Powder River Basin

[Tomcat]

I mentioned, once or twice, in my Cajon thread about a test route I was playing around with for the purpose of improving my track laying. I had no idea it would turn into this but it did. My original plan was to wait until tools were available for TSW before even thinking about trying to do the Orin Subdivision, but who knows when or if tools will come, and if they did then how many years before there would be enough assets to populate the route.

I may never finish this, hence why this thread is in Route Design rather than Freeware WIP which implies a bit more strongly that a finished product is the goal and I have no concrete goal other than just getting better at route building.

Around Donkey Creek Junction

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[BoostedFridge]

You're off to a great start Tim! This looks every bit as good as your Cajon route and more!

[JohnS]

I just watched the Pentrex video on the Orin Sub and was wondering if was or attempted to be made for TS. That's awesome Tom. Looks like a lot of fun to play with.

[buzz456]

What John said.

[gtrtroger]

Excellent choice......
Grabs chair and popcorn.....

[LandN]

Looking forward to running it.

[Tomcat]

Thanks guys!

Like I said, I make no promises about being able to finish the route but what I will do is eventually make what I have done available in a series of stages, concentrating primarily on the trackwork. The first stage will most likely have track up to and including the first three mine loops on the Orin; Caballo, Belle Ayr and Rojo Caballo - and possibly the first mine loop or two on the Campbell Sub. I have no idea when this might be available as most of my time is still spent on Cajon-Mojave.

In the meantime, here is a video of a short run from the East end of Donkey Creek Yard to about MP 3 on the Orin Sub showcasing what the scenery will look like generally speaking.

[imnew]

Fantastic news!

Just like you Tomcat, I was planning on creating the Powder River Basin route in TSW, but the route editor will not be released until sometime 2018. Since you mentioned the TSW Route editor I will include the following: I asked "Jay" over at DTG TSW forums if he had any news to share regarding the TSW editors, link here https://forums.dovetailgames.com/thread ... -say.2520/

I railfanned parts of the Moffat sub, the whole Orin line and MRL Billings to West of Mullan Pass this spring. Had two whole days on the Orin Sub alone, first day was great, lots and lots of trains, second day was terribly slow. But Coal is down so.... With your Orin sub and Buzz and his team doing the MRL TS is looking more promising by the day.

Back on topic ( sorry buzz )

I had plans to create the Orin line in TS instead after I wrap up work on my current project first. However, upon reading your announcement I can safely say I will abandon my plans. Having seen and enjoyed your work on the Cajon route, I know the Orin line is in the best route editors hands. Thank you Tomcat for taking this on.

Huh? Whats that? You promise to finish the route?

I do have some diagrams and track charts covering the Orin line. I picked up the documents from the "old" MTS Orin line version. The route came with a ton of information regarding operations and more. Send me a PM if you need them.

[jpetersjr]

This will look great with almost all freeware, I have a ton of assets that can be used on any route.

[NStrains]

[Tomcat]

Nothing new, just playing around with 3D weather - Alpenfreight's Simple Weather Mod and seeing how many coal cars are too many. Placed 5 100 car trains in Donkey Creek Yard and memory usage topped out at 2064MB. I'll add more consists tomorrow and see where the sim cries uncle.

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[JohnS]

Does Donkey Creek yard still have two tracks full stored BNSF power sitting?

[Alpenfreight]

My old mod sure gets a lot of millage. Route is looking great!

[Tomcat]

Does Donkey Creek yard still have two tracks full stored BNSF power sitting?

I'm not sure what the current situation is like. It's my understanding that upwards of 150 locomotives were stored there beginning in early 2016 and throughout most of the that year, I don't know if they are still there. I hear that the bulk of the locos were SD70MACs that were slated for retirement, that being the case, it's not clear to me if that was due solely to the downturn in coal and the upward production of cheaper natural gas or if there were other considerations. Has the situation changed since the reversal of the previous administrations regulations on coal? Again, I'm not sure but it seems like that could be reaching for too simple an answer.

In any case, my wish is to have operations set during the height of coal production which is probably anytime between 2009 and 2014/5. I don't think the track has changed much, if at all, during that period.

[Tomcat]

My old mod sure gets a lot of millage. Route is looking great!

Thank you Sir!

I keep on thinking I should try ReShade but I've gotten so used to your Simple Weather Mod that it's made me lazy about trying something new.