Railworks America

So I'm thinking about modeling Norfolk Southern's Asheville district that runs from Linwood Yard in Linwood, NC up to Asheville, NC. However, I also thought about including the Charlotte District as well as the Asheville District. I'm wondering if that'd be too big of a route though, what do you guys think?

Depends, how many miles of trackage would this route have?

Asheville District will cover the Linwood, NC to Asheville, NC S-Line which is 141.0 miles. The Charlotte District will cover Charlotte, NC to Greensboro which will be 101.6 miles.

However, I see that the S-Line actually goes from Linwood, NC all the way to Morristown, TN. I may actually end up just modeling the entire S-Line and then create another route that involves Norfolk Southern's Crescent Route in of itself.

Yeah thats way tooo big, will take you 5 years to complete it.

artimrj wrote:Yeah thats way tooo big, will take you 5 years to complete it.

I'll stick to the S-Line for now then.

Took me 19 months to do the NERW, it is 50 miles. I had 3 helpers and at one time you were number 4. I would suggest you start small. Do from one town to another and finish that part, all scenery and signals and track work, completely finish it, then start the next section if your still up to it.

artimrj wrote:Took me 19 months to do the NERW, it is 50 miles. I had 3 helpers and at one time you were number 4. I would suggest you start small. Do from one town to another and finish that part, all scenery and signals and track work, completely finish it, then start the next section if your still up to it.

Thanks for the tip, I really should do routes in small manageable parts instead of trying to do it all at once. I should probably also learn how to model buildings since I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to create some unique scenery for this route, like the train station at Salisbury, NC.

The old train station in Ashville, NC has been converted into a bar and grill. Its neat to sip on a cold one and watch NS freights roll by with friendly locals.
(I was there a few years ago on business)
If you modeled the railroads around Ashville, that would be a start.
Good luck, I'll be watching

I have a question, how do route builders get an accurate placement of track side objects such as signs, hotboxes, signals etc. etc.?

I doubt it all shows up on Google Earth.

I was lucky and I can see the majority of the trackside equipment from Google Earth. I also have track charts so I know where to go looking for something. Its really quite repetitive once you know how its all put together.

Well, the first step for me is obviously going to have to be research of the route and maybe some road trips.

Shortliner wrote:I have a question, how do route builders get an accurate placement of track side objects such as signs, hotboxes, signals etc. etc.?

I doubt it all shows up on Google Earth.

Actually a lot of that stuff is visible from Google Earth. And as Papa-X said, track charts help too.

Some of the items need to be fudged though - both from a standpoint of clarity to the player & in regards to concessions for how the AI Dispatcher functions.

Oh - and relating back to the original question, the software can handle a route that long, both Marias Pass & Donner Pass are around 150 miles, as are a few European routes, but as others stated, it's a ton of work to create it all.

-barnez

barnez wrote:

Shortliner wrote:I have a question, how do route builders get an accurate placement of track side objects such as signs, hotboxes, signals etc. etc.?

I doubt it all shows up on Google Earth.

Actually a lot of that stuff is visible from Google Earth. And as Papa-X said, track charts help too.

Some of the items need to be fudged though - both from a standpoint of clarity to the player & in regards to concessions for how the AI Dispatcher functions.

Oh - and relating back to the original question, the software can handle a route that long, both Marias Pass & Donner Pass are around 150 miles, as are a few European routes, but as others stated, it's a ton of work to create it all.

-barnez

Well I've decided to focus primarily on the S-Line that runs from Salisbury, NC (I'll start it at Linwood Yard) and goes to Morristown, TN. I've decided to do a Norfolk Southern route because Railworks need more Norfolk Southern routes. Too many Western Class 1, not enough Eastern.

Are you possibly going to include the North Carolina Transportation Museum that is in Spencer, NC. since it is relatively close to Linwood. Plus all the NS Heritage engines could be staged just like the family photo that was held there in 2012.

He is not doing it anymore.