It's about time I said hello!

[Tomcat]

Hi folks,

I've been reading these forums since 2009 and appreciate all the information you graciously share with the train simulation community. The information that I've gleaned from these pages has been of considerable help as I first struggled with the editor as Rail Simulator became Railworks and then through its updates to the present Train Simulator 2016. So, first and foremost, let me thank the boards administrators, moderators and regular posters. Without the above mentioned people my simming experience would have been far less enjoyable than it has become.

Secondly... A hail and hearty hello to all who participate here.

I actually had second and third thoughts about registering and posting here because I always had doubts about whether I really had anything of import to say. The things I tinker with have been personal projects and I never assumed that they would be of any interest to anyone other than me. But, there's almost always a 'but' isn't there... I have been working on a project for 14 months that would be a shame if I were the only one to ever see it. Not a shame in the sense that it's the greatest thing to come down the pike (you may and possibly will be disappointed), but a shame in the sense that it's 14 months of work with at least 14 months more ahead of me that I could share as a kind of thank you to all of you who have provided me with countless freeware items that I use on a daily basis.

My project is a modern 3 track Cajon Pass. I am familiar with previous announcements over the years about upcoming revamped Cajons only to have them fade away over time. I have also taken note of some of these being greeted with skepticism over the 'need' for a rework of something that already exists. I can only say that this started as a purely personal project but it has grown and reached a state where it might be of interest to someone else. The only other Cajon redo that would have stopped me in my tracks (so to speak) would have been Marc Nelson's Cajon. I cannot compete with his level of work and I would have been happy as a clam to enjoy his route rather than just settling for my effort. As a parenthetical let me just say that I recently bought Marc Nelson's Tehachapi and even as a beta it is far above my level of route building not to mention the fact that, at this point, I do not create any assets myself... hopefully that will change eventually. So, yeah, if Marc had not had the fickle HDD Gods intervene then I would've been enjoying his work and would not have given my project even a first thought.

You might ask 'So what will this route give me that the old Cajon doesn't?'

West Colton Yard
Colton Flyover
San Bernardino A & B yards
Colton – Palmdale cutoff to 'I don't know where to stop yet'
Keenbrook interconnection
Cajon Connector at Silverwood
Sidings at Cargill
Complete trackage at Cemex and Oro Grande cement
Lucerne Subdivision – not sure about this yet, I may shoot myself first
Portion of the Needles Subdivision at least up to Daggett
Complete trackage at USMC Nebo and Yermo Annexes
Yermo Yard
Superelevation
Daylighting of tunnels and 3rd main

I just started laying track from Valley Junction to Boron on the Mojave Subdivision. Not sure if I can take laying track past Boron to Mojave. It almost seems sacrilegious to even come close to Marc Nelsons work in Tehachapi Pass. And I'm not sure I can handle taking the UP tracks from Summit to Palmdale either.

I did not clone the original Cajon and add on to it. This has been done from scratch: DEM, terrain painting, placing assets; pretty much the whole shebang. And just to make it clear – it will be freeware – other than the routes you need to have from DTG in order to see all the assets I have used.

Sorry for the long winded post! Guess I saved up 6 years worth of hot air and you have been the unfortunate victims!

Tim


P.S. Screenshots for your consideration will be forthcoming shortly. I will start a thread in the Freeware WIP section for those. Additional information about the progress so far and what I plan to be doing over the coming months will also be included with the screenshots.

[BoostedFridge]

Welcome aboard, and thank you for breaking the silence on your project! This will be a welcome addition to the Railworks community!

It is gratifying to hear that the forums have been of use to you just by searching and reading. (Some folks should take heed of this!)

I look forward to seeing the route!

[DrewG]

Welcome!

I'm looking forward to seeing your build, I loved the Canon route and this just sounds to be an amped up version of the route I loved running.

[ErikGorbiHamilton]

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Howdy!
Looking forward to this! I used to test all new addons on Cajon pass before i got other routes, just because of that big yard in San Bern.

[NStrains]

Thanks for posting this! I've always liked the potential Cajon Pass could've had for being a great route for the sim, but thought what we had wasn't quite up to par.

[Tomcat]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

BoostedFridge: I've been following your progress on the Siskiyou Line and It's looking impressive. Those new terrain textures you've worked on look amazing.

ErikGorbiHamilton: If you like big yards then I hope San Bernardino yards A & B, West Colton, Barstow and Yermo will bring a smile.

merciless245: I certainly hope you'll have some fun running this one.

NStrains: I feel the same way about the original Cajon. Although I liked running the route it never had the gravitas that I thought it should have given how iconic a route it is

I'll start a new thread in the Freeware WIP section in the next day or two with a progress report and some screenshots.