Progress on the Uintah RW

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So I was having a read on my phone (small screen) at work, noticed about how you said there were not many photos, but when I saw this screenshot I thought it was a photo! Such natural looking terrain. And I think that the bridges look fantastic, When you are doing a route that is almost entirely your work and research, with very little info out there, you can make the history, that is what the professionals do ;)
 
i wasn't happy with the rock splines in this section as they are too dark, bringing them in as splines tends to change their color and they were too grey,so I changed them all over to other rock faces I have from another part of the route., its hard to work out rock colors as so often they look different depending on the weather, bright sun brings out colors more and dull days can make rocks look grey, I think the new rocks tend to blend in better with the earth colors. i did manage to find one photo of the canyon taken back in the 50s when they built the bridge, but it was no use for selecting colors as its black and white . grrrr !
however this still I have from a poor quality time lapse movie from the same location shows that the surrounding rock is brown /red so i think that I'm getting closer to what is needed , greyish brown near the track on the right and predominantly brown in the canyon, just wish i had good some photos taken in this area !!!!! Anyone in Utah fancy a road trip :)
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old rock splines
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new spline
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old spline
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I've found that the cliffs with the less obvious markings on their faces don't look so repetitive, shadow patterns are something to avoid if possible as well as very differently colored rocks. , anyway , if these don't suit I'll change them over again although I'll have to make a new set of small loose rocks to go with them. i made another 38 splines to go in the white river area, trouble is with so many to chose from its hard to make choices....... i try to make sets which blend together but its not always easy to do.
 
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I think Google Earth might just be the answer.....

Good Evening Sir Dan......

Was just reading your message about Travel to Utah......I got an idea for you to try, I think it might work, well, it's worth a try anyway........

R U familiar with Google Earth Platform, where you download Google Earth, and with it, if I recall, and other more learned folks here might be able to advise better than me.....

U should be able to load it on your computer, open it up, and virtually go anywhere on the Planet to see the Terrain.......

Here is the Link and from what I see the Software is Free........

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1&q=Google+Earth

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

https://earth.google.com/web/

https://support.google.com/earth/?hl=en#topic=7364880

Let me know what you think????
 
Good Evening Sir Dan......

Was just reading your message about Travel to Utah......I got an idea for you to try, I think it might work, well, it's worth a try anyway........

R U familiar with Google Earth Platform, where you download Google Earth, and with it, if I recall, and other more learned folks here might be able to advise better than me.....

U should be able to load it on your computer, open it up, and virtually go anywhere on the Planet to see the Terrain.......

Here is the Link and from what I see the Software is Free........

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1&q=Google+Earth

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

https://earth.google.com/web/

https://support.google.com/earth/?hl=en#topic=7364880

Let me know what you think????

Hi blue, i use google earth pro , its what I use all the time, but its not a good indication of color of soils etc , or types of rocks ,or vegetation, at one time they had images that visitors had posted from the areas as well but the photohosting service was discontinued so they are no longer available, it would be almost impossible to do this without google earth, but it has its limitations.
 
Mapillary might work.

Cheerio John

Had a look, thanks for the suggestion, somehow i doubt there's any images up on there, I suppose I could create an account but its such a remote area I doubt I'd find anything, most roads aren't even named in google pro and dragon road only passes through in one spot which i already have a picture of ( its just fuzzy ) . i'm sure sooner or later someone will post something up on youtube I check there and vimeo about once a week in hope and I check flickr a lot too. .
 
Good Day sir Dan,,

Good to know that about Google Earth limitations etc,

I'm looking at trying to do something connected with the Skunk Train Route in Northern California.....It's an Old Logging Railroad up there that was next to the Skunk Route if I understand it correctly back in 1885.....Narrow Gauge of course.........Amazing what those folks did with NG stuff at the time.........!!!

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

I want to do a DEM MAP some day of that area, but I need to learn how to use DEM MAPS, I understand how they work, I just have never used the Software, it's one of the BUCKET LISTS items I want to do in the future....

Also, I double sent you a PM message this AM, by mistake,,,,,just ignore and delete it,,,,sorry,,,,,,It looked like I hadn't sent it, but that's normal way it looks when you view your messages........:eek:
 
this is the new rock spline scheme in part of Evacuation canyon i've not featured for a while. all this rock was grey and I didn't think it fitted right.
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Approaching bridge 68a
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Between 68A and 68B

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68B

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Looking towards White river and Bonanza
 
Almost makes you happy how robust the TRAINZ content manager is, and how "easy" it is to update a piece of content. it may not be perfect,the the KUID system and the revision numbers must help an awful lot. Even the ability to clone a 36" wagon, then put a 24" bogie on it is a dream come true.

However amazing tools are only useful when the person using them uses all their skill and talent, and boy does my jaw drop every time. It's the best part of Sunday when I get the forum notification email

Did you just update the texture file in the existing splines, or use the "replace" feature in the surveyor?
 
Almost makes you happy how robust the TRAINZ content manager is, and how "easy" it is to update a piece of content. it may not be perfect,the the KUID system and the revision numbers must help an awful lot. Even the ability to clone a 36" wagon, then put a 24" bogie on it is a dream come true.

However amazing tools are only useful when the person using them uses all their skill and talent, and boy does my jaw drop every time. It's the best part of Sunday when I get the forum notification email

Did you just update the texture file in the existing splines, or use the "replace" feature in the surveyor?

I have so many cliff splines now I have to label them with area , type of rock and color details , each spline has 7 variations at least ( have to do that many for each as you never know what angles are needed for a cliff ) and i'm afraid to change any or delete them entirely in case I've used one in a far flung corner of the route sxi months ago which i've totally forgotten and I'll find one of those dreaded "missing spline" indicators ( which happened to me when i moved from sp1 to sp2 , took months to fix it ), so I do a bulk changeover where I can , not always possible if using multiple splines that are piled on top of each other, but generally its a fairly easy process and i keep a spare version of the route with the old splines in place so i can revert back if I want.

I'll be posting some images of white river soon which is coming along better now I have rocks that are closer in color to the area, there are some very high cliffs there that are hard to achieve, I had a lot of reddish cliff splines completed but their color is from another part of utah and it didn't look right, the ones I've made recently are from the white river in this particular area and they are a lot better , although still not quite right. Finding rocks that don't look cruddy when you repeat them is a challenge....
 
Looking for missing Asset Dependency to DG Cliff Spines Asset.......

Good Day Sir Dan,

:D Was wondering if you have this Asset, it is part of your DG Cliff Splines, for some reason I am missing it? No rush just whenever you get a chance Sir.......

<kuid:44878:100789>

:cool: And those Pictures today, I really like those Rock Placements,,,,,,,,,

They just add some amazing contrast and visual detail to the Route, versus the normal Texture one would try too add for a Rustic Rock look.........Makes me want to climb those hills spelunking around too see if I find hidden Caves Etc.........I know it is a crazy thought, but your Canyon Views are just so inviting...........
 
Good Day Sir Dan,

:D Was wondering if you have this Asset, it is part of your DG Cliff Splines, for some reason I am missing it? No rush just whenever you get a chance Sir.......

<kuid:44878:100789>

:cool: And those Pictures today, I really like those Rock Placements,,,,,,,,,

They just add some amazing contrast and visual detail to the Route, versus the normal Texture one would try too add for a Rustic Rock look.........Makes me want to climb those hills spelunking around too see if I find hidden Caves Etc.........I know it is a crazy thought, but your Canyon Views are just so inviting...........
I do indeed have this item Blue, send me a pm with your email addy and i'll upload it for you, its 6mb
 
I do indeed have this item Blue, send me a pm with your email addy and i'll upload it for you, its 6mb

Sent the email link........Thank you Sir........:wave:

Got the file this AM,,,,,Really appreciate it..............

1/31/19........Just popped in for a second,,,,,Saw MSG #278, that is a terrific looking new Cliff Spline,,,,,,,Those colors should do quite well with the hills, once you make them into the other pieces you need.........
 
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Yeah,thanks for the link, ultimately it’s not all that useful as they dindnt really do anything new,I have almost everything that’s findable re the uintah online as I keep on searching every few days. It’s the far end section that has no road that is the biggest issue but I think I’ve got a better handle on what’s there . I think I need a drone to take a trip over there, no doubt eventually somebody will do just that and post it online, there was one that was up near dragon earlier on in the year.
 
well , with the help of Sailor Dan I got this 2004 escarpment spline by Frank Dean updated to build 3.5 and i'm really excited about its prospects as there are five differing shapes and heights to use. They are tall so can only be used in some places , now all i have
to do is make dozens of them :_)
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Been very busy the last few weeks making new escarpment splines for the White River Canyon, which is one of the hardest sections of the line to complete and make it look anywhere near realistic. I have found a number of images of the actual cliffs and have made about 6 variations in Photoshop deleting various bits like pipeline cables and making up amalgams to give a bit of variety and have spent ages trying to get a reasonable blend in this cliff from reds to greys, not all that successful , I wish I could make large cliff splines myself as there are a large number of variations of shapes needed , probably more than a dozen :-(

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the line meanders along the canyon cliff and crosses serval trestles, a relatively easy grade here of 2 percent
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WIP here,still working on this section
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White river section house and passing loop, you can take on water here for both Watson and Bonanza - deliver in either direction as neither 'town' has potable water.
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Leaving White River and entering the 6% grade on the loops section that climbs up to Ute Summit
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climbing towards the sheep loading loop which can hopefully be made interactive .
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i'll be back again in a week or two with more progress on this White River canyon section .
 
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I did a bit more work on the cliffs opposite the track in White River canyon and i'm now quite pleased with the result.
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