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Skyline User's Forum _ Templates _ The Green River Route needs a template maker

Posted by: highdesertdave2 Jul 7 2011, 06:41 PM


This route has been out for a couple of months now. It is without a doubt one of the best payware route I've bought.

I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been any mention here about a template for it.

How about it anyone up for this route. What about you Pete you've done the other Grande route. Or you Norm.

Posted by: xpdingo Jul 9 2011, 01:11 PM

QUOTE(highdesertdave2 @ Jul 7 2011, 06:41 PM) *
This route has been out for a couple of months now. It is without a doubt one of the best payware route I've bought.

I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been any mention here about a template for it.

How about it anyone up for this route. What about you Pete you've done the other Grande route. Or you Norm.


I don't have the route. Why don't you give it a try, it is a lot of fun.

Pete

Posted by: jrmeindl Jul 10 2011, 01:40 PM

QUOTE(xpdingo @ Jul 9 2011, 02:11 PM) *
I don't have the route. Why don't you give it a try, it is a lot of fun.

Pete



I don't have the route either, but it is a great learning experience and is fun just as Pete has said. With what you can learn, you might find that some of the existing template you have can be expanded upon. The possibilities are really endless.

Jim

Posted by: nbeveridge Jul 28 2011, 09:48 AM

QUOTE(jrmeindl @ Jul 10 2011, 01:40 PM) *
I don't have the route either, but it is a great learning experience and is fun just as Pete has said. With what you can learn, you might find that some of the existing template you have can be expanded upon. The possibilities are really endless.

Jim


I am hoping that Denis will do this one, if Dave doesn't want to. I am overwhelmed with MSTS templates at this time, plus personal issues, so it would be late next year at the earliest for me.

Posted by: dgionet Jul 30 2011, 08:35 AM

Unfortunately, I don't have the route. If I do get my hands on it, I will be most happy to work one. Have taken a look at the route map system Craig has done for its configuration.

Route looks good when seeing the screenshots at SLI, TS and also at the ASW (ActivitySimulatorWorld) sites.

Had anyone experienced signalling problems similar to the Scenic 2 route?

Thanks

Posted by: dgionet Aug 13 2011, 08:12 PM

I have downloaded tonight the route. Looks good and looks OK for a template. I am starting to explore the route from Grand Jct west to Helper.

The first picture at Ruby here.



I am willing to work on a template but things may go a little slower than usual to prepare a photographic conference coming in a few months.

So far, so good. Eventually we'll get there with a finished template.

Will update later.

Posted by: dgionet Sep 5 2011, 02:41 PM

Hello to all,

While I have been silent in the forum for three weeks now, I have been toggling between my photographic work and how to build the template for the SLI_Green River route. I have done a lot of searching in trying to make it as realistic as possible but within the MSTS limits, of course. Construction of the template may take a very interesting twist if an authorization is given. It may become one template package involving two routes rather than one.

Some may remember at Brendel (a few miles west of Thompson Springs) there is a branchline going south. This line is the Potash route, known also as the Cane Creek Branch and which came into service in the sixties with the DRGW servicing the area. DRGW.net has indicated that the seven mile canyon area had some activity there as trucks were loading rock loads in the railcars. I am awaiting permission from Rene Rump, the builder of the Potash route to proceed ahead with some proposed changes already done on the route and only to be used with the oncoming templates.

The image below shows the proposed additions to the route,



Both routes are expected to use the same rolling stock material as for the SLI_Green River route. In addition three downloads will be required, all from TS. Rock Hoppers for the Potash route, MOW equipment to service along the entire Green River route and the small sidings and recently released cars to simulate the famed dirt train, which ran from Salt Lake City to the Sunnyside branch. About the Dirt train to the Sunnyside branch, can anyone have some details about its history, where it started? I am not sure if the dirt train ran around 1983. Your help will be appreciated.

Among the templates expected in the package are EB and WB, YARDS templates for both the Grand Junction and Helper yards. LOCALS templates are expected to be part as well. Among the locals, there will be some work between Grand Junction and the Fruita area to the East. Also from Helper to Price to the West. The WB and EB templates are finished andare being tested.

The Potash local will be an interesting twist among the locals.

The Green River template and route will simulate the first half of the Potash local, that is from Grand Junction to Brendel, where the pickup of tanker cars at Brendel for the Potash area will end the first half of the run.

The Potash template and route will simulate the second half of the run. It will start just within the branch and proceed to Potash for the work there and, later on the return trip have some work done in the seven miles canyon area. The template should finish when reaching the Eastern end of the route towards Grand Junction.

The next two posts will show some of the screenshots taken since the planning began. The first set for the Green River route and the latter for the Potash Route, or the DRGW Cane Creek Branch.

Posted by: dgionet Sep 5 2011, 02:42 PM

The Green River Screenshots,



















On that last one, the EB template beginning at Helper, you can see on the top a WB coal load and to the bottom, the player train at Helper Yard #1 siding waiting for the dirt train to leave the area for the Sunnyside Branch.

Posted by: dgionet Sep 5 2011, 02:44 PM

The Potash route (Cane Creek Branch) screenshots





















The last but not the least is the seven mile canyon area with the proposed changes to the route TDB.

Let's hope the authorization will go through for the additional sidings inside the Potash route, if not I can still work on the rest but without the expansion proposal.

Will update later

Posted by: dgionet Sep 13 2011, 06:21 PM

More than two weeks have passed and unfortunately I have received no reply from René Rump to upgrade the route.

That means that the Actual Potash route will remain as is with no addition of new sidings, except it will be serviced under the DRGW. Despite the situation, the DRGW Potash template is now finished and will be part of the package with the Green River route. As some may remember on an earlier post , this run inside the Potash route constitutes the second part of the Potash local run. The first part will be done from the Green River route and is expected to be part of the Green River LOCALS template. YARDS and MOW Templates are in the planning stage too.

More to come later.

Posted by: pensfan17 Sep 17 2011, 10:29 AM

Thanks Denis for taking this project on. You do very good work and I am looking forward to the template. If you need a tester let me know.

Al

Posted by: dgionet Sep 21 2011, 10:44 AM

Hi to all,

The D&RGW Green River and Potash route templates are now finished. Al (pensfan) and Benny (bennycdn) have volunteered to test the templates and thank both of them very much for their time. Al, can you send me your E-mail to allow me to send you the templates. If someone else is willing to test the whole set, let me know. My E-mail is photoman_57 [at] hotmail.ca .

Here’s the rundown on the templates: First the Westbound (WB) and Eastbound (EB) templates. They will be mostly straight through runs between Helper and Grand Junction with some work available at Thompson Springs and Green River only. Two additional paths start at the Wash coal Yards to bring their runs of coal directly to Helper or Grand Junction.

Secondly, the Yards (YARDS) template will include some yard work and neighbouring industries at Grand Junction, also some work at the Helper and Wash yards to handle the cars within their limits.

Since there are many sidings along inhabited areas of the route, which I believe are there to allow there some MOW equipment to maintain the surrounding tracks along the route, a MOW Template has been created to have some runs to pick up of set out some MOW material gondolas along these isolated tracks.

Thompson Springs has been chosen as the center point from where and to where work will be done, because of the presence of three MOW sidings there. EB and WB MOW (EBMOW and WBMOW) will cover from Helper to Thompson Springs, from Thompson Springs to Grand Junction, From Thompson Springs to Helper and from Grand Junction to Thompson Springs.

Then, some local runs will be part of the template as well. There will be local runs between Helper and Price (HELPERLOCAL), also from Grand Junction to Fruita (GJLOCAL).

The Potash local run will involve presence of both the Potash and the Green River routes.

The first part of the run (POTASHLOCAL) will start on the Green River Route at the Grand Junction North Yards and will finish after the work is done with tankers at the Brendel Petroleum area. The player will start its run by picking up some tankers at the GJ North Yard #4 siding, bound for the Brendel area. Then you will have to pickup the hopper cars and the caboose already set on GJ Yard #3. Once done you will proceed to Brendel with your work to end the activity.

The second part (DRGW_POTASH) starts on the Potash route and just inside the Cane Creek branch line (the Potash line under DRGW) at Crescent Junction (or Brendel). The player will be able, at start, to include in his initial train up to 15 cars. From there you will proceed to Potash, doing your work and returning back to Grand Junction. The activity should end once you reach the Eastern end of the route on your way to Grand Jct. The player will make sure to set the Eastern end of the route as the final destination to trigger the end of activity.

To end up the template package, the famed dirt train (DIRTTRAIN) will make its run from Helper to the Sunnyside Branch with its load of dirt container cars which can include some occasional tankers or box cars. From Helper, the player train will pickup his load of 25 dirt train cars (with caboose) already set on the Helper yard #6 siding. There are only two sidings where pickups will be possible (Price #4 and Mounds #2) to allow this template to exist. To ensure the train to go all the way inside the Sunnyside branch, make sure to have at least one car to pickup at Mounds and setting the end of activity once your train reaches 20mph inside the Branch.

So, that’s it and will start testing the templates and will update later with its progress.

Posted by: pensfan17 Sep 21 2011, 05:44 PM

Denis,

Email sent.

Al

Posted by: dgionet Sep 25 2011, 07:07 PM

Hello to all,

Testing has started and have currently worked on the Dirt train from Helper to the Sunnyside branch. Some changes were made to the starting consist, reducing from 25 to 20 dirt containers. The train can be heavy and difficult to stop before the signal since grades are steep going out of Helper. With 9500 hp of power, 20 cars is not too light here. Changes were also made to traffic timing since there will be two AI trains along the ride.

Some changes were done at Mounds to allow the player train to park the dirt cars at the Mounds #3 before proceeding in retrieving the tankers in Mounds #2 siding. The player will have to change the switching mode to manual to turn the Mounds #2 switch. Initially, I have left the load of dirt cars before the crossover into the branch but had some issues with the coupling because some cars were separating during crossover and finally caused the train to stop completely. This is why it is important to park the dirt cars (and occasionally some boxcars) in Mounds #3 siding before work.

Once your tanker(s) retrieved, hook up with the parked load to proceed into the branch and end the activity once reaching 20mph.(see third picture)

Be careful not to reach 20mph on your way to hook up with your parked cars, this is what happened with one of my attempts (see last screenshot).

Here are some screenshots taken during the close to one hour activity.

Exiting Helper, preparing to stop for an oncoming WB


Another train at Wash






Will keep updating as testing progresses.

Posted by: dgionet Sep 28 2011, 10:45 AM

Hi to all,

This morning, I had a surprise reply from Rene Rump, the creator of the Potash route. He finally gave me his authorization to modify his route by adding, as specified earlier in the topic, three additional sidings at the Seven Mile canyon area. Rene is French-speaking and replied (in French of course) thanking him for the permission to proceed.

That means that any testing on the Potash template will be held back until an update of the whole template package is sent to Both Al and Benny, my testers of the templates .

I will concentrate in redoing work to update the template, since I had no answer from Rene for a while and have deleted the route update. That means the CYDX gravel hoppers (from TS) will be re-introduced as part of the additional downloads to be used in both routes, especially along the Potash.

Denis


Posted by: dgionet Oct 1 2011, 07:35 PM

Hi to all,

I am happy to confirm the Potash route upgrade is finished and the templates have beed updated taking into account the route upgrade.Al and Benny have received the upgrade

Here are some shots of the upgraded Seven Mile Canyon Area with some of the rolling stock that will be part of the Potash template ( Potash local-second part)





Testing of the templates continues and is going very well. Al and Benny are busy working throughout the whole route and their reports are coming in with good news and some suggestions to improve even further the package. Myself have done the Potash local part one (fron GJ to Brendel) and the Helper Local.

On the Helper local, once the player have done his work at Price along the South section tracks, the player will have to turnaround the train into the mainline past the Eastern signal and reverse towards the western end of Price past the signal. He will reverse again into the siding to recover his load of cars left along the tracks. For those who have worked the Scenic Template local between Skykomish and Everett WB, this is the same scenario. Once hooking up with the cars at Price, he will have to do some maneuvering to send the caboose at the end of the consist. That can be done using the Price #4 siding as you will see in the screenshots. That means that the three (3) reverse points must disappear from the track monitor before proceeding ahead.

Atter final retrieval of the load for your run back to Helper, the signal for the mainline may indicate red. Don't worry. About 2/10 of a mile before the signal (around the small bridge) it should turn back green again and resume your run home. This is about the area of the thrid reverse point and once that point is crossed again, your signal will turn back to green.

Here are some screenshots of both acts. The first four for the first part of the Potash local and the Helper local for the remaining four.

On the Helper local, I have swapped the default engines with some GP40-2's from Paul Fowler's GMO simulations. They are great to use along both routes. Great job Paul!


















Will update later

Posted by: dgionet Oct 7 2011, 05:40 PM

Hello to all,

Al and Benny have been working hard beside me in improving the templates. Reports from both led to creating an 11th template: the COAL template. Testing of both paths (from the EB and the WB) starting at Wash generated problems. Using the Wash area as source tracks led to mixed freight consists rather than only coal loads. Even if the sidings were selected as work tracks, it mostly generated insufficient numbers of coal cars to reflect the reality. I am resending some changes to both regarding a new traffic pattern in the COAL template. Both had experienced crashes with the original pattern and will wait for their reports with the new configuration.

I have completed both segments of the Potash local route and the route upgrade has worked well.

I am including some shots, the first from the EB ( at Mounds) and the other four from the second segment of the Potash local inside the Potash route. Reaching the Eastern end of the route will automatically end the activity as shown here.












More updates later

Posted by: dgionet Oct 17 2011, 10:36 AM

Hello to all,

I have received confirmation from both Al and Benny, my testers, that the template package is now ready to be uploaded to the templates page. Both have worked hard in providing regular reports to improve the package and appreciate what they have done.

I have just sent to Steve earlier the whole package (about 20MB), which includes the Potash route upgrade with René Rump's permission. Thanks again René!

Make sure to have both SLI Green River and Potash routes in the same Train Simulator (or mini route) folder before using


Here's the screenshot which should appear in the templates page





Be on the lookout to grab it in a few days


Cheers

Denis

Posted by: dgionet Oct 18 2011, 09:06 AM

The template package is now available in the Templates page.

Thanks again Steve and happy trainsimming! laugh.gif

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