N3V: Why are there no U.S. standard gauge procedural tracks available in TRS19?

Bob, did you aim to create a specific weight of rail? Could you estimate approximately what weight of rail these tracks are? (for comparison you could look at TrainzForge's 112lb track and pencil42's 60lb track)

Hopefully yours might be in the 130lb-140lb range. (And one of these years we might even see some Pennsylvania Special 155lb rails.)

Edit;



60lb direct spiked track meets 112lb tie plate spiked track.

normhart said:

Bob, did you aim to create a specific weight of rail? Could you estimate approximately what weight of rail these tracks are? (for comparison you could look at TrainzForge's 112lb track and pencil42's 60lb track)

Hopefully yours might be in the 130lb-140lb range. (And one of these years we might even see some Pennsylvania Special 155lb rails.)

Edit;

60lb direct spiked track meets 112lb tie plate spiked track.

Click to expand...

The rail itself is ElStoko's original one so I am not sure what weight it is. Frankly right now my Blender experience is not sufficient enough to make changes to the rail, although perhaps in time that might happen.

Bob

It looks like 100 lb. rail compared to the heavier 132 lb. rails on the JR. track. This is an eyeball guestimate and I could be 1000% north or south of where I'm supposed to be.

Track comparisons.

JR track and reskinned Elstoko in Rail brown



Elstoko and Trainboi's WP



WP and JR



Love the Elstoko

Harold

Very happy to see these. Very happy read these will have a snow look .

MSGSapper said:

right now my Blender experience is not sufficient enough to make changes to the rail

Click to expand...

But are you able to delete a lot of triangles?
If so, would you consider making a copy in which remove everything except for one single rail (or is it a single track? I mean effectively what either the left or the right half a piece of rolling stock is standing on) and turn that into a scenery spline?

Why am I asking / pushing my luck?
You often see pieces of single rail lying either between the tracks or next to them, either before or after repairs of track. I have seen some scenery versions for that, but have yet to find one that actually matches the tracks I use. Since you would be the author of both, they probably look 100% the same, rusty or not, snow or not.

I hope the above makes some sort of sense. If not, here is what I mean (old rails between the used rails).

I did a similar comparison to Harold's


TrainzForge 112lb and Elstoko




Elstoko and pencil42 60lb

Given that it is Australian rail I guestimate it at between 81, 95, or 101 pounds. Probably 95lb IMO. It appears very close to Auran rails BTW.

oknotsen said:

Very happy to see these. Very happy read these will have a snow look .

But are you able to delete a lot of triangles?
If so, would you consider making a copy in which remove everything except for one single rail (or is it a single track? I mean effectively what either the left or the right half a piece of rolling stock is standing on) and turn that into a scenery spline?

Why am I asking / pushing my luck?
You often see pieces of single rail lying either between the tracks or next to them, either before or after repairs of track. I have seen some scenery versions for that, but have yet to find one that actually matches the tracks I use. Since you would be the author of both, they probably look 100% the same, rusty or not, snow or not.

I hope the above makes some sort of sense. If not, here is what I mean (old rails between the used rails).

Click to expand...

It doesn't seem to hard to do. It would just mean pulling one of the .IM files out of the track library and make it a standalone item. I'll have to give this some thought but I am leaning toward doing it, but no promises at this point.

Bob

When I started the track project 2-3 weeks ago I had no idea just how difficult this project was going to be. I started the project not knowing anything at all about Blender and having to learn it from scratch. Also my last experience with working with 3D design programs (ie; GMax) was over two years ago, so I had to re-learn a lot of skills all over again. I have done a lot of Trainz content over the years, but this project really kicked my butt! Only the routes I have were harder to do, and that is really saying something here.

I am happy to say that Phase I (ie; Build 4.2) of the track project is now complete. The track library is on the DLS now and the rest of the .CDP files will be uploaded on Sunday and Monday. Assuming all goes well with the DLS, you should be able to download all the new build 4.2 U.S. track around 10:30 AM Central Time on Tuesday 19 February. Here is the link to the DLS white pages where the track library content item is located:

https://www.auran.com/DLS/DLS_downloadasset.php?DownloadID=534087

I would really like some constructive feedback on this track folks, and I am hoping you all will provide it!

The only warning message about the library you will see in TRS19 is:

<kuid:439337:102588> VE109: The low-detail meshes total more than 500 polygons. This may have a negative impact on performance: 0: 7614

Contrast that with the warning messages you will see in TRS19 for the following ElStoko track library, which my track library was based on:

<kuid2:368725:49000:8> Protrack NSWGR Mesh Library

Phase II of this project, which will be fully in line with TRS19 procedural track standards, will take a good amount of time to complete. I have turned over today all the Phase I project files over to my collaborator, who is a lot more skilled at mesh work then I am, for the needed mesh modifications. Once he has completed the work, and I have no idea at this time when that will be, Phase II will move ahead toward completion.

My thanks to both Leigh Stokes (ElStoko) and Andi Smith (Andi06) for their great ProTrack procedural track efforts, which made my U.S. track project possible here! If either Leigh Stokes (ElStoko) or Andi Smith (Andi06) would like to have my project Blender files for their use, please contact me via PM and provide a current email address, and I will send them to you.

Bob

Thanks for your consideration!

MSGSapper said:

<kuid:439337:102588> VE109: The low-detail meshes total more than 500 polygons. This may have a negative impact on performance: 0: 7614

Click to expand...

I thought that was a warning in TS12 and turned into an error in TANE. Hmmm... Maybe there is hope for some bridge I have in my list.

MSGSapper said:

If either Leigh Stokes (ElStoko) or Andi Smith (Andi06) would like to have my project Blender files

Click to expand...

I fear Andi06 has moved on to a different world 3 years ago .

oknotsen said:

I thought that was a warning in TS12 and turned into an error in TANE. Hmmm... Maybe there is hope for some bridge I have in my list.

I fear Andi06 has moved on to a different world 3 years ago .

Click to expand...

I didn't realize Andi06 had died in 2016, which I am sorry to hear. I was out of touch with Trainz during the time that happened due to eye issues at the time, which explains how I missed it.

I will continue crediting him as the original author for anything of his that I base my work on, and I will continue to keep "ProTrack" in the name of the content to honor his work. When Phase II is completed though it will be called "ProTrack II" and will move his original work into the TRS19 era....

Bob

Track is on DLS.

Tried my Elstoko track "tga".



Looks good and performs great

Thanks

Harold

I was able to get the new track on the DLS faster then I anticipated.

For details on what has become available see this new thread which I started today:

My TRS19 U.S. Standard Gauge Procedural track Project
https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...9-U-S-Standard-Gauge-Procedural-Track-Project

Since the question which started this thread is no longer true, I want to close this thread out now and ask that everyone from this point forward please make any new posts in the new thread I started.

Bob

Locked on request of the OP.