3 Track Cajon Project

[jalsina]

Tomcat,
You are doing an outstanding work.
And these colors in those pics. They are not photoshoped, are they?
BTW those palm trees at the right should be shorter. Am I right, or not? The land of the fantasy....

[Tomcat]

And these colors in those pics. They are not photoshoped, are they?

Dang, you got me! Actually they are photoshopped in a sense, not for color or saturation but to re-save them at half quality to bring the size down from about 400k to under 150k.

BTW those palm trees at the right should be shorter. Am I right, or not? The land of the fantasy....

Lol. If they really should be shorter than I charge you and your chainsaw to go show them who's boss!

[P834C]

Tomcat,

Actually I'm not new here but that was my first post. For me to actually post a reply should give you an indication of how I really feel about your route depiction!

I'm not able to initiate a PM to you so if you need to pick my brain I assume you can PM me.

[artimrj]

Tomcat,

Actually I'm not new here but that was my first post. For me to actually post a reply should give you an indication of how I really feel about your route depiction!

I'm not able to initiate a PM to you so if you need to pick my brain I assume you can PM me.

You need 2 posts under your belt before you can use the PM system.

[Tomcat]

Finally finished the West Colton yard track work this past weekend. It's been on and off work for 6 months in this area - mostly off because I think I've either discovered or invented a new malady. I like to call it track dsylexia. If I stare at a large yard long enough and convince myself I know where everything goes, lay the track and then open the editor the next day I inevitably discover that things, by my own hand, have gone awry leading to some choice words, some procrastination and then coming to terms with ripping up half a yard and relaying it. Yards and I don't get along so well.

In any case, West Colton receiving tracks are now set and the work went in a relatively painless manner. I took the track up to Citrus Avenue and at a later time will decide if I should take it a bit further.

I just started to scenic a small area around the Cedar Avenue overpass that crosses between the receiving yard and the hump bowl.

CedarAve01.jpg

CedarAve02.jpg

[Boss1]

Looking great! Can't wait to get this when your finished.

[Tomcat]

Looking great! Can't wait to get this when your finished.

Thanks. Three more months before a beta maybe, don't hold me to that though.

Just starting to fill in scenery between between U.P West Colton receiving yard and Slover Avenue.


My interpretation of the shopping mall just East of Sierra Avenue:

EmpireCenter01.jpg

Playing around with night lighting:

EmpireCenter02.jpg

EmpireCenter03.jpg

[ZekTheKid]

[minerman146]

Your shopping center looks great! This is the fun stuff to work on!

[Tomcat]

...This is the fun stuff to work on!

Yep, doing areas like this is a nice change from the usual grunt work. It helps to build up motivation for doing the less interesting parts as a byproduct.

[BillS]

Looking great Tomcat

[buzz456]

...This is the fun stuff to work on!

Yep, doing areas like this is a nice change from the usual grunt work. It helps to build up motivation for doing the less interesting parts as a byproduct.

Funny you should say that because I was thrilled when I got to Big Timber where I am working because I was soooo tired of just extending the highway that runs along one side the track and the Yellowstone River on the other side. Now I'm wondering if I'm ever going to finish the town so I can get back to speeding along out in the countryside.

[emdsd90mac]

I'm a bit late seeing this post, but I have to say WOW! Bang up job on this version of Cajon and beyond. I don't live too far from these area's and have been railfanning along the line a lot and you have recreated this spot on! Keep up the outstanding work sir

[Tomcat]

Thanks all!

It's shaping up to be a great summer and fall with all the amazing routes being worked on; New York Division - Bergen Line, Big Sky Country, Donner Pass Upgrade, Feather River Extension, The Siskiyou Line and the Tehachapi Pass beta. I feel as if I left something out, my apologies if I did. Watching all these routes take shape is equivalent to taking a master class on route building.

Funny you should say that because I was thrilled when I got to Big Timber where I am working because I was soooo tired of just extending the highway that runs along one side the track and the Yellowstone River on the other side. Now I'm wondering if I'm ever going to finish the town so I can get back to speeding along out in the countryside.

Now I'm chuckling. It's pretty much the same with me. Trudge along placing the things that are absolutely necessary and wonder if I should kill myself, then come across a small gem of an area and that's good for a couple days of "Woo, this is fun" and then it's back to thinking I should kill myself. But then I realize I can go back to trudging along and thinking "Woo, now this is fun" for a day or two. Interest and amusement has a short shelf life for me, I have to jump around the route quite a bit to keep the interest up. I approach route building as if I had A.D.D. and was hopped up on caffeine and sugar glazed donuts. For those folks out there who build in a rigid linear fashion, I salute you but I would have thrown my laptop out an open window long ago if I had to do that.

[minerman146]

Now I'm chuckling. It's pretty much the same with me. Trudge along placing the things that are absolutely necessary and wonder if I should kill myself, then come across a small gem of an area and that's good for a couple days of "Woo, this is fun" and then it's back to thinking I should kill myself. But then I realize I can go back to trudging along and thinking "Woo, now this is fun" for a day or two. Interest and amusement has a short shelf life for me, I have to jump around the route quite a bit to keep the interest up. I approach route building as if I had A.D.D. and was hopped up on caffeine and sugar glazed donuts. For those folks out there who build in a rigid linear fashion, I salute you but I would have thrown my laptop out an open window long ago if I had to do that.

That was perfectly articulated. Route building is a manic experience: "Yeah, I am honking tonight" to " OMG, I just spend 3 hours on Parking Lots" . You start to question yourself: "I can't keep doing this - I have a life" then bargaining "yeah this is good enough, I can stop the route anytime I want and be done" then to delusion "New York to Chicago - yes!" and depression " No one cares - they don't even know what I am doing here, I haven't seen a post on my WIP page in 2 days".

Tomcat - you said some nice thing about the other artists we have here and you pointed out the Bergen and that it was an inspiration. I say good. If the work you saw got you going and ready to attack your own dream and bring it alive, then I did my job. Lastly, I am going to address the "folks who build in a liner fashion" statement, because that is me. I do it on purpose - its delayed gratification. I do not build the fun stuff first, I build the crap, the tedious, the darn near impossible and then I have fun. I might get one fun day a week, but I know every session brings me closer to another mile done. As far as jumping around is concerned - I do that all the time and I HIGHLY recommend my technique. Keep switching between Wild Turkey and Jameson's like I do! Its good to mix it up, well except the Whiskey always do that neat.

Keep going Tomcat - your work is just solid. I love it.
Regards,
Minerman