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Chicago route
- Thread starter Mkultra04
- Start date
I think you will have to self recreate this custom route, all on your own, by your own hand, as there are very few "already built" modules, "pre-assembled mini-route moduals, like "NTrak" bolt together pre-wired modules, that are already pre-created for you, already made for you, that are are able to be kitbashed together, creating a Chicago based theme for you.
Sure, you could patch together a hodge podge merge of many other routes, all joined together, stitched to one another. But where is the personal creativity aspect in that ? As that would be like a buying a factory made "Paint By Numbers" art painting kit, then claiming the end product result, as to be your own personal hand made "work of art".
Sure, you could patch together a hodge podge merge of many other routes, all joined together, stitched to one another. But where is the personal creativity aspect in that ? As that would be like a buying a factory made "Paint By Numbers" art painting kit, then claiming the end product result, as to be your own personal hand made "work of art".
Last edited:
At the moment I don't have the skill to even attempt a Chicago route so I am kinda mashing stuff together but I plan on using this mashed together route as a template in the future, to tear down and rebuild it as my own once I feel as though I won't be in over my head.I think you will have to self recreate this custom route, all on your own, by your own hand, as there are very few "already built" modules, "pre-assembled mini-route moduals, like "NTrak" bolt together pre-wired modules, that are already pre-created for you, already made for you, that are are able to be kitbashed together, creating a Chicago based theme for you.
Sure, you could patch together a hodge podge merge of many other routes, all joined together, stitched to one another. But where is the personal creativity aspect in that ? As that would be like a buying a factory made "Paint By Numbers" art painting kit, then claiming the end product result, as to be your own personal hand made "work of art".
As a long time route builder, may I make some recommendations?
* First of all, as the others have said here, start small.
Yes it sounds disheartening, but like everything you need to start somewhere. My first route was 4 baseboards set into a square. I built a harbor and a station based on a theme I had in my mind from a model railroad I started before. More on this theme part in a bit. I worked out details, ideas, and took my time. Even though this route was first created in late 2003/early 2004, it still exists today as a core to a much larger empire. A couple of years ago, I found my original route and converted so I could open it in T:ANE (This is before TRS19). After I laughed at my work because my track laying and landscaping skills were pretty awful, I realized I had something there I could work with and upgraded it.
* Create a test route to learn various techniques.
Unlike a real model railroad, there's no waste of materials. You can do this forever and never spill plaster of Paris on the carpet!. :hehe: Don't plan on keep this route and should it get messy, you can start again. Even today after 16 years of Trainzing, I still have a TEST-ROUTE, or one called XXX in my collection. I use this to check out textures, trees, figure out how something might look, and experiment. Once I like what I'm doing, I implement that into my route that I'm working on.
* Open up other people's routes and sessions for edit and have a look around.
This was one of the first things I did back in December 2003. Yeah... It's been that long. I took a route that fancied my interest and downloaded from the DLS. I then went in and poked at the various tools, and more importantly looked at how the route creator(s) did things. Some authors were better than others of course but I learned what I liked and didn't, and learned a lot from one of them in particular. His routes became my learning tools, and more or less he became my virtual mentor. I happened to like how he placed certain trees and textures and imitated his style on my routes.
* Practice, practice, practice.
Being a creative thing, it takes experience to bring it up to a standard you expect of yourself. Route building is not unlike practicing a musical instrument. Heck I studied piano since I was around 7 years old and still study today 51 years later. I learned a ton, even became a music major at one point in my life, taught piano, and all that, but it took hours and still takes hours of practice. Route building isn't much different and that brings up another point.
* Work small.
What I mean by this s work in small chunks. You will end up burning yourself out and ruining things and end up frustrated. Sometimes step away, look at the real world, videos, pics, etc., then go at it again. Fresh ideas will help inspire creation.
Once you've gotten used to the program, poked around, and first and foremost had fun doing it, you can consider a bigger project.
I wouldn't consider a prototypical route to start, but perhaps a fictional one based on the area you are familiar with. You mentioned Chicago. There's a ton of possibilities with switching, yards, transit, commuter, a bit of everything. Pick something and stick to it. Yeah this is what I mentioned when I said pick a theme. Put a backstory behind it. My fictional route has a backstory, and so do my shorter ones I've built. The stories are based on real life possibilities and rail operations in my area. If you've ever read the Kalmbach Guide to Shortline Railroads, or Fallen Flags, my stories are written the same way. It sounds nutty, but it helps keep things consistent.
Prototypical building requires many skills and consider this the top-level of route creation. This requires everything you've learned plus an investment in a third-party program called Trans Dem
(http://www.rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/startseiteTransDEMEngl.htm) . Trans DEM will create importable routes based DEMs and topographic maps or Orthographic images. Using the program, you select and area, import the parts, and export something that then can be used to place tracks, buildings and everything else to finish a route. The data files are huge and need to be trimmed more than once or twice to make them manageable in the end in the route's final form.
I will say this. The thing about prototypical routes is their size and requirements for custom content. As you can imagine, there are things that just won't be there with a gazillion assets that you have available installed and on the DLS. You'll need a particular factory, building, bridge, station, and so on. This aspect becomes yet another project, and worse if you're familiar with the area, you'll know if something is out of place. Prototypical routes take forever to build not only because of the custom content requirements, but also due to their complexity. If you ever build a prototypical route, you'll see that this is a lifetime project in its self.
Now there's a spin on this. You can import a prototypical map and create a fictional route based on that. George Fischer and I did that with Gloucester, MA. He built the Gloucester Terminal based around non-existent switching operations in and around the Gloucester docks. I took his route and created a transit line, and more recently started a new route from scratch based on the same region. Both of these routes are still a WIP.
Anyway. No one is stopping you from doing what you want, but heed our advice. We don't want you to become frustrated due to inexperience and size of the project.
* First of all, as the others have said here, start small.
Yes it sounds disheartening, but like everything you need to start somewhere. My first route was 4 baseboards set into a square. I built a harbor and a station based on a theme I had in my mind from a model railroad I started before. More on this theme part in a bit. I worked out details, ideas, and took my time. Even though this route was first created in late 2003/early 2004, it still exists today as a core to a much larger empire. A couple of years ago, I found my original route and converted so I could open it in T:ANE (This is before TRS19). After I laughed at my work because my track laying and landscaping skills were pretty awful, I realized I had something there I could work with and upgraded it.
* Create a test route to learn various techniques.
Unlike a real model railroad, there's no waste of materials. You can do this forever and never spill plaster of Paris on the carpet!. :hehe: Don't plan on keep this route and should it get messy, you can start again. Even today after 16 years of Trainzing, I still have a TEST-ROUTE, or one called XXX in my collection. I use this to check out textures, trees, figure out how something might look, and experiment. Once I like what I'm doing, I implement that into my route that I'm working on.
* Open up other people's routes and sessions for edit and have a look around.
This was one of the first things I did back in December 2003. Yeah... It's been that long. I took a route that fancied my interest and downloaded from the DLS. I then went in and poked at the various tools, and more importantly looked at how the route creator(s) did things. Some authors were better than others of course but I learned what I liked and didn't, and learned a lot from one of them in particular. His routes became my learning tools, and more or less he became my virtual mentor. I happened to like how he placed certain trees and textures and imitated his style on my routes.
* Practice, practice, practice.
Being a creative thing, it takes experience to bring it up to a standard you expect of yourself. Route building is not unlike practicing a musical instrument. Heck I studied piano since I was around 7 years old and still study today 51 years later. I learned a ton, even became a music major at one point in my life, taught piano, and all that, but it took hours and still takes hours of practice. Route building isn't much different and that brings up another point.
* Work small.
What I mean by this s work in small chunks. You will end up burning yourself out and ruining things and end up frustrated. Sometimes step away, look at the real world, videos, pics, etc., then go at it again. Fresh ideas will help inspire creation.
Once you've gotten used to the program, poked around, and first and foremost had fun doing it, you can consider a bigger project.
I wouldn't consider a prototypical route to start, but perhaps a fictional one based on the area you are familiar with. You mentioned Chicago. There's a ton of possibilities with switching, yards, transit, commuter, a bit of everything. Pick something and stick to it. Yeah this is what I mentioned when I said pick a theme. Put a backstory behind it. My fictional route has a backstory, and so do my shorter ones I've built. The stories are based on real life possibilities and rail operations in my area. If you've ever read the Kalmbach Guide to Shortline Railroads, or Fallen Flags, my stories are written the same way. It sounds nutty, but it helps keep things consistent.
Prototypical building requires many skills and consider this the top-level of route creation. This requires everything you've learned plus an investment in a third-party program called Trans Dem
(http://www.rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/startseiteTransDEMEngl.htm) . Trans DEM will create importable routes based DEMs and topographic maps or Orthographic images. Using the program, you select and area, import the parts, and export something that then can be used to place tracks, buildings and everything else to finish a route. The data files are huge and need to be trimmed more than once or twice to make them manageable in the end in the route's final form.
I will say this. The thing about prototypical routes is their size and requirements for custom content. As you can imagine, there are things that just won't be there with a gazillion assets that you have available installed and on the DLS. You'll need a particular factory, building, bridge, station, and so on. This aspect becomes yet another project, and worse if you're familiar with the area, you'll know if something is out of place. Prototypical routes take forever to build not only because of the custom content requirements, but also due to their complexity. If you ever build a prototypical route, you'll see that this is a lifetime project in its self.
Now there's a spin on this. You can import a prototypical map and create a fictional route based on that. George Fischer and I did that with Gloucester, MA. He built the Gloucester Terminal based around non-existent switching operations in and around the Gloucester docks. I took his route and created a transit line, and more recently started a new route from scratch based on the same region. Both of these routes are still a WIP.
Anyway. No one is stopping you from doing what you want, but heed our advice. We don't want you to become frustrated due to inexperience and size of the project.
I concur with John. I have been building routes since 2004. Start with something small, 4 baseboards is a good size to start with. Build a small route with several industries and some scenary and landscaping. A small route like this can be completed in a fairly short period of time - several weeks perhaps depending upon the amout of time you spend on it in a week. The problem with a large route is it takes forever to build and it is very easy to become discouraged in the process. It seems to go on and on forever by the time you add track, scenery, and texture, plus adding the signals and rolling stock.A small route will help you develop skills and try out different features on a small scale before you leap into the "big" idea.
I also study others peoples work to get ideas and develop techniques for my own routes.
I have quit building new routes since the introduction of TRS2019 and have spent my time during the past year upgrading my older routes with all the new features available with the new program and making improvements on the trackage and scenery.
And finally have fun and enjoy the process. TRS2019 is a remarkable program which will consume countless hours once you get involved.
I also study others peoples work to get ideas and develop techniques for my own routes.
I have quit building new routes since the introduction of TRS2019 and have spent my time during the past year upgrading my older routes with all the new features available with the new program and making improvements on the trackage and scenery.
And finally have fun and enjoy the process. TRS2019 is a remarkable program which will consume countless hours once you get involved.
AnalogOldguy
Member
You could go to the Trainz Pro Routes forum (you should understand that these are old posts from long, long ago) . Find a section called TPR Goodies. look for a subject called "John Keenan's Fire Sale of Unfinished routes".
He has one that I play with occasionally called ChiGary.cdp it is very small and seems to be a section along a waterfront with lots of large oil tanks. I think it can still be downloaded, but I'm not sure if you have to sign up as a member!
It is not much, but something you can work on, naturally you have to download all the dependencies if you don't already have them. Also, I believe it was made for Trainz 2004 and 2006. I hope that doesn't kill it for you! Best Wishes!
Bob P.
He has one that I play with occasionally called ChiGary.cdp it is very small and seems to be a section along a waterfront with lots of large oil tanks. I think it can still be downloaded, but I'm not sure if you have to sign up as a member!
It is not much, but something you can work on, naturally you have to download all the dependencies if you don't already have them. Also, I believe it was made for Trainz 2004 and 2006. I hope that doesn't kill it for you! Best Wishes!
Bob P.
Thank you I'll check it out, and it's age doesn't bother me most of the routes I have incorperated are from around then.-MKYou could go to the Trainz Pro Routes forum (you should understand that these are old posts from long, long ago) . Find a section called TPR Goodies. look for a subject called "John Keenan's Fire Sale of Unfinished routes".
He has one that I play with occasionally called ChiGary.cdp it is very small and seems to be a section along a waterfront with lots of large oil tanks. I think it can still be downloaded, but I'm not sure if you have to sign up as a member!
It is not much, but something you can work on, naturally you have to download all the dependencies if you don't already have them. Also, I believe it was made for Trainz 2004 and 2006. I hope that doesn't kill it for you! Best Wishes!
Bob P.
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