First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad

LAST EDITED ON Nov-29-02 AT 12:43 PM (EST)

May not seem a big deal, but that first piece was 3-days on the drawing board. Unlike Flagler, I will begin at the end of the line because track placement here is most critical in the sim. If there's to be some weaseling, it should be elsewhere, I believe.Capture #1
From the great book "The Railroad That Died At Sea" by the late Pat Parks, this is a sketch of Trumbo Yard provided by Capt. A. O. Sandquist, USN Ret. as a best recollection. Unless something more detailed arrives, it will be what I use. The arrow shows my first track piece + Buffer.Capture #2
(EDIT: No, that's not snow,) when Flagler was told there wasn't enough land in Key West for his terminal, he said "Then make some!" And that's exactly what they did, with Howard Trumbo in charge of the dredging operation. What you see here is my freshly dredged texture on DEM'd land that's remarkably accurate.Capture #3
With traditional rock ballast reportedly overlayed with rock-hard dredged marl, I thought it best to remake the wonderful Jim Ward 3D track to be ballast-transparent. This allows lots of options across bridges and such. This capture shows that transparency. The rusty rail tops are also Jim's.No, I won't be posting these detailed descriptions along the way, but I thought laying the first piece of track was worthy of the publicity.Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Attachments

http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/User_files/3de7a55943e8493f.jpg

http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/User_files/3de7a571445459fa.jpg

http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/User_files/3de7a58344ac2c12.jpg

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, RSD 12, Nov-29-02, 02:25 PM, (1) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, MikeA, Nov-29-02, 03:09 PM, (2) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, CharlieB, Nov-29-02, 04:25 PM, (3) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, MikeA, Nov-29-02, 04:43 PM, (4) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, Tree Frog, Nov-29-02, 04:54 PM, (5) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, MikeA, Nov-29-02, 06:54 PM, (6) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, mivone, Nov-29-02, 07:45 PM, (7) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, MikeA, Nov-30-02, 07:12 AM, (9) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, Tree Frog, Nov-29-02, 08:33 PM, (8) RE: First Track Laid: Overseas Railroad, MikeA, Nov-30-02, 07:18 AM, (10)

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

It looks like you are off to a good start. Good luck with the project.
Mark

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Many thanks, Mark! Your public note is appreciated.Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Question:I've got a similar situation in my route...a yard on wharfs...and I've had a heck of a time getting things where they ought to be. I'm wondering if you've got good lat/long match-up for the track you've laid on that wharf. I ended up having to create new wharf areas to get good lat/long match on my initial track. Doing it that way I get good vertical alignment too, but it felt strange having to create land where the DEM said there shouldn't be any. Charlie
Old Colony-Newport

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Yes, Charlie I had to fine-tune it just a wee bit but nothing serious. The basics were there and all I did was frost the cake. I am not done. I plan to further smooth the shorelines but that's after the track is laid and driveable. I have bitten off a 160 mile route here so there's lots of work to do before starting to populate and schmooze. I think with the 30-Meter DEMs available for the boondocks, it can be expected.Just don't wander too far off the painted DEM and I think you and I will both be fine. Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Mike,Excellent start. You are building what is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting U.S. routes ever. What will be the total length of the route? Do you plan to lay all your track before you add any scenery? I have some sand terrain textures that I can send you to try. Just let me know.Bill Burnett

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Bill, you are a wonderful mentor and inspiration. Thanks for playing along.The total length of the route is advertised to be about 160 miles, Miami to Key West.At this time, yes, I plan to get a driveable route before adding anything else but I'm open for suggestions. My feeling as a greenhorn is that I need all my rail/island/water ducks in a row before getting wrapped up in the scenery.Your sand offer is generous thanks! I'll take all I can get, of course.The reality of the keys is that it has no sandy beaches. It's surrounded by coral reefs and because the surrounding water is shallow, there's hardly enough wave action to make sand. It's mostly crushed coral and those who've been there know to wear foot protection.The sand that's there is largely white with speckles of dark organic material mixed in. Trumble Yard is coming along, but I'm not yet good enough to connect all of its little bits. There is a written capacity in those yards of some 500-600 cars. Yoiks!I've not yet begun the mainline, and I'll have to cheat the wye to Key West station off a ficticious spur, knowing MSTS doesn't like wyes off its mainline.My approach is that the prototypical yard activity is somewhat less the thrust than navigating the keys themselves to and fro although I'm trying for a best effort on both fronts. Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Excellent start and planning, Mike! I also look forward to the result!Regarding that wye, you may be able to place it as drawn, as long as you avoid the wye switch. Why don't you give it a try? I am curious!
Michael Vone
Step by Step Guide to Route Building for MSTS - http://trainsimulatorworld.com/catalog/b470.htm
Albula Line Route
Rocky Islands Route
Cliff Hanger Route
http://avsim.com/hangar/utils/mvchallenges/

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Hi Michael!I couldn't be doing this without your fine books. Thanks.I am mistaken. What I have laid is the mainline, and that wye is off a parallel spur which joins to the East (in the seam between pages). But there is a wye on the mainline up the road in Key Vaca (now Marathon) which served as the end of the line for 4-years during construction. I'll try your suggestion there!Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Mike,I was last in the Keys about 25 years ago, but you refreshed my memory. Seems like I remember wearing tennis shoes on Big Pine Key even when wading out into the water because of the crushed coral.I also remember the tiny Key deer. Wonder if someone could make those for you? Wonder if there is a way to shrink the MSTS deer?Most recommend laying all track first to reduce the chances of problems with the Route Editor. That is not the way I do it, but I am probably lucky that I haven't lost my route. Which ever way you do it, save, save, save, and then do full backups and reboot very frequently. Also, save a lot of you backups, not just the most recent one.Well, back to my own island route. Bill Burnett

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Hi Bill!I am hoping I can shrink the MSTS deer to Key Deer size (about 2' tall) with ShapeShifter, preserving the animation and behavior. We shall see. . .Looking forward to SeaView3!Kind regards,
MikeBuilding your Railroad to Margaritaville
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/musings/keys.htm

Alert | IP

[ Home | MSTS Forum | MSTS FAQ | File Library ] Copyright © 2002 by Nels Anderson. All Rights Reserved.