The Colusa & Lake (36ng) for Trainz

[ferroequine]

I've been meaning to post a project update for a while, but I tend to be so busy bouncing between projects anymore that it is tough to find the time. I am pleased to report that the first beta for the route should be available in coming weeks! This version will represent the line as it may have looked in 1896-97. Many of the landmark structures and industries will be either missing or substituted for something else. From Colusa Jct to Sites is the more accurate side of the line at this time, as a result it is also the more "complete" end (and the more scenic). Colusa now has an accurate track plan, pulled from the 1897 Sanborn maps. At the moment I missing the original survey map for the Colusa to Jct section, I'd like to get this done before I release the beta but I cannot promise it will be.

Screenshots:

Rearranged track plan at Colusa. At this time most of "Chinatown" and the Depot complex is missing. The leads from the turntable as seen here are far too long, something to fix in the future. Yes, there are other "routes" for ships and wagons in place in this view.


Additional view of Colusa, the warehouse along the track is part of the future Colusa Milling Co facility (not shown obviously).


A lot of grass splines have been used, but it's starting to look "right" in the hills (just downgrade from Sites):


What to expect for a good portion of the route (near Fairview), I am thinking of using this as the route thumbnail:


So what is next?

The biggest project is to finish getting the grass splines done along the entire route. Once this is done, I will begin adding in the historic farms and structures along the line, this will help breakup the monotony of the "Grassy Sea". Grass splines extend in rows 6 wide from each side of the ROW at that point texturing takes over.

There is also a series of glass splines that run under the track itself (grass was a HUGE problem on the line) that need finishing up.

The station at Parkinson's is completely missing (lack of info) and will get added in time. Keep in mind only Sites and Colusa are reasonably accurate, but I have discovered that there is a Sanborn map for Colusa Junction, but I am not sure how to get access to that without going to UC Berkeley. The other line stations are educated guesses.

I have 2 new dirt textures on the way, the first being a texture of the dirt from Cortena (Colusa Jct), the second is the sand/dirt shores of the Sacramento River.

Water tanks are in place, but cordwood fueling points are not yet on the route.

By the beta release, there WILL be an invisible track under the main pedestrian roads of the route. So far, I've got this about 50% finished, the route will be a single direction loop just to allow the AI to provide the illusion of traffic.

I might work on the SG portion a bit, adding the yards at Williams and Maxwell. My goal has always been to provide opportunities to run not only the C&L but the NRy, wagon roads and steamboat routes (in some sense).

[Pencil]

Slick! Have you thought about your own traffic region with wagons & horses instead of cars, and just use traffic - enabled dirt roads?

[ferroequine]

I might attempt to just that, but I am honestly having a hard time finding a road spline that isn't ugly. The one shown in my screenshots has only ever been for temporary use because it doesn't lay on the "ground" it actually floats above the ground. I tend to take screens from higher angles when it is in view for that very reason. Honestly, I was going to leave the roads without any road splines, but I will keep searching.

[Pencil]

I hear you. You can use invisible roads if you want to just leave the ground bare.

[NormHart]

Vincentrh has some nice macadam roads and his other roads are interesting.

Your route is looking very nice indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fall_ ... cadam).jpg

[NormHart]

I just remembered, one of the first routes I tried to make sessions for was the 1880's Old West Route. In that the author used Wagon Track which is actually a track not a scenery spline. Looks very nice IMO.

[ferroequine]

Last night I was doing some testing on other projects and I was pleased to see that Colusa & Lake #2 is now available from the Download Station.

[NormHart]

Last night I was doing some testing on other projects and I was pleased to see that Colusa & Lake #2 is now available from the Download Station.

Oh, nice! togog really does a fine job of modeling engines but I think he upped his game on this one. Very nice!

[ferroequine]

Glad you're enjoying it!

I have been seeding Jean-Michel authentic Baldwin drawings for various pieces as he goes along.

He has been so busy with the D&RG stuff as of late that I haven't bothered him about C&L #3 yet.

As I mentioned in my "Four Projects" post, I am going to get an e-spec done for these Baldwins, the 4-4-0s will be coming soon.

[Pencil]

Here's a shot of the route in TANE:

I'm loving the longer view distance....

[Trainboi]

Curtis,
Looks great, but I'd suggest you revamp the environment settings, to the new TANE defaults if nothing else. That's 90% of how some people's shots look so much better. I also like making the top of the sky darker, since that's how it appears in real life. It does wonders to the route quality.

[Pencil]

Setting the environment in TANE is definitely an art form
The default settings seem to me to be a bit fuzzy and washed out:

tane_candl_default.jpg (191.87 KiB) Viewed 154952 times

Mucking around with them I can get (imho) better for everything but the sky; the sky is a bit washed out still:

tane_candl_adjust.jpg (211.43 KiB) Viewed 154952 times

[Trainboi]

Heh, that does indeed look better...the sky is a problem though. Good work on the water, but I'm afraid the sky will probably change that. Hopefully it will change for the better.

[ferroequine]

It's been a long while since I posted about the Colusa & Lake progress.

First and most important: The project isn't dead (nor am I dead).

As time has allowed I've continued working on cleaning up the route so I can get a beta version uploaded to the DLS. I want to get something uploaded by the end of the year, keep your fingers crossed. During this past year I was able to locate the maps needed to complete the route. This required a trip to the National Archives in Maryland where I went through the surviving ICC maps of the Northern Railway / SP line. For the first time ever I got to see a detailed map of Colusa Junction. A few months later I located a set of 1912 maps in the California State Archives that cover the entire line. Armed with this information I set about to correct several items on the route. I was also able to get my hands on a set of photographs taken of the line from Mills up to Sites and have a better feel for what flora looked like back then along the ROW.

Here this is the revised Colusa Junction. Since I took this screenshot I was able to determine the derrick wasn't built until the 20th century. Most of the traffic over the line during this period was destined for the river warehouses in Colusa to be transhipped on the river.

smColusaJct.jpg (123.83 KiB) Viewed 154530 times

Here is a woefully out of place Carson & Colorado "Candelaria" rounding the bend at below the quarries. The disappearing track bug in this image was due to an outdated version of Curtis track.

sm-Candelaria-Near-McGilvrey.jpg (163.62 KiB) Viewed 154530 times

What has changed:
The station building at Fairview was removed.
Lurline gained a warehouse and loading platform.
Mills station also received a platform.
The "bridge" just below Sites wasn't as impressive as originally thought, it was more like a 6' culvert.
Colusa Junction revised to match the maps.

What is done:
Track and grade profile.
Basic Terrain Texturing.
Migrated to TANE
More accurate day cycle to better match the central valley.
Generic Buildings Placed.
Grass Splines, LOTS of Grass Splines.
Grade Fills.
Sites rebuilt to match maps.
More trees.
Telegraph line in place from Colusa to Sites.

What needs to be done:
Culverts.
Missing trestle north of Fairview.
Bridge at Stone Corral Creek.
Custom Objects.
Correct Rolling Stock.
Traffic.
AI for Riverboats and the Southern Pacific line.
Property fences.
Replace current roads with Macadam roads
More distant farms.
Town of Williams.
Town of Maxwell.
Invisible track route for driving a wagon from Colusa Junction to Sites.
Invisible track for riverboat along entire length of Sacramento river.

In addition to work on the route, I also revised the history of the Colusa & Lake on PacificNG into a more complete history based on the research I've been digging up while working on the route.

I'll post more screenshots later this evening.

[ferroequine]

Here are some of the latest scenes from the C&L route. I am working on fences and other items along the route to give it more life.

Colusa Milling Company in Colusa.

Colusa-Milling.jpg (150.32 KiB) Viewed 154054 times

Hopkin's Slough

Hopkins-Slough.jpg (150.42 KiB) Viewed 154054 times

Colusa Junction

Colusa-Junction.jpg (151.07 KiB) Viewed 154054 times