New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[buzz456]

Fine then, I'll shut up, but I can't say I agree with you. I don't see why no one here is willing to act like an adult and agree to disagree for once.

[GERUNIMO625]

Minerman,

Despite the opinions of some/one, I cannot get enough of this route! As always you've continued to outdo yourself. I can't wait to see what lays around the bend.
Also those of you who upload screenshots, they look amazing!

but you really need to know what your doing to keep both the look and FPS under control. It is always a work in progress. You can't expect thousands of people to have a top of the line machine when you publish to workshop. So, its good to be conscious of framerate.

Ain't that the truth! I have a route I've been fiddling with, and I've used soooo many assets and soooo many scenery items, that I have to limit the amount of trains I have on the route, or the game will crash. So I can certainly admire/respect your efforts and technical prowess to keep everything in check and still look'n so darn amazing!!!

As always keep up the GREAT work!

[minerman146]

Gerunimo!

Your words are a balm for torment. I needed that, you knew it and wrote. Thank You.

I would like to imagine, that some Friday night, you think that it would be a good time to see what Minerman has been up to. You power your machine on, take a sip of your preferred beverage, and fire up TS. Maybe you were on just last night, or a month ago. You click on "drive" grab a consist of some type, scroll down the QD list and hit "play". Then you crash to desktop! I know its happened before - because you guys reach out to me. There are about 30 - 40 users a month I hear from. Some say "hi" have issues, bug me about going to Port Jervis, or have questions about the route. I respond to all them and quickly. Then the route loads ... slowly ... slowly.. then your in, the scenery starts the fill in, your FPS is probably 6 or something and then when its all loaded you got a nice clean 20 fps. You move your notch to 1 then 7 and grab some speed. You look around you see the hills, the valleys, the forests, the meadows or some urban location in Jersey. But you cant help but to leave the cab, then you see it, the expanse. The amazing world presented just for you. You are viewing what I am blessed to notice - the common, every day world.

When you think about it, some guy, it could be me or you, consciously thought about what to put out on his route. Its limited, there are choices and compromises and a balance to maintain. It is a miracle that it even works. And there you are, watching this representation of the world roll by you. The whole route is a story. Those of you who have been reading here for almost 2 years get the idea. I have a close personal relationship with the places that I have portrayed. I know it shows - I see it myself. One of my biggest thrills is reading some comment, not said to me directly, but comments that I search for, written without my knowledge, that point out some detail that I put in from 40 years ago that doesn't exist anymore. Those details are me telling my story.

I could keep rambling on .... but I will close with an observation. This cracks me up. When I am driving down the Bergen I think of what my father said about driving the train. " I didn't know what town I was driving through. I knew the signals, the crossings and the grades. All I cared about was my load, how it was disbursed behind me, my air and my speed. I didn't have time to look at the scenery all I saw was the track and the gauges" . I can attest, though direct observation, that is what he did. Me, and my 10 year old self was sitting in the fireman's chair the whole time. And if you were ever 10 years old you know what I saw - EVERYTHING! (Try to imagine the impression Jersey City in the 70's made on a kid riding in the cab on a train)

So here it comes... what you got here is a route built from the perspective of a 10 year old from 40 years ago.

Think about that the next time you take a ride.

[minerman146]

Its Friday - and I have to post something ...
I never made to the end of 3.5 Mile straight in Blooming Grove. You would not believe the amount of after-hours work interruptions I got this week.
Sheeeeesh!

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FPS issue is cleared up. Getting 70% - 20 FPS 20% -18 and 10% 17FPS. The drag between tiles is at 14-16 FPS
I start off with 30-32fps with bare scenery.

Enjoy the weekend fellas!

[GERUNIMO625]

Minerman,

After-hours work interruptions, even though unwanted and maybe unnecessary, just go to show how important you are. Take that for whats its worth.

In regards to your post from 17 May, I'll say if some day you reach the end of the Bergen or you grow tired of Railworks, might I recommend becoming an author?
Your a great story teller, you paint/write a very good visualization of you as a boy in Jersey in the 70's, or even of me sitting down with a cup of joe to a crashed computer!
Your Dad sounded like a very professional railroader. Everything he told you was true, except I make it a point to learn where all the good food joints are along the main too, just incase we stop I can grab a burger...don't tell anyone.

Hope you have a weekend free of annoyances, take care!

[minerman146]

Minerman,

After-hours work interruptions, even though unwanted and maybe unnecessary, just go to show how important you are. Take that for whats its worth.

In regards to your post from 17 May, I'll say if some day you reach the end of the Bergen or you grow tired of Railworks, might I recommend becoming an author?
Your a great story teller, you paint/write a very good visualization of you as a boy in Jersey in the 70's, or even of me sitting down with a cup of joe to a crashed computer!
Your Dad sounded like a very professional railroader. Everything he told you was true, except I make it a point to learn where all the good food joints are along the main too, just incase we stop I can grab a burger...don't tell anyone.

Hope you have a weekend free of annoyances, take care!

You are doing right here what I really want to do... talk about this place and this time and what I saw.
Your right about my Dad. He was VERY well trained on brakes by Lackawanna engineers who knew grades. He liked to point out that every engineer on the New York Division had to qualify in Hoboken. So, if you were a commuter on the EL, your engineer had intense locomotive experience. And it wasn't some kid either! He did things with locomotives that were not in the manual - I will leave it at that.

You got me on the food joint thing. But there is a reason I don't talk about them. They were mostly Bars! Best place I ever went into with my father... freakin 1973 - the Clam Broth House in Hoboken. I remember that day because it was January and I saw a women in a just a fur jacket, with bare legs and heels standing on the corner of River St and Hudson Place. Me: "Dad, isn't she cold" Dad: "That's a Hooker, keep walking!"

Oh man ... good times!

Thanks again Gerunimo!

[buzz456]

Circa back about the same time I used to go to lunch at a local gin mill called Bills Tap and the local CNW crew used to come in for lunch as they were switching the local branch. Good memories.

High jack over.

[Chacal]

it was January and I saw a women in a just a fur jacket, with bare legs and heels standing on the corner of River St and Hudson Place. Me: "Dad, isn't she cold" Dad: "That's a Hooker, keep walking!"

Block heater.
How could you miss the orange extension cord?

[minerman146]

it was January and I saw a women in a just a fur jacket, with bare legs and heels standing on the corner of River St and Hudson Place. Me: "Dad, isn't she cold" Dad: "That's a Hooker, keep walking!"

Block heater.
How could you miss the orange extension cord?

"Block Heaters" This is how I know I am talkin to adults.
Can you imagine the kind of 'flavor' I could put into this route with the right (oh, this could be a double entendre) assets?
I could make you a 1970 route that would blow you mind. This is the vision!

Grit, grime, smoke. beer cans and newspaper stuck against the fence. What I would give for store front with a neon "Bar" over the top. Blue smoke out of the back of autos, and wisps of steam, trailing out the back of each Stilwell coach in the winter.

Anyway - yeah this what I think about. In the end you will have a somewhat modern Conrail/NS/NJT route.
I coulda been a contender ( Yeah I am stealin that from On the Waterfront - it fits with the route!)

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

Me: "Dad, isn't she cold" Dad: "That's a Hooker, keep walking!"

Your story reminds me of another one, although less hookers:

Great Grandfather: (Talking about the Puget Sound in Tacoma) So that is saltwater, huh?
Grandfather: Yes dad... That is salt water...
Dad: Wheres the pepperwater daddy?

Ca. 1970-1971 when my dad was about 4-5 years old.

[kris120]

Hi Minerman !
Just not to forget: One cannot go out of the Ford sidings:

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Keep going on ! One end is in sight ! (I hope that's the right translation)
In my opinion your route is the best freeware playing in America !
Kris

[minerman146]

Hi Minerman !
Just not to forget: One cannot go out of the Ford sidings:

Bergen-Ford-2017-05-19 11_09_48.jpg

Keep going on ! One end is in sight ! (I hope that's the right translation)
In my opinion your route is the best freeware playing in America !
Kris

Kris120,
I assure you that not only did I correct that track break, I added a bit of extra foliage in Mahwah so you would know I was there. And thank you for running down at the Ford plant, but I distinctly see some Erie Lackawanna as your lead engine! What you say about the Bergen is a joy to hear!

Sunday Update: I had added another forest and inadvertently deleted 2 of them. Time cost: 2.5 hours to rebuild. These long 2km forest take quite a bit of time to do. In the picture below .. you can see why I do it. This perspective is the maximum you can pull out from the train without going into free roam view.

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[PennCentral670]

This might sound not TS related but I'm doing it anyways for the best, here is some real life action I captured on the Graham Line this past Sunday near the Woodbury Outlets.
https://youtu.be/xmPupaCzu3s

[minerman146]

This might sound not TS related but I'm doing it anyways for the best, here is some real life action I captured on the Graham Line this past Sunday near the Woodbury Outlets.
https://youtu.be/xmPupaCzu3s

Penn, its totally related!

Point 1: Be careful down there!
Point 2: I need more trees....again.

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[minerman146]

Evening Gents. This week's update - Tree-o-rama! Well, of course, more trees and nice big fat oaky ones too. But, get this, the area your track is in is two miles wide! 2 Miles! My computer huddles in a corner and weeps after each build session. Please be aware, while we have reduced some of the fps hit out in Washingtonville, going from tile to tile is dipping under 10 fps for me. But were single track and it shouldn't be too much of an issue operationally. But, please keep me posted. If you experience some fps that hurts too much, give me an idea where your getting it and I will reduce the tree count.

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I think it has been worth it to push the trees out as far as I could. I believe I have found the practical limit. I can only go 2.25KM and then the pins on the irregular asset tool just disappear. The tree work is very challenging as its prone to error on my part, but roughly each 500 meter by 2km section takes about 45 minutes to lay. Using this tool you have to remember that you are creating and inside box so the assets will appear. I happen to be weaving it around fields. If it were unbroken forest, it would be simpler. The over all effect is very natural from the train, I really work hard on depth of field.

Scenery detail has been lacking. I grow impatient to reach Campbell Hall and I am starting to rush it. I am getting ahead of myself with the trees. Then I have to go back, place roads, and houses and detail up - its tough going. I have placed PLENTY of buildings already, but, its never enough. You may notice some buildings/houses are missing. This is because I am trying to keep it around 2003 or so. If I did 1974 - that would cut the houses down by over 50 percent - no foolin! Some items are actually missing, so I have to circle back the Jackson Ave (it runs parallel to the Cornwall Station) and add the houses in.

I have some fresh shots for you before tomorrows update. But first I would like to salute this weeks "key assets". First off is the irregular asset tool - wow, what you can so with this thing! I can weave trees into the terrain with it. And next is the NJCL 2 track embankment - I have been dyin to use this thing for fills, yeah its too wide and an yeah is too smooth on its sides, but its really paying off now. Since we figured out how to get STRM working for the route - this has sped up the building process. But even more important, with the terrain and the embankments you can now see how the Erie Railroad engineered the Graham line in 1909! Feel the history! And you guys are going to get some great views as some of the track is 30 foot higher than the surrounding land - more vistas!

We are getting closer to Campbell Hall, my track is now 4000 feet East of the station. The scenery is uh , 4 miles from the station. But were getting there.

So lets celebrate MP60.7 again - this time with scenery!

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Lets hear it for Orange County Dairymen!

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