Andy Miller - Chama West

Hi Andy,I was wondering, after driving the old grade myself with Mr. Earl Knoob, if you are going to do the line after they laid the new track in 1961 to clear the reservoir, or if you are doing it prior to '61?It was a great experience driving the old grade between Chama and DGO. You could easily see most of the ballast, I saw all the tanks and the bridges and trestles. Unfortunately the tank at Gato is so close to collapsing, that you would be smart to go out there now and take one last look at it before it implodes on itself tomorrow...literally. The only thing thats holding it up now it looked to me like was the ladder. It was also neat to see the unusual tank at Arboles...made from that Mountains Tender.Let's see how you have progressed on this part of your route Andy.Thanks,Kevin Bush,

I will have my hand on the throttle of a K-36 very soon Mon Freunds!

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RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, DRGWK36, Aug-03-04, 06:24 PM, (1) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, CumbresEngineer, Aug-04-04, 00:06 AM, (2) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, Coonskin, Aug-04-04, 00:26 AM, (3) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, charlie, Aug-04-04, 06:34 AM, (4) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, Coonskin, Aug-04-04, 05:49 PM, (6) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, DRGWK36, Aug-04-04, 05:22 PM, (5) RE: Andy Miller - Chama West:, Coonskin, Aug-04-04, 05:51 PM, (7)

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Kevin,Thanks to (Silverton Branch) Charlie's efforts, the line will (nearly) reflect the original route, before the dam was built and the line around Arboles was changed. I say almost, because I've been working from a couple of different sources - the topos and photos from USAPhotoMaps and the ICC Valuation maps I received from the Colorado RR Museum. The USAPM route is post-61, and in some locations, post-70. The valuation maps were originally drawn in 1919, but have been updated to show some changes as late as 1942 (at least from what I've seen). So somewhere between '42 and '70 will be the alignment, with it being (I hope) closer to '42.How have I progressed? Very, very slowly, for a number of reasons. I've been distracted by Andre's North Arkansas route - actually playing the game rather than just working in the RE. I've been dealing with some rather uncomfortable dental work over the past month. And work has been quite demanding this summer. So it hasn't gone as quickly as hoped. I have completed all the mainline from Chama to Durango and am working my way back toward Chama, installing bridges and berms. Playing with the water has been taking quite a bit of time - it's as tedious as anything I've done in the RE. I'm still working on terrain textures, using Mosaic to replace all the defaults with custom terrtex's. I just finished customizing the Chama textures to show a bit more ballast around the yard.It's moving ahead, slowly. I hope to get moving more quickly again after mid-September.Andy

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Thanks Andy.Kevin Bush,

I will have my hand on the throttle of a K-36 very soon Mon Freunds!

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Resevoirs:That was a kiss of death on one of the routes I was looking at developing. Miles and miles and miles of flat water where gorgeous canyons were supposed to be!Playing/working: I understand, my friend, I understand. I can't remember the last time I truly kicked back and "played" on a route that someone else created for MSTS. I always have this hope of doing that (as on Cascades which I hope to purchase soon)... but once I get someone's route... I always feel guilty for playing instead of working!! Sheesh.Sooooo... Enjoy the fruits of other's labor and have fun! When the "burn to return" to your route hits... have at it. If it doesn't return... then you must be having fun elsewhere!Andre MingVisit VSC's temporary web page at: http://www.vscalecreations.comVisit VSC's Forum at: http://www.3DTrains.com

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-04-04 AT 06:37 AM (EST)

>Reservoirs:
>
>That was a kiss of death on one of the routes I was looking
>at developing. Miles and miles and miles of flat water where
>gorgeous canyons were supposed to be! Andre,In case you get interested again, you might search around for DEM's in the USGS list of "Business Partners".When I first contemplated the Navajo Reservoir problem with Andy's route, I thought about reforming the terrain by tracing contours with TSTools. This is possible since on the last revision of the topographicals, the contours are still shown under the reservoir. Possible, but it would have been really difficult to make it be convincing with the wonderfully lumpy terrain.Amazingly though, I found a 10m set of DEM's that made this not necessary. The 30m DEM's have the complete reservoir, but in the 10m DEM's, somebody sucked all the water out of Colorado.Since the trackage approaches to within about a kilometer of the New Mexico border, I had to deal with what I began to call the New Mexico Wall of Water. I beat that into submission with the patented Chunks-O-Track with Y-Key Attachment. And there you have it; this made it possible for Andy to have the original track routing with Arboles where it used to be.I always used to believe that 10m DEM's came after the 30m's, and I still wonder about the origin of the 10m's that I found. But you never know Andre, there may be some gems in those old Colorado gold and silver mines...regards,
charlie30 meter left, 10 meter right

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Ah yes, beating daylights out of the terrain with an old piece of track and Y key routine, I know it well. The resevoir that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for the route in question was 11 miles long (or about 8 1/2 tiles). Just figured that was a bit much, even for my robust route building heart.That was then, this is now. At this point I'm up to my elbows in creating a chunk of eastern railroading...
Andre MingVisit VSC's temporary web page at: http://www.vscalecreations.comVisit VSC's Forum at: http://www.3DTrains.com

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>Enjoy the fruits of other's labor and have fun!Funny you should be saying that, Andre, when it's your route I'm enjoying!! Recalling my saga in building Cumbres Pass V2 (the narrow gauge version), I also took about a month away from route building to do a few other computer-related projects. I wholeheartedly agree that there's nothing like a break or two to get you back into the swing of things! But one of the things that really keeps me going with this hobby is something that I think you've been the main spokesman for - that's the great variety available. From wood-burners to the Acela, Rocky Mt. narrow gauge to SE mainlines, you only get into a rut if it's by choice!Andy

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Right you are Andy!Luuuuvvvvv that variety this sim affords!
Andre MingVisit VSC's temporary web page at: http://www.vscalecreations.comVisit VSC's Forum at: http://www.3DTrains.com

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