Sydney Cityrail 2020 Project (In Development)

5:57AM Saturday Morning.


Now that I have elevation data, rail track and roads all configured in TransDEM for the new areas I have finally started creating the route in Trainz.


I have noticed with TransDEM there is an option to export into Trainz....... this may save me time creating the Sydney Harbor and rivers in the area.
Will look at that next.....

The elevation data and rail tracks have been added to the route.
Before I add in the roads I am backing up the route just in case there is an issue exporting so many roads.

I am first going to add residential roads into Trainz as there are way more residential roads than highways and freeways.
 
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Just tested the export from TransDEM and Open Street to Trainz and am happy with the results. I have been able to get the entire rail connection on the T1 and T9 lines in little under 5 or 6 hours from Berowra to Richmond and Emu Plains..... including Primary, secondary and tertiary roads.

Now with the test there was one issue and that was with my computer having a hard time of it all...... so new hardware is certainly required.

However.... until then I am making a decision.

I will go to a backup I created shortly after adding the rail tracks to Trainz and have decided I will add the roads in myself rather than have the roads added via TransDEM, This will allow me to get on with editing the route until whatever stage I upgrade my laptop.
 
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Checked out the accuracy of the layout of the Metro Train rail line at Chatswood and TransDEM has done a great job with the accuracy.
Not only is the active Metro train line in the route but TransDEM also shows me where the Metro leaves Chatswood, moves south to the corner of Mowbray Road and Pacific Highway and then heads off towards Crows Nest.

I have not yet decided how I will deal with the Metro as yet in this route.
 
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With this project I am going to attach new versions of the Sydney Train Cityrail fleet all with night textures similar to that shown below. I will also be paying attention to detail to the night textures of all models seen here to give the project a realistic night time experience.

The train models will be created with Blender 2.8 with the correct day and night textures of the actual trains.


w0o98Ua.jpg
 
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Before this project gets too far I have renamed the project to Transport Sydney Trains 2020 to keep up with the times...... keeping in mind that the CityRail rail network ceased operations in June 2013.

This project will have a level of detail unlike my prior attempt 10 years and I am using resources now available which allow me to see the Sydney rail network in great detail. This will allow me to build assets with realistic attention to detail.

For example the screenshot below shows an area of the project I am working on soon where the trains leaving Eveleigh need to stop at this particular spot before progressing. Now this picture is 6 years old so I am doing research to determine if Eveleigh is still used and if so by which train sets.


sYXX8Pp.jpg
 
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I am building new trains for the project and the first one I am working on will be the the new Waratah Series 2 "B" sets which have replaced the now retired "S" sets.


xwzE4gb.jpg
 
Updated picture showing track and ballast for the Sydney Rail Network.....
I am planning on having different versions of this ballast texture with additional versions adding some realism to what you might expect to see alongside the rail tracks.

(Example) Small pieces of paper blown onto side of the track by the wind


OTtOSLK.jpg
 
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When you use default rail tracks on the route you get an issue where you create a junction to another rail track and then find you cant visually see which way the points are set. So with today's updated track I have made sure all the points will look like the one shown below.


DECufdv.jpg
 
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I noticed my first attempt in creating the Sydney route was not perfect because I picked up anything in Open Street which was a railway..... unfortunately this included rail way platforms.

So when I exported the rail track to Trainz rail track was created as a loop where the platforms were.

Other things such as streets or buildings with Railway in the name also had rail track created in Trainz.
There were too many of these to fix so 3 this morning I started version 2 and this time made sure only rail track was added to Trainz and platforms, streets and buildings were excluded.

Very happy with the result.

I am amazed that what took me 2 years to do a decade ago I can do today in a matter of hours...... giving me rail tracks between Springwood, Richmond and Berowra,
I can remember plotting each rail track in Eveleigh Yards using Google Earth coordinates and that was a pain.

The picture below showed what OpenStreet and TransDEM did with Eveleigh with much greater accuracy.


kGfT9Vp.jpg
 
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I am currently downloading TRS19 to see if my system will be able to handle it.
If it allows me to start building the route as modules then I can get started on the TRS19 version and upgrade the hardware in a few months.
 
I had stalled on the idea of getting TRS19 as the minimum specs required at least 50 Gig of free space....... 50% of my total hard drive.
And 5 gig of memory........ would it even start.

The price is also $90 Australian and I didn't want to buy the game outright if it won't run on my computer. A gold membership allows me to download the latest version so I can see if it works on my poor PC. I do have a more powerful computer but it switches off after 10 seconds of getting into windows. Took it to the local computer shop and was told it had computer cancer...... I have worked in computers for 30 years and never heard of computer cancer......

So I have finally installed TRS19 and I was surprised to find that the game takes just 13 Gig and not the 50 Gig as mentioned. Yes I know I can download all the DLC updates which will probably get me to 50 Gig..... however at this stage I want to design my route so don't need those updates.

During the next 7 days I am going to do some testing with TRS19 and then look at creating the Sydney network in modules.

Creating the elevation data and tracks for each module with TransDEM and Open Street is something I will have to trial and then do some testing of merging the modules together.

One of the huge improvements is how dark the night is..... exactly what I was looking for.
Less lag on my PC than I was getting with Thane..... another bonus.

Still early days but so far it looks like I will be able to create the route in the latest version of Trainz.

Not sure what everyone else is using for their routes.
If you decided not to use TRS19 for some reason can you let me know so I can see if that effects me.

I have seen many poor reviews for TRS19...... but I see poor reviews for a lot of games that I like so I don't generally follow reviews.
 
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Enjoyed reading your thread. I have just switched to TRS2019 from TANE, and (so far, and I've done a lot of them)) it has been my most hassle free migration.
 
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Enjoyed reading your thread. I have just switched to TRS2019 from TANE, and (so far, and I've done a lot of them)) it has been my most hassle free migration.


Thanks for letting me know you enjoy the thread...... greatly appreciated.
So far I like what TRS2019 has to offer so looking forward to building the route with it.

I am about 30 minutes away from having the first module with elevation and track added to the game.
Then I will create a test module to see how I fit one module with another..... specifically will the rail tracks join up
 
Have got the first module of the route added to TRS19 and my computer is handling it with no issues....... I noticed a number of differences to TANE so working through those.

With TRS19 the colors appeared to be a little bright or washed out.
Have been experimenting with the lighting to improve the colors as shown below.

The rail track shown here is not necessarily the one that is used in this project but is test purposes at least.


lMNDJ01.jpg
 
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One morning somewhere in Clyde.......

The cleaner turns up.... has a look at this and says "You're plumb loco if you think I'm clearing up this mess !!"


Ut8i9wG.jpg
 
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2 additional modules are being created this week....... by the end of today I will have a module linking the base module to the railway stations at Katoomba and Richmond....... yes I did say Katoomba.

By Friday I am going to have the next module complete and this will be completing the link between Newcastle and Hornsby.

With such a vast area I have already decided on how the scenery is going to be layed out and it will be different to the other Sydney routes that are out there.



Thanks to Open Street and TransDEM I am now back at where I was with the project March 22nd, 2009 and have expanded out to Katoomba and Newcastle as well by end of week.
 
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Services to Emu Plains now allows additional stops at the following stations:


Lapstone
Glenbrook
Blaxland
Warrimoo
Valley Heights
Springwood
Faulconbridge
Linden
Woodford
Hazelbrook
Lawson
Bullaburra
Wentworth Falls
Leura
Katoomba


xYdbVI0.jpg
 
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While I have elevation data applied to the route the detail is not enough to give me terrain that looks like the picture below. While I work from one station to the next I will refer to video from Sydney Trains Cab Videos to fine tune the track side elevation to as realistic as possible.

These videos will allow me to create additional track-side objects I need for the project.

A number of these videos are at night and will help me create the night environment.

10 years ago all I had was Google Earth to try and work out the scenery and elevation......... videos direct from the cab will make this a whole lot easier.

The vidoes I will be referencing for the project are :

Richmond to Central
City Circle
Emu Plains to Gordon
Central to Campbelltown via Bankstown
Central - Olympic Park Loop
Revesby - Central
Epping to Waitara
Clyde - Lidcombe Full Loop
Liverpool to Central
Berowra to Central
Circular Quay to Liverpool via Bankstown
Epping to Berowra
Carlingford Branch Line
Waterfall to Bondi Junction
Cronulla to Bondi Junction
Cronulla to Central Empty Night Service
Campbelltown to Central
Penrith to Central
Clyde to Redfern
Cronulla to Central Night Service
Redfern - Revesby Trackwork
Epping to Hornsby via Central
Eveleigh to North Sydney
Penrith to North Sydney
Central to Leppington
Waterfall to North Sydney
Hornsby to Town Hall
Campbelltown to Flemington
Hornsby to North Sydney
Kingsgrove Turnback & Homebush
Revesby to Glenfield
Hurstville to Bondi Junction
Sydenham to Bondi Junction
Penrith to Epping
Campbelltown to Central (Sydney) Terminal. Night Drive
Bondi Storage Tunnel Departure



For the line to Katoomba I will refer to a 2 hour video from NSW Railway Videos

For the line Central to Newcastle I will refer to the 3 hour video from Alistair Harding whose videos have additional details I can use...... a readout of how fast the train is travelling at each stage of the trip.

This will allow me to have an idea of how fast the trains travel on each line keeping under the posted speed limits.


SRjvAAr.jpg
 
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While TransDEM and Open Street have laid the initial track layout for me I still need to fix the track along each section of the route.

The level of separation between each track is important to me to get right and I can use these videos to work out the correct separation. I can also use the videos to correctly place the power lines over each track.

The pictures below details what I can add to my route that I could never have got from Google Earth.

rBAo8bb.jpg






This picture shows the detail needed to create the Auburn Stabling Yard before heading to Clyde.

7vqQPj1.jpg





and then arriving at the the back platform at Clyde which is platform 6 which is not for passenger use, is fenced off and is used as a headshunt for the Auburn stabling yard.........

jzsCWBU.jpg
 
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