What makes a route good?

[tooltroll]

I'm working on a (fictional but realistic) route that I'll eventually upload to the FL. I know what I like in a route, but I'd like it to be generally enjoyable for the community as well, thus this thread. I lean more towards switching and shortlines rather than long mainline runs, so my current plan is to have perhaps 50-odd miles of mainline and an interchange with a shortline that serves a few small towns over a couple of dozen miles or so. That's the basic idea; Comments and suggestions regarding additions and alterations to flesh out this basic idea would be much appreciated.

Bob

[qballbandit]

Hi Bob,
You're going to get it from all angles in this thread.
I like your main idea for the route. I personally like interchange between shortline and Class 1, so your concept intrigues me.
Again, me I run my trains from inside the cab, while others run almost entirely from an exterior view. Accordingly, my focus is always on the ROW first, then what's out in front and to the sides of the ROW. I like things that make a route look "railroady", so all the track hardware is important to me. (or, a robust representation). I like a painted ROW as well, so use Mosaic to paint the outer ballast/vehicle gravel on routes that don't have it. Also do the roads and highways.
Then, the vegetation along the ROW, as well as the rest of the world. A fair representation of what a town or city looks like. Carspawners and static traffic/parked traffic. Anyone of the plethora of sky files for OR. "Clutter" objects. My clutter folder has 530 items in it. These are the things that breath that extra layer of life into a route.
As well, it's a great bonus when the appropriate shapes also include night and snow textures.
Check my pictures in the OR screenshot forum, you'll get what I am trying to write here.
Now, read on to the other viewpoints which are sure to follow. Most of all, enjoy your project!

[ebnertra000]

It's your route, do what you ike. If you build it, they will come. I personally like making things as realistic as I can from an operations standpoint, so I pretty closely follow what the timetable says if I can find one. I've always had the most troublewith scenery in places like cities, probably the reason I like middle-of-nowhere routes.

Bottom line - if it looks right, go with it. It's fictional, so no one can say you're wrong

[tooltroll]

You're going to get it from all angles in this thread.

Thanks, Neil. I'm hoping to get it from all angles. You make good points, and they're all things I agree with, so at least I'm in the ballpark!

It's your route, do what you like. If you build it, they will come.

True enough, and I will be doing what I like! But I figure there's a good chance that, having done what I like, it won't be too much extra work to incorporate things that other people like, too. Plus, I'm sure to be forgetting (or just plain unaware of) some things that might make it a better route.

Bob

[Erick_Cantu]

Scalerail or USTracks, that's what. And proper colour balance, brightness, and contrast in the textures.

[Marc87dk]

Scalerail or USTracks, that's what. And proper colour balance, brightness, and contrast in the textures.

Don't forget DBtracks

[ebnertra000]

Don't forget DBtracks

USTracks is a lightly modified version of DBTracks that Norbert had started before his passing, intended to be used on North American routes. I consider them to be almost the same thing, to the point that I've used DBTracks bridge pieces in a USTracks route

[tooltroll]

Scalerail or USTracks, that's what. And proper colour balance, brightness, and contrast in the textures.

Ok, I need some clarification on what's involved with these. I'm using one of the 'USTracks converted to A1cleantrack' replacement textures found in the FL, but I get the impression that there's more involved than just the textures. Thing is, all I can find in the FL relating to US tracks are the textures. Searching the forum for info returns thousands of hits, all of which being people troubleshooting and not the basic info I need. Can you give me a quick summary of what's needed, where I get it, and what installation involves?

Thanx
Bob

[ebnertra000]

Bob,

Both US- and DBTracks can be found at http://dbtracks.com. The site can be a little tricky to navigate at first, but is very easy once you figure it out. You may want to keep that converted track texture around, though. I intend to use it in my route for two spots where I'll need to use Kuju pieces (Norbert never had a chance to do diamonds).

Be warned, though:

The selection of available USTracks pieces is a bit limited compared to Xtracks, so if you've already started, that could be a problem. And...

You'll have to place an Atrack piece first, and then change the shape filename for that piece to the USTracks name (they don't show up in the track shapes list). Norbert has a page on his site with a tutorial on how to edit .w files to do this, but if you use TSRE, you can do it in the editor using the edit button under the filename

[tooltroll]

The selection of available USTracks pieces is a bit limited compared to Xtracks, so if you've already started, that could be a problem.

Thanks, Travis.
I think I'll stick with XTracks and the modified textures (A1 and A2) for this route, then. I've already laid several miles of track, including some fairly involved areas around the first interchange, the shortline's yard and HQ, and a small town with several industries.

Bob

[rdayt]

There's got to be a way for the man on the ground (brakeman, switchman) to "bend the iron".
Don't forget the switchstands, visually and operationally essential.

Randy

[tooltroll]

There's got to be a way for the man on the ground (brakeman, switchman) to "bend the iron".
Don't forget the switchstands, visually and operationally essential.

Randy

Thanks, Randy, good point, and another one on which I'm vague and outdated. The MSTS manual switches used to have a pretty bad looking 'handle' by default, but that seems to have vanished in a puff of updates. Are there any tutorials or forum threads detailing how to rig switch stands in OR?

Bob

[ebnertra000]

Thanks, Randy, good point, and another one on which I'm vague and outdated. The MSTS manual switches used to have a pretty bad looking 'handle' by default, but that seems to have vanished in a puff of updates. Are there any tutorials or forum threads detailing how to rig switch stands in OR?

Bob

Switchstands are quite easy, really. What do you want them to look like? I've made a few over the years that could probably be made to work.

On the subject of USTracks, it's worth a shot to see how much compatibility you can get out of them. You could probably fudge in some DBTracks to fill the gaps, as the DB sets are far more complete

[tooltroll]

Switchstands are quite easy, really. What do you want them to look like? I've made a few over the years that could probably be made to work.

I was thinking of the standard North American two-tie, intermediate height type with the round red/square green indicator plates, and maybe some short stands with two-light dwarf signals for the yards. I never played with switchstands back in the day before I got fed up with the old editors, so I'm starting from square one where they're concerned. I had assumed they were a modified switch shape with added parts and animation. I was going to examine what others had done in the routes I have installed, but if you could point me at some 'best practices', that'd be great!

Bob

[eric]

The point about using either Scalerail or US/DBTracks is to have a 3 dimensional track and trackbed. I'd suggest using berms as well -- these are scenery objects made to go under the track to help show embankments and variations in the ground elevation without having to raise the terrain unrealistically.

Animated switchstands are what drove me to do my first Scalerail conversion, and I've stuck with that platform over US/DBTracks. Using a mix of the wood and concrete types (which I've modified to look like wood) I have two different switchstand types and ballast colors in my route.

I also like the track spacing capabilities in Scalerail better -- instead of 5m track centers, Scalerail has an option for 4m centers (a.k.a. yard pieces), which is much more like what was common until more recently and more realistic.