[Genma Saotome]

Still very early in construction but the general idea is beginning to shape up.

The "entrance" to the route is via the Bloomington Line, which connects the not-bo-be-modeled large Galewood Yard to the area around Goose Island. Knowing there is an interlocking where the Bloomington Line crosses the many-tracked C&NW main I could have activities start and end at the interlocking and thereby skip the 10 miles thru the neighborhoods to get to or from Galewood.

EB Waiting for clearance to cross the C&NW.



Looking over to where the crossing will be (center of image):



Location of the "Z-5 bridge" belongs (center right where the track is). This is a lateral swing bridge, rotating clockwise to clear for river traffic. In the distance you can see numerous "Not Built" cubes that I use to locate where structures will go. Better than MSTS Markers, when I build the actual model I just drop it into the /shapes folder and it will replace the cube.



Looking south towards the Division St. Yard on Goose Island.



Looking south down Kingsbury from a few feet north of North Ave.



Jumping 2 miles south, starting to develop the interlocking on Canal street where the Kingsbury Line crosses the PRR Panhandle / Milwaukee Road Passenger Mains (from left) headed for Chicago's Union Station, a couple of streets to the south (below image). You can also see the C&NW tracks leading into their own station.

[cvo2010]

Impressive work Dave, I have never seen anything like this.
It's going to be the industrial route of the century :D .

Regards Claus

[captain_bazza]

Great work, Dave, it will be so easy to get lost amongst all that trackage.

Cheers Bazza

[thegrindre]

Just curious, Dave, how long you been building this 'route'?
Does it have a point A & point B or is this thing just a point A layout?

There is an awful lot of work to be done on this one, I can see. More then I'd want to tackle. :fiesta:

:D

[JohnS]

WOW that's amazing Dave! You have a great talent.

[Bernie]

Wow, just stunning! :oldstry: How many more structures do you still have to work on? It looks like you are shaping up for a real industrial canyon!

[Genma Saotome]

Thanks for the comments guys.

@Clause: I'm simply setting down buildings & track per the maps I have and back around 1950. The basic shape and height of each building is correct to reality; when I can find an image of one I make adjustments to try and match the the color and where possible other exterior appearances.

@Barry: It's places like this that got me thinking of how can OR create sprite text whose display is controlled in activities... as in: Only show the sprites that are relevant. Something like that would go a long way to helping a player find his way around w/o getting lost.

@Rick: I started on May 4th, so 6 months and a few days.

@Bernie: I havn't counted the grand total but counting models plus not built cubes I come up with 170 .s files; Those that are real models will have 1 to > 20 structures, depending on the area covered. Doing the basic structure goes very quickly, adding the details like windows and doors just crawls. One problem I've noticed is all of the window textures I have on hand are correct for California and not for Chicago (real winters, older buildings). Maybe I'll have to go visit my Brother....

[Mipman25]

That's a really busy looking route there, Dave! Can't wait to see it when it's finished. Lots of places to drop things off at.

[Robbie]

Well, this is impressive and somewhat coincidental that I just noticed this, considering I've been doing some research on the Goose Island line for a few weeks now.

I unfortunately mostly have only current pictures/data from the route, but I suppose I'll try to send you anything vintage that I have or find.

I did find a good close up view of the first Chicago River bridge, the swing bridge, on this page: Forgotten Chicago. I'm assuming that's the same as it was in the '50s so it may be of some help.

[Genma Saotome]

Hi Robbie, I found that Bloomingdale Line article a few weeks back -- elevated spurs, who'd have thought?

What got you interested in Goose Island?