Midwest Mega Route 2023

[qballbandit]

Josh, if you still have my e-mail, can you send me one please? If not, let me know in a PM.

[eric]

In theory, this is a smarter approach -- build out the chunks and get good TDB results. Then do the merge.

[BrandonS261]

In theory, this is a smarter approach -- build out the chunks and get good TDB results. Then do the merge.

Yes Eric It is and we should have thought about this way before our route got out of hand. This will take a lot more time but in the end be worth the effort and help us when it comes to not only delegating the route to others but cut down on the size of the route as a whole along with a few other things.

Now my question is would we be able to use the Rebuild Track Database in the old MSTS editor for individual routes once we split the route up into sections or should we stay with TSRE?

Brandon

[eric]

That's a tough one... and I have no idea what's the best bad choice here. Fortunately for a TDB rebuild, I don't think scenery needs to load, which is the real memory killer for MSTS-RE. But it will have to build terrain buffers.

I'm not sure if the error correction in TSRE will figure out that you're missing .W files and fix the TDB or leave it be.

[BrandonS261]

I have officially made the CP River Sub and BNSF St Croix Subs from South St Paul to La Crosse a separate route. Now it's on to working on a few others to get them split into separate routes!

There will be 5 parts to it as followed- This is just for the Minnesota area routes

1.BNSF St Croix Sub and CP River Sub from St Paul to La Crosse, WI- Southern Section
2. BNSF Wayzata Sub, BNSF Monti line, TC&W and MPL routes, CP Paynesville Sub and UP MIR industrial spur-Western Section
3. BNSF Staples Sub, BNSF Brainard Sub, BNSF Hinckley Sub and St Croix Valley line- Northern Section
4. Twin Cities Metropolitan Area
5. Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior area and the North Shore Scenic Railroad

I have also decided while I am at it and have them split up I will be extending the TC&W all the way to SD and building the whole Staples Sub as well. Along with rebuilding the Duluth/Superior areas of the route to make them more accurate to what they are currently.

The Wisconsin and Illinois side of the route will be split up as well and Josh and I will have a section from La Crosse, WI all the way to Aurora, Ill for the BNSF and La Crosse to Milwaukee, WI for the CP.

Josh will be taking care of the Aurora to Chicago for BNSF and Milwaukee to Chicago portion for CP along with other Chicago area routes that mainly cover Metra and Amtrak.

Brandon

[scfe_fan]

Josh, if you still have my e-mail, can you send me one please? If not, let me know in a PM.

Just emailed you at (what I hope is your email).

[jbtower]

Josh your work for downtown Chicago is amazing, infact to even attempt to replicate the trackage, streets, buildings etc around CUS and Ogilvie is mind blowing. You, Brandon and even Eric on his CNW route are to be commended!!!!

[qballbandit]

If the Chicago portions are to be available as separate chunks (or chunk) before the mega-merge, I'd pony up some donations as a thank you, no doubt.

[BrandonS261]

Yes Neil it will be.

Both Josh and I are currently breaking up our routes and the plan is to have the Twin Cities area a separate section, Chicago a separate section along with the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior a separate section as well.

Josh and I will need help building custom buildings and objects for the routes. If anyone is willing to help out in that aspect of our route building and needs any photos for reference I have a ton of the Twin Cities, Duluth Superior area and Chicago.

Brandon

[scfe_fan]

Josh your work for downtown Chicago is amazing, infact to even attempt to replicate the trackage, streets, buildings etc around CUS and Ogilvie is mind blowing. You, Brandon and even Eric on his CNW route are to be commended!!!!

Thank you I appreciate the kind words! I can't take credit for Ogilvie as that is all purely Eric. He was nice enough to allow me to include the Harvard sub in our mega route albeit with a few modern changes since the CNW-era and cut back to Harvard instead of all the way to Janesville and Madison.

[scfe_fan]

After being able to finally get a few uninterrupted hours to work on the Metra Rock Island District tonight, I feel like I have something to actually show. Tonight was spent working in the Blue Island, IL area and there is good news and bad news to report. The good news is that I feel like i've made a nice little dent on it. The bad news being that even after 6 hours of work, I'm nowhere even close to being satisfied. There is a LOT going on in the particular area with no less than 5, yes FIVE railroads, including 2 separate Metra operating divisions all working in and around this area. Blue Island sees daily use by Metra Rock Island district trains utilizing both the mainline as well as the Beverly Branch, the Metra Electric District Blue Island Branch also terminates here, as does the Iowa Interstate Railroad. Just southwest of the Blue Island-Vermont Street Metra station, the Rock Island crosses over the CSX, CSX (B&OCT), CN (GTW), the Indiana Harbor Belt, and the Iowa Interstate interchanges with IHB & CSX via a connector track to the Metra Line. While Metra actually owns the main, both CSX and IAIS both have trackage rights the rest of the way to Joliet. Here is my progress so far. I actually enjoyed putting in all the arch truss bridges as I've always loved railroad bridges.

[qballbandit]

Bridges in second to last pic look great, though rust color would be more reflective of their look today.

[eric]

There should be grey berms in the Harvard's distribution if you want to swap out the pink lady.

[scfe_fan]

There should be grey berms in the Harvard's distribution if you want to swap out the pink lady.

Thanks Eric I'll take a look. I was considering giving it a terrain texture anyway but having two different textured shapes will undoubtedly useful.

[BrandonS261]

I officially have the CP River and BNSF St Croix Subs as a completely separate route from St Paul to La Crosse, WI. I had to put these two routes into one as they parallel each other all the way.

This will make for some interesting activities and you will be able to run many different types of freight along with passenger trains on these routes as the Empire Builder has run on both of them and detours on the BNSF Side of the Mississippi every so often. Many steam locomotives have also ran excursions on these routes as well. Most notably the Milwaukee Road 261, Canadian Pacific 2816 and Southern Pacific 4449.

The route will include the following.

All of the Amtrak stops from St Paul-La Crosse, WI for the Empire Builder route
CP Pigs Eye Yard or St Paul Yard
Both BNSF and CP Yards in La Crosse, WI



This is the first section that I will be working on the most to complete as the CP River sub already has quite a bit of detail in some areas and most of the roads are already in place throughout the whole route. I will first focus on getting the CP River Sub completed and then move onto the BNSF St Croix Sub.

Josh and I will also be doing vigorous testing on the routes once they are completed to make sure everything is working as it should before we release anything.

Brandon

CP and BNSF Mississippi River Routes.jpg