The Bernina Scenic Route, Template in consideration Options

[dgionet]

Hi to all,

Ottodad has annouced yesterday that a public BETA version of the route has been released and had provided a link to get the route. Last night I have downloaded both the route and stock files, both files take about 800MB of disk space before installation. The route is very specific in terms of installation; it will be installed as a mini route. I have looked at the route and looks good for a template.

Although it is a very Scenic route, freight traffic is present in this area. Extraordinary scenery! The Bernina Pass route became an UNESCO World heritage site in year 2008 together with the Albula route. The route starts South at Tirano,Italy close to the Italian-Swiss Border, about 450 meters above sea level. Then it goes up, way up to 2200 meters through Bernina Pass and descents to St.Moritz, its Northern end, 60km away and at about 1800 meters above sea level. Hairpin curves, steep grades and the famous 7% graded Brusio loop are part of this remarkable route. It is not completed yet, hence the release as a BETA version. I have runned the entire route tonight and have taken shots of the one (1) meter wide track line.

That is why I will follow closely the progress of its construction to make sure everything is OK when it gets released ( I hope!) to make a template.

In the meantime enjoy these incredible photos starting South and going up North to St.Moritz ( see also next post)

[dgionet]

Hi to all,

I have decided to go ahead with the construction of the template package. As mentioned in their forum, this INTERMEDIATE version may end up as is and may never get finished completely. Despite this, seeing what has already done is quite good enough to go ahead with its construction.

Work into the oncoming NB and SB templates is now in the testing phaze but not without some challenges that have been met.I have tried to make this template as realistic as possible while at the same time combining playability. As mentioned
before, it is standard procedure to have passenger trains do the picking and setting of freight cars along the Bernina
Line. Unless mistaking I believe this aspect to be a first in any AG template, to my knowledge, since the player consist
will be a passenger train and not a freight loco.

It will be suggested to limit the number of cars to be worked at five (5). More cars may cause the train to exceed length
of some sidings along the route. Photos seen of the mixed passenger and freight have indicated not more than three freight
cars seen in the back of passenger trains. There may be some with more but have not found information to support this. So
this template will be more a scenic sightseeing tour with very little shunting, a change to the regular or heavier
switching route, but this is a realistic reproduction of the real thing in this area of the world.

To add evenmore the challenge to those who enjoy passenger activities, two specal templates (called PsgrNB and PsgrSB) with only one path each will add a time schedule to stop at each of the 21 stations along the line. I couldn't do it inside the
regular templates since the time schedule is recorded inside the ACT file and not the PAT file. I have been able to locate
( inside the ACT file) the area where the arrival and departure times were recorded and added 100 seconds between each
stop. That means a 35 minute expansion of the activity. Those who will use these templates will have the additional
challenge to try to respect the passenger timetable as best as possible. The regular templates will have simply no
timeframe to abide by and can be done without any stress related timing. The only thing I couldn't change is the delay time inside the stations since the information is written in the TDB file, these waiting periods seem to be the real thing in real life.

I have done some AG-generated activities and have done some changes in the traffic patterns along testing. I am including
some shots of the activities ( in two posts)

Continuing the testing and enjoy the scenery!

More updates later as testing progresses.

Picking up cars at St.Moritz


Meeting a descending train at Morteratsch, Note the sudden grade change past the signal.


Bernina Pass, Summit of the route along the lake of glacier waters.


Alp Grum and its scenic view down the mountains. Still a long and twisting way down to go!


(More pics in the next post)