 not having any delays.

And in the yard, there is a small Passenger Station that allows for secondary Passenger Traffic to come thru for Workers and any other Pedestrian Traffic generated.......

Over here, I needed to realign the main lines, and Wood Trestle Bridge....I cleared some of the Trees, which comes to point of interest, I like the Trees, but I need to thin them out, for better Frame performance and some other visual reasons. These Trees are groups, not individual....So I also want to sprinkle some different Trees, just a few, here and there for Variation of Contrast.

I like the desert here, and Main line went thru Straight for several Miles, so I decided to change it up, make huge "S" Curve, and have that curve go over a Osasis of Water, and I plan on adding some Palms and similar Cactus type Plants in the Water area as well.

Here is an over view of the Mainline, now imagine that the Mainline went thru the Middle of this picture from Left to Right, I think this works a little better for Visual appeal......Also add some Reddish Texture Rock effects to the lighter Desert Color, and I think that works nice.......I want a little contrast of blended colors here.

OK now we are in Wire View here and you can see I moved the Yard out of the way, look very carefully here I laid the Tape Measure to get a straight edge......It helps me set my Tracks where I want them to be, and get items straighter overall, I know the tile has lines in it too, but the Tape for what I needed works better for me........

Look in the upper part behind the Town, you'll see its a mountain grade behind, and the double over loop works great, once I realigned it, with larger Curves and better Grade %.

Wire Mode in my estimation, is the way to go whenever and where ever possible, it allows at least for me, quicker Refresh of the area you are changing, especially elevation changes.

Now of course when your doing Texture, you only change to Wire Mode when you want to see how the area looks elevation wise.......Like anything else that is new to you, Wire Mode seems very strange at first, because you can actually see thru all your mountains, and it can be disorienting when your trying to change a area around mountains, and not Flat areas, buyt you'll find your brain will adjust and understand what your seeing.

It just takes time, and you take it in baby steps, I can tell you also, that when you look at your Elevation Changes for Track or Roads, the Wire Mode View helps me see even better at how your Road, and track is changing, because when you look through Texture it becomes very hard sometimes to see what is wrong with your Track changes, depending on how busy the Texture is, say Dirt over a Rocky Terrain Texture..........

This another Rail Yard and large City area, I did a lot of small Changes, and will show smaller inset pictures to explain, it is too hard to use them for that.

Also, there are dual NG sizes here, on the left of the Red cars, is 36", the Red Cars sit on 30" inch Gauge,,,,,Very cool setup.

There is a lot too see and do in this Town, the Author has amazing creativity with the positioning and spacing of Assets here.

Over here again, if you look at Rail loop hanging out in mid air, that is the increased curve size....And later on, you'll see I also raised the Hills here too.......I really like the Colors he used for this area, actually the whole Route............

This is the Map you saw earlier post, so I am working from top Left to bottom Right, the upper Leg on the Right is 30'' Gauge, with lower Leg 36" inch Gauge, however as they converge in the middle of the picture, they over lap into some areas........

So I am working the upper leg of the Route.

Also came to thought, I want to have some type of small 18" Gauge mining operation somewhere, unknown for now....

That's enough for now......This is such a fun Route, and look again, it is all single space Tile dimensions here, phenomenal.....And it works......Later on, I plan on checking some my other small NG Routes, might have one too merge with this one....Of Course Elevation is important, as this one has several changes of Elevation depending on the area.....

Night all, and thanks for coming by..............
 
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:wave: Thank you sir, and as per TANE vs TRS19, I kind of think, and I don't want to be too critical about the Versions, but when I moved from TS-12 to TANE it was not an easy task, because of the increased Error Checking, the change of Game Engine vs ARN and other longer processes that we use to be able to do, along with many older Assets that simply looked horrid or didn't work at all.

;) With that said, I think it somewhat of similar situation with T:ANE vs TRS19, with changed software, unexpected things happen, and you will generally give up some, or several things for the greater good of the enhanced newer Software. I would say this is A-Typical just like the newer versions of MAC OS X/Win10 issues that we have all experienced. I'm especially keen with Database issues with Windows and other Software programs, it drove me banana's especially when I had to give up my Old Home Grown Database Programs, which I loved and admired so much.

I think that is the same here in the respect that as a Company Up Versions it's Software, there are going to be Scripts, Assets, and other things that will not work, or need to upgraded to work in the new environment. It becomes as they say, the Dealer's Choice, and in that vein of thought, then ultimately the we, the consumer, have a selection of Choice here.

For me, I like right where I am now with T:ANE, as even after a year and 1/2 of use, I am still learning about T:ANE's Quirks and dislikes for certain Assets.

The 64k question then comes into play here: how long, how far back version wise can a company write the new software to be Backward compatible, and then you need to ask Bill Gates and Windows Software Writers, how that has worked out for them over the course of years. So at the least, I have to say it is a very Slippery Slope Development wise........

The other side of this problem area, you have Asset builders who do things quite differently when they build items, and this causes problems too, but that is the nature of the Beast, so in the end game, we do the best we can with what we have. And I as a consumer, Game Player etc, I am grateful for all the Assets provided, without which we wouldn't have as near much the great toys to add to our Routes.

Yeah, it wasn't easy for me to switch from TS12 to TANE either, simply because of the performance and bugs was terrible!
As for the 64K question... as far as Trainz v1! That's just my guess anyway.. I'm not completely sure, but you can only go so far before you hit a brick wall:hehe:
And I can agree with the assets, it has came a long way! When I had UTC and TRS2006, I used only the built-ins as I had no idea on how to work the DLS back in the days.. TS2010 I started to use the DLS as I finally started to figure it out (that's when I created my Trainz account back then).. Their assets really helps to make route / session building fun!


Peace
 
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