Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

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car112
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by car112 »

Thank you. I'll make sure to keep a note of this in a word document.
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RowanTrodd
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by RowanTrodd »

No worries, sorry it was a bit of a long one - but I've developed this process with another Trainz route builder and we've found this order helps.
Good luck!
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cyberdonblue
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by cyberdonblue »

I think that's excellent advice Rowan, although I myself work slightly differently in some ways - and I'm sure we've all got our own little quirks. I definitely agree that the worst place to start is at a large terminal station though. It will give you nightmares if you do, especially if it's your own creation and you have no particular track plan to follow.

Personally, I tend to lay some track first (just one or two lines for now, even if the finished article will have 6, 8, 10 or more; it doesn't matter right now.) I'm not interested in sidings either at this point. I lay my track along the whole route from one end to the other in a very rough fashion. I don't worry about junctions, level crossings or anything else; just the path the rails will eventually follow. I lay them straight onto the terrain as is too. In other words I don't care about gradients, tunnels, embankments, general track levels, how it looks right now or indeed any other thing. I just get the tracks into a rough position over the length of the route that they will occupy. By that time I've usually decided on an area that has really grabbed my interest so I decide to just sit down and start right there; for no other reason than because I can. Very unscientific but what the hell. The area I choose might not even be the length of a full board. It just needs to be something that has vaguely grabbed my interest for any inexplicable reason. This is a hobby remember, and the more something fascinates you the better the job you'll do reproducing it. You don't have to have a reason for any of it.

I then work out the correct height for my track in my newly chosen area - embankments, cuttings, tunnels etc - and get everything set up at the correct height. Now I want it to start looking a bit more realistic so I tidy everything up a bit and add a few ground textures, maybe some hedge rows and a few buildings, trees, fences and, if there are any stations in the area, I might roughly throw down a couple of platforms just to see how they'll look. If I like what I see then I might get more involved in placing some detail, it depends on my mood. However, I might decide to move on. If I do then so be it. It could either be to a whole new place on the map or just a little further down the line, who knows. Whatever takes my fancy. That way I never feel pressured to work on something that I'm not in the mood for - being in the mood for the job at hand is essential. If you "force it", so to speak, it shows in the end result. Relax. Enjoy yourself. Follow your interest.

After that I flit about (seemingly aimless sometimes) filling in large areas here and there as something takes my fancy. Then comes the desire to start joining bits up and filling in the gaps - just like a jig-saw puzzle - and the more that it grows and the more that gets revealed the more you want to press on and keep building. I love it. Very contagious at times.

Having said all that, as Rowan mentioned there's the devil lurking about in the form of that "Writer's block" type thing. I don't care who you are and how much you love trains, it will hit you at some point. The solution? Go and do something else. It doesn't matter what it is, just make sure it has nothing to do with trains; and like your appetite for anything else, the hunger will return when it's ready. I haven't worked on my own project since about 23rd December. I just don't feel like it right now and I think I'd spoil it if I tried to force it just for the sake of finishing it and getting it onto the DLS. It will happen when it's ready. Simple.

I hope all that doesn't sound like a lecture. It's just my experience of how things work for me and hopefully it will help young car112 get past that frustrating stage of not being sure which direction to head out in.

Cheers

Dave
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car112
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by car112 »

Now that's what I call helpful information. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you! :D
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Shippy2013
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by Shippy2013 »

I would definitely heed Dave’s advice about taking a break and doing something else now and again. I tend to do a similar thing to Dave too, just randomly hit bits that I’m interested in at a time and don’t force work on something your not in the mood. I have an OCD problem and tend to spend lots of time rebuilding and adjusting some bits over and over......

What I do is roughly work out how many boards I want by roughly working out some distances and lay them. I then roughly lay the track all single at first just throwing a standard built in station where they need to be. I then pick an area of interest (I like big stations, Yards and TDM’s) this is we’re I begin and just keep working out until all the tracks are laid, Junction sorted and joined up. Then tweet any alignments. Then it’s onto we’re roads go and we’re they need to go under, Over or across tracks. Then start building along the route.

I’ve been working on my route for nearly a year and still have lots to do. Although I’ve now finished all the required track work and got to a position where I can now have trains running I have acres of scenic world to do and this is the part I hate, especially as Im trying to create a busy suburban area. Ive built a section of the Midland route from Carlton in Nottinghamshire to Beaton station through Nottingham Midland and over that I’ve got a revitalise Great Central/Great Northern Route from Bulwell to Sneinton and Ruddington through a redesigned Nottingham Victoria. At the ends of each part of the route I have a six track balloon and a 6 track set of sidings and have set up 40 trains to run fully autonomous with the AI to a planned timetable. Just really struggling to finish off the scenery.
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car112
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by car112 »

So, I've been able to create a new plan for my route. It's 28 baseboards long and there will be a station every two baseboards.

1. Stamford and Gramsby will each have 8 platforms.

2. Balerno, Bury, and Dangarnon will have 4 platforms.

3. The local platforms will have 2 platforms.

4. The main depot will be at Stamford.

I looked over a route called Watley Junction and realized I can still put enough scenery in even if the route only takes up a portion of the baseboard.

Thank you for the help so far. You guys are awesome. :D

I'll be using Class 477 Southern 12 car units for express services and the Class 344 Crossrail 12 car units for local services.
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car112
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by car112 »

Hello everyone. It has once again been awhile since I've posted here. However, I have some unfortunate news.

Due to being unable to transfer content over from TS12 to TANE and with the infuriating issue of Taddaemon exiting due to a lack of one or more script libraries in TS12, I will no longer be using TS12 until this issue has been resolved.

As for this route, I'm sad to say that it will have to be postponed until I can get TS12 working again or restart the project by building it in TANE.

My apologies and it would be greatly appreciated if someone can help me with this issue.

Thank you and stay awesome.
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car112
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Re: Stamford - Gramsby aka The Gramsby Line

Post by car112 »

Hello everyone. I would like to follow up from my previous post.

I'm happy to say that I was able to reinstall TS12 and will continue to work on this route until it's completion. I love how TS12 works well on my laptop and can fully agree that I can now finally work on this route again.

If anyone has any questions, comments, suggestions, tips, or anything else about this route, please reply to this thread. Thank you and stay awesome.
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