Railworks America

I've lost count of how many times I've driven this route in MSTS and thought why isn't there a RW/TS version?

Nonetheless, I have gotten the ok from the creator of the original MSTS route to make an equivalent for TS. It is just track at the moment, with the siding in the process of being added, excluding in areas where there are industrial or other types of buildings which were designed by others. My intention is to replace some industries with a NSW style coal mine from the 1900s era.

Anyhow, I thought I'd start a thread just in case anyone at all may be interested in this route. I make no promise that it will be completed. The one issue with TS vs MSTS is that there seems to be a scaling issue. I jump to a long/lat position in TS where a curve starts, and place the same curve radii as in MSTS, yet it seems to be much shorter in TS, hence requiring longer straight sections. I am not sure as to why this is the case, and would be interested to find out from an expert.

What route is it?

Few are likely to bite unless they know what route you're going for.

Needed to catch some Zzs, hence the slow reply.

The route in question is the Dragon Mountain Pass route which was modified by Phil Skene from the original Bear Mountain Pass by Larry Mullet Sr. Anyhow, there is an issue in TS which causes the route to face northwest when following the long/lat coordinates, as opposed to due north in MSTS. After every piece of track is laid, it will be repositioned to face north as in the prototype. I'm not sure what causes this, but it is odd...

I never ran it in MSTS but I have it for TANE. Not a very good route in Trainz. Hope you make out better in TS. As far as the pointing north thing, no clue how to help you there. As for the scaling, I believe RW's scaling is a bit different than MSTS. In the beginning people used to say the models seemed too big back in Rail Simulator. That could very be the problem with your curves. Don't forget to try superelevation.

artimrj wrote:Don't forget to try superelevation.

^ Strongly agree with this. Its much easier to lay new track with superelevation rather than try to add it to existing track later.

artimrj wrote:I never ran it in MSTS but I have it for TANE. Not a very good route in Trainz. Hope you make out better in TS. As far as the pointing north thing, no clue how to help you there. As for the scaling, I believe RW's scaling is a bit different than MSTS. In the beginning people used to say the models seemed too big back in Rail Simulator. That could very be the problem with your curves. Don't forget to try superelevation.

I'm surprised that anyone even recognises it around 14 years later on a Railworks/TS forum! Nonetheless, what didn't you like about it?

I don't plan to replicate many if any the industries, due to copyright risks. Hence I will possibly be replacing them with New South Wales style coal mines from the 1890-1920 era, or even just grain silos. I have notified Larry Mullet Sr regarding these changes anyhow. Also, they won't be animated for the time being. They'll just be static.

artimrj wrote:Don't forget to try superelevation.

To be honest, I haven't used superelevation for years now. I might even need to be refreshed with exactly what it is. Is it the automatically placed curve transitions you're referring to? If so, this will affect how the route is represented. The original did not have transitional sections from straight track to a 120 metre curve. It's been a while since I've even driven a locomotive on one of my own WIPs, but there won't be any harm in comparing it to MSTS.

I just ran a test scenario in the route, and my custom track which remained almost completely untested until this morning seems to be fine fortunately. No flickering issues (due to 3d sleepers being removed), and all the points (including those 3 way junctions) are rendering as normal, due to the removal of those unnecessary caps at the end of each rail.

I've gotten as far as The Lucky Strike Iron Ore Mine with siding placements, with the new siding called Sandy Flat placed and ready to go, as well as a new one between The Rock and Musswellbrook. When all the track laying is complete, I will realign the mainline and have it heading directly north as planned. Replicating the mountains will be a tricky task though, albeit interesting.

Just wondering, is there any way at all to change the appearance of the in game sun? I am interested in modifying it a little bit :).

One strange thing with TS that I've (re)discovered recently is the function that allows one to play a straight of seemingly infinite length when it is snapping to another piece further down. I have played 2 kilometre sections using this function.

However, I'm just curious about something, is it possible to place track over many miles and have the track render as one piece, and then use the F/G keys to get it aligned perfectly with say a 100 mile straight? I'm yet to try this, but no harm in asking. It certainly would have been handy in 2013 when I placed that dreaded curve on the Nullarbor Plain.

SAR704 wrote:One strange thing with TS that I've (re)discovered recently is the function that allows one to play a straight of seemingly infinite length when it is snapping to another piece further down. I have played 2 kilometre sections using this function.

However, I'm just curious about something, is it possible to place track over many miles and have the track render as one piece, and then use the F/G keys to get it aligned perfectly with say a 100 mile straight? I'm yet to try this, but no harm in asking. It certainly would have been handy in 2013 when I placed that dreaded curve on the Nullarbor Plain.

I don't quite get what you mean. The maximum single ribbon of track TS lets me place at one time is 500m.

Basically what I'm referring to is a function in TS where one places a straight section of track of around 500 metres. One that places another 500 metres straight attached to this. Then another section is attached at each end. After this, one then enables the snap to track function, and this enables one to drag the loft section beyond 500 metres to link to the ends up. It seems to work with straight track only.

Also, another question, is there a way to recreate hills/mountains like in the image below in TS at all?

Does anyone know if the hills in the image above can be replicated in TS?

Why would anyone want to do this unless you are in Egypt trying to replicate a pyramid?

buzz456 wrote:Why would anyone want to do this unless you are in Egypt trying to replicate a pyramid?

The Seaview route for MSTS was very silly.