Sydney Cityrail 2020 Project (In Development)

Doing a test today to try and switch from using 30m digital elevation data to 5m digital elevation data.
In the process of downloading 967 MB of elevation data.

Going from 30m DEM to 5M DEM would make a significant difference to how the route would look which is why I am exploring the possibility of using 5m DEM instead.

This afternoon I will do a test of adding 5m DEM (as shown below) to the layout. I had tried using 1m DEM but was having too many issues with that.

I have now finished creating the 5 Metre digital elevation data for the entire Sydney Rail Network and applied it to the route.
I did have some issues where TransDEM was complaining about the size of the DEM files but I have managed to work my way around it.

With the picture this is located in an area between Emu Pains and Lapstone where the railway line crosses over both a creek as well as the M4...... this is next to Napsack Reserve. Shortly after this the rail tracks pass near the Nepean River.

I have had a brief look at the result and have to say it looks a lot better than the 30 metre DEM I had being using before.

In the picture below you see the rail line doing a bit of a rollercoaster down into the valley and back up the other side.
This of course is where a rail bridge is added to get the tracks across to the other side.

Now I am happy with the terrain added to the project I can continue work on the route design.

With the 5 metre DEM I have had to scale back the route so it covers only the areas of Waterfall, Emu Plains and Berowra.

In the last week I have being watching train cab videos and planning how I will be working on this route.

Before going further I wanted to check the accuracy of the terrain created by Open Street..... so I went to this area of Sydney that I pass each day.

The train tracks pass by Artarmon Reserve which you can see on the left side of the picture..... however the map painted on the terrain showed a big lake in the middle of Artarmon Reserve...... That was wrong..... no water there at all.

However..... on checking Open Street I find that for several years Artarmon Reserve has a water harvesting system in place which harvests 100,000 liters per day..... I never even knew that .

So when this route is being built I will be referring to Google Earth and Open Street to make sure features such as surface water are actually there and are not part of an underground water harvesting system.

I was happy with the terrain built for the route. At the top of the picture the rail tracks have a dip..... this is where a bridge will be placed over the Gore Hill Freeway.


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A test with tweaking the environment settings to get a not so bright landscape.......... I am really happy with the water though some more texture is required in places where you can see the line appearing beneath the water.

I am hoping this week to upgrade my machine with more memory.

Not happy with the rail tracks... looks great in TANE but terrible in Trainz 19..... not sure why that is.

After tweaking the environment settings the same track as in the previous picture looks a whole lot better

One thing I enjoy doing is driving freight so this route will have the option to drive freight rather than passenger services.

Using 200 pages of rail freight timetable for the Sydney area , dated 9th August 2019, I can build the Sydney Metropolitan Freight Network with the correct movement of freight from one area to the next.

The areas specified as being the dedicated freight lines within the rail corridors of:

Sefton Park to Chullora

Flemington South to Belmore

Belmore to Marrickville

Marrickville to Port Botany

Dulwich Hill to Rozelle

Port Botany to Enfield

Sefton to Macarthur

I am in the process of transferring the elevation data for this project to 1 meter elevation........
For the T9 Northern line, not including the section Hornsby to Berowra, I will be going through 121 individual elevation data files extracting the DEM for each one.
Once that is done I can then do the rest of the Sydney network.

The reason I have decided on 1 meter elevation data is that if I am going to do this project I should use as much correct details as possible.... this will save me months and months of time terraforming the route.

Creating the digital elevation data for the route....... Each DEM being a total of 10 sections of elevated data.

Hi guys,

I’m a university student that is very very interested with trains (and trainz). I have TANE and has played Chris Manning’s Map of the western line which he built in 2006.

I want to create my own version of the Sydney Rail network, starting with the western line since I live in the west part of Sydney. I would like to make it as realistic as possible, using TfNSW files of signals and track layout etc.

I read this entire thread and seem quite confused. Not sure what programs are used to get elevation data and roads etc, or if I need to pay extra?

Do you guys think its worth it since I am studying in Uni with a heavy content course, Imm not sure if I can make a map fast or it will take me forever to finish. Any ideas would help me heaps.

Regards,
Martin

Martinnguyen1778 said:

Hi guys,

I’m a university student that is very very interested with trains (and trainz). I have TANE and has played Chris Manning’s Map of the western line which he built in 2006.

I want to create my own version of the Sydney Rail network, starting with the western line since I live in the west part of Sydney. I would like to make it as realistic as possible, using TfNSW files of signals and track layout etc.

I read this entire thread and seem quite confused. Not sure what programs are used to get elevation data and roads etc, or if I need to pay extra?

Do you guys think its worth it since I am studying in Uni with a heavy content course, Imm not sure if I can make a map fast or it will take me forever to finish. Any ideas would help me heaps.

Regards,
Martin

Click to expand...

Hi Martin

To get the elevation data into the game I recommend buying Transdem which i believe is around $40 Australian.
Transdem is found here. http://www.rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/startseiteTransDEMEngl.htm


Before doing that i recommend you have a look at this video on youtube which shows you how to build a route using TransDem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meeq_5_keYs

With your last question i would have to say it is worth it ....... with TransDEM and Open Street you can create the tracks and road for the Western line in less than an hour. Adding the scenery such as stations, bridges, electric wires and so on is what will take time. If you would prefer not to spend $40 there are options to use Google Earth to help you lay the track and you can find videos covering that on youtube.

For my Sydney route I am referencing Sydney Trains Cab Videos on youtube which gives me an idea on how the track looks from the train driver perspective. His videos are seen here and you would want to watch the ones labelled REALTIME.
https://www.youtube.com/user/cuboz1/videos

For the line to Emu Plains look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMoakkNEX4w&t=55s
Note though that these are not high definition and are at 480p

If you want high definition go to the following link which shows a cab view ride from Central to Springwood at 720p or 1080p.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poxoz4MIilA&t=1293s


With my route i am building custom models which of course takes additional time. This of course is optional and is something i have decided to do for my route.

As Chris Manning mentioned in his videos he originally had a lot of objects like trees, roads, towns and cities in his original version and he decided to get rid of most of that to concentrate on what was important.... which is giving priority to what is close to the track itself. Note that it took Chris several years to do his map so don't expect your route to be quick. It is fun to create your own version of the route and i do highly recommend you do it.

For work with signals you can use these diagrams
https://railsafe.org.au/diagrams/drivers-route-knowledge-diagrams

Fir track diagrams go to the following link and get the file under the section showing latest version Effective 14 May 2019
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/in...rain-operating-conditions-toc-manual-track-10

The picture below shows the entire rail system for Sydney accurately placed by open Street in 20 minutes and then placed in Trainz in another 30 minutes. Doing this by hand originally took 2 and a half years and was not as accurate as i was using Google Earth instead.

Sometimes people may not have the time to spend ages on creating a route. The great thing with Trainz is you have the option of keeping it simple or going into vast detail.

With simple you have the rail tracks, the platforms and any rail bridges over rivers, roads or other rail. You then add your signals network and make sure they work so you don't run into other trains. This is pretty much the simplest form of the route and you can add locomotives and carriages and start running them on your layout.

Everyone should start with the simplest route.

Then you can optionally begin adding more to it...... tunnels for example.... or roads..... then rivers and so on. If your trains are electric you would want to add the electrified wiring overhead... once you have overhead wiring in place your route is starting to look real.

Adding the scenery would be next where you add houses and shops, create hills and valleys, farms and so on. If in real life a station has 100 buildings around it you don't want to add 100 buildings in the route. Keep it simple. if you go into too much detail the route will never finish.

With my route I have 813 km of track already laid thanks to TransDEM and 175 stations to add over the nine different lines. With 813 km you can imagine how many signals I will need to place. A very daunting task. If i add too much detail to each section of track it will take me 10 to 15 years to finish...... so i had worked out exactly what will be in the route before I even started it. Even though 813 km was added by TransDEM track will need to be adjusted to fit around platforms, through tunneks etc...... so there is much work to do with the rail lines themselves.

Yes it is great planning to having a route as realistic as possible...... but start simple and work your way forward step by step.

And finally..... make sure you have a tested and working backup system. if you spend any amount of time on creating a route you don't want to lose it if something goes wrong.

The building of the Sydney Metro at Chatswood with the 2 lines in the middle being the Metro tracks. These will be replaced with the proper metro tracks during updates.

Thanks so much for the info rjord, You have been really helpful.

I already know Cuboz but thanks for bringing his videos up, I’ve watched all his videos i believe.

I will give it a go with the program and see what I can do. What texture do you use and rails etc? and for the stations which type do you use?

Martin

Martinnguyen1778 said:

Thanks so much for the info rjord, You have been really helpful.

I already know Cuboz but thanks for bringing his videos up, I’ve watched all his videos i believe.

I will give it a go with the program and see what I can do. What texture do you use and rails etc? and for the stations which type do you use?

Martin

Click to expand...

Glad to help......

I am currently working on creating my own textures for the route as well as the stations and other things.
I have also being working on the concept of how this route will look as I believe my route has 937 km of rail track......

In order that I don't need to buy the worlds most powerful computer to run this I have been working on exactly how this route will look.

In summary, this is going to look like a Marklin or Hornby model train layout with proper textures and models at a reasonable distance to the track.

I am currently going through some procedures to learn how to create the PBR textures I need for this layout.

The screenshot below is from a series of videos from BlueWizard and it shows the look and feel of the scenery he has created which I am looking for in this route.

Instead of accurate attention to detail Bluewizard creates a vista which is artistic and breathtaking. I think this would be great if I can recreate Sydney with the same look and feel as what BlueWizard created.

I am impressed in how he created the water for his route and this is something I am currently adding to the Sydney layout.

During the last 12 days since my last post I have been working on adding new textures and objects to my project including a custom rail track using pictures I have taken at the local railway station.

The picture below shows some of my work in creating the new sleepers and this morning I am finishing up the ballast which I am creating using a picture taken at Wollstonecraft Station.

Hi there,

I just bought TransDEM. But my Map on the Map Tile servers is too small.. How do I fix it?

Martinnguyen1778 said:

Hi there,

I just bought TransDEM. But my Map on the Map Tile servers is too small.. How do I fix it?

Click to expand...

Did you follow the YouTube video step by step?