Rust Belt Central: Progress Thread [Screen Shots]

ktain.ny

Active member
Here I will be showing off my first real route that I plan to release on the DLS. Its called 'Rust Belt Central', sort of has an anywhere US kinda of feel to it, I'm not an artist like Approach Medium Or Philskine but I've been heavily inspired by both of their work. The route really has no specific location, just somewhere in the rust belt. There will be 2 larger metropolitan cities, which haven't been built yet, one smaller more impoverished, run down industrial city, which has been built. There will be two logging branchlines, one of which has been constructed, the other hasn't. Multiple coal mines and drop offs, and numerous passenger stations for both commuter runs and long haul trains.

Here is the interesting part. The route is pretty big, but its not end-end, its a loop. One, giant loop, like City And Country USA or Highland Valley. These routes also inspired me, because they allowed for some versatile running, and the era was really unspecific.

So far, I've constructed the following.

-Winston, a run down industrial city at the foot of the hills (the hills/mountain range, whatever, haven't been named, and Winston Yard, which mostly serves as a site for helper locomotives to hook up to freight trains as they prepare to ascend.
-The gradient just past Winston, over the hills, a steep 4%. The hills are completed in this area and look pretty good. I did a lot of work there.
-Logging branch which crosses through the hills to get to Winston, where logs are dropped off.
-Coal mine just outside of Winston, where trains come in to collect coal, and then loop back around to another, larger yard for staging (hasn't been built yet).
-Just past the hills lies the Henbane river, whose name was definitely not stolen from a poor quality Ubisoft game.
-Past the Henbane River is Westfield County. There is a large rail yard there, which has been built, and a small town beside it, which I have not start working on.

So, if you've read this much, here are a few things I was hoping for some help with.
-Signaling. I know nothing about signals, where to put them, or anything like that.
-Yard Ladders. They are difficult. Would appreciate some tips on making them more realistic and smooth.

I will add to this list as I see fit. For now, enjoy some screen shots of my progress. When the time is right, and I'm happy with the build, I'll release it and hopefully you all will have a lot of fun playing on it!
 
I'd like to give a short tour of the route so far. Our journey starts in Westfield County Yard, where TVRM 4501 is taking point of a short excursion train.

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Above: Westfield County Yard

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Above: Exiting the roundhouse

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Above: Backing on to the excursion consist

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Above: Ascending the gradient, overlooking the Henbane River and the Henbane Motel

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Above: The View From the Henbane Motel

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​Above: Descending into the impoverished city of Winston

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Above: Rolling into Winston (2)

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Above: The View From Winston's small lumber and mixed freight storage yard, which also serves as a depot for helper power.
 
Good afternoon. Some updates to the route today, as I prepare to release a beta build.

-The 'region' was removed, so instead of live traffic, there is static vehicles, which is a lot cooler in my opinion, because it allows for the creation of some neat scenes. Also, cars won't collide with your freight trains as they roll down the street running portion.

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-Speaking of the street running portion, some more detailing was added here. I replaced the track in some areas as well.

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-I also added some other smaller details in different areas. There's an MOW crew out here working on the mainline next to Winston.

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Black Hawk on patrol, and below is the station I built in Winston.

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Lastly, some NYC power dominating the gradient. Man, I love post processing.

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Looking really good KTrain! Regarding your initial post, I am also a fairly novice route builder myself. I did try to research yard ladders though, and actually tried to measure the angles at some of the western yards I was interested in (via Google earth view). They appear to average about a 10 degree angle, and I found I could approximate that by taking a junction off at about eight grid squares forward to one grid square sideways, or you can use the protractor asset that is available. It seemed to work pretty well spacing tracks at about 1/2 grid squares, so for example, if one line is running along the yellow line, the next should run along the black line, and so forth. So that would mean it would take about four grid squares to move over the half square. Now this makes for a pretty long yard, and from what I can tell, most creators don't go at this shallow an angle, but I wanted to be as prototypical as I could. And what I had at one time looked REALLY good! But unfortunately I did not finish or keep the route, and now I find myself starting it over from scratch. If I get something worth showing maybe I'll post a screenshot, but I am leaving on vacation for a week, so it will be a while. Anyway, keep up the great work and keep posting screenshots!
 
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