The Tweed Railway- Ballina branch

Another section of the Tweed railway in northern NSW should be on the DLS soon.

Open for only about 19 years from 1930 to 1949 this short branch line ran from Booyong Junction on the main Tweed Line to Ballina on the Richmond River.

Ive included a couple of bright red markers on the Lismore to Byron route to indicate where this route can be joined in just to make it easier to see.

This route includes a section of 2Ft guage cane railway with two loop lines running out from the Ballina Sugar Mill.
The following items are available for 2Ft gauge: (there may be others !)
Merced Loco <kuid:44700:71>
24in Davenport (Green) <kuid:181672:436956> (also others in this series)
Cane truck <kuid2:72882:1050:1> (also some commodities here from the DLS)

There is also a section of invisible track laid from the Ballina wharf along the Richmond River and up into the creek where a cane wharf connects to the cane rail link. Ive not adjusted this section as it will depend on what ‘boat’ is used and what level track it is designed for. Just reset the track into the river if you intend to use this section.

For the Aircraft enthuisasts, Ballina airport has also been relocated closer to town however I have not included any air routes in the map.

The keen drivers should be able to set up some interesting sessions using the main railway, cane loops, river and air traffic - good luck.

Thanks to all content creators and all my usual sources.

Peter.

Very nice.

You've been hard at work, obviously, creating another real-life Aussie route for the community.

Just one question: where you able to get around the '06 upload restrictions, or is this a 09/10 version only? Doesn't really matter if it is, as i should soon be receiving a copy of 2009, thanks to the generosity of a fellow Trainzer.

Matt.

Thanks Peter.
I'm looking forward to this section being available (guessed the red markers were for this connection);I have "Casino to Lismore" and the "Lismore to Byron Bay" Maps both on 2010.
But so far unable to Merge rhem.

Norm.

Hi,

Just downloaded the Ballina branch, and had a quick look at it in surveyor.

Well done, sir, well done.:Y::clap:

It looks to be a very well done route, as per your usual standards, and i eagerly await the next section of this route. It was a nice touch to add the cane tramway, and river connection to the wharf.

This route will provide me with many hours of fun, especially when connected to the Casino-Byron Bay section.

Edit: Hate to bug you, and sound greedy, but has work on the the section to Murwillumbah commenced?

Matt.

Ballina Branch

Thanks for the comments.
The route was built in TRS2006 as will be the rest of the Tweed Railway so it can be merged in '06', saved and moved into '09' or '10'.

I believe that the latest version of TRS2010 (SP3/ build 43434) is the first build of '10' where the merge function works correctly without having to use the work-around procedure previously documented in the forums. Ive merged the routes in build 43434 without any problems.

The next section of the Tweed line will be from Byron Bay to Yelgun (about 30K) and then the last from Yelgun to Condong Mill. Work has begun !!

PG

Hi Peter.
Now have the "Ballina Branch" and tried merging it with BB section but get the same Error messages as when trying to merge Casino/Lismore too Bryon Bay section.
No luck with Merging in 2010 (43434)?I get the following error messages.
With the Layers "Error one or more layers have the same name,names must be unique"
and with the merge arrow "Error one or more conflicts still exist.please check Red Tabs to resolve conflicts"

Hmmm Don't recognise these problems ? Do you have any suggestions Please ?

And have noticed a few Bumps of land showing through the River and one at one of the stations .
Possibly the use of Dem Map ? had a bit of same trouble with My San Francisco Map when transferred into 2010.

Norm.

Merge in TRS2010

Sorry I forgot this bit - layers are a bit of a pain !! and this doesnt seem to be documented anywhere.

When you get the Merge Route function window go to the Layers Tab and it will show two layers named 'route-layer'
Highlight one of them and then select the funny looking arrow down the bottom, select the route-layer again from the display and proceed. The window should then show only one 'route-layer.

Return to the Merge window map section and position the map for merge.


It seems that the default name for the base route layer is just that, 'route-layer', for every map and when you merge routes you have to indicate that the two must be merged first before the actual map/ground files can be merged. I would have thought the default layer names should be the same as the route name but who knows ???

Just persist it does work ! (keep a backup in case)

Peter

Thank you Peter.

That sorted it out and only took 10 minutes to merge all three maps.

Tomorrow I'll start checking for disconnected Stations etc.

Norm.

Greetings NormP, You may also find raised ridges and deep crevices at baseboard joins, with textures stripped away, after merging. these bugs are still with us even after SP3. Cheers.

Merge issues

Boliver

I havnt seen any of the usual baseboard join bugs in my version of '10'. (build 43434). The merge seems to be good all round.
I suspect I'm using a good version of all the programs from TransDEM thru to TRs2006 & 2010 to build the routes.

The only thing Ive seen sofar which is strange is little dark (black) blotches in some of the textures which I cant erase or repaint.

PG
PS
I believe that if you have merged routes with the baseboard 'bug' in any version of '10' prior to build 43434 and then do another merge after updating to 43434 then the problem will remain.
Build 43434 is the first version of '10' that Ive not seen the problem so I recommend that individual routes be imported into build 43434 then merged. I'm keeping a eye peeled for any other issues also.

PG

Very nice work again Peter, especially the red markers. I would have been lost without them :hehe:

I had no problems merging in 2010 build 43434 though I have noticed a couple of things when merging this layout and on another by Zec. Every so often the ground may drop or rise, its not consistent and easy to fix. Zec had no idea why it happens. The Black Texture patches are strange but for the most part you can cover over them, sometimes you need to use a larger radius or in one area today nothing I did would remove them. Then I tried using the " [ " key to rotate the textures and it worked but I have no idea why.

Many thanks again for all you excellent work.

The History of NSW Railways lives on

Craig

Just the expected repairs at the Board merge ie. Trench with some of the textures missing; just joined tracks/Roads and fences then all OK.

Up to your usual high standard Peter.

NormP.

PGibbons said:

The next section of the Tweed line will be from Byron Bay to Yelgun (about 30K) and then the last from Yelgun to Condong Mill. Work has begun !!

PG

Click to expand...

Pete,

Good to hear,

I don't suppose you have plans to extend this route once the section to Muwillumbah is finished? Say, north to the border, or even back towards Grafton?:hehe::hehe:

Just kidding. If you decide to take a break from route building after this, i don't think anyone could blame you. You have done wonders in creating what you have over the years.

Matt.

Hi Pete

Have been working on your Ballina route and I would like to thank you for a job well done.

So far I have a 'Tin Hare' running, a 30 Tank with 'S' trucks, a 48 class with cattle wagons, and even a cane train doing the rounds.
All are under AI control and working good.

Struck a problem with the tugs and barges on the river though.
They would not detect the red markers I placed around it.
After a lot of testing with different boats, I decided to change the invisible track.
I used 'Invisible Track BNSF50' kuid2:39134:101050:2 and it worked OK then.
So I assume it is something to do with the track you used in it.

Now there are 2 tugs each pulling 2 barges. One set empty the other set loaded.

One other thing was there were no cars on the roads.
I checked the setting and it was showing 'on'. So I clicked it off & back on and the cars appeared.
Must be a glitch in 2010.

Regarding the problems with merging, I merged it with no problems showing up at all in 2010 B43434.

Once again thanks for an excellent route, you've raised the bar again.

Regards
Dennis

Thanks for the comments....

Interesting about the markers and the 'black dotted line' invisible track.
Ive not had any problems with this track either in water or as in the air as a track for planes.

Ive got a trs2010 session running on the merged Tweed Railway with a couple of consists , a ship running on a loop up the river (all using the Auto drive command) , an RFDS plane on a loop from the Ballina airport taking off northward, then along the river, turning at the head of the valley and back above the railway to the airport, a cane train running doing a loop and the JD Combine running a loop in the fields beside the airport.

I'm into the next section now from Byron to Yelgun, (about 25K) with all track laid out and scenery up to Mullumbimbi. I might add in the remaining section to Condong Mill as a single route depending on how well the merge is at Yelgun.
Stay tuned.

PG

PG, a few questions:
1. Automatic coloured light signals instead of semaphore signals & track with concrete sleepers on the Ballina Branch, especially such modern coloured light signals?

Wouldn't the Ballina have closed (& in this case formally closed by an Act of Parliament, not just closed by stopping the service) well before the railways replaced got serious and replaced most semaphores and sleepers (although they did exist before the Branch closed?

PG, have you tried using Davido's NSW various type tracks? While their are slightly better looking track than his, I think he may have done this to make it easier on low spec machines.

Hope you don't mind, but I think I'll change the track. Mainly because Auran's default track doesn't look good, and spoils a (or any) layout.