Potential routes you would want to see in Trainz

I saw another thread with this same topic created in 2015 that was last updated in June 2018. I felt a new topic would suffice since I am unsure of the rules regarding bumping threads more than a year old.

When it comes to Trainz many users have their idea of what they have in mind for a route. Some like running short distances but servicing a lot of industries while others like to run the long haul from point A to B. There are many factors that come with what makes a route pleasing for people such as level of detail, seasons, weather, era, country, region, et al.

If you have thought of a potential route, this thread can be the place to share your thoughts and ideas. Since many of us have different ideas and opinions it would be nice to see what kind of ideas people have in mind.

There are many routes I would like to take a run through but if I had to choose one it would be the Delaware & Hudson in its entirety. The Bridge Line has a storied history with ups and downs and is one I have a soft spot for since in terms of American railroads it falls under the radar. In the tumultuous 70s it became an underdog with an unsure future after the failure of Penn Central and the birth of Conrail.

In Trainz the D&H would have to be split into at least three sections with one beginning at its southern most point at Wilkes-Barre northward along the former Penn Division to Nineveh to either Schenectady or Mechanicville including the connections towards Binghamton and Albany. The second section picks up northward containing the branch lines and connection into Vermont. The third section would contain the D&H line running along the shore of Lake Champlain toward Rouses Point and the Quebec border. A potential fourth section would contain the DL&W main from Binghamton to Scranton along with the former Erie main from Buffalo to Suffern along the Southern Tier.

Potential challenges for this route would be the various signaling as the D&H used unique signal gantries and brackets for its Searchlight signals along with various tunnel portals along the system. Another obstacle would be bridges such as the Starrucca Viaduct and the Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct.

The potential time frame of the route would ideally be in the final 25 years of the railroad’s life from 1966 to 1991.

Northwestern Pacific Railroad from Schellville to Eureka, including the California Western Railroad (Skunk Train).

These threads pop up from time to time and while not wanting to dampen enthusiasm there are a few things to consider...

1. Building a full length detailed prototype route is a massive undertaking, it can take weeks to get the trackwork right then months or even years after that to paint the terrain and place scenery. There are very few shortcuts. By then Trainz may well have moved on to the next version and nerfed the route or some of the assets it uses, requiring a load of rebuilding.

2. Relative to the userbase there are not that many hardcore route builders about and they will be working on their own projects (some may also be dabbling in MSTS or DTG TS too), not items from a wishlist. Many of us have been at this for years and a bit burned out, which is why I now largely restrict myself to model or proto-model style projects.

3. Therefore the only guaranteed means to see a favourite route in the game is to fire up Transdem then Surveyor and take a crack yourself.

If you did the survey in last weeks newsletter, this exact question was asked (actually spread out over a bunch of questions).

Since it is indeed topic 1000 about the same thing, I am going to think about what to with it; lock, merge, run, etc.
But in the mean time, what if you go do that survey in the newsletter? It looks like only one question, but if you answer it you will get a bunch more.

I remember them asking what my all time favorite route was, but not the one I would like to see the most. The one I would like to see the most is the Columbia River Gorge, from the Portland and Vancouver Yards to the Hermiston yard, or possibly Pasco and Kennewick yards. Would feature both BNSF and UP, and rails on both sides of the Columbia River.

@Vern, definitely time is one of the biggest factors that hinders prototypical route development. I can understand the perspective of how frustrating it can be with outside factors (content updates, a new version of Trainz coming out).

@oknotsen, I don't seem to recall such a survey as I periodically take breaks from the forum or lurk and thus not follow the newsletters nor get any e-mails about them, at least not within the past two or so weeks. A link to the survey would be appreciated either via PM or in another post.

@Forester1, the Columbia River Gorge is another good scenic choice.

To be honest, prototypical routes are hard. They are the ultimate in route building and to get a decent and convincing prototypical route, you will need to spend years and years, and years to get it to a point where it looks like the area you are attempting to represent. Roy's Canadian Rockies routes are just that. The original developed in TS12 and other versions took him 12 years to get to where they are, and even still they are not complete.

I've been involved off and on, and more off than on lately, with a prototypical route based around a short, meaning 10-mile segment of the Boston and Maine from Zoar, MA to North Adams and possibly to the New York border. This route started in 2014 and only a tiny portion has been landscaped. A tiny portion with a lot more to go.

So we're not being critical, but being honest and hopefully not trying to dampen your enthusiasm for doing big proto-projects. If you want to do it, go for it but do it on your own time and don't do something with the aim of making a route for the community. It's routes like that, with lots of early announcements and hoopla, that are never built and end up either in the trash-bin, or shelved on the route-builder's project shelf that gathers more dust than it has viable projects.

the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines (it runs near my hometown)
CSX Florida Funnel (that's not from Chrisracer8903's atrociously out of scale route building)
Northlandz (went into development hell)
Saluda Hill (also went into development hell)

Cleveland Ohio
The Chicago area
LAJ/ vernon Ca

And now the inevitable happens, we end up with yet another wish list that doesn't stand a cat in hell's chance of ever getting made...

And on that bombshell, it is time to lock this thing.

I invite everyone to do the (N3V) survey; see my previous post.