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WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:32 pm
by imnew
testWIP: East Altoona to Johnstown
Ned 1/3 arcsecond
RWDecal ( Fantastic program )
Google Earth
Bing maps, birds eye view

Im trying to make this route in the small free time that i have. Been using cabride footage from the mid 80s along with photos from my own trips and railpictures.net ( great source ). Some areas are pretty close to real life, and some not. Sadly i know nothing of modelling, and i dont have time to learn ....yet :-( The grades on the eastern slope is prototypical along with " the slide". The distance from the tunnel portal to the bridge covering the track at Gallitzin is too short, however i still easily recognize that it is Gallitzin.

As i said, this is my version of the route and some areas are not prototypical ( would love them to be though ) but areas are still easily recognized regardless proto or not. Rose yard sits at a small grade in real life, mine is flat for ease of placement, example track and turnouts. The yard is not prototypical, but close enough....for me. :-) Cresson still has the old bridge covering the main NS tracks but i can still fit a double stack under so i know thats not prototypical . Im hoping that by the time i have completed Johnstown i can turn back and create the branch lines that fan out from Cresson.

While using the cabride, i modelled the view just like what i see in the video. The scenery far from the track do not look good in external views, again, i modelled the route from the cabride mostly . But as i said, as long as i dont stray too far with the various cam views, it looks pretty good.

Railworks world editor is easy to work with, and i recommend anyone who is still hesistant to give it a go ! The only thing i miss from MTS is forest regions. It took me two late evenings to learn the editor, now i can lay track, use RWDecal, google earth, bing maps birds eye view and place scenery pretty accurate and fast !

I have made a youtube video covering some photos and video clips from the route, check it out *!greengrin!* . Its a small thanks and tribute to the community on the various forums. You guys are always trying to help each other, figure things out, great ! Watch it and remember, its just something i made to say thanks, nothing too serious.... hope you enjoy.... ( the intro turned out pretty good i think ) The stuttering in the video is caused by the capture software, the sim itself is much more smooth, even though it does stutter at times.

The route starts just east of Altoona and as of today i have just passed Cresson. No signals, level crossings or track speed "poles" as of yet. Scenery is done.

Thank you all who participate in making content for Railworks. I hope more people will start using and developing content for Railworks. I still believe there is a bright future for the sim, now that we know the team is still promising patches. RSderek has also confirmed they are working on engine lights, finally ! This has bugged me ever since the first RS version. Sadly, still no confirmation about multiple sound throttle up, argh. !!! I know pikehkr has made "lights" for some units and they are really quite good, thanks Pikehkr ! He also has a tutorial on how to make multiple engines throttle up correctly, havent had time to look at it yet.

Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrBNesxo6QM

My system is:

Intel E8500 oc 3.7 Ghz
3gb RAM
Two SSD`s
One Raptor
Geforce GTX275

Railworks runs pretty well ! :D

Have a few questions i hope someone can answer.

Does anyone know the gradient between Cresson and Johnstown ? Where does the grade sharpen? I know that as one approach Johnstown the grade stiffens, but how much? Im using google earth height as of now, trying to follow the gradient from the DEM, corresponding with the height in google earth. Thank god i have the cabride as a guide too :-)

Any help is appreciated.

Onto to the show:

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:45 pm
by micaelcorleone
Oh it looks so good! !*drool*! The video is really good, you could be a director. *!!wink!!*
The music from Santa Fe Odyssey is so great, I really like it. (look here for original:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oE-XA7y07o)

By the way: Did you know that there is a suburb of Hamburg (Germany) which is called Altona? It's a very important railway station, important for rapid transit in Northern Germany. Just thought this might be interesting. :D

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:07 pm
by TDHenderson
Looking great so far! Wow, the Pennsylvania routes are rolling in (P&LE, Montour, now this one).

Trevor

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:30 pm
by imnew
Hello Micaelcorleone and Trevor,

Thank you both for the positive feedback. Regarding the video. I took two dvd`s soldier summit reflections and as you said, santa fe odyssey and used both intros as a guide. So i kinda copied alot of the scenes . But i must admit, it did come out good. *!greengrin!*

Micaelcorleone, you mention Altona, i could be mistaken but i do recall one of the Pro routes for MTS ( Blue sky interactive ), i think they had Altona included in one of their routes. Gonna check the place you mention in Google Earth when i get home tomorrow.

Thanks again

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 2:50 pm
by rscarter
Great work! If you need a beta tester, I would enjoy helping. I live in Indiana, Pennsylvania ... about 20 miles from Johnstown and I travel over Cresson Summit frequently. Send me an email and I'll give you my phone and address.

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:09 am
by imnew
RScarter,

Thank you. I envy you, being so close to the classic m division. My trip was definately longer than yours to see this great rail location. You must be railfanning quite a bit I reckon.

Regarding beta, this project is so slow going, work and family life eats up most of my spare time. However, you are on the list when I get closer to a release date.

Thanks again.

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:29 am
by RSAdam
This is an excellent looking route, keep up the great work.

Regards

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:33 am
by Hawk
rscarter wrote:Send me an email and I'll give you my phone and address.

You do realize that posting a live email link is a good way to start getting spammed.
Email address harvesters love people that post a live email address on the web. *!!wink!!*

Members here can email another member through the forum, or you could use a Private Message to send an email address. Just click on the members name and you'll see the option to either email or send a PM.

I've taken the liberty of deleting your email address. !*salute*!

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 9:11 am
by Trainguy76
That's absolutely fantastic!

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:10 pm
by ozinoz
A fantastic looking route and have to say one of THE BEST vids I have seen to promote it. Stunning work and look forward to seeing it released

!*cheers*!

G

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 1:11 pm
by LoneWolfDon
Wonderful looking work so far.
Will the route require any extra non-default assets and/or addons?
Keep up updated sometimes. Best wishes!

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:07 pm
by imnew
Thank you guys for all the positive feedback.

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:13 pm
by imnew
LoneWolfDon

I havent really thought about that yet. But now that you mentioned it.. I bought the RW scenery items over at 3dtrains, but there are freeware versions available.

And already installed in my railworks folder are, the free scenery pack from RSDerek and some freeware items from various members on the forums i think.

When the time comes closer to release date, i will probably need some help regarding this issue.

Thanks again,
Thomas

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:05 pm
by SCLALINE
Very Very Nice Job :)

Re: WIP East Altoona to Johnstown

Unread postPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:23 am
by TDHenderson
Thomas, how is your route coming along?

Regards,
Trevor