New York Division-Bergen Line - Part Deux!

[Pwelt]

Updates are beautiful, thanks.
Rode a Arrow 3 from Hoboken to Summit today, very comfortable ride, will be sorry to see them replaced.

[minerman146]

As an aside, I would like to let you all know that the Super-secret, Spy Squirrel project appears to be reactivated. I just sent out a mass of research material to a known builder and artist. I am crossing my figures that my dream will come true and you will see something very special that would not otherwise have been done. Just like the Bergen except it will be even more popular.

its just one darn thing I want to see from DTG. ONE.DARN.THING !
Will it come to fruition? Or will I burn the house down when they disappoint me?

*Still working on Revere!

[minerman146]

And here we are once again for this week's installment of "As The Route Turns". (dang I am getting old!) While we have not achieved Soap Opera level, we do have our report and here we go.

Lets go to the route update status for Friday.

( X ) Negatory
( ) Promontory

Didn't make its kids - sorry. I am working in a relaxed state and getting my shut-eye. That is costing 2 hours of production a day. At full tilt, with caffeine-bourbon infusion, we can get 4 plus hours as we have in the past. Working at a slower pace and building kustom-kraftwurks here on the Bergen, is making it slow going. Structures, like Revere Smelting, take a wee bit of time of time to do. Lets check out some pictures and talk a little about what is going on.

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I haven't had anyone ask "why do you do it " yet, so we will just have wait for someone to ask. Revere is as it lies, like it was in 2001. By 2017, they end up filling the smaller pond and putting another structure on the same spot. In the trackside view, passing by, all you see are the tanks and retaining wall. The rail view at the facility is abutted by the building on one side and by a row of trailers on the other. You have to go aerial to see the whole thing. In Winter you will more of it and my scenery has always taken winter into account, so you get full-rich-scenery all year round for your railroading pleasure. So, that's it for the report. Feel free to comment and ask questions as always.

Carry on!

[hobo1960]

OK...I'll bite!

"why do you do it ?"

HHH

[QcRail]

I haven't had anyone ask "why do you do it " yet, so we will just have wait for someone to ask. Revere is as it lies, like it was in 2001. By 2017, they end up filling the smaller pond and putting another structure on the same spot. In the trackside view, passing by, all you see are the tanks and retaining wall. The rail view at the facility is abutted by the building on one side and by a row of trailers on the other. You have to go aerial to see the whole thing. In Winter you will more of it and my scenery has always taken winter into account, so you get full-rich-scenery all year round for your railroading pleasure. So, that's it for the report. Feel free to comment and ask questions as always.

Carry on!

''Magifique'' ! quite a show of great talent : creativity, inventivity, and a sensitivity to landscape authenticity. Again WOW!

This industrial complex is grand. Since I'm slowly learning 3D modeling (auto teaching via tutorials), I was wondering which 3d software you're using ?

These objects, considered by certain as eye-candy, are an integral part of railroads and are their revenue sources, thus important as it define the landscape context. Please keep up enlightned. Bravo.

QcRail

[minerman146]

Hobo1960 - ah me in my big mouth! The response will take me a few posts to get it all out. Fortunately for me Qcrail zeroed in on this:

These objects, considered by certain as eye-candy, are an integral part of railroads and are their revenue sources, thus important as it define the landscape context

I will restate what he said. The structures and scenery are considered to be just eye-candy. But, to create and achieve a context for the train; on must recreate these places as realistically as possible. The businesses themselves are the point of the railroads being in business in the first place. (so true!) As they are integral, then accuracy and faithfulness will emphasize their importance in the game.

Context. Atmosphere. Mood.

Another point QC brought up:

This industrial complex is grand. Since I'm slowly learning 3D modeling (auto teaching via tutorials), I was wondering which 3d software you're using ?

Qcrail - none of what you see was made by me. It is ALL existing content from Sherman Hill, NJ Coastline and Munich-Augsburg that has been combined, proportioned, and fashioned from parts. Why did I do that? I realized that I would need to learn 3D modeling to make exact duplicates and I would not be route building. I thought, what if I could create an 'impression' of the actual structures and then capture the look and feel? Perhaps that would work. So, I tried very simple merging at first, I put 2 buildings together make a new one. Then, more buildings together. Then, just showing, above ground, the parts I needed and concealing the rest underground. Over time, because I use the same DLC, I can imagine what parts I need to make something new and FIND the parts easily. And once I make a custom model, like a house, I can just copy it and bring it to a new location!

I am very proud of the houses I did in Walden, Maybrook and Montgomery. Some of them have Porches on them! Why did I do it ? Well, the houses I created actually do HAVE porches. Its atmosphere. Why do I do it ? I know many of you will never get to see the places first hand. Some of you do check google maps and street view and you are impressed! The why is atmosphere and for you to believe you are in a real place no matter where you are from around the world. I think this fidelity makes for a better experience, makes your loco look and feel more real, immerses you into the environment and so the game.

Keep asking - I'll keep explaining as I love talking about this.

Carry on.

[Chacal]

There's a word for this: kitbashing!
Do you also scale up / down buildings and other models ?

[minerman146]

Chacal, Yes I scale up and down and I sometimes scale all axis as in the picture below. The blue box to the right, simulating a dust collector is a Garbage Container turned up side down and scale X by 2 times, Y by 3.5 times and Z is to scale.

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You caught me at the right time - this is what I am working from right now! Note its 2001 (gotta keep the year thing goin)

Ball_Container_2001.JPG

I work with another computer, screen, Keyboard and mouse to my left. So I study the picture and others to 'capture' the scene.
Cool right?

[CGBlaze]

So cool seeing all the comparisons to the real life counterparts. DTG, eat your hearts out.

Haven't posted anything in RWA in a while, so I thought I'd show a lil respect to the minerman again in this thread...

E-L Capitan

So fun fact some of you may not know about EL History... In the late 1960's after NJDOT had taken over passenger operations on the EL, it wasn't entirely uncommon to see Santa Fe coaches being pulled behind E8's, GP7's and RS-2's in local passenger service on both the Bergen Line and the Pascack Valley Line. These coaches (approximately 25 IIRC) were purchased by the NJDOT from ATSF to replace some of the aging fleet of passenger equipment being used by the EL at the time while the new U34CH and Comet sets were being delivered. Some of that equipment dated as far back as the early 1900's, so many passengers welcomed the comfort of the new/old cars on the roster. To my knowledge, the were retrofitted with more seats to better suit the capacity requirements of commuter use. They were eventually retired in the mid to late 1970's, so they didn't have the longest tenure on EL tracks, but trainsets like the one pictured below did earn the nickname "E-L Capitan" as tribute to their heritage.

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Here's E8 #821 sliding by with 7 ex ATSF coaches on a westbound run to Suffern while MoW does some M on the adjacent track. I'm sure minerman can correct any discrepancies I may have in my brief history. Nonetheless I thought it was cool that we could recreate those oddball trains realistically now in Railworks.

Sidenote: finding a place to get a screenshot that still had all it's 70's EL glory intact was nearly impossible. I'm suddenly finding myself itching for a backdated Bergen as my EL collection grows. Afaik, Ho-Ho-Kus station did not look like this. And it's also missing a track. But you get the idea!

As always, still checking this thread daily for updates....

[minerman146]

CGBlaze - I thought I was looking at a slightly overexposed Kodachrome there sir. You had me! You got all your stuff pretty gosh-darn accurate too. I don't think I rode those. But I did see them . I have a vague memory of me asking my father (we were on a freight run) what Santa Fe was doing on the Erie. I cant remember what he told me. (Dad, I know you lurk here … if you register you can post and honor us with your sage wisdom - I can help you do this!) I think I saw them parked in Port Jervis maybe 73 or 74. These would be a real improvement over the Stillwells .. A/C vs open windows and fans. I would also point out … that what I did see at that time 1972-78 was so darn old, yet operational, it was like seeing living antiques. The trains , the infrastructure and all the old buildings and Hoboken it self .. you could easily imagine it was 1940 and definitely turn of the 20th century in Hoboken.

This is the kind of post I just love - you got the Erie bug. And you got a GoldenAgeofRails GP7 in there too. I hope that Michael is working on some of those olden coaches I was referring to. Then we could really get this thing going. I really like what you did your stock and the route to make a really sweet image of what this all was. This means a lot to me.

Regarding finding a 1970 spot that holds up to the EL era, your right, they are tough to find because the track. We have 2 spots that I know I did 1970: Tuxedo, New York and NJ tower at Harriman, West of the Modern station... wait, we got one more … I put in the original Harriman Station on the Old Main. Ha one more, how could I forget, Carlton Hill Circa 1968. 4 little tiny spots, but they are there.

You got me here...

Sidenote: finding a place to get a screenshot that still had all it's 70's EL glory intact was nearly impossible. I'm suddenly finding myself itching for a backdated Bergen as my EL collection grows. Afaik, Ho-Ho-Kus station did not look like this. And it's also missing a track. But you get the idea

I'll put it this way .. please guys say a little word to the almighty to ask that some how we can get all that 70s EL glory out on this platform. I would hope that I could find a way and the strength to carry on and bring the dream to fruition. So close....

I will be looking at this picture and re-reading your post for a long time.

[minerman146]

Another week just flew on by and here we are again for this weeks episode of AS THE ROUTE TURNS also known as the Wednesday Route Update.
Well this week my day job trumped route work from Saturday through this evening - it was critical and we just broke out into the safe zone about an hour ago. If I can get my butt outta this chair, I start working and Ball Container some more. With that out of the way lets go now to the Friday Route Update Status:

Route Update Status for Friday:
( ) Yes, yes - ooooooh yesssss!
( X ) Let me tell ya,I get no respect. The other day I hear a knock at the door and its my wife at the door in see-though negligée - She was coming home! There was another time where my house caught on fire - I hear my wife saying to the kids: " Quiet, you'll wake up your father!" My wife she so cold --- her side of the water bed froze over. Its been a rough week - let me tell ya....

Lets give a big old Bergen Line round of applause for Rodney Dangerfield posting tonight's Friday Route Update Status! What a guy!

You know sometime ya just gotta brag and this is a nice brag that you hoggers will understand. So, Im over at the OVSrails.com site, lurking, like I do here a few times a day and I see this post. This is by Alex, a great guy buy the way, and they are talking about making some fright scenarios on the Miami-West palm Route. He writes:

Miami - West Palm is a pretty decent route for freight with many sidings. I have always wondered why route builders create sidings without docks or platforms, as in the following picture. In this example, there are fences along both sides of the siding right of way... no room to even maneuver a forklift for unloading or loading freight.

I could have done the ol' *cough-cough* thing there, but then you wouldn't have seen it. But hey, honestly, I don't get around much, really at all, on other routes. I think a few years ago I ran a freight scenario on the Miami route, but since it was a yard to yard run I didn't notice. On the Bergen, I never thought about not putting in docks and doors and even piping for liquids. First, I used to line up buildings that had doors and face them to the track. You can see some of these over in Carlstadt. A year or so ago, I figured out how to mash up a gantry with a yard office to make a pretty good dock door. I deploy this everywhere now. I believe the first doors I made were on the Maybrook Branch. I also take the time to make sure each door will line up to coupled 50 foot cars and that the sills will line up to each car. And why do I do that? Well, I think, moving cars and placing them are tedious and so I do what I can to keep it interesting to also make it worth your while. I bet you guys notice all the stuff and it does make it interesting doesn't it? Anyway, the next time your tooling around the route don't forget to visit our 67 customers and check out all the different ways we put loading docks into the route.

Sorry no picture tonight, if I see something interesting that will convey route progress, I will put it up right here.

Carry on!

[AmericanSteam]

Yes I do notice things like that. I Just had a session on the N Line and did note the sparsity and the less than exact way some assets were placed as well as 10 copies of the same automobiles lined up at a crossing, kind of like that one route with all of the yellow scooters in it. It inspired me so much that I have been editing copies of the scenarios. I have been doing power and stock swaps as well. Thank you RW_Tools. Keep on plugging away my friend. Remember the transcontinental railroad only took 6 years to build.

[Jostrep]

Well, I think it may be time to drive Minerman off the deep end, yet again. Here are a few shots from "way back when" on the Bergen, showing that sometimes, for all the wrong reasons I do something right.

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The part that gets things"right" is that these shots were taken a while ago. A LONG while, as in the train is carrying all those indigenous folks displaced for beads and trinkets. Okay, maybe no THAT long ago, but way before Buzz came up with the Phoebe Snow EL Lightweight repaints, I wanted to run some passenger equipment on the Bergen. I have no idea why Santa Fe came to mind, but I used them for EL equipment that wasn't available at the time.

Sorry for sending you off the end again, my friend. For those that are reading this that don't know as of yet, I have been using the content and taking screens for quite a while on a computer that is well below the recommended minimum graphics for DTG 's DLC. The minimum is soooo far away, it would be like sending the John Bull out to handle a modern unit coal train - by itself! That I am able to do this is amazing, but to get the screens I do with the content that is in them is infuriating because of the content I don't pick up. You know, the little things like ants on the platform coming to clean up melted ice cream that Minerman puts into the route to give it flavor.

Please don't get me wrong, I really do love all the little things that bring the Bergen to life. Hey, I thought that it was finely detailed before I bought Munich-Augsburg and dramatically reduced the number of "milk bottles" on the route. I'm half afraid to upgrade the machine to even minimum standards, though. I talk about the detailing now being so incredible, that you can find Sinatra's childhood home in Hoboken, I'm not ready to see him coming out of the house as a wee little tyke to play in the street!

I also like being off the beaten path to see what else is out there, as these shots from the branch through Suffren will attest:

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Yeah, is has been a while since these were taken. Those liquid refreshment NOS tanks are courtesy of the folks at UKTS, where even the "crown" takes note of the Bergen. Its been a fun trip with the New York Division, and I'm waiting anxiously to see what is next! Keep up the fantastic work you're doing, so that even the woefully graphic-challenged can enjoy a nice relaxing ride. And, yes, I still am "spreading the news" so that others "can be a part of it".

I'll bet you didn't know that Rodney was the warm up act to The Chairman of the Board in those EL lounge cars on their Bergen excursion trip today, did you?

[minerman146]

Hey Joe - waddauknow?

Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York....

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[minerman146]

Here is the back of Ball Container in Middletown. This is the finished back of this thing circa 2001. And its in very favorable lighting.
And yeah, we love you freight guys.

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Thought you might like to see as its gonna be a few weeks before I build every shopping center in the Town of Walkill before I can go West of Middletown Station.