Donner Pass

[donjgatlin]

If scenery items aren't showing, make sure that your setting is on 10 for scenery objects. Otherwise, they aren't loaded into the game when you drive.

[BNSF650]

Can anybody take photos of the Reno shops.. I dont know if mine updated or not it still loooks the same.?

[hertsbob]

It's checking things like this even after they are out that make you and Bob a couple of the best route developers out there.

It wasn't me officer. I was in the north east of England at the time...

That said there are five or six (maybe more) guys who I think should be feeling proud of themselves at the moment.

Cheers

Bob

[styckx]

Can anybody take photos of the Reno shops.. I dont know if mine updated or not it still loooks the same.?

[BNSF650]

Thanks bill.

[styckx]

You're welcome Erik.

[BNSF650]

Anybody know how easy it is to change the tracks to scalerail in donner?

[Chacal]

Kudos to Derek and the RSC team who produced this update.

[NDORFN]

Anybody know how easy it is to change the tracks to scalerail in donner?

Don't quote me on this but I think you'd have to go through every one of the track.bin files with RWTools and search/replace. Even then I think it would just get messy.

[styckx]

This.. This still happens.

I love tapped a rake of 50 box cars to a line of 50 box cars.. Soon as I coupled the entire consist rocket backwards, derailed and a train I wasn't even driving made a rainbow.

[artimrj]

Check your consist for overlapping cars. That is what seems to cause this flying train thing.

[styckx]

Nope, nothing overlapping. (that's why I split my consist in 1/2 to make it easy to spot that) It's just a victim of TS.. With TS 2012 they supposedly made it so you can drive long 100 car consists without trouble.. The truth of the matter is it was still a gamble then, and still one now. Between the plutonium powered couplers and the fact they're attached with flubber it's just a a recipe for disaster.. I'll stick with a single engine and 50 cars.. It's just safer that way.. Again.. That flying train wasn't even the one I was driving.. That was a prebuilt consist by RSC just sitting there.

[_o_OOOO_oo-Kanawha]

Anybody know how easy it is to change the tracks to scalerail in donner?

Don't quote me on this but I think you'd have to go through every one of the track.bin files with RWTools and search/replace. Even then I think it would just get messy.

I am in the process of converting the DP track to SP ScaleRail, for to me the default DP track looks too light in weight.
DP uses three track rules, mainline, yard and spurs, so I had to find the approximate ScaleRail types to match.

After having done that, I found out RSC did something to the switches, probably to reduce moiré patterning and Z-buffer fighting, as switches' ties are dynamic in length but there seems to be no matching texture in the ScaleRail set.

Also, due to the difference in height of the ballast shoulder, the RSC switches' ties seem to sit higher compared to the ScaleRail ties. Perhaps I should lift the ScaleRail or lower the switches by means of a special track rule?

I also read the track sounds and sound effects are different between RSC trackrule and ScaleRail trackrule.

Perhaps someone else will look into this, as well as into replacing the RSC crossing signals with SMM's and replacing those incorrect right hand track searchlight signals. The lampheads should always be on the inside of the mast. The default RSC masts are only correct for the left hand track. Right hand track and single track are wrong in my eyes.

This makes me wonder what the prototype signalling practice was: to the right and above of the track, as was the rule during steam/early Diesel years when most CTC installations were installed. This means we need lots more cantilevers/portals to keep to this rule.
Are those single mast bi-directional signals correct on SP's single track sections?

Numbered mile posts would be nice as well on such a long route.

More work to be done also, but that is left until well into the new year, for I'll be away for a fortnight come X-mas.

[Chacal]

Anybody know how easy it is to change the tracks to scalerail in donner?

Otto posted about exactly this on trainsim.com:

http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread ... ost1787825

[GSkid]

Nope, nothing overlapping. (that's why I split my consist in 1/2 to make it easy to spot that) It's just a victim of TS.. With TS 2012 they supposedly made it so you can drive long 100 car consists without trouble.. The truth of the matter is it was still a gamble then, and still one now. Between the plutonium powered couplers and the fact they're attached with flubber it's just a a recipe for disaster.. I'll stick with a single engine and 50 cars.. It's just safer that way.. Again.. That flying train wasn't even the one I was driving.. That was a prebuilt consist by RSC just sitting there.

That would be the fault of the bad physics I was told by some that is a matter of opinion. Physics are a well established mathematical formulas, not left up to opinion. Using that logic, it is my opinion that 2+2=5.

Speaking of physics. In another thread I said I never found any trains that felt heavy. I FINALLY discovered one that actually feels heavy with physics that feel a lot closer to the real thing. With the new SD45, there is a quick drive consist that has 30 gondolas loaded to the gills with heavy steel pipe and only one SD45 pulling it. You really have to pop it up a few notches to get it moving. It feels very heavy LIKE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE! I was so excited about it that I spent an afternoon just trying it on a bunch of different routes. In fact it's so heavy (or underpowered.....take your pick) that it stalls on all decent grades I've tried it on. IMHO that was a huge step in the right direction in terms of physics modeling.

But back to Donner Pass...... it looks gorgeous in the winter white. Especially if the sun is in the right place to create nice long shadows. I also like the long shadows of late afternoon in fall on this route. Seeing the shadows drape across the side of your train just looks cool and increases the reality immersion factor a few notches.

I'm gonna have to get the cab forward for this route at some point. Not too big on steam, but the cab forward.....like the big boy... are some of my notable exceptions. I'm also looking forward to some steam workshop scenarios for this route now that it's in a state that people will actually want to create them for it.

Derek...you have a lot to be proud of. Very nice indeed!

On a side note....I noticed this forum kept crashing last night. Very frustrating.