(WIP) Caldwell County Railroad

[NDORFN]

Ok so it's nearly testing time. Presently I'm working up and down the line, naming sidings, placing crossings and traffic ribbons , and checking track for anomalies. I've separated the scenery files so that the route is purely road and rail networks. I still have a few industries to identify so that I can name the associated siding/s which is proving difficult as Google doesn't have names for them all and street view is too blury to read the signs. Any help with this from anyone in the area or with knowledge of the industries would be appreciated.

TESTERS WANTED:

I would like to release the route with track, siding names, all the roads with traffic that interact with the line (crossings), and a document detailing the operations of the line.

I'm hoping there are a few people out there who wouldn't mind driving around the route, as desolate in scenery as it is, to test the track speeds, cab-sway, superelevation, level crossings etc... are all working properly.

I'm also hoping there are scenario/route creators out there who could help me establish the line with signalling, correct track type ie. mainline, freight, yard (I haven't figured out the relevance to signalling & scenario creation of this feature yet), and test by creating mock up scenarios representing the operations described in the route info.

As a reward for your troubles I will "Fork over" (as BNSFdude put's it) the scenery I have created so far. There's not much there yet but enough for taking pics/videos and to run some switching scenarios.

You will need:

* Default Scalerail from 3DTrains

* Default Scaleroads from 3DTrains

* RCAP from RWA

*SMMDigital Crossings (Provided with route. My mods are included but WILL NOT OVERWRITE existing files if you already have them)

*Sherman Hill... you don't NEED it, but the truck and jeep wont show in the traffic if you don't. No biggie. I'm most likely going to disclude SH assets from my route when I've found replacements.

*Cajon Pass/US community asset pack... same as SH, you don't NEED it but the saloons wont show in the traffic if you don't. Again, I'd like to replace them so there is no dependence on payware.

*GN Tracks from RWA http://railworksamerica.com/cgi-bin/RW3_dl-cnt/download.pl?file=055 ... You don't NEED this. I used these old tracks for a disused siding which isn't connected to the main network and is effectively just static scenery, but it is in the tracks.bin so I thought I'd mention it.

If you're interested in testing, or helping out in any way, I'd love to hear from you. You will be playing a huge part in getting this route out sooner. Once the track, signalling, crossings, traffic etc... are tested and scenario creation proven to be functional and without errors or hassles, I can and will rip through scenery like nobody's business

[TDHenderson]

Happy to help.

Trevor

[buzz456]

As I said before. Hand up.

[krellnut]

I've got the time to help out. Thanks for your consideration.

[thecanadianrail]

Sign me up for this, finally something I'm good at

[atlanta_2011]

Please sign me up too. Looking for another good route. Thx much.

[NDORFN]

I just had a dude who lives on the route I'm building (a real dude ) say that it looks just like the real thing. Man I am STOKED! Makes all the effort worth it and rejuvenates the motivation. I think I'll have a beer

[buzz456]

I don't live there but I have been there many times and I agree with him.

[OldProf]

Whatever you've done to keep vehicles from merging with each other (and, yes, other metaphors and images come to mind, but this is a family forum) is an excellent example of sheer genius. Please convince whatever companies are guilty of "humping" traffic (did I write that ?? ) to pay you a lot of money for this modification. Sure, TS is not a road traffic simulator, but seeing traffic literally pile up at crossings distracts me from driving the engines.

I'm curious: are the pileups the result of ScaleRoads programming or is RSC guilty?

Infinite compliments, oh creative genius!

[glenn68]

Just had a brilliant idea. I'll write the scenarios in old Southern drawl. "Go git in that injin o'yonder an drive it rown ever'where". I'm serious. Think of the emersion.

Either drop the o' in front of yonder or spell out over. I don't believe I've ever heard any southerner saying o'yonder. Generally the over part is left off completely.

I thought more like hold my beer, I had seen larry the cable guy do this once!

[NDORFN]

Whatever you've done to keep vehicles from merging with each other (and, yes, other metaphors and images come to mind, but this is a family forum) is an excellent example of sheer genius. Please convince whatever companies are guilty of "humping" traffic (did I write that ?? ) to pay you a lot of money for this modification. Sure, TS is not a road traffic simulator, but seeing traffic literally pile up at crossings distracts me from driving the engines.

I'm curious: are the pileups the result of ScaleRoads programming or is RSC guilty?

Infinite compliments, oh creative genius!

It's just a simple edit of the vehicle lengths. Seriously, nothing major. I dunno why they were wrong... maybe 3DTrains were so stoked with their roads (and they should be, they're awesome) that they weren't too fussed about traffic. I wouldn't blame them if they just couldn't be bothered with the frustration of getting the traffic ribbons working properly because they are a royal pain in the proverbial to work with.

[NDORFN]

I needed a break from traffic ribbons today so I thought I'd work on my storyline. I've been looking for a way to create continuity in my scenarios where as time goes by, subtle changes take place to the route. The storyline begins like this:

You're a MOW worker with NS who's always harboured a desire to engineer trains on the S-Line. One day you're working opposite the Lenoir Chapter of the NRHS ripping up old track from a demolished building for them to use for a static steam loco display on their new site in the former NS Depot.

Demolished building.jpg

(That's the building which has been demolished since the 'Streetview' images were taken. Real pitty To the bottom left you can catch a glimpse of the old NS depot)

On your break you venture over to the depot for a nosey and discover that the Lenoir NRHS offer the opportunity to drive their loco around their yard and the siding running parallel to the Caldwell County Railroad. And so you progress up ranks, driving the dinner-train for the Lenoir NRHS, get a job on the CCRY running light switching duties, gradually running bigger loco's pulling longer trains, moving to NS running their 30 car trains to and from the panel mill in Lenoir to the yard in Oyama, and ultimately running the big stuff on the S-Line between Salisbury and Asheville.

So, back to the continuity... I figured if I build the route up with a permanent base, I can make the subtle changes within the scenarios. So I experimented with SAD's Liebherr. I placed the track bed in route editor so it's permanent, then in the first scenario placed all the track so it looks untouched. In this scenario you drive a Liebherr up from Joyceton (Yes... you can drive these bad boys!). In the second scenario, you're taking that test drive on your break at the Lenoir NRHS and the Liebherr you delivered is hard at work ripping up the track (as seen in the video). In the third scenario you're driving the dinner train past the sight and another Liebherr is pulling the rails off the sleepers, sleeper and rail stacks etc... having been placed in scenario editor not route editor. In all ensuing scenarios, the track, stacks and all equipment is gone but the bed remains, so creating feasible continuity. It's alot of fricken work But I think it'll be worth it

[TDHenderson]

Great work!

Looking forward to trying those out.

Regards,
Trevor

[Chacal]

I like that a lot.
The bar is being set higher for route quality, and this time it isn't just eye candy.

There are a lot of routes being published that are nice but fall into disuse, because nobody is writing scenarios for them. This may be from a lack of history and context for the route, and, I realize from your post, a lack of opportunity for continuity. Your idea of moving some content to scenarios provides a solid foundation (literally) for great storylines in the form of scenario packs.

[Griphos]

Yes, if this works, it's a brilliant idea that I hope will set the stage for broader future development. Very nice!