Tale of the Northern,Western, and Southern Passages

[Jazzmaster 716]

Some of you may recall me telling of a rail-line I started in my first city journal.  It's a 6-track line running from east to west along the northern most part of my region.  It is based on the Northeast Corridor in the NE USA.  The Northeast corridor is unique because it is the only place in the world (currently) to find Amtraks electric powered Acela Express.  For this project I downloaded Kortangletn's Acela Express Train Set, found on the STEX--all due credit goes to him.  To raise the line on a grade I used Smoncrie's ground raising lot as part of the hole digging series because the NE Corridor has absolutely NO railroad crossings.  For details I'm using the Sunken Highway Walls eye candy set by 3ddz, PEG Random Woods by Pegasus, Marrast Roadside Kit by BSC, and the Railway Electrification Mod by Frog Face with transparent base textures.  To give a visual perspective of the future of this project I've included pics of the Northeast Corridor and the Northern Passage.

[Cleaner475 150]

upload your images off site please it would help - use photobucket or imageshack

sounds interesting - can't wait for more

Richard

[Amerikaner 42]

wow this looks pretty neat...a whole city around the railway...yes the acela express...rode it once, quite a ride making a full boston to baltimore or washington (cant remember) loop in one day. this is gonna be interesting i can tell

[granto93 4]

sounds pretty cool. i had this mistaken with the Northwest Passage and thought this was going to be about an arctic adventure lol. im stunned as a boot...good luck with this and i will stop by again. (without my snowshoes of course )

[Jazzmaster 716]

Construction Begins

Any major rail route (or any other transportation network, for that matter) requires construction.  Fortunately, while the NE Corridor required tons of money and several months to construct,  all I had to do is buy the game, download the right stuff, and  start plopping/draging things.  To prevent this from becoming an Omnibus Article,  I'll make this brief and to the point.  Basically, I just plopped Smoncrie's hole digging lots, each one tile apart, facing east or west.  There were three rows going East/West, and when I finish, I just drag roads along the lots to raise the terrain.  Then  I drag the rails and place scenic eye candy, such as trees, concrete walls, and gantries/stations of course.  I originally began in the farthest Northeast corner city, Grand Plains, then eventually went back and started establishing cities to connect the rails to the distant city of Wood Water.  As to how I manage no RR crossings, the grade that the rails rest on can have any network (except draggable GLR) drawn across it in the form of a tunnel without destroying any tracks.  I'll update again soon!

[Sim_BOB 2]

looks really good! i'm definitely following this one

[Schulmanator 5,799]

A nice start indeed.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Different Flavors of Stations
Upon researching the NE Corridor through Google Image Search, it became clear no universal station was really present.  Some were just a series of platforms with ajoining bus stops perhaps, others were large indoor stations.  Thanks to the STEX and LE, I could acomplish both.  The platform styled ones were easily created in the Lot Editor; as for the others I used the Baron Cross Station by NDEX and Simtropolis Station by Simgoober.

[AceofSpades 1]

looks very good! Cant wait for more

[Jazzmaster 716]

Getting Usage

Admittingly this seems more of a Sim City chore, but I had to get some usage out of this project.  I had the tracks and the eye candy and the stations but--where were the trains?  At first the Sims seeemed to not notice it was there, they'd just casually drive under it throught the tunnel like it was nothing.  But then they realized "I can take my car to the station, park it, and take the train to my job downtown!"  Surely and soon enough, the Sims began using it.  Okay so it isn't widely used across the region yet.  But that's the fun part.  Going back and filling in space to truely "recreate the uraban sprawl along a large rail line!"  Throughout the remainder of this cj, I'll be posting pics and telling stories of this mass development project, starting from the rural farming community of Grand Plains.

[granto93 4]

looking nice, i like the trains. the tracks look nice and realistic too with the three of them together and the gantry things. good job!

[vilbe 6]

i live in connecticut, less than a mile from the railroad tracks that form part of the northeast corridor between new york in boston. within a 5 mile radius i can name at least 5 at grade crossings. infact about a year ago [two this september] the accela [not going highspeed] hit a grandma bringing her child to school in my hometown...

but cool project, for realisim sake keep up the "raised" rail. i figure once you develop a bit more you'd spare us some region shots? pretty please

[Jazzmaster 716]

Originally posted by: vilbe i live in connecticut, less than a mile from the railroad tracks that form part of the northeast corridor between new york in boston. within a 5 mile radius i can name at least 5 at grade crossings. infact about a year ago [two this september] the accela [not going highspeed] hit a grandma bringing her child to school in my hometown...

but cool project, for realisim sake keep up the "raised" rail. i figure once you develop a bit more you'd spare us some region shots? pretty please quote>

 

Really?  I watched a railroad video and the narrator said, and I quote: "there are no railroad crossings on this line...".  Oh, and I was planning to release some region shots soon, in case you're  wondering.  Now, to update...

Northern Passage 1st Stop: Grand Plains

Like I said, this first "city" is just a rural area.  A few houses, some shops, and miles and miles of farmland.  There's also some roads, a rural highway, and branch lines that, as the name implies, branches off from the main line.  These are also raised and also use Frog Faces gantries, the only difference is that they do have railroad crossings.  They're mainly used for freight, but some areas for passenger rail, too.  What powers the town is a Solar Plant and a large windmill facility.  You can clearly see the start/end area at the Northern Passage's Baron Cross Station.

[Amerikaner 42]

looking good my friend...i like you use of baron cross station...*on of my favorite * all your farmland is looking nice aswell keep it up

[Cleaner475 150]

Read this Advice: If you want to have large pictures displayed on the site or any other pics then upload your pictures to www.photobucket.com - It makes thewm faster and doesn't take up space opn the site.

Read the help section at the top of the CJ page.

Good pics - nice station

Richard

[Jazzmaster 716]

Originally posted by: cleaner475 Read this Advice: If you want to have large pictures displayed on the site or any other pics then upload your pictures to www.photobucket.com - It makes thewm faster and doesn't take up space opn the site.

Read the help section at the top of the CJK page.

Good pics - nice station

Richardquote>

 

Thanks for the advice.  I'll try that in my next update!

-Yoshiisland

[Voulpiotis 4]

Nice work woth the railway!

[Jazzmaster 716]

Northern Passage 2nd Stop:North Green
While North Green and Grand Plains have much in common, the signs of Urban living are already growing.  There's a noticeable change in development, and although Grand Plains has a considerably larger land area than North Green,  North Green has a higher population as well as an increased frequency in the NP's use.  Finally, and perhaps most noteably, the RHW has upgraded from 2 lanes each way to 4 and has a newer aspalt texture.  Hmm...

I've uploaded my pictures to Image Shack.  I'll try to create a direct link to them, but as this is my first time attaching a code it may not work.  If not, could someone please tell me how to link directly to my photos? Thanx!

[Cjah 15]

Try to use the bracket like [...the img...] then picture here[then this /img...]

always have the img then /img...

it'll show the pictures better!

Great job on this ralroad...cool concept!

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Looking cool so far.

[Cleaner475 150]

i can't see the picture sorry - You have to use the IMG brackets

[Jazzmaster 716]

Okay, I'll use the brackets next update. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work so far my friend and pics

[Jazzmaster 716]

Northern Passage 3rd Stop: River Green
As you pass through the town of River Green, you'll notice that agriculture is beginning to demininish drastically and become replaced by commerce.  The two are noticeably split by the large river running through this green plain (hence the name).  Take a good look at it; this is the last farming area you'll see for the next several hundred miles.  Ah, but notice the breathtaking bridges across the river, and the large multi-bridge consist that the 8-lane highway utilizes.  What's that I hear?  Traffic noise.  The urbs are not to far off, my friend.

Upon special request; here's a couple of region shots.  The first one that's red and white is urban growth along the NE Corridor, and the other two are urban growth along the NP.  See that thick black line to the north of the regional transport shot?  That's the Northern Passage.



NE Corridor Development

[jacqulina 162]

i cant see your pics my friend

[Jazzmaster 716]

Okay, now I'm officially stuck. I'm using the IMG brackets, and I'm copying and pasting the code that says "forum code". Could somebody please tell me the correct code to use to link an offsite image hoster? I'm using image shack, in case you're wondering.

[penguin007 27]

use the direct link for the image the bottom one then put it into the space insert image

Will

[Cleaner475 150]

heres one of your pics - don't use the code box

just the Image brackets

**

remember no code box

[Jazzmaster 716]

Okay everyone, now how are my pictures? Better (and visible) I hope. Thanks for the help, everyone!

[Cleaner475 150]

they work fine - your pics are a bit blury and I would include for in an update

they look nice from what i can see

waiting for the next update,

Richard