It's been a LONG time since I logged onto the forum or played Train Simulator because sometime last fall my old computer up and died on me
. Now almost a year later I finally have a new computer that has the specs for Train Simulator again and the modernization of Donner Pass to current running standard is back up and running.I had to start all over again thanks to my old computer kicking the bucket, but no problem. I've already resized the tunnel portals from Emigrant Gap to Truckee (the spines were tall enough but the entrances needed to be taller), removed main track 1 from beyond Emigrant Gap, took out the old line over Donner Summit, removed the turntable at Norden (the turntable was removed and placed in a museum at Roseville if I recall correctly), removed that siding which had the coal and water tower placed under the ground (that siding was never there in real life...), relayed the tunnel on main track 2 at Norden (the bore spine used previously was too small so I had to use a taller spine to accommodate double stacks), reworked the yard layout at Truckee, reworked the yard layout at Colfax including adding a new industry siding and removing the old platform while adding 2 new platforms on main tracks 1 & 2 (there is a platform on main track 2, but in real life there is no platform on main track 1 but Amtrak still picks up and drops off people there despite this so in order to replicate this I placed the platform and then slid it down to just below the ground - there was an invisible platform but it wasn't working for some reason; the passengers look fine walking around on the ground because they're not up to their ankles in ground textures) and adjusting the mainline crossovers at either end of the yard, and now I'm working on the adjustments for Gold Run. After I finish with Gold Run I'll move to Reno to tackle the trench as last time I found that making the neccesary changes at Reno would be MUCH easier that the job at Roseville because there is such a drastic difference between Roseville Yard as RSC/DTG represented it in the Steam version of Donner Pass (which I bet is incorrect even for the time period - it looks like they took a chunk of J.R. Davis yard and shoved it right up next to the engine depot to save time, space, and potentially processing power with selective compression). After Reno I'll move on to Auburn and Rocklin and then after making sure that there are no "jagged" grade changes on the main line (places where the grade changes so suddenly that the track makes and angle rather than a curve up the grade) I'll move on to Roseville.
After the trackwork is finished I'll go through and do the signalwork, and once the route is operational I'll go back and work on scenery as the towns along the route have changed since the days of the friendly Espee.
Like before this route is being built on the back of EricMopar's Donner Pass Redux. For now I'm making the route ready for a Steam Workshop release so it won't feature any fancy stuff like Scale Rail or assets from RCAP but once the Steam Workshop version is up then I'll go back and add Scale Rail and things from RCAP and potentially other asset models from RWA and make an RWA version for here on the site. For the Workshop release I anticipate using assets from Donner Pass, Sherman Hill, US Assets pack, and if needed either from the Pacific Surfliner Pack or the New York - Philadelphia Northeast Corridor route - for now.
When will I finish? Honestly, I dunno when to expect it to be done because now I'm working on getting my Masters Degree so I'll be pretty busy with that so any serious work with TS2017 will likely be on the weekends. Essentially it will be done when it gets done and no sooner.
I'll post some shots of the work I've already completed later on, definitely by this weekend.
It's good to be back y'all!
back. It's good to see you around again.
