Well, its been some time since my last update. The last couple of years have taken me in different directions, but all the while, this project has been in the back of my mind. I know I have (or had) a lot of people watching, and by now some of them may have given up, and I dont blame them, but the wheel has turned and I've found myself back here again.
For many years I've wanted to build a model railway, but never had the space for it. It occurred to me recently that these days, with the various rail simulators available, younger people would probably just build a virtual railway than use up an entire room for their hobby. Virtual railways have a big advantage when it comes to space. you can easily create a layout that is much bigger than anything you could build in a room, and a lot more interactive. I still plan on filling a room with trains one day, but recently I've started building my own virtual railway in Traiinz TS2009.
There are a couple of existing routes that I like. They're big. They're Australian, specifically New South Wales. They're full of NSWGR and SRA content, and they look and feel quite good, but they all have similar problems. I considered updating one of them with better content, replacing thousands of signals with the NSW ones available on the DLS, replacing all the stations with better ones, etc, etc. About the only thing I didnt have to change was the scenery.
Add to that the problem of older content not working properly, or failing to load entirely, I came to the conclusion that I would have to build much of it myself, from scratch, right down to the 3D models, since a lot of the classic NSW content are progressive meshes which are no longer supported.
So I've decided to make this a long term project, like a physical model railway, that I work on when I have the time. Anything I produce will be available in some form or other, and I may even consider making them available for other rail simulators as well.
The first thing I need to do is fix my own content. The buffers have always flickered, and I have a new version without any flicker that I am putting some final touches on. I changed it a little and now attach the lamp to the buffer, and then the corona to the lamp, but Im having a little trouble getting the corona to attach to the right point. I'm not even sure at this stage that its possible. I'll figure it out eventually.
The Train Stop will be next. I only just realised that stopped working, and even worse, causes other signals on the route to fail. Its a scripting problem, and I'll have that sorted out, and updated on the DLS as soon as I can.
Then its back to the Tangara and the 86 Class. I really miss the real 86 Class and finishing off the model will at least let me see it running again. I have another side project as well, but I cant talk about that. Im updating someone elses content, and will have to waiit until its done and I contact them again before I can announce it. Its not a big job, just a little time consuming.
Finally theres my route. That will be put together over time. Since the 86 Class were built for hauling coal and container trains through the mountains, naturally it features mountains. At the highest point the rail is 600m above sea level, and I plan to have a port at sea level too, so it's going to be big, with lots of gradients, and will have a city area for the Tangara and other commuter trains.
It sounds like Im taking a lot on, when its already taken me a long time to produce what I've already started, but I'm hoping that by combining it all together, and adding a route that I'll have the full package and that will motivate me to work on some part of it or other. One of the problems of just working on the 3D models is that when I get stuck, or need a break from modelling, I just stop. This way I'll have other things, like the route to go on with.
So thats the plan. As soon as I have the buffer and Train Stops fixed, I'll add an update on my progress here. I also have some Tangara and 86 Class updates to write as well.
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