[johnfrum]

By popular (or at least Andre's :whistling: ) demand, I'm going to be posting some screenshots in this thread from time to time that depict the MSTS route I've been working on for the past decade or so.

I've done almost zero original modelling myself: all the rolling stock, structures and scenery objects you'll see were someone else's creation. All I've done is adapted them through retexturing, scaling and "kitbashing" to fit the route's place and time. If you spot your work in the following pictures, please know that my intent is not to take credit for it but rather to showcase it with respect. If I didn't think your work was excellent I wouldn't have used it.

The original Canada Atlantic Railway was built primarily to ship lumber from the forests of central Ontario to markets in the New England states by way of its connection with the Central Vermont Railway. In its brief heyday it was also the major hauler of grain from the Canadian prairies.

The C.A.R. ran from Georgian Bay on Lake Huron to the Quebec/Vermont international border. I'm modelling the railway's Middle Division, which ran west from Ottawa through forests, farmland and rocky Canadian Shield terrain to the divisional point at Madawaska where crews were changed for the continuation of the run to Lake Huron.

My route is not meant to be an exact -- or even a close -- representation of the original line. My goal is to capture the flavour of what seems to me to be a Canadian golden era a hundred years ago before the realities of the First World War put a big dent in the country's optimism about the future.

I guess that's enough background for now, so on with the show! To start with, here are some pix taken in Ottawa, the only city (1910 population about 125,000) on the route:























That's it for now, folks. More to come eventually.


-JF-

[thegrindre]

Very cool, John. How about a few rural pics next time... :whistling: A little country in other words.

[Grandeguy]

Beutiful artistry there John. wHAT WAS ISSUE with uploading this one? An old steam route is a much needed asset in v-scale.

[johnfrum]

Rick: It'll pretty much be ALL rural shots from now on. I had to start taking pictures somewhere, so I decided to go east to west.

GrandeGuy: The issue with uploading the route is obtaining permissions from the original creators. I've never really paid much attention to who owns what: probably a bad idea in retrospect. I've retextured almost every last object on the route -- some of them countless times -- and I'm sure I'll retexture many of them again and again until I get them right (if ever).

Some authors couldn't care less about this, but many do, and they wish to stay closely associated with their models and have the power to say "yea" or "nay" over any modification, however slight. Or at least to be fully credited for their work.

Over at UK TrainSim they've even extended this to screenshots: don't upload them unless all modifications therein have been approved by the original authors. I think we're a bit more flexible here at ET, but if any author sees anything in a screenshot of mine that disturbs them, please PM me and I'll take it down immediately.

This is why I've been somewhat reluctant to even post screenshots and why it won't ever be possible for me to share this route.

-JF-

[Coonskin]

Hello John!

First off THANKS for giving me the opportunity to get a good look at your labor of love! Really like the mood your modeling is creating. I appreciate the fact that you've started your photographic essay at a terminus and will proceed from there to the other end. It will help me to get an idea of the progression of things. Looking forward to the next installment!

As for UK Trainsim: This is Elva's Tower. We have far more sensible posting rules. IF one of the Uptight Modelers Guild views these pics and has a stroke... they can put on their Big Boy Britches and deal with it. It's only PICTURES for cryin' out loud.

As I said at the request: I feel that a train simulation route can be like a model railroad layout: Never finished, always evolving, the possession and project of the owner and that alone. A model railroad layout can't be shared, and that may also be the case with a train simulation route. I feel it is a PRIVILEDGE for fellow train simmers to view another's work, and not A RIGHT to have a copy of it. This "RIGHT TO OWN" mentality needs to be in put in perspective among the train simulation community. Okay... off my soapbox.

Have you devised a roster for your version of the C-A? If so, what was your logic? How do you appoach laying out the track and industries for a town?

Really nice work, and of course, for SOME REASON... I simply LOVE your choice of eras! :whistling: Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[timmuir]

Here, here, Andre.

John, Your route LOOKS GREAT, and I fully understand why you can't share it, physically. Please keep up the photo essay, your skills are appreciated by more than a few of us, I'm sure.

[johnfrum]

Thanks, Tim (and right back atcha my friend)!

Andre: Thanks much. When it comes to the roster, I'm at the mercy of what's available out there that's reminiscent of what the Canada Atlantic actually used. Fortunately I've got very good info on the original roster (but regrettably very few photos).

Jon Davis' equipment pack for your St. Louis & North Arkansas was by far the biggest goldmine for me. The CA ran Baldwins almost exclusively (Ten-wheelers, Moguls and Consolidations) with a few Rhode Island Moguls thrown in for good measure and Jon's models fit the bill almost to perfection. For fast passenger service the C.A.R. ran Baldwin Atlantics and you'll notice in a couple of pix above that I'm using Jon's old freeware model of the Baldwin Columbia as a substitute for these because -- except for the pilot truck -- it's almost an exact duplicate of the C.A.R. Atlantic type.

The area where I've been totally stymied so far is finding a 4-4-0 that even remotely resembles the Baldwin units that the Canada Atlantic used in that era. As a stopgap I've been using retextured versions of John Fowlis' 1878 Ten-wheeler with a tender off of another loco (no idea which one) which looks more like the C.A.R. Eight-wheelers than anything else I've found -- despite having too many drivers :) .

Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, tracklaying and industries.

By far the biggest industry on this route is lumber in all its various facets and subsidiaries. So there are a quite a few lumber mills, a lye extraction plant and a small turpentine producer. I've been inspired to create a few ad hoc industries by some of Paul Charland's vast array of intricate buildings: a couple of coal (and coal oil) distributors, a cement company, a carriageworks and a few others. There's a dairy in Ottawa as well as a few cattle pens. Some freighthouses here and there. The smaller towns usually have a passing siding that doubles as a team track.

It's pretty much all in a state of flux. When I see an available download that looks appropriate I try to find a spot for it somewhere.

Now when it comes to tracklaying, I have to confess that I've strayed very far from MSTS best practices. I know that the most important commandment is: "completely finish all tracklaying before placing any interactive objects". I've repeatedly ignored that rule. In fact, a few months ago I decided to re-lay every foot of track on the route -- I'd guess about 150 miles' worth -- removing and replacing the interactives as I went along. I committed this cardinal sin because I wanted to do away with all dynamic track on the route and also because I wasn't satisfied with my original trackwork in a few spots and could imagine better-looking ways to do it.

Of course I continually backed up the whole route and tested everything. I kept expecting it all to go Blooey, but it never did. I don't have any explanation as to why I got away with it -- probably pure dumb luck. This is NOT a recommendation to do it this way (so don't blame me if you try it and it does go Blooey).

But to get back on the topic of industries: I've never worried too much about any consequences from adding track to an existing siding, so I've found it pretty straightforward to extend sidings and add additional switchs to accommodate new industries.

That's a lot of rambling and too much information to answer your two simple questions, Andre. Maybe I'd best stick to screenshots :thumbup3: . I'll be posting more soon.

-JF-

[thegrindre]

Thought I'd mention that I, too, have broken the 'cardinal rule' about track laying and, so far, everything is going well. (Knock on wood) I've been toying around with the Red Mountain NG Route, as the mood strikes me, and it has also loaded into OR with my changes and with no hitches.

Have fun!

[Coonskin]

Thanks for the details John! I always enjoy reading approaches to route/layout building by someone that has similar interests as mine. I think the era you're modeling requires knuckle couplers, right? That so, equipment from the Ozark Northern will not help your noble cause.

As for the "track, roads, etc FIRST... last comes interactives". That is a very solid way to build routes. Unfortunately, that approach also delays enjoying the fruit of one's labor as one progresses. Really, it's been my experience that the real problem is when one tampers within the realm of interactives. It is SO easy to forget to delete an interactive (or interactives) on affected track(s) before editing the track. PLUS, if one dramatically alters track within interactive boundaries, the save process can knock the track interface files out of whack on account of the new tdb the RE must adjust. It's now my experience that IF one adds track outward from the interactive portion of the route... no issues.

I too, am working on a project that already has interactives in place on the main portion of the route... but I'm adding outward from both ends (north and south). Shoot... I even converted this same interactive infested route to XTracks... and SUCCESSFULLY did a tdb rebuild to convert the dynamic track that had been used!!

Anyway, looking forward to more pics.

[copperpen]

John
I dont know if you have looked at this site http://www.trainsim....n/filelist.aspx at all. Mainly European stock, but does have a number of early style US/Canadian engines mainly of the ten wheeler type, but does have two or three eight wheelers. Also some early matchboard bogie passenger stock. Colours are a bit bright on some of them but the models themselves are pretty good.

Turning now to your route, fully understand why you cannot release it. This pictorial tour will have to suffice. What I have seen so far is very good indeed. Apart from the few NG routes you and Andre seem to be the only two actually interested in modelling this very interesting period of railroading in North America