overlordr1

The Monkey's Uncle said: lol! A rail stack... you'll never find one of those in the real world. One multi-level interlocking even exists in the U.S., in Philadelphia, PA, on the Pennsylvania Railroad (trackage now owned by Norfolk Southern), at Zoo Interlocking, built 1903. This joined what was for 150 years the busiest East-West mainline (four tracks, electrified) in America, with the beyond-busy Northeast Corridor (also four tracks and electrified). It was more like a flat wye, with two legs straight, not at all how the proposed rail Y-stack looks. But the type of junction exists. Using them sparingly would not afffect realism too much. An elevated rail version would probably be helpful and more used, especially by anyone modeling New York City. Sorry to butt in, but rail matters always pique my interest.

A few requests no one has made yet: #1 - A yard for piggyback trains - Trailer On FlatCar / Container On FlatCar, coplete with gantry crane and road access (like an old-style Team Track to fellow trainheads). #2 - A train mod depicting several types of piggyback trains: Trailer On Flat Car, Double-Stack container style, maybe even the less-common Road Railer type. #3 - It sound simple, so I don't know why no one has done it: A plain gravel (or paved) lot which will flatten the terrain it is on, and make that nice wall if the adjacent terrain is higher (Like most of the park and rail station lots do already). This would look good in rail and highway cuts, at the sides. A lot which does this and allows road construction on it would be even better, but I know the limitations of the game. #4 - I'm sure this one has been requested, but here goes -- An angled T-Intersection between one-way road and regular road, for use in building of highway on-ramps. And finally: I hate how difficult making angled roads is in the game. Is there any way of making a mod which would allow you to set two points and draw a road (or rail) between them (at other than basic 45' angle)? Thanks for your patience!

Nice work so far, adambrown14. Lake Shore Drive should be an avenue for about four blocks, starting at Chicago Avenue (first intersecting cross street after the Oak Street beach curve, and don't forget Inner Lake Shore Drive). There is a stoplight there, which naturally drivers who steam around the curve faster than the posted 35 MPH wear their brakes to the nub at. You have the right approach, as laying down streets is the busy work portion of any map (although it can be fun when you do it for a place you know well). The many diagonal streets (Milwaukee, Elston, Clybourn, Ogden, Lincoln, etc.) are the biggest challenge. For sunken highways, (Like the Kennedy / I-90/94 West of the Loop) the easy way is to do the following: Lower the terrain to where you want it, then build a single square of street, then another alongside. Then you can keep placing two-tile streets adjacent to the first one, automatically leveling the ground (cheaper than any hole digger and more precise than the terraforming tools). It kind of looks like railroad tracks without the rails. Then you delete the streets and you have a perfect trench, ready for an expressway. You can do the reverse (Raise, then level) to make easy rail embankments, too. Most Chicago rail lines are built on them, so brush up. My map is a modified version of the skippydam73 Chicago Metro map. It did not include several canals and slips, the North Branch of the Chicago River, the Des Plaines River, and a large number of small lakes, so I am adding these as I go along. I'll stop hijacking your thread, and I'll also keep an eye on your progress. I need to stop occupying myself with pointless real world stuff or you'll catch up to me in no time! Look for my thread in the next two weeks or so.

I searched the STEX (thoroughly) with no luck, so here goes: I would like a mod which would render muddy or rocky shorelines, as well as concrete rip-rap anti-erosion walls (Made from gigantic blocks of concrete usually about 4x4 feet square). I am sick of sandy shores: I live in Chicago, and outside of designated beaches all our shorelines are like the three ways I described. The muddy shore would make rivers look more realistic too. Tileset-based would be acceptable but not preferred. A concrete breakwater tileset (4 pieces - lighted end pieces, maybe with a mini-lighthouse variant, straight, 45 degree turn and 45 degree diagonal) would be of great use in all our harbors.

I am doing the same thing, and I have managed to develop the following locations (and nearby areas) in around seven weeks (every single street, and realistic transportation and zoning, even accurate rivers and slips): The Loop, South Loop, River North, The Gold Coast, West Loop (and the whole near west side), Near North, Chinatown, Bridgeport, Kenwood, Douglas Park, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Wicker Park, Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, Andersenville, North Halsted (colud use a few flashy club lots - anyone?), Uptown, Edgewater, Logan Square, Palmer Square, Portage Park, Mayfair Park (Where I grew up), Peterson Park (Lived 1987-1992), Sauganash, Forest Glen (Which I plan on retiring to in 2052), Norwood Park, Gladstone Park, Edison Park and Wildwood Park, as well as the suburbs of Evanston (Born there), Skokie (Live there now), Lincolnwood, Glenview, Morton Grove, Niles and Park Ridge. I guess I'll start my own journal thread as well. As for earlier comments, I don't think anyone else is doing Chicago as a giant region, just downtown and vicinity. Is it just me, or does Chicago seem to have more huge cemetaries than most cities? My largest, St. Adalbert's in Niles, is about 6x6 blocks (30x30 tiles, I generally go by four tiles per block). Anyway, you keep at yours and I'll keep at mine. If you need zoning info for the Northside and 'burbs, post the intersection. Get a good street map (I use the Rand McNally 1996 Chicago Street Map / Regional Metro Map myself). Good luck!

Date: 4/18/2004 10:22:08 PM Author: joexcooldude I request: Pennsylvania Railroad F9 Locomotive quote> The Pennsylvania (1848-1968) never bought any F9's. Only F3's and F7's (both A and B units), as well as dual-service FP7's. When it merged with the New York Central (forming Penn Central) in 1968, it inherited no F9's from them either, but when the New Haven was forced onto their books in '69 they did inherit 60 FL9's (like F-units, but with a three-axle trailing truck, and capable of operating as disels or electics). Some of these remained in service with Amtrak and NJ Transit to almost 1990. A request of my own: More flexible NAM elevated rail over road pieces, please! This would include switches over roads, curves allowing the rail to move away from road without ending the road and real, functional curbside stations. Some pre-done curves would also be nice.

This is not really a request for lots, just a feeler to see if anyone else is working on the same problems. I'm giving them a go, but I am a newbie and Programming Nimrod, and any advice would be welcome. Just didn't want my previous post to be misconstrued and shunted off!

1) Needed most are switch track (Junction) pieces for Elevated Rail Over Roads. The Loop in Chicago has three entry points (It actually had four until 1957 - sometimes 68 trains an hour). More varied Over Intersection pieces for same, as well as Over Road Elevated Stations (think road-top type). 2) Four-lane high speed one-way roads, to substitute for highways, and allow construction of Centerline or median rail lines (Like in the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressways in Chicago), with associated exit ramps and overpass bridges. Marrast-style over-rail stations for same (possibly with a center platform and long entrance stairs or ramp connecting to an overpass, maybe with an included handy bus stop). I attached a crude side view of what I mean (Ugly, but this is what 90% of the Eisenhower ones look like). This is not workable with the Lakeyboy Split Highway trick.

I am doing the same thing, but I am not obsessing over exact buildings until I have developed my large map of the collar counties (obsessing over roads and trains, though!). State should perhaps be an avenue, but it is one way (with bus-only traffic in a few sections). Franklin can stay a one-way regular road. Financial Place, Federal and Plymouth should probably be streets. I am thinking about median strip rail lines, and the ony thing I can think would work would be to make some sort of high-speed four lane one-way road (the split expressways trick isn't much use). I am beginning to work on median rail stations (side platform, a needed compromise). If I get it to work, I hope you use it at Racine Avenue & The Ike. Good luck!