3 Track Cajon Project

[Tomcat]

Working Title: Cajon Subdivision

What the final version may contain:

BNSF Subdivisions

San Bernardino Subdivision – Highgrove to San Bernardino yard
Cajon Subdivision – San Bernardino yard to Barstow yard
Lucerne Subdivision – Hesperia to Cushenbury
Needles Subdivision – Barstow yard to approximately 2 miles past Daggett
Mojave Subdivision – Barstow/Valley Junction to Boron


Union Pacific Subdivisions

Mojave Subdivision - West Colton to Phelan, approximately
Yuma Subdivision - West Colton to Loma Linda, approximately
Alhambra Subdivision - West Colton to Cherry Avenue, approximately



I started the route from scratch in January 2015. My first thought was to build off the present Cajon Pass but after just 10 minutes of exploring the route in edit mode and turning on Google Overlay here and there it was apparent that fixing the route would involve more work than starting over.

In addition to updating the route to include the third main and daylighting the tunnels there were numerous other areas that have changed since the original was constructed. For instance, all of the grade crossings between San Bernardino and Keenbrook have been eliminated and replaced with overpasses. It seemed a shame that track work at places like Cargill was absent and track work at Cemex and Oro Grande was incomplete. It also bothered me that San Bernardino B yard was missing since it's responsible for alot of the traffic that traverses the pass. And then there is the Colton-Palmdale cutoff which started nowhere and ended nowhere. I felt bad for UP, they needed a home, so I put in West Colton yard and Yermo yard as the Western and Eastern terminus (or is it termini) for them.


Those DTG payware routes and freeware packs you need are listed below.

Required Assets:

Routes - Payware

DTG - Cajon Pass
DTG - Sherman Hill
DTG - Stevens Pass
DTG - Pacific Surfliner


Additional Assets - Freeware

RCAP from Railworks America
ScaleRail track system- 3DTrains
ScaleRoads - 3DTrains
Rural Landscapes - 3DTrains
World Landscapes - 3DTrains
3D Trees - 3DTrains

On one hand this seems like quite a lot. On the other, if you have been with DTG from the beginning and are a North American railroad fan then odds are you have all this stuff anyway. For me, the base game, additional routes and payware packs I have purchased add up to less than one DCC equipped HO locomotive, and that's been spread out over 6 years.

With all that said, it bothers me that there are four DTG routes required. Over the next year or two I will work to eliminate one of the requirements, two if at all possible. I never expected this to be a worldwide release, it was a personal project that I started that I never expected I would release at all. But, it seems to me that perhaps many of the people here at RailWorks America have these routes anyway. Again, I will see what I can do about getting the requirement lower but I can't guarantee it.


Progress so far:

Track: 95%
Scenery Assets: 60%
Signaling: 85%
Track Markers: 0%
Terrain Painting: 75%

14 months in and I think that's about halfway to being done.

A quick note about what I haven't done and what I don't think I can do. All those subdivisions mentioned make it seem like there is much, much more to this route than there really is. I include them just to indicate where I had to include minor sections of them to get to where I needed to go and to provide some track for AI to disappear into or appear from without popping into or out of existence from the view of the player train, in other words, portals.

Extending track to Mojave or Palmdale is a depressing thought at this point. I've had to fight off burnout several times so far and if I think about having to scenic another urban or suburban area in this project I'll just shoot myself. San Bernardino was a bear, Barstow is being a bear and I just don't have that much hair left to lose.

Well, enough of me talking. How about we get to screenshots in the next post (first time I have done this so have patience)

[Tomcat]

#9 views of select portions.

Eastern Half of West Colton Yard

Colton Flyover

San Bernardino A & B Yards

and lastly

USMC Yermo Annex

Colton01.jpg

ColtonWColton01.jpg

SanBernardino01.jpg

USMCYermo.jpg

[Tomcat]

West Colton Yard. Looking West from over S. Riverside Avenue.

WestColtonLookingWest.jpg

West Colton Yard. Looking East from over S. Riverside Avenue.

WestColtonLookingEast.jpg

[Tomcat]

Just out of West Colton on the Colton-Palmdale cutoff heading for the pass.

ColtonPalmdaleCutoffsz.jpg

ColtonPalmdaleCutoff01sz.jpg

[Bananarama]

Very nice!

[Tomcat]

Tail end of the San Bernardino sub heading for San Bernardino B Yard.

ApproachToSbByardsz.jpg

ApproachToSbByard01sz.jpg

[Tomcat]

Thank you Hack.

More screenshots to come after I have some coffee and manage to get some real life work done.

[ZekTheKid]

WOW. This is looking very nice!

[gtrtroger]

This is looking very promising....
I know your trying to "reduce" external DLC, but one thing that's there today that wasn't when CP was made originally were "Renewable Energy" objects like these: http://train-simulator.com/shop/renewable-energy-pack/. Just something to consider...... You might also "enlist" one for the great modelers here to build you the loco service facilities for West Colton, San Bernardino and Barstow. Just a thought....

[TheTeenageFoamer]

Wow! This is awsome!

[ssbobz]

Very interesting. Bookmarking this to stay informed

[Tomcat]

Thank you guys! Positive feedback, even if preliminary will help keep me motivated.

@gtrtroger Funny you should mention that Renewable Energy pack from the Marketplace. I purchased it 2 weeks ago in order to put the place 2 wind turbines that are in the large oval track at Cemex Cement and the solar panels have found a home in the large solar farm that is just South of Helendale and another farm that is at the USMC Yermo Annex. I'll have to scan the route on Google Earth a few times more to see if there are any others. It's just as possible that I would never have known about the pack so thank you for the heads up in any case. Assume I know nothing and you'll be working with a 95% success rate.

Having one of the impressive modelers here do some yard infrastructure would be great but I would not want to ask for several reasons - one, everyone appears to be quite busy working on some extraordinary things - two, You guys don't know me yet. I have no track record here (pun intended) and don't want to impose on anyone till you guys have some degree of confidence that I will finish what I start. If I were to ask and then like a jerk announced 3 months from now that I quit the route out of boredom you would have every right to hunt me down and perform an attitude adjustment ceremony! - And three, ...I forgot what three was but assume it was important.

[Tomcat]

Taking a brisk walk to near the other end of the route for a look see we have Barstow.

Barstow01sz.jpg

Barstow02sz.jpg

Barstow03sz.jpg

[Tomcat]

Start of the Mojave Sub at Valley Junction looking back at Barstow yard.

ValleyJunction01sz.jpg

ValleyJunction02sz.jpg

[TheRailfan98]

Looking very nice so far, I look forward to hopefully running it in the future!