blueodessey
Well-known member
Weather/ White Pass RR News/ Snyder Route building ideas
Good Thursday all,
Well it is hard to believe, Winter is only with us for a bit longer, but I have enjoyed the Cooler weather, because if our supposed mild Spring does not appear, and we go immediate 90 degree days, well lets just say, I wont be a happy camper, Cold doesn't bother me as much as Heat....The other issue in California, In first part of April, that just about closes the Rain Door for us, not good, as we are dry now......Means lots of Forest Fires.....So will see where that goes, and we usually get 8 months of no Rain the last decade.......
For those who follow White Pass Line in Alaska, this might be of interest......Good to see they are keeping the line alive.
https://skagwaynews.com/2020/02/10/wpyr-spends-millions-on-larger-more-efficient-locomotives/
Lets go to Trainz, First a Shout out to Sir Dave Snow, lets keep those prayers going on, to help Dave get back to health. And thanks for a amazing Alma Route, I am playing with it, there is lots of areas to explore and plenty going on. I haven't taken any pictures just yet. But I will show them in the Future.....Dave has knocked this one out of the part. It is a fabulous Route with much to see and do.....Thanks Sir Dave for another Gem of a Route.
Now will move over to Snyder E/W Shunting and look at some Tracks and Industrial Centers I setup.
In the past, I have referenced using the Tape Measure Tool in Trainz, it really comes in handy when you want to Square up at area that is say 45 degrees off the true Grid-lines. Makes it easy to get your tracks and or curves in a direction that looks and acts the way you want the Rolling Stock to run.
In picture below, I have 2 tapelines, to get my Buildings square on 45 Degree off set of what the Mainline is running. In the left side, I have chosen a bunch of building models I think I will use in this industrial Project.
Looking down, I dropped in a whole bunch of Tapes to get my Buildings angled the way I want them to look.......Reminder there is nothing said, that everything has to be Square, in real life it is not. And that is OK too........
Next shot the Buildings are pretty much set in the location I visualizzed and I brought in some more warehouses too.
Now in this Shot, we are in Wire View, I want to see how my tracks align on the Grid, I don't need to see the Texture at this point, I need a clean view, in this area, I want the mainline straight and my spur's trailing off. I need a certain amount of spacing between the Mainlines too. Not too much, not too little.......Everyone has there favorite spacing.....
Here I ran a Tape, because one of mainlines was not straight, and when I added the extra siding to drop in Freights for delivery, I couldn't get that 3rd line looking straight, brought the tape, and lined up my Spline points and not the Tracks are trued out, further down out of view, they go into a Curve.
Overhead view here, shows how my Track Plan worked out.......When I lay my Spur's and Switches, I want there to be some logic and purpose when I do my shunting, and the first layout, might end up being 3, 4, 5, 6, changes to get it working......What I don't want is tripping myself over the spotting of cars not have the switches in strategic spots, where your doing a bunch of back and forth moves........There are those situations where it is unavoidable, and you have to work within the confines of your Track build.....
Over here is Diesel and Propane service, at first I was only going to have Diesel Service, and then the thought came to mind, I think this can work for us too......
More distant view, Cardboard manufacturer in front of Diesel and Propane Facilities, I need to add lots of junk and other things you'd expect to see in an industrial area, so very much WIP here.
Looking here, the best logic is having your many cars sorted ahead of time, before you drop them in here, and that is where the Rail Yard down the way comes into play, do most of sorting if possible, before you come in here, sometimes, time will not allow. You run with it, and sort the mess here instead.......
Wire View here, I needed to get this Curves lined up better, so Grid View cleared it up for me.....
Looking on the Right, you see I have set off the Building off angle, it is not square with the Main line......Further up Spurs are going to more than one customer and branch off in Trailing pattern?
In addition to checking the Tracks to see if there lined up to my preference, I am also checking ) 08 Signal for 3 Block assignment, and the Signals light up for the proper Switch arrangement, allowing the Engineer to see how the Switches are aligned.....Not all signals will work properly, it really depends on how you have set your switches.
That'll do for today.......Thanks for dropping in.
Good Thursday all,
Well it is hard to believe, Winter is only with us for a bit longer, but I have enjoyed the Cooler weather, because if our supposed mild Spring does not appear, and we go immediate 90 degree days, well lets just say, I wont be a happy camper, Cold doesn't bother me as much as Heat....The other issue in California, In first part of April, that just about closes the Rain Door for us, not good, as we are dry now......Means lots of Forest Fires.....So will see where that goes, and we usually get 8 months of no Rain the last decade.......
For those who follow White Pass Line in Alaska, this might be of interest......Good to see they are keeping the line alive.
https://skagwaynews.com/2020/02/10/wpyr-spends-millions-on-larger-more-efficient-locomotives/
Lets go to Trainz, First a Shout out to Sir Dave Snow, lets keep those prayers going on, to help Dave get back to health. And thanks for a amazing Alma Route, I am playing with it, there is lots of areas to explore and plenty going on. I haven't taken any pictures just yet. But I will show them in the Future.....Dave has knocked this one out of the part. It is a fabulous Route with much to see and do.....Thanks Sir Dave for another Gem of a Route.
Now will move over to Snyder E/W Shunting and look at some Tracks and Industrial Centers I setup.
In the past, I have referenced using the Tape Measure Tool in Trainz, it really comes in handy when you want to Square up at area that is say 45 degrees off the true Grid-lines. Makes it easy to get your tracks and or curves in a direction that looks and acts the way you want the Rolling Stock to run.
In picture below, I have 2 tapelines, to get my Buildings square on 45 Degree off set of what the Mainline is running. In the left side, I have chosen a bunch of building models I think I will use in this industrial Project.
Looking down, I dropped in a whole bunch of Tapes to get my Buildings angled the way I want them to look.......Reminder there is nothing said, that everything has to be Square, in real life it is not. And that is OK too........
Next shot the Buildings are pretty much set in the location I visualizzed and I brought in some more warehouses too.
Now in this Shot, we are in Wire View, I want to see how my tracks align on the Grid, I don't need to see the Texture at this point, I need a clean view, in this area, I want the mainline straight and my spur's trailing off. I need a certain amount of spacing between the Mainlines too. Not too much, not too little.......Everyone has there favorite spacing.....
Here I ran a Tape, because one of mainlines was not straight, and when I added the extra siding to drop in Freights for delivery, I couldn't get that 3rd line looking straight, brought the tape, and lined up my Spline points and not the Tracks are trued out, further down out of view, they go into a Curve.
Overhead view here, shows how my Track Plan worked out.......When I lay my Spur's and Switches, I want there to be some logic and purpose when I do my shunting, and the first layout, might end up being 3, 4, 5, 6, changes to get it working......What I don't want is tripping myself over the spotting of cars not have the switches in strategic spots, where your doing a bunch of back and forth moves........There are those situations where it is unavoidable, and you have to work within the confines of your Track build.....
Over here is Diesel and Propane service, at first I was only going to have Diesel Service, and then the thought came to mind, I think this can work for us too......
More distant view, Cardboard manufacturer in front of Diesel and Propane Facilities, I need to add lots of junk and other things you'd expect to see in an industrial area, so very much WIP here.
Looking here, the best logic is having your many cars sorted ahead of time, before you drop them in here, and that is where the Rail Yard down the way comes into play, do most of sorting if possible, before you come in here, sometimes, time will not allow. You run with it, and sort the mess here instead.......
Wire View here, I needed to get this Curves lined up better, so Grid View cleared it up for me.....
Looking on the Right, you see I have set off the Building off angle, it is not square with the Main line......Further up Spurs are going to more than one customer and branch off in Trailing pattern?
In addition to checking the Tracks to see if there lined up to my preference, I am also checking ) 08 Signal for 3 Block assignment, and the Signals light up for the proper Switch arrangement, allowing the Engineer to see how the Switches are aligned.....Not all signals will work properly, it really depends on how you have set your switches.
That'll do for today.......Thanks for dropping in.