Elvas Tower: Overview - Elvas Tower

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#1 User is offline   Genma Saotome 

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Posted 21 February 2013 - 05:55 PM

The Cal-P is the old local name for a portion of Southern Pacific's Oakland to Sacramento mainline, roughly 115 miles give or take a few. Half of this distance is along SF Bay and the Sacramento River. There is a low hill to get over into the Sacramento Valley and then it's a fast run through the farmland and rural towns to get to Sacramento.

Target date of the route is ca. 1950.

Here are a couple of track maps captured in Mosaic:

West end: Oakland to the Bencia Bridge:
Attached Image: Clipboard0601.jpg
The dark green and dark brown areas are twhere the waters of SF Bay and the Sacramento River are located.

The Delta:
Attached Image: Clipboard0602.jpg
Again, the dark brown is the Sacramento River... the green is tidal wet lands.

The Valley:
Attached Image: Clipboard0603.jpg
Plenty of farmland, ending at the east end in Sacramento.


A closer look at Oakland and Emeryville:
Attached Image: Clipboard0604.jpg
California Urban.

#2 User is offline   CrisGer 

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Posted 21 February 2013 - 11:56 PM

thanks that is a big help. now can get a good grasp of the regions of the route.

#3 User is offline   paulytechnic 

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Posted 22 February 2013 - 04:29 AM

Wow, you even have the semi-isolated Fairfield-Vacaville Sacramento Northern branch in there! (I realize it's probably not completely functional, but at least the tracks are there accurately!) Excellent!! http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif

#4 User is offline   petersde 

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Posted 11 January 2018 - 04:19 PM

Hey Dave, stumbled on this purely by browsing luck alone but was pleasantly surprised that the Cal-P was still "alive" after so many years. I dug up an "update" from the Sacramento Locomotive Works (Erik Pierson, et al) from August 2003 (can you believe it?) with a screen shot of the Benicia Bridge. Wow! Your continuing progress is outstanding and would be a welcome addition to my route library favorites: Cajon Pass, Tehachapi, West Colton. I will look forward to more in the future. Keep 'em on the rails! :sign_thanks:

#5 User is offline   Mike B 

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Posted 28 March 2022 - 07:25 PM

Has been a while since I visited. Any word on Cal-P since 2018? Thanks!

#6 User is offline   Genma Saotome 

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Posted 28 March 2022 - 08:23 PM

Not a lot. Craig Kawahara took a shot a modeling the Bay Bridge -- it's rather visible from the SP main afterall. I put time into building the Elmira branch (Vacaville, Winters, and points north) along the west side of the Valley. I got just past Winters when I pulled up and found myself drawn back into Goose Island, which is where I've been since. These are the only screenshots I took of that work.

Attached Image: Clipboard0831.jpg

Attached Image: Clipboard0832.jpg

#7 User is offline   Mike B 

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Posted 31 March 2022 - 03:52 PM

View PostGenma Saotome, on 28 March 2022 - 08:23 PM, said:

Not a lot. Craig Kawahara took a shot a modeling the Bay Bridge -- it's rather visible from the SP main afterall. I put time into building the Elmira branch (Vacaville, Winters, and points north) along the west side of the Valley. I got just past Winters when I pulled up and found myself drawn back into Goose Island, which is where I've been since...


Thanks! Not getting past Winters might be OK. The railroad kind of stopped there for a long time before getting removed entirely around the time I-505 was built. And most of the place between Vacaville and Winters now seems to be Amazon warehouses...

As for the Bay Bridge, it looks like Craig was doing the cantilever/truss section? The suspension? Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing a suspension bridge done for MSTS (or ORTS) that really looked like one (with the graceful curved cables and such). Is there a reason that doesn't work? Hmmm. I've seen some good urban backdrops done as, apparently, distant mountains. Could a background bridge be done that way too?

Will need to check out Goose Island one of these days.

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