Northeast Corridor

I know you all have probably heard this numerous times, but I am also making a Northeast Corridor route from Washington D.C. to Boston

This route will have accurate lenghts between stations.
I am currently working in two parts with my brother. I am working on New York to Boston while he has D.C. to New York. I am currently in Providence and he is in Perryville. Give me some suggestions if you like.

If it is going on DLS then I suggest putting in a few things that are hard to notice. I once put a simple circuit of track on DLS then about 8 days after, someone says. "Hey, what the heck is that!?!"
I had put two animated lumberjacks at work infront of eachother then I put a texture that red like blood.... In the middle of the lake!

The next little thing I put in was an exhibition centre 50 metres under ground.
I'm still trying to find it so I can get it out of the ground.

And also, good luck with the track!

if you are going to do this try to make it into a fewer boards and so they can be joined together by the ones who down loads it.(instead of one big 500 board layout)
Danny5

well, its too late for that because its already about 140 miles long which is like 280 blocks so if thats acceptable than your in luck

dallassuck said:

well, its too late for that because its already about 140 miles long which is like 280 blocks so if thats acceptable than your in luck

Click to expand...

Wow, you will has got biggest with your project focus about NEC between Boston to D.C pretty so huge and longer work almost 1 years...

Good luck with it! :Y:

- David

Yeah that is quite a project you have ahead but anyway good luck on this project!

UP5521 said:

Yeah that is quite a project you have ahead but anyway good luck on this project!

Click to expand...

I second that.

Fictional routes are time consuming enough but to even attempt such a challenge as a recreation of the NEC with accurate distances down to the mile no less is truely a challenge that puts almost any fantasy route to shame.

Not to put a damper on your project, but this project is quite an undertaking, and there is a lot to consider. I would perhaps work on small bits of this, and maybe release it in small sections. This will give you the time to do it right by solving any details you need to in the smaller modules. The other issue to is that this route will be huge! The DLS will reject it if it's too big, and then you'll need to host the route elsewhere, or contact Auran if you want to upload it. Remember the mileage between Boston and Washington is about 400 miles. There are 200 miles along, give a take a few, between NYC and Washington DC alone.

How accurate is your terrain going to be?
If you are using DEM files for the line, then there will be lots of cutting to do in order to remove unnecessary baseboards. There is also the issue with the accuracy of the rail grade and the terrain.

How much outside content is there going to be?
The NEC, which I'm sure you know, is filled with lots of buildings, factories, cities, railyards, catenary, roads, highways, etc. There needs to be the balance of what looks good and speed optimization. It doesn't do any good to have a nice looking route, if it can't be driven by anyone because the machine requirements are that of a grid network made up of CRAY computers.

And related to the question above. How much custom content are you willing to create? Each region that the NEC travels through has its own unique buildings. The buildings in Phildelphia and Baltimore are much different than those in Providence and Boston. There are also lots of unique buildings, bridges and tunnels that exist no where else in the world. These too will have to be created.

A route this long can become boring. People will lose interest as they drive the long distance between Washington and Boston. The scenery will become boring, the distance between stations will seem even longer, particularly as the driver goes from NY to Boston.

There are a lot more things to think about, and consider this as a starting point. Realism is wonderful, and works in small areas, but when creating a huge route, such as the complete NEC, many compromises will need to be taken for both operational interest and computer speed.

John

dallassuck said:

well, its too late for that because its already about 140 miles long which is like 280 blocks so if thats acceptable than your in luck

Click to expand...

First, each mile in TRS is about 2.444 boards long, so the numbers you give for the completed bits (140 miles; 240 boards) do not match; 140 miles is more like 340 boards.

Second, it's really not too late To divide your route. You could load the original, remove half of it (Say Hartford to Boston), and save the New York to New Haven segment under a new name, then reload the original, remove the New York to New Haven segment, and save the balance under a different new name.

This would be an especially good idea for at least two of reasons:

while working on the route, it will be less taxing to your computer; and

if you want to release the route on some site (e.g., DLS) it will be better for users, particularly those who have not yet managed to acquire a FCT to download five segments thirty miles long, than one segment 150 miles long.

ns

if you plan to make the route available for general release

ns

To answer your questions:

Long stetches will have minimal terrain changes. But where major and important changes need to be I intened to have them.

2nd:

If you mean not built in content than there will be alot of outside content due to things like buildings and shrubs and bridges.

3rd:
No created content from me; don't know how

Also, i think i will divide the route while im building it. But I hope that i can combine the line in the end. The scenery should't be boring because we have added realistic places such as the susquahana river and the Thames River Bridge etc.
Overall it should be a very good route ill try to post some screen shots of it

Also,

Don't forget need to addition Norfolk Southern trains there too because a during Norfolk Southern runs between Perryville, MD and Baltimore, MD for a during night and early morning that's it...

Most seen alot NS trains around between in Perryville, MD and Baltimore, MD

Intermodels trains
Coal trains
Manifest trains
Auto mechanical
Farm equipments (62A)

And, there has CSX mainline near Perryville too, and there are big steel bridge for CSX Philly Sub...

(Oversized Warning)
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1030874

http://www.mdrails.com/images/csxsuqy3.jpg

- David

dnutter said:

Also,

Don't forget need to addition Norfolk Southern trains there too because a during Norfolk Southern runs between Perryville, MD and Baltimore, MD for a during night and early morning that's it...

Most seen alot NS trains around between in Perryville, MD and Baltimore, MD

Intermodels trains
Coal trains
Manifest trains
Auto mechanical
Farm equipments (62A)

And, there has CSX mainline near Perryville too, and there are big steel bridge for CSX Philly Sub...

(Oversized Warning)
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1030874

http://www.mdrails.com/images/csxsuqy3.jpg

- David

Click to expand...

Well is that on the NEC because I dont plan on having things that go off the Northeast Corridor(Possibly the Dinky in New Jersey).

Also i dont think i will be able to post screen shots because I got reported for too large images but other people have their images at 1024x765 and I thought the limit was 800x600

screenshots are here:

http://s714.photobucket.com/albums/ww148/eagles94kh/NEC Screenshots/

I take it you are strench707's brother?

I look forward to seeing your final product!

actually no

Oh. Well, then you might want to coordinate with him. He's a regular here and at railroad.net. See this thread for more info.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=36670

Nice screens,don't forget that the Amtrak Acela runs along the NEC.... have you got any plans on how best to re-create that consist?

The ICE loco most closely resembles the Acela's streamlined shape(IMO) even though in reality it runs with the pantograph connection of the TGV.

There's an Acela Express trainset minus the diner car on the DLS that looks farily realistic. Oh, and there isn't a dedicated cabview (so you either have to change it to a real one or go without). Good luck on the NEC project. It's definitely one of the longest complete routes you can build.

Just passed Attleboro take a look

http://s714.photobucket.com/albums/ww148/eagles94kh/NEC Screenshots/

Download

Can I download this for rs 2010? And how can I find it? I only have classics 1 and 2 and I have no idea how to search for stuff..