Transport Tycoon Forums

michael blunck wrote:

Ameecher wrote:Is it rather sad that I'm planning part of my gap year to Switzerland and Germany just to take photos of trains?

I don´t think so. These countries are already full of guys taking photos of trains. One more wouldn´t hurt.

Haha, I know that you're there amongst them Michael! I'm just annoyed that the times I have been before I didn't take many pictures as I'm sure that some of the things I saw are now gone, like the railcars on the Bernese Oberland Bahn in Switzerland which no longer run round at each end and are now painted in some kind of mad blue and yellow colour!

Love the mountain shots - and especially the climb up at Solihull! *makes note of how to climb steep gradients*

The other way to do it is like this: Neither of which are very realistic for a UK set up...

Since my computer has broken I can't play the game but I can access the few screenshots I took of the game before the computer died. Never fear the game has been saved and will be continued once my new computer arrives some time this or next week.

These shots are from a new game which is loosely modelled on the Rhein Valley south of Koln, Germany in so much as there is a large river with not a lot of space either side to build on with a few small towns along it's length and a big town at either end. It is rather fun and challenging (pb_build enabled!) and the land doesn't tend to be the most helpful for construction.

1) Dresden is half way down the valley and is one hell of a bottleneck. Limited express trains stop here and locals terminate here (from both directions). The sawmill yard is both cramped and underused and will see a rebuilt in line with introduction of more express passenger services and opening of new lines deep into timber country. In an effort to keep the mainline moving as quickly as possible the company invested in locks to avoid the most treachorous bits of river and boat ships to carry timber products away from the sawmill. 2) The first of the new timber trains was this one from Saarbruecken forest. The line is quite old but was only recently wired up to enable the heavy coal trains to access the mines in the area and the company used this oppurtunity to build a loading siding for wood services. 3) Neuss is a major rail area even if the town is tiny. The mainline crosses the river in the south before skirting round the steel mill yard and over it before passing the tiny station of Neuss before continuing to Dresden alongside the river.

Rooting round in the screenshot folder, I found these of the last game I was playing. Descriptions are largely from memory.
Skipton after it's expensive rebuild in the 70s was seeing an increase in through freight traffic (to ease the pressure in the Tiverton area). As the quality on the station was somewhat shoddy, the decision was made to rebuild the northern pair of platforms and clear the centre platform for a through line. Unfortunately, the southern platforms just got a patch up job! Orlingbury swelled to be the largest city in the region and finally got a station to reflect this status. The 3 track station finally allows slower trains to be passed and introduction of terminating trains from both directions. With a bit of spare cash, the company splashed out on a nice overall roof for the station providing passengers with that all important cover that they have been missing for the past 65 years! Tiverton, where the company is based is really a tiny place but has significant railhead importance. 5 lines converge into this sleepy lakeside town with the sawmill doing roaring trade. Local trains are now largely loco operated with either BR181s, BR111s and BR112s at the helm.

Sheffield whilst not particularily large is an important location as it serves not only as a terminus from all directions but is also a major transit point for freight coming over the hills from Elland. The last remaining (and shortly withdrawn) Krokodil descends into the station with a Wood train as an ET-30 awaits. A BR112 on a local leaves towards Tiverton. Elland is one of those stations which has a tiny number of passengers boarding and disembarking but yet has a huge amount of services. This is as a result of its position at the confluence of the river and 3 lines. Express passenger trains pause here to run the loco round to the other end before continuing onwards as do some wood trains. Derby and Matlock lies at the end of the "Lowland Explorer" route from Skipton/Blyth. Whilst the station is electrified for local services up into the mountains but the mainline route remains unelectrified, local services are provided by BR612s and fast services by BR218s. The paintshop is a bit slow with repainting the BR612s as evidenced by this shot! As far as passenger services are concerned, the station is a terminus but the line continues to some agricultural sidings which are no longer used but the track is retained should they be needed again.

Ameecher wrote:

Where did those grey arc bridges come from? I only know the green version of them

I absolutely love the Orlingbury shot. The way the city seems to have grown around the station is impressive. I never get town to do that

The other screenshots are of Ameecher Quality™ as well, of course

Conisborough is an isolated town which relies heavily on the railway. A weekly goods train provides the town with provisions and a monthly fuel train gives the town fuel for heating. The passenger train that runs every two hours gives the locals a connection to the rest of the world. Many of the town are employed as lumberjacks in the local forest. A textbook example of how to climb a mountain. This junction, just north of Derby & Matlock, is where the line into the mountain splits from the low-level non-electric line (which is electrified for a short distance to a power station) was originally a flat junction but in recent years had a fly over built to enable more trains to be handled by the junction. Yet again with many liveries in sight are the BR612s that dominate the area. Xeryus, they are in TBRS, the road version is grey, rail version is green and Thanks GoneWacko, Orlingbury was helped by the fact that when I first built it the town was tiny so I could blast my way through with a single line and gradually over time expand it.

Very colourful Gavin

I remember Rai used to do a very good mixed train full of colours. I miss his screens

Dig out old screenshots in the name of the screenshot competition!

Frankfurt station on the busy valley line.

What is the catenary you are using? I have these in the Czech rail set, but that's not with default tracks. Could you please tell me what it is?
And the screens are looking good, as always

It is the czech catenary but using parameters (god knows which ones!) I've turned the new tracks so I only get the catenary.

Thanks

Ameecher wrote:It is the czech catenary but using parameters (god knows which ones!) I've turned the new tracks so I only get the catenary.

I do something similar (ie, nicked it from Gavin ), I use parameters 2 0 1 .

Parameters 0 0 1 1 used here. When you download the Czech Tracks Set it comes with a Read Me file that explains which parameters to set to what in order to do what you want them to do.

Nice screenshot as always.

I do still play OTTD, occasionally.
Arnold, back in the days when it was quiet here. The northern approaches to Cantebury and the Prince's Risborough line. The line leaving at top centre goes to Arnold. And when it's no longer quite so quiet and we need a few more tracks.

The southern approach to Cantebury with triple tracks through the yards but only double south of there, currently. Ingram was previously a little shack of a station with a coal siding but the long stretches of slow freights with fast passengers sharing the same line was a bit intolerable and Ingram had the largest flat bit of land for some passing loops... And in the end it looked like this. Even more chaotic when the line through here was quadrupled!

How not to build a station for expansion!

Meh, expansion is over-rated!