3 Track Cajon Project
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:42 amWorking Title: Cajon Subdivision
What the final version may contain:
BNSF Subdivisions
San Bernardino Subdivision – Highgrove to San Bernardino yard
Cajon Subdivision – San Bernardino yard to Barstow yard
Lucerne Subdivision – Hesperia to Cushenbury
Needles Subdivision – Barstow yard to approximately 2 miles past Daggett
Mojave Subdivision – Barstow/Valley Junction to Boron
Union Pacific Subdivisions
Mojave Subdivision - West Colton to Phelan, approximately
Yuma Subdivision - West Colton to Loma Linda, approximately
Alhambra Subdivision - West Colton to Cherry Avenue, approximately
I started the route from scratch in January 2015. My first thought was to build off the present Cajon Pass but after just 10 minutes of exploring the route in edit mode and turning on Google Overlay here and there it was apparent that fixing the route would involve more work than starting over.
In addition to updating the route to include the third main and daylighting the tunnels there were numerous other areas that have changed since the original was constructed. For instance, all of the grade crossings between San Bernardino and Keenbrook have been eliminated and replaced with overpasses. It seemed a shame that track work at places like Cargill was absent and track work at Cemex and Oro Grande was incomplete. It also bothered me that San Bernardino B yard was missing since it's responsible for alot of the traffic that traverses the pass. And then there is the Colton-Palmdale cutoff which started nowhere and ended nowhere. I felt bad for UP, they needed a home, so I put in West Colton yard and Yermo yard as the Western and Eastern terminus (or is it termini) for them.
Those DTG payware routes and freeware packs you need are listed below.
Required Assets:
Routes - Payware
DTG - Cajon Pass
DTG - Sherman Hill
DTG - Stevens Pass
DTG - Pacific Surfliner
Additional Assets - Freeware
RCAP from Railworks America
ScaleRail track system- 3DTrains
ScaleRoads - 3DTrains
Rural Landscapes - 3DTrains
World Landscapes - 3DTrains
3D Trees - 3DTrains
On one hand this seems like quite a lot. On the other, if you have been with DTG from the beginning and are a North American railroad fan then odds are you have all this stuff anyway. For me, the base game, additional routes and payware packs I have purchased add up to less than one DCC equipped HO locomotive, and that's been spread out over 6 years.
With all that said, it bothers me that there are four DTG routes required. Over the next year or two I will work to eliminate one of the requirements, two if at all possible. I never expected this to be a worldwide release, it was a personal project that I started that I never expected I would release at all. But, it seems to me that perhaps many of the people here at RailWorks America have these routes anyway. Again, I will see what I can do about getting the requirement lower but I can't guarantee it.
Progress so far:
Track: 95%
Scenery Assets: 60%
Signaling: 85%
Track Markers: 0%
Terrain Painting: 75%
14 months in and I think that's about halfway to being done.
A quick note about what I haven't done and what I don't think I can do. All those subdivisions mentioned make it seem like there is much, much more to this route than there really is. I include them just to indicate where I had to include minor sections of them to get to where I needed to go and to provide some track for AI to disappear into or appear from without popping into or out of existence from the view of the player train, in other words, portals.
Extending track to Mojave or Palmdale is a depressing thought at this point. I've had to fight off burnout several times so far and if I think about having to scenic another urban or suburban area in this project I'll just shoot myself. San Bernardino was a bear, Barstow is being a bear and I just don't have that much hair left to lose.
Well, enough of me talking. How about we get to screenshots in the next post (first time I have done this so have patience)
What the final version may contain:
BNSF Subdivisions
San Bernardino Subdivision – Highgrove to San Bernardino yard
Cajon Subdivision – San Bernardino yard to Barstow yard
Lucerne Subdivision – Hesperia to Cushenbury
Needles Subdivision – Barstow yard to approximately 2 miles past Daggett
Mojave Subdivision – Barstow/Valley Junction to Boron
Union Pacific Subdivisions
Mojave Subdivision - West Colton to Phelan, approximately
Yuma Subdivision - West Colton to Loma Linda, approximately
Alhambra Subdivision - West Colton to Cherry Avenue, approximately
I started the route from scratch in January 2015. My first thought was to build off the present Cajon Pass but after just 10 minutes of exploring the route in edit mode and turning on Google Overlay here and there it was apparent that fixing the route would involve more work than starting over.
In addition to updating the route to include the third main and daylighting the tunnels there were numerous other areas that have changed since the original was constructed. For instance, all of the grade crossings between San Bernardino and Keenbrook have been eliminated and replaced with overpasses. It seemed a shame that track work at places like Cargill was absent and track work at Cemex and Oro Grande was incomplete. It also bothered me that San Bernardino B yard was missing since it's responsible for alot of the traffic that traverses the pass. And then there is the Colton-Palmdale cutoff which started nowhere and ended nowhere. I felt bad for UP, they needed a home, so I put in West Colton yard and Yermo yard as the Western and Eastern terminus (or is it termini) for them.
Those DTG payware routes and freeware packs you need are listed below.
Required Assets:
Routes - Payware
DTG - Cajon Pass
DTG - Sherman Hill
DTG - Stevens Pass
DTG - Pacific Surfliner
Additional Assets - Freeware
RCAP from Railworks America
ScaleRail track system- 3DTrains
ScaleRoads - 3DTrains
Rural Landscapes - 3DTrains
World Landscapes - 3DTrains
3D Trees - 3DTrains
On one hand this seems like quite a lot. On the other, if you have been with DTG from the beginning and are a North American railroad fan then odds are you have all this stuff anyway. For me, the base game, additional routes and payware packs I have purchased add up to less than one DCC equipped HO locomotive, and that's been spread out over 6 years.
With all that said, it bothers me that there are four DTG routes required. Over the next year or two I will work to eliminate one of the requirements, two if at all possible. I never expected this to be a worldwide release, it was a personal project that I started that I never expected I would release at all. But, it seems to me that perhaps many of the people here at RailWorks America have these routes anyway. Again, I will see what I can do about getting the requirement lower but I can't guarantee it.
Progress so far:
Track: 95%
Scenery Assets: 60%
Signaling: 85%
Track Markers: 0%
Terrain Painting: 75%
14 months in and I think that's about halfway to being done.
A quick note about what I haven't done and what I don't think I can do. All those subdivisions mentioned make it seem like there is much, much more to this route than there really is. I include them just to indicate where I had to include minor sections of them to get to where I needed to go and to provide some track for AI to disappear into or appear from without popping into or out of existence from the view of the player train, in other words, portals.
Extending track to Mojave or Palmdale is a depressing thought at this point. I've had to fight off burnout several times so far and if I think about having to scenic another urban or suburban area in this project I'll just shoot myself. San Bernardino was a bear, Barstow is being a bear and I just don't have that much hair left to lose.
Well, enough of me talking. How about we get to screenshots in the next post (first time I have done this so have patience)
