Im sure many of you, along with my self, are planning your own route projects before the release of RW3 . Now that Railworks 3 is only 2 days away / thank you Railworks Team (
) , i was hoping we could make a thread, with useful links to routebuilders, scenario makers, model makers, sound makers and more. Who knows, this post might become a stickie if we all "chime" in so to speak. If you are planning a prototypical route, or semi proto, then a cabride video of that route is a very helpful asset to have. Its not a must have item to go prototypical, but as i said, very helpful !
Ive been collecting US cabrides for years along with regular videos, pentrex, highball, greenfrog and many more. Here are some useful links to cabrides.
( My links are mainly for routebuilders )
Cab rides
http://www.train-video.com/index.html Select cabrides . This store has the "rarest" collection of US cabrides that i know of, please note that most of the cabrides are from the 1985 era, perfect for those who are trying to model that area. The dvds are not the sharpest when it comes to picture quality but ....WOW !, what a collection ! California Zephyr, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Cardinal, Capitol Limited, Cresent, Pennsylvanian and many many more.
http://www.trainvideodepot.com/cabrides.php Also a very large collection, "modern" era.
http://www.traintapes.com/ select traintapes, then cabrides. MRL and ACR, Cajon Pass 1998, Tehachapi , Field to revelstoke, Feather River Cabride, most of these are available at tranvideodepot.com also.
http://www.greenfrog.com scroll to the bottom of the page, search for "cab ride". Conrail cabrides, CSX ,Grand Trunk, and more.
http://www.historicrail.com search for "cab ride". Quite large collection, some rare cab rides, example Conrail Cleveland - Buffalo with more destinations, C&O steam 1950s cabride
Along with cab rides, you need:
http://www.bing.com/maps/ use birds eye view and street view, not all areas are covered, images are often different from Google earth, sometimes better in fact
http://www.google.com/earth/index.html __ Google Earth ! __ use birds eye view and street view, not all areas are covered
http://www.rwdecal.co.uk/ Just go get it
Picture sites are also very useful, example, that special scene you wish to re-create.
http://www.railpictures.net/ HUGE archive with search function, place , railroad, date/era, filter select , yards, stations, mountain passes, junctions and much more, highly recommended site !
Oh, and remember to download DEM data for your route, my DEM was 1/3 arcsecond data with favorable results for my route project last year.
Use this link to download DEM http://seamless.usgs.gov/website/seamless/viewer.htm
It might take some hours ( its tedious, but worth it )to set up your route correctly, gathering DEM data and setting up RWdecal, but once you get these important tools working for you, its a blast !
I could probably add much more, but Im at work, gotta go. I know there are sites out there for track charts, many more picture archives and a whole lot of useful sites. Please add to this post if you have links to sites, or tips for your fellow Railworkers.
2 days to go, counting the hours, i know i know, im hooked .....just like you guys
