Here's a shot in honor of the upcoming Triple Crown race at Belmont Stakes...
New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Thu May 25, 2017 8:54 pm
Awesome little farm scene you did there!!!
Here's a shot in honor of the upcoming Triple Crown race at Belmont Stakes...
Here's a shot in honor of the upcoming Triple Crown race at Belmont Stakes...
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by minerman146 » Fri May 26, 2017 8:08 am
Here is to the Triple Crown Races! 
ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen are very proud to present:
Route Update Number 167
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.4:Blooming Grove
Additions: Extend Scenery Washingtonville to Blooming Grove, from MP59to MP61 Add extensive tree scenery out to 1 mile on each side of track, residential and farms. Add 3 miles of curved super-EL to 1 mile East of Campbell Hall!
Fixes: Correct track break at Ford - Mahwah (Hat tip: kris120) Adjust Swamp Coppice Density to reduce FPS load - Washingtonville (Hat tip: Joshuaharkness)
That's right, we give credit where credit is due!
Out of the fog and onto the Bergen - Salute: NSTrains!
ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen are very proud to present:
Route Update Number 167
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.4:Blooming Grove
Additions: Extend Scenery Washingtonville to Blooming Grove, from MP59to MP61 Add extensive tree scenery out to 1 mile on each side of track, residential and farms. Add 3 miles of curved super-EL to 1 mile East of Campbell Hall!
Fixes: Correct track break at Ford - Mahwah (Hat tip: kris120) Adjust Swamp Coppice Density to reduce FPS load - Washingtonville (Hat tip: Joshuaharkness)
That's right, we give credit where credit is due!
Out of the fog and onto the Bergen - Salute: NSTrains!
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"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Fri May 26, 2017 5:39 pm
The Bergen just looks so good on a foggy day doesn't it?!?! About to download the update now and take her for a spin!
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by minerman146 » Sat May 27, 2017 11:17 am
A small progress report. With all of the 'big' scenery that's been done, and the fact I'm in a cut, its been hard to get working on detail work again. If I see it, I try to put it in. With the last update, there was quite a bit of missing detail. So, last evening and this morning I got cracking again. Its easier to focus when work is not on the mind. The two shots below, showcasing 2 very sharp NYS&W units you can get right here on RWA, include areas that were released on Friday.
As you know, the Graham Line was completed in 1909. What you may or may not know is that Orange County was the milk supplier for metropolitan New York starting in the early to mid 19th century. So we got a lot of farms, or rather, had. With rail, milk could be picked up daily and shipped to New York where it was adulterated and watered down to maximize milk profits. It was quite the scandal at the time. The Graham Line cut through many of these farms, so there were crude level crossings, really just dirt up to the road bed for the farmers to cross. In other cases, with the cuts, we see one farm that was cut off from Moffat Road, so for this one they build a light bridge. And it has a name "Railroad Pass". It not only says so on the maps, but I see a street sign for it as well.
I just enjoy all the history here and put what I can of it on the route.
Last shot is of MP 60.7 from a marsh. We have many types of marshes on the route and this one is more a small pond fed by an even smaller creek. So, I dressed this spot up and there may be some photo opportunities here for you in the future. This spot also features one of these farm crossings that was added when the line was put in and this farmer had quite a bit of property on the other side of the track. The path still shows up on maps. The barn I have depicted as standing collapsed between 1974 and 1994 as I can see from historical areas.
I am hoping that I can get a mile done over the weekend to continue my mad dash to Campbell Hall. We shall see!
As you know, the Graham Line was completed in 1909. What you may or may not know is that Orange County was the milk supplier for metropolitan New York starting in the early to mid 19th century. So we got a lot of farms, or rather, had. With rail, milk could be picked up daily and shipped to New York where it was adulterated and watered down to maximize milk profits. It was quite the scandal at the time. The Graham Line cut through many of these farms, so there were crude level crossings, really just dirt up to the road bed for the farmers to cross. In other cases, with the cuts, we see one farm that was cut off from Moffat Road, so for this one they build a light bridge. And it has a name "Railroad Pass". It not only says so on the maps, but I see a street sign for it as well.
I just enjoy all the history here and put what I can of it on the route.
Last shot is of MP 60.7 from a marsh. We have many types of marshes on the route and this one is more a small pond fed by an even smaller creek. So, I dressed this spot up and there may be some photo opportunities here for you in the future. This spot also features one of these farm crossings that was added when the line was put in and this farmer had quite a bit of property on the other side of the track. The path still shows up on maps. The barn I have depicted as standing collapsed between 1974 and 1994 as I can see from historical areas.
I am hoping that I can get a mile done over the weekend to continue my mad dash to Campbell Hall. We shall see!
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"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
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minerman146 - Posts: 2507
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by minerman146 » Tue May 30, 2017 8:46 pm
3 Year Anniversary
May 31, 2014 @ 8:53pm the Minermen launch their 15 miles of goodness onto the Steam Workshop. 4 days later we get the following message:
"evantracey Jun 3, 2014 @ 4:16pm Delete
OMG YOUR ROUTE IS FEUTURED ON ENGINE DRIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE https://train-simulator.com/steam-works ... nd-routes/
Suffice to say, that was an unexpected reaction to our initial release. Now its 3 years later, and time for some reflection. We started off strong and then just kept on going. Day in and day out, night after night, overcoming each challenge that presented itself along the way. We didn’t stop, get discouraged or quit, we kept on moving.
I never expected to go this long. I never imagined the reaction to this work. And I never thought people would stay with us for so long. Yet, we did and you did. All the way. Week after week and year after year. It's just amazing.
The Bergen began as a test route. We wanted to learn how to build a working route and chose what we were most familiar with. Rather, what I, the elder was most familiar with. It started in Suffern and went past Mahwah, NJ and then turned around and went to Highland Mills. And trust me, we had no idea what we were doing. We did it cold, without any previous experience and learned along the way. We made mistakes, we tried to make it look like the place and we argued about what worked and what didn’t. And it was a big deal to push this out to the public. The initial reaction was more positive than we expected. Yet, we questioned everything we were doing. I have learned that people get pretty excited about new routes and they love them - good or bad. They appreciate the effort. So, we were never sure if all these positive responses were due to the work itself or if we were on to something.
So, yes, I am insecure about my work. And I am also oblivious as to how it stands against other routes. You, know the difference, as you drive as many routes that interest you and so, can pass fair judgement on what you know. For me, I never played the game, I just built this route. Now, since I have started, I played 1 scenario on the NE Corridor and 2 on the NJCL, 1 on the Miami-WPB and a quick drive on the Morristown Route. I also traveled on some other routes by fellow builders to check them out on request. But every day, every day I worked on the Bergen or drove it or looked at pictures of it for 3 years. So, someday I will play this game!
Let me tell you about what I think about the Bergen. There is not another route that would rather be driving on that gives me as much pleasure as being in a world that I had the opportunity to create. It never gets old, I never tire of it and it is always a marvel for me. For fun, I have list of disappointments and achievements I would like to share with you from the past 3 years:
- My favorite place on the route - Waldwick.
- My least favorite place on the route - the area between North Bergen Yard and Croxton that is STILL not finished.
- The most time-consuming structure on the route - The Hudson Generating Station at 16 hours.
- My nightmare of track laying - hands down, its Hoboken, 36 hours for just the track.
- My favorite station - Ho-Ho-Kus.
- My worst decision - putting the cutoff past HX to go to Secaucus Junction instead of running the line past Harmon Cove.
- My most opportune moment - While I was in East Rutherford, DTG released the New Jersey Coast Line.
- My most unexpected popular reaction: The Dundee Spur, geez you guys like that spot.
- My most tedious part of the route - Rutherford - Carlstadt NJ. Those streets and houses were killer.
- My worst scenery of the route - Between Mahwah and Waldwick and Ho-Ho-Kus to Ridgewood, particularly on the East Side. It was just too many houses for me to deal with.
- My best/2nd worst decision - building the BCL and NOT building the Main Line.
- There Worst/Best thing that happened while building: Realizing 5 months into construction that you could actually pre-load terrain instead of forming it by had. 2 years later, finally getting STRM to work AND adjusting it the 300 feet I was off.
- The most heart wrenching - being turned down by DTG to make the Bergen DLC. (3 times!)
- The most heartwarming - working with Martin of Travel By Train to get real actual Erie Lackawanna DLC created.
- The toughest learning curve - track and Super Elevation.
- Things I regret: Not building CSX River Line Sub - my son wanted and when he got too scared to work on the route anymore.
Good or Bad, this has been an awesome experience and I am glad to have done it.
Stats:
In 1095 days in workshop we have:
4,836 Visitors
2,735 Subscribers
174 Positive Ratings
2 Negative Ratings
So, if you are visitor there is a 57% chance you will subscribe and if you do subscribe there is a 68% chance you will stay with the route.
It is worth it.
MM.
May 31, 2014 @ 8:53pm the Minermen launch their 15 miles of goodness onto the Steam Workshop. 4 days later we get the following message:
"evantracey Jun 3, 2014 @ 4:16pm Delete
OMG YOUR ROUTE IS FEUTURED ON ENGINE DRIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE https://train-simulator.com/steam-works ... nd-routes/
Suffice to say, that was an unexpected reaction to our initial release. Now its 3 years later, and time for some reflection. We started off strong and then just kept on going. Day in and day out, night after night, overcoming each challenge that presented itself along the way. We didn’t stop, get discouraged or quit, we kept on moving.
I never expected to go this long. I never imagined the reaction to this work. And I never thought people would stay with us for so long. Yet, we did and you did. All the way. Week after week and year after year. It's just amazing.
The Bergen began as a test route. We wanted to learn how to build a working route and chose what we were most familiar with. Rather, what I, the elder was most familiar with. It started in Suffern and went past Mahwah, NJ and then turned around and went to Highland Mills. And trust me, we had no idea what we were doing. We did it cold, without any previous experience and learned along the way. We made mistakes, we tried to make it look like the place and we argued about what worked and what didn’t. And it was a big deal to push this out to the public. The initial reaction was more positive than we expected. Yet, we questioned everything we were doing. I have learned that people get pretty excited about new routes and they love them - good or bad. They appreciate the effort. So, we were never sure if all these positive responses were due to the work itself or if we were on to something.
So, yes, I am insecure about my work. And I am also oblivious as to how it stands against other routes. You, know the difference, as you drive as many routes that interest you and so, can pass fair judgement on what you know. For me, I never played the game, I just built this route. Now, since I have started, I played 1 scenario on the NE Corridor and 2 on the NJCL, 1 on the Miami-WPB and a quick drive on the Morristown Route. I also traveled on some other routes by fellow builders to check them out on request. But every day, every day I worked on the Bergen or drove it or looked at pictures of it for 3 years. So, someday I will play this game!
Let me tell you about what I think about the Bergen. There is not another route that would rather be driving on that gives me as much pleasure as being in a world that I had the opportunity to create. It never gets old, I never tire of it and it is always a marvel for me. For fun, I have list of disappointments and achievements I would like to share with you from the past 3 years:
- My favorite place on the route - Waldwick.
- My least favorite place on the route - the area between North Bergen Yard and Croxton that is STILL not finished.
- The most time-consuming structure on the route - The Hudson Generating Station at 16 hours.
- My nightmare of track laying - hands down, its Hoboken, 36 hours for just the track.
- My favorite station - Ho-Ho-Kus.
- My worst decision - putting the cutoff past HX to go to Secaucus Junction instead of running the line past Harmon Cove.
- My most opportune moment - While I was in East Rutherford, DTG released the New Jersey Coast Line.
- My most unexpected popular reaction: The Dundee Spur, geez you guys like that spot.
- My most tedious part of the route - Rutherford - Carlstadt NJ. Those streets and houses were killer.
- My worst scenery of the route - Between Mahwah and Waldwick and Ho-Ho-Kus to Ridgewood, particularly on the East Side. It was just too many houses for me to deal with.
- My best/2nd worst decision - building the BCL and NOT building the Main Line.
- There Worst/Best thing that happened while building: Realizing 5 months into construction that you could actually pre-load terrain instead of forming it by had. 2 years later, finally getting STRM to work AND adjusting it the 300 feet I was off.
- The most heart wrenching - being turned down by DTG to make the Bergen DLC. (3 times!)
- The most heartwarming - working with Martin of Travel By Train to get real actual Erie Lackawanna DLC created.
- The toughest learning curve - track and Super Elevation.
- Things I regret: Not building CSX River Line Sub - my son wanted and when he got too scared to work on the route anymore.
Good or Bad, this has been an awesome experience and I am glad to have done it.
Stats:
In 1095 days in workshop we have:
4,836 Visitors
2,735 Subscribers
174 Positive Ratings
2 Negative Ratings
So, if you are visitor there is a 57% chance you will subscribe and if you do subscribe there is a 68% chance you will stay with the route.
It is worth it.
MM.
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
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minerman146 - Posts: 2507
- Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:15 pm
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Wed May 31, 2017 6:43 pm
I'll just let the shots speak for themselves. 
Part 1
Part 1
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Wed May 31, 2017 6:50 pm
Part 2
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Wed May 31, 2017 6:53 pm
Part 3
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Wed May 31, 2017 7:04 pm
Lastly, Part 4
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by imphantum » Wed May 31, 2017 10:58 pm
Late 90's, back when stacks still ran over the Tier.
Two SD60Is and one SD40-2 lead a Conrail APL Intermodal TV-202 towards Kearny, NY.
Two SD60Is and one SD40-2 lead a Conrail APL Intermodal TV-202 towards Kearny, NY.
Check out my scenarios at the workshop!
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198059224233/myworkshopfiles/?appid=24010
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198059224233/myworkshopfiles/?appid=24010
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:18 am
Great Conrail shots!!!
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by Bananarama » Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:17 am
minerman146 wrote:3 Year Anniversary
May 31, 2014 @ 8:53pm the Minermen launch their 15 miles of goodness onto the Steam Workshop. 4 days later we get the following message:
"evantracey Jun 3, 2014 @ 4:16pm Delete
OMG YOUR ROUTE IS FEUTURED ON ENGINE DRIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE https://train-simulator.com/steam-works ... nd-routes/
Congratulations to you two for what appears to be an outstanding route!
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by minerman146 » Fri Jun 02, 2017 8:01 am
Weekly Route Update:
First off thanks to all our friends out there who reached out us on our 3rd full year on Workshop.
Thanks to NSTrains, imphantum for their super images and Hack!
*ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen present:
Route Update Number 168
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.5:Twin Arch Road
Additions: Extend Scenery from Blooming Grove to RT208, Campbell Hall. More Trees, more residential and farms. Update QDs Westbound to Terminate at Shae Rd, Campbell Hall, NY.
Be aware of lag between Shea Road, Campbell Hall and Station Road, Salisbury Mills.
Today's Screenie: Faux U34CH and Comet Cars headed West at Twin Arch Road, Campbell Hall, NY.
First off thanks to all our friends out there who reached out us on our 3rd full year on Workshop.
Thanks to NSTrains, imphantum for their super images and Hack!
*ROUTE UPDATED*
The Minermen present:
Route Update Number 168
New York Division-Bergen Line 9.9.0.5:Twin Arch Road
Additions: Extend Scenery from Blooming Grove to RT208, Campbell Hall. More Trees, more residential and farms. Update QDs Westbound to Terminate at Shae Rd, Campbell Hall, NY.
Be aware of lag between Shea Road, Campbell Hall and Station Road, Salisbury Mills.
Today's Screenie: Faux U34CH and Comet Cars headed West at Twin Arch Road, Campbell Hall, NY.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
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minerman146 - Posts: 2507
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by NStrains » Fri Jun 02, 2017 9:41 am
Beautiful scenery there! Can't wait to check it out after work!
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Re: New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!
by minerman146 » Fri Jun 02, 2017 1:20 pm
NStrains wrote:Beautiful scenery there! Can't wait to check it out after work!
NSTrains - I hope you like it.
Concerns:
I so have concerns about scenery quality at the moment. To push the trees out 1 mile on each side of the track has a cost. As you know our build machine is 5 years old, i3, 8gb ram and 2gb card, its a good bench mark today for a medium to medium low quality box. I am definitely using up all the FPS at this point:16 -18fps over all and dropping to 6 and 8 fps on the tile transitions. Granted, I build and test on the same box, and rebooting gets me into the low 20s. But, I am seeing lag, I can see why and I got concerns. Anyway - this 2 mile wide tree thing of mine is really pushing my luck. I have to leave enough fps to detail up along the track and any other areas of interest. As you notice, I detail the breaks in the trees from roads and streams, and that gets the high poly treatment. And those swamps don't come cheap! So, I make compromises - I thin the trees out, look at maps for any excuse to not put in tract houses, and I resort to my " if you can see it from the train rule " . Conversely, if you cant see it form the train - I can opt out of putting it in.
I guess I am gripping about not having maximum real life detail that I want.
Home Stretch:
I just checked, and I have 3.41 miles of scenery to get to the West edge of the platform at Campbell Hall. This is totally doable and the history is going to load up in this section of the route. The Graham Line crosses the former New York Ontario and Western and the Lehigh and New England rail roads. As a special bonus I will be putting in some New York, New Haven and Hartford track in for Maybrook. At the moment, Maybrook will be portrayed modern but with every detail that I can muster to hint at the yard that was there. For what its worth you get a large Yellow Freight Terminal (Trucking) which will look cool. So Campbell Hall is our goal for the moment and we are inline to get to it and possibly done in the next 3 Weeks. Please don't hold me to that.. as my estimates are usually 100% short! I think I can get there in 3 weeks.
Side Note:
"Wall O' Trees" You know how I was always talking about this section of the route ... long before building it ... that it was a wall of trees? Well? Now you know - its a darn wall of trees! The wall of trees term comes from me being BORED OUT OF MY MIND on the train after Otisville. All you have to look at is the track (like you're supposed to, I know). But now I understand why, the Graham Line is yet another huge cut and fill railroad project. This long, straight section I just finished is 2 miles of cut! Since I am building it ... I can now see the engineering and now understand why I could see so little on each side of the track. This line makes sense to me now... I understand it. One last thing, you can tell there were 2 tracks up to the Moodna at an earlier time (1965) now. I like the look very much... it says "railroad" all over it!
I am getting a strong "this looks like a real railroad" vibe West of the Salisbury Mills station. I like that, I hope you are getting it too.
The END:
I was going to write about the end ... but I will skip that for now. Can you sense it though, the end?
Have an awesome weekend - its time to fire up those grill boys and bust out some cold ones! Wooooooooooo!
"In business, I prefer to keep company with honest men, so I ship on the Erie"
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