[OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Screenshots of your games! All Transport Tycoon games acceptable (including TTDPatch and OpenTTD).
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by lostpawn »

Thanks Dave and Auge! I found it. I like the King's Cross station best.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Pilot »

Nice to see you back screenshotting and storytelling Dave. I suppose this lockdown does have some benefits!
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

I rather think this may be the last screenshot from this game, as I want to move on. Maybe I'll revisit it, but still... If it is, then I'd like to really highlight the delight that Iron Horse brings me - this is the first train I built, an 0-6-0 Gwynt, to draw food from Harts Hill Farms to Palmers Port. What I most like is the ease with which one can vary wagons etc to make something look rather more believable.

So, as always, my thanks to Andy for some rather spectacular work. Now on to the next.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

As promised... The Groombridge and Western Railway was established, as the Groombridge and Bradford Mineral Railway, by Michael Robinson Storey, a veteran of Railwaymania, in January 1880.

With a strong cashflow and little resistance from the towns of the west, Robinson Storey quickly went about laying metals to any business he could convince. Groombridge Colliery's rich coal reserves provided a lucrative starting point, serving the 20 inch mill at Bradford Steel Company, but it was the provision of scrap metal from Harding Metals in Thorntonhall that really got the shareholders talking - Robert Harding being the unscrupulous sort that would sell your grandmother if only she was made of scrap iron.

To start with, the emergence of new industry was fortuitous both in location and ease of transport, and a pair of yards - one each for livestock and milk - was established at Hatton Farms (Tedwick) - the west facing yard sending the company's cattle to the market in Thorntonhall, whilst pails of milk were sent down the company's main freight route to a Creamery near the steel mill.

As time progressed, sites chosen by prospective industrialists ceased to be lucky for the railway, and rather were driven by it. Now having a strong stake in a number of freight flows, the company rebranded as the Groombridge and Western in 1887, the year their first passenger main line, between Groombridge and Blakeshore was built. Express trains run non-stop, but a unique "triangular" arrangement exists between the latter, Thorntonhall and a station at Tedwick. Food produced at the cattle market is also tripped to Tedwick, giving the isolated community much needed produce. Capital was not yet abundant, so a mooted plan to bridge the estuary to the prosperous north west is yet to come to fruition. Alas, a 4-strong fleet of ferries currently provides the great and good with transport between the south and northern shores.

Back to the freight flows, and 1891 was truly the year the G&WR ascended into a key part of the fabric of the west. Royal Bradford Glass established its works near BSC's mill, accepting both international chemicals and locally dredged sand from the bulk terminal/harbour at Middlewood. To this end, a number of 4-4-2T Larks have been built for express goods work, carrying glass over the "Upper" Line between West Bradford and Groombridge. A further development saw the construction of a metalworks on the south bank of the river at Tedwick which, in combination with a second shaft being driven to provide an outlet for coal from the north-bank based Tedwick Colliery Ltd, has offered yet another joint-cargo yard for the burgeoning G&WR.

Visuals:

A busy shot in the late 1880s at Thorntonhall, with 4-4-2T Lark No. 107 simmering away in the loading dock of the Cattle Market. An 0-6-0 Gwynt No. 4 is unloading the livestock for the market, whilst classmate No. 8 awaits a full load of scrap metal from Hardings. Finally, another Lark (No. 104) arrives at Thorntonhall with a "clockwise" service which will reverse and proceed to Blakeshore.
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"Headquarters" at Groombridge - a rather unassuming site for now, with only northbound expresses and the daily express goods service from Royal Bradford Glass using the somewhat over-engineered station. The company's intention is to extend both south and eastwards before the close of the 19th century. Another Lark No. 110 is seen disappearing from shot as it starts its rather extended journey along the top of the Groom Valley.
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Finally, the jewel in the G&WR's crown, a snapshot of the most recent civil project to be completed at West Bradford. Until recently, a large flat junction was heavily congested with dozens of conflicting movements. A further uptick in BSC's trade compelled the railway to add a further four north facing roads to the complex. To do this, the small yard serving Royal Bradford was relocated north of their works, and significant earthworks were installed to allow a grade-separated layout. A west chord was built to provide a daily chemicals train access to Tedwick Metalworks - this train reverses at Royal Bradford on the way back to Middlewood Docks.

The topography around the river provided the company ample opportunity to separate traffic for the Upper Line with the Riverside way down to the collieries and docks near Middlewood - a wide valley and strip of high ground next to the river encouraged the company to bridge the lot, and in later years this offered an easy grade separation for traffic converging on the main line. To complete the work, the company went further to provide a girder bridge over the Docks Line, ensuring grade separation in both directions. With traffic to the south side of the steel mill, this means 5 lines work side-by-side here. For now, overkill - but the company's plan to provide passenger services to Bradford and beyond would necessitate such work later. Further, cream from the creamery will shortly commence being delivered into Groombridge, so further capacity is required.

A surprisingly quiet shot here shows 0-6-0 Gwynt No. 11 arriving with a sand train at Royal Bradford. Behind, classmate No. 5 is on the aforementioned long trip to Tedwick, about to negotiate the west chord. Another Gwynt, No. 9, is negotiating the curve under the main line with the daily "mixed" train - whilst most chemical and sand wagons can be kept separate, a daily balancing working ensures maximum efficiency across the harbour's inbound freight.
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Nice little game this - amused that I'm yet to provide the steel mill with iron but whatever :wink:
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by 2TallTyler »

Lovely screenshots and storytelling. I ought to try developing a story during a game sometime; it sounds like a fun way to play. :)
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

With Victorian railway concerns, development was oft short sighted, over-engineered and under utilised.

And so was the case here, when the Groombridge decided to expand their passenger operations past the Bradford yards, up to the town itself and on to the city of Dingleton. A solution via the yards was required which led the railway to surmise the expensive civils around the river were entirely unnecessary. And so, a cut-off line was established.

The bridges over the river were re-used for bridges on the new line, and the flying junction partially removed. The tracks remain in place for future industrial expansion, but here is a blinding example of the lack of foresight of our Victorian forefathers (... me).

... And that's not the end of this saga! Already the company is planning a further cut-off to the north, avoiding the Bradford Yards completely, upon establishment of a more developed passenger network to the East.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

A strong investment by the G&WR this evening, not least at Middlesea (formerly Middlewood). With support from the town council, the bulk terminal and sand transfer sidings north of Middlesea were relocated next to the fishing harbour and a large complex was created. Sand and Chemical trains were diverted to the new reception lines at Middlesea Marine, alongside fish sidings from which fast 4-6-0 Thunderer-headed refrigerated trains serve Dingleton to the north. Additionally, a passenger station has been created here, alongside a more central station at Middlesea Main. This will provide a new base to strike east.
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A fairly hefty bank is negotiated to a junction station in the twin towns of Elford and Oakwood. Here, the main industry is tourism, with many lodges in the hills, popular with walkers. The railway provides a Grub-powered service here with a number of carriages to assist walkers reach their weekend cottages - a bright yellow livery is used to promote the service.
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And the company has now completed its changes to the Bradford Yards area, directing the passenger line around to the north of the industries. With extra milk deliveries from Westridge Farms near New Cross, extra sidings were provided at the Creamery. In the end, the set up has been massively simplified. The company then re-used the old passenger line to form the extreme northerly part of the line to Middlesea. Much of the expansive Civils were undone as a result of this, and the earth removed for use on the Causeway Line between New Cross and Middlesea.
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I think I've got it as I'd like now!
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

Meanwhile, the company consolidated its administration and running into a new complex in the G&WR Locomotive Works.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

I've done very little to the existing network in today's sitting. I have, however, added an entirely new chunk, to the north. As previously mentioned, the capital required for a bridge across the Blake Estuary was not forthcoming even some 30 years after originally being suggested. However, the company's ferry service between Blakeshore and Mossgate was so successful that the company looked to the north using the ferry as a key connection (in fact, the original ferry remains the company's highest grossing lifetime vehicle at well over £2m in 25 years).

The estuary provided a rather telling gap between the two sides of the network. To pay for the two pairs of suspension bridges the company built metals in the hilly north. Using affluent Mossgate as a base, the company used a glut of cheap labour to build up the banks to Charrington and Summerlake, with stations at Aberoth and Reddington Hill. A circular service between the five operated, with time consuming reversals at a staggering four of them. Mossgate is shown here some 12 years after the initial network is built.

The big surprise - electric wires, which lend themselves to the terrain. Note the new roads built across the city - town councils were rather suspicious after what they'd heard about towns in the south, so mandated any roads removed by the railway were replaced. Naturally, the railway saw an opportunity and laid the roads out to favour future expansion.
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Heading east, the railway used routes across the top of the hills (via Dorringham) and close to the coast, with the two lines meeting at Newton. Express services were then introduced between Charrington/Mossgate and the eastern destination. Further extension south met the county city of Walgrave and the seaside town at North Head, via Cawley Oak. This junction station has been augmented by an east-facing line on embankment - it is yet to be decided if this line will also be electrified. Note also the metal factory across the river from the station.
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A heavy industrial area, this was ripe for exploitation by the company, who soon obliged. For the first time, the railway served open-case iron ore mines, basing operations around a second steel mill owned by Lloyds Steel Ltd. However, the railway also took advantage of the coastal nature of Newton's Number 2 pit, and built dock facilities to ship the ore to the Joint Yards at Tedwick, which had recently been connected to the town and estuary by canalising a couple of tributaries. This meant the Bradford Steel mill was, in fact, served with pure ore for the first time. In return, the pit at Tedwick loaded the ships with coal for use at Lloyds' mill - at either end, trains trip the mineral - in the Bradford case this "trip working" proves to be rather longer than some of the block trains. A picture of either end of the operation is attached; note the canal barges sharing the inshore Tedwick docks with the large coastal vessels.
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For the final requirement of the steel mill - scrap metal - a line was built along the ridge above the main line to Reddington Scrap. Note here the consequence of the reversal policies at Aberoth, causing congestion. Below the scrapyard, a Newton express powers eastward, having passed a Flindermouse returning to Mossgate Docks - of which more in a sec.
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This expanded income finally allowed the company to raise the funds required to bridge the estuary, and so on 28th July 1923, the company connected the two sides of the river. By this point, a trawler harbour had been established to the west of the bridge. At that time, company policy was to not permit electric trains south of Mossgate station, and certainly not across the bridge itself on account of the harsh winds and constant battering from sea salt. However, with contracts to provide food to the hill towns of Charrington and Dorringham, there was little choice but to wire up the dockyard and provide electric traction - the heavy refrigerated vans were simply too heavy for steam trains. Indeed, so they proved for the Stoat and even for the Hurly Burly - hence use for the first time of the Flindermouse tandem.

In this shot in 1927, the rich fishing grounds across the estuary are being heavily exploited by the dockyard at Mossgate. Trawlers form a regular stream of incoming fish, and the harbour quickly turns these round for deliveries across the northwest. In addition, a single converted ferry run a small load of fish across the water to Blakeshore, this not being reasonable using the railway.
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Finally, a sneaky peek at the minimap - in light of the company's dominance of the West and with the opening of the bridge, the company became the Great Western Railway, retaining the GWR acronym. All of the towns on this map are subject to name changes, if I think they're a bit too identifiable :)
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Last edited by Dave on 23 Jun 2020 22:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by arikover »

Nice!

GWR also did some metro construction around Groombridge, didn't they?
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

arikover wrote: 24 Jun 2020 09:49 Nice!

GWR also did some metro construction around Groombridge, didn't they?
They did but, as a bloke who did a bit of drumming on the side of narrating Thomas once said, "that's another story" :wink:
andythenorth wrote: 24 Jun 2020 17:37 I do enjoy all this, thanks for the effort :D
You're very welcome. The sprites are very easy on the eye and whilst they have an obvious British edge there are some really nice international nods which mix up the feel.

I find the running costs rather high to run passenger services but I seem to recall you mentioning that as a feature... The long distance passenger services make real bank, but the shorter stuff doesn't - likely afflicted by a combinaton of the running costs and how cargodist is calculated. The score doesn't really bother me - since cargodist came in I've aimed at 900 and forget the other 100 points for min-profit! In fact, I'll go further than that and say I don't really care about making a profit full stop - if inflation runs away as it sometimes does in these games I'll just use the money cheat :D
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by andythenorth »

Dave wrote: 25 Jun 2020 11:20 I find the running costs rather high to run passenger services but I seem to recall you mentioning that as a feature...
I've reduced running costs in recent versions, notably 2.4.0 (many vehicles) and 2.6.0 (railcars), as I was having trouble making money on pax routes with many cdist transfers.

It's possible that early costs are still too high.

Later game engines actually tend towards reduced costs relative to power and speed. They tend to arrive faster with a bigger load, so may well make more profit than earlier engines.

I'm happy to keep adjusting costs, the main purpose is that they provide a reason to not just put the biggest fastest engine on every train, beyond that they're of little interest :)

Let me know in the IH thread if there are specific examples.
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Re: [OTTD] New Dave City - The Return of the Screenshot

Post by Dave »

A little teaser ahead of some major updates over the next few days!

To pay homage to my sprite dealer andythenorth, I've repurposed the name of a Westcountry river - in fact two separate rivers - called the Axe. I tend to avoid names of recognisable real life towns - Axmouth does exist but is only a small village in Devon at the mouth of the more southerly Axe; in fact I was rather trying to ape the larger "Exmouth" (which, you guessed it, is at the mouth of the River Exe, also in the West Country).

In any case, when I came up with this original idea, I was actually referring to the "other" Axe - that which rises through the limestone at the famous Wookey Hole caves, before flowing north around the west side of the Mendips, on to the Somerset Levels and thence to its estuary into the Bristol Channel at Uphill, near Weston-super-Mare.

Axe (and Exe!) is, my source (Wikipedia) tells me, derived from an old Celtic word meaning "lots of fish", which I think means they survived the squid :)

To go with my contrived geography are three towns - the aforementioned Axmouth, Bolton-on-Axe and Axwich. The -wich suffix is most commonly associated with settlements near large deposits of salt (see Nantwich, Middlewich and Northwich) - I'm rather imagining the town having burned through its salt reserves but prospering upon hitting a rich deposit of iron ore - not entirely feasible but it's my story, so tough :wink:

And of course it wouldn't be TTD without some transport, so I can report the railway recently extended operations quite widely. To Axmouth, wires were installed and units now serve all three towns plus the Junction Town of Newton. Note how the wires run along the Axe Valley Line, ending rather abruptly at Axmouth where the loop continues to meet the also-recent line north from Dingleton to the large city of Winhill. Winhill is also wired, with a railway running along the top of the Axe Valley to complete the large triangle. More of these developments later, of course...

(And what's all this to do with Andy? Well, those who have read the FIRS instruction manual will know the base temperate economy is based on the Westcountry - whilst I don't think he hails from anywhere along the course of the North Somerset Axe, I don't think he's too far away!)
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