We gonna have to make it, there are 3 versions. I was trying to talk Michael Stephen into doing it... then I got tied up on the route again. Which reminds me I got to consolidate all the EL gear so it can be found. I gotta ask mainlines if he can do extensive numbers on his EL stock.
I'm still gonna be busy doing this and the ongoing manual project.
This is the fun stuff...all the cool repaints we have here and the scenarios. I'm gonna set the whole thing to music...then I'm going to produce an ice ballet show called "The Begen on Ice"
I need to do swag for the route to...pot holders, swizzle sticks, ball caps....
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
minerman146 wrote: ..then I'm going to produce an ice ballet show called "The Begen on Ice"
Careful of cold feet
John
I've a good memory for whatever I can remember! If you wait for perfection you will never do anything but it doesn’t stop you wanting it. Age doesn’t stop you, it just slows you down. If you only learn one thing in life - learn to think how your actions and words affect others BEFORE doing or saying.
At last, the time is at hand, for the glorious Wednesday Route Report and Update Status for this Friday, July 2nd, 2021.
Welcome to what truly is a special edition the always irreverent Route Report. Mostly, that is directed at myself and I always have it coming. Any as is customary, lets Bang a Gong and Get it On!
This is the FINAL route update status:
[ X ] And now the end is near [ X ] And so I face that final curtain [ X ] My friend I'll make it clear [ X ] I'll state my case, of which I'm certain [ X ] I've lived a life that's full [ X ] traveled each and every highway - and how! [ X ] I did it, I did it my way, and after 7 years, you get a finished route!
Tonight I am proud to present the girls and man are they gonna sing! I was premature a month or so ago but this time it's for real! The Trifecta: Wagner, well proportioned Ladies and Ride of the Valkyries.
Before we start the drinking game to celebrate this glorious work, I want you to know that it was my pleasure to give you, the deplorable barbarians, some culture over the past few months. Now, you know who Puccini is and you are better for it.
So grab your favorite cup, flask, tankard, wine sack, glass or what every you can find and put your favorite beverage inside. I like bourbon, you may prefer something else, but as a deplorable that is not surprising. Here is the game: as you know, we have a problem one this thread where, well I say "I" and "me" quite liberally. So here is the game, every time I type "I" or "me' take a shot. Ready? you might need some bread first. Go!
Never, ever in Minerman's dreams, did the thought arise of how this would all turn out. The time and distance traveled was long. To have so many watching, waiting, so patiently, never really sure if it could be done. Promises were given, albeit reluctantly. The concerns and self doubt would come across. Yet, the route went on, mile after mile, year after year, until this day. So, we did all this together. People would check in from time to time, sometimes almost a year and say " glad to see you guys are still at it". And Minerman was, night after night, and weekend after weekend, relentless in this pursuit. The time spent, is almost shocking: 16,583 hrs on record last played on Jun 30. For what it's worth, research, map study, testing and crafting structures occurred as well during that time. But yes, years of hours. It's 1.89 years actually. Looking at time, was as some points disturbing. That was part of the reason to stop. Of course, being finished was also a top reason! In conclusion, the budding route builder would be wise to factor in the time commitment before announcing his intentions. This was wildly underestimated by this author.
Looking across the expanse that is the Bergen: it is beautiful, it works, it is fun and it has meaning. It is still enjoyable even with all this time working on it. It never got boring. It was worth it.
Know that it was your interest, your pictures, your comments, your help, your repaints, your models, that kept this going. Truth be told, the energy would wane, in those sparse time between posts. But you would always, always come back. So, you deplorable guys are ok in my book. And some of you would even called friends.
All rise.
Please accept this work that is given freely. There is no compensation greater than your appreciation and the knowledge that you enjoy this.
And I thank you for that.
Carry on
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
Minerman. You have done a great job with that route, along the years. It´s taken a long time, but it is a wonderful and nice route.
Intel i7-7900K (3.60 GHz) - ASUS Prime Z390A - 32 GB DDR4 RAM 2400 MHz GPU EVGA GTX-1060 OC 6GB at 1920x1080, 144 Hz - Monitor ASUS VG-248QE System Windows 11 Pro in WD SSD 500 GB. Games in Inland 1Tb M.2 NVMe PCIe
New York Division-Bergen Line: Episode III, The Erie Rises
On June 30th 2021 the world was rocked by one of the most momentous accomplishments in railroad simulator history. After seven long years The New York Division-Bergan Line was finalized. On July 1st of 2014, senior creator minerman146 hunkered down in his dimly lit basement while partaking of mere table scraps and the occasional taste of a bottle of bourbon of dubious vintage secreted behind the bookshelf, started working on his masterpiece. With knowledge gained from his father, a retired railroad man with a lifetime of knowledge about the inner workings of his province, he deftly began placing trackage, scenery, and rolling stock onto his digital canvas. If he could not find what he needed on his pallet he would create it from things on hand. Originally started as a small portrait it increased in volume to become a full landscape of major proportions. The detail is astounding, the mouse strokes are so delicate they are hardly discernible.
He would work while sitting in his favorite smoking jacket and a pair of worn comfortable bunny slippers and be surrounded by the sounds of his favorite operas, and watching reruns of The Golden Girls. After teasing us with his little missives he would then send sporadic updates to the world by pushing small scraps of data through the crack under the door of his basement sanctum. His nobbled fingers pushing the little morsels through that would be sent to the simulated world above to those eager to possess these precious works.
In later years because of the severe cramping of his mouse handling fingers and partial deafness from the incessant clacking of his keyboard, help was elicited to help finalize this masterpiece. Other artists heeded his request and came to his aid to help complete this truly great one of a kind master work that rivals anything that other great artists have accomplished.
But is it really done? As with other great masters will he take a step back to view his masterpiece and be satisfied? It has been known that all to often great masters have, in the dead of night, have slipped in to add one little mouse stroke here and there. Something to correct that little nagging in their soul, then disappear without a trace.
Thank you minerman146 for all your work, for raising the bar, inspiring others, and for your dedication to detail.
A thanks to all of you who have collaborated in this endeavor to create this truly great world class route with all the accoutrements needed. It is amazing to see all the talent come together for a common cause. This is what makes this hobby so enjoyable.
Carry on.
Just an old Alaska guy trying to live in an insane world. Degree in life, Masters in common sense.
Ah, AmercianSteam you always did read me like one of those pulp fiction novels with some blond in her underwear on the cover. You even got the bunny slippers!
*****ROUTE UPDATED***** Route Update Number 246 New York Division: Bergen County Line
Final Fixes and Cleanup
Old file size: 341.202 MB New file size: 341.341 MB
*This is the actual prefinal - i do another check tomorrow and that is it.
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
by minerman146 » Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:13 am 
