[Genma Saotome]

wacampbell, on 04 April 2018 - 06:10 AM, said:

.. but where are the trains?? ha ha .

A bit further away than I wish.

The rail situation changed quite a bit between 1947 and 1952. I don't have exact dates for the changeover from street cars to buses so I can fudge unknown facts for the better. The stub terminal used by the elevated was removed right before 1950.

To answer your question, across the river to the right/west of the above scene is the north entrance to Union Station. The view of these buildings is not obstructed. This entrance was used by both the Milwaukee road and Pennsylvania and is a freight pass-thru for yard transfers of LCL shipments between those two railroads (and for the MILW, possibly with other railroads a bit further south, but that's too much to add).

One city block to the north (behind the camera) is an east-west streetcar line (1952) and the east-west elevated loop track. Two blocks south of the camera location (on Madison) is another streetcar line (1952). FWIW, to the east, four of seven streets have tracks, either streetcar (one 1947, two 1952) or the elevated.

So if I choose to date the route .ca 1947 I can include the elevated's stub terminal and not feel uncomfortable about about more streetcar lines. If instead I choose 1950 then I put in the construction of the subway road on Wacker drive. And by 1952 things would look line the photo I posted in the basenote. I usually pick a 1950-55 time frame for routes but in this case I'll have to give serious consideration to 1947-48.

[D&RGW]

Great stuff, thanks for the update. All those custom buildings make for a very convincing cityscape. Must have been a heck of a lot of work building them all!

[Genma Saotome]

D&RGW, on 04 April 2018 - 02:23 PM, said:

Great stuff, thanks for the update. All those custom buildings make for a very convincing cityscape. Must have been a heck of a lot of work building them all!

I really enjoy making these models. It must be at least 80% of what I do with my hobby time.

[Gman347]

I walk from the UP station at Madison and Clinton to my office at Michigan and Van Buren so I get to look all these buildings on a daily basis. You're doing a really nice job on them. On the one hand they are all very similar in nature but on the other each is very unique in appearance.

I can remember, when I was a kid, we lived in the Oak Park area so we would occasionally just get on what we called "The Lake Street El" just to ride it downtown around the Loop and then back to Oak Park. It was so much fun back then. More recently I have worked on a number of projects in Evanston so I have taken the elevated "Purple Line" from the Monroe & Wabash street stop around the Loop and the out to the project sites. Till today I still like that ride around the Loop.

This is really fun to watch Dave. My office was on South Wabash Ave for 15 years so I am very familiar with the area and have always loved all those old masonry skinned mid-rise buildings. We were on the 7th floor on the west side of the tracks so I could look out of the window and down to the tracks and would hear the trains go by all day. You can imagine how much fun that was for a train nut.


Very Nice! http://www.elvastower.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/cool3.gif

[Genma Saotome]

Gman347, on 05 April 2018 - 04:49 AM, said:

My office was on South Wabash Ave for 15 years so I am very familiar with the area and have always loved all those old masonry skinned mid-rise buildings. We were on the 7th floor on the west side of the tracks so I could look out of the window and down to the tracks and would hear the trains go by all day. You can imagine how much fun that was for a train nut.

What was the address?

[Gman347]

We were at 228 South Wabash. Just north of Jackson Blvd.

[Genma Saotome]

Goku's editor is good for taking screenshots where you want to see all of the track locations. I used it to take these five images. Click on any for viewing at full size.



Floating above where the north and south branches of the Chicago river meet and turn towards Lake Michigan, looking north




Same spot looking south.




This is above N. Division St, just east of the island, looking north along Kingsbury Ave.




Above Cortland looking west across C&E Junction and on towards the Bloomington line in the distance. That'll be just a stub for staging. The track heading off screen to the right once went right to Wrigley Field (where the Cubs play baseball).




A short distance past North Ave, looking south along Kingsbury and the Cherry St bridge entrance to the Division St yard on Goods Island..

[conductorchris]

This route has come a long way and looks really impressive. I do love this kind of urban scenary. It's not easy to make for the sim. Not sure I can think of another route like this. Love the street running.
Christopher

[Genma Saotome]

conductorchris, on 16 March 2019 - 05:56 PM, said:

This route has come a long way and looks really impressive. I do love this kind of urban scenary. It's not easy to make for the sim. Not sure I can think of another route like this. Love the street running.
Christopher

The streets are a horrible PITA to make. I have to cut away the surface exactly along the path of the track to put in the cobblestone and then cut away the cobblestone in the exact place where the rails are. Every section becomes a unique model due to the unique track configuration at that location. Once I get the faces right I can apply the textures and align tar lines and grime.


Click on an image to see it full size.





I am not looking forward to doing the street in this section -- every red sprite is the location of a track switch.

[CrisGer]

Dave i am blown away by your work flow it is simply stupendous. i love what this route is becoming. I modelled all of the buildings in the Loop for a architectural history class at Lake Forest College in 1972 so i know how much wok that stuff takes and you are doing marvelously with it...and i agree there is not another route like it anywhere.

as for the cobble stones, wow, well you sure have patience.

Chris :sign_rockon: