Ding Ding! Blackpool Tramways makes a return!

[MikeTrams]

Mike & Vern

Very good Blackpool holds some happy memory’s as a DJ even met Pete Waterman filming the Hitman and her Roadshow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwP101nBnHY From World Famous Palace Discotheque

Regards


John

Hehe! Didn't know you were a DJ John! Hehe!

@Retro: Thank you! Shows we're getting it right then!

@jaapsloot: Thank you!

New lofts:

Bottom two are mine, the top one is just an example for now.



I still need to do the fence as well for the second tier! Also it may look a bit high but it’s the high section just past North pier and before Ginn square! Again this is just an example mock up not the actual route.

Cheers,
Mike

[bigvern]

Route received a slight setback today when I discovered most of the road sections I put in over the last few days had vanished! No clue how or why, other than I had been experimenting with buried level crossings to control where the tram track crosses "live" roads. Replaced albeit not as straight or connected as previously but it goes to prove just when you think a route is going well, Railworks has a habit of biting you on the backside. The focus now is on getting the top end at Fleetwood finished before pushing south towards Cleveleys.

NB: If anyone else has had a similar issue with roads vanishing, would be interested to hear it.

[bigvern]

Some work now being done at the south end of the route, this is the area around Harrowside with the Solaris Centre which Mike has created. This area will be revisited and some suitable clutter added on the second pass but priority at the moment is getting initial 3D placement done. We are still looking for anyone else who would like to contribute objects for the route, in particular items for the piers or "Golden Mile", i.e. tacky souvenir shops, amusement arcades or clairvoyant type establishments.

[msey0002]

absolutely stunning.

[Retro]

I agree with Mark. Superb work.
Kind regards James.

[briyeo1950]

I had to look twice at that image to make sure it was a screenshot, very nice work

[partyspiritz]

I am having hot flush's I am going to be dreaming about trams tonight
very nice



Regards


John

[bigvern]

I'm sure I speak for Mike as well as myself to say the encouragement is very much appreciated.

The advantage of a soggy wet afternoon here in Wiltshire meant no two hour walk on the Ridgeway, but led to a surge of RW productivity with the next linear km at the top end, down to Rossall, getting about 95% of it's 3D placement. Just leaves Harrowside to Rossall to go...

It is surprising how much work goes into detailing a "simple" 11 mile linear route!

[Squatch]

The progress looks great - I think this will be a really interesting exercise in building in RW. Have either of you experimented with how the dispatcher deals with traffic yet? I'm wondering whether there's any subtle differences in setting AI up in a route such as this as opposed to a more "traditional" route....

But keep up the good work, really looking forward to seeing progress!

[bigvern]

The progress looks great - I think this will be a really interesting exercise in building in RW. Have either of you experimented with how the dispatcher deals with traffic yet? I'm wondering whether there's any subtle differences in setting AI up in a route such as this as opposed to a more "traditional" route....

But keep up the good work, really looking forward to seeing progress!

Well that is going to be the toughie.

At the moment I'm coming down on the side of doing what I did with my MSTS route and using conventional signalling to achieve separation. Now these will have to be visible rather than buried as unlike the MSTS Track Monitor or the original RS/RW F3 monitor, if you use the F4 HUD to drive you can see the position of the signals but not the aspect. It shouldn't look too bad and really is the only solution until such time as we have the ability to run trains/trams on line of sight which would effectively mean the AI being able to sense a train/tram ahead and slow down accordingly also allowing for crossover and conflicting moves. A bit like TGV/CTRL signal, moving block type application but whether this could be scripted into RW is probably something to look for in a future version of the route (and the sim!).

[sdark2]

Hi Guys,

Spotted your post on Facebook and thought I'd pop along and see what was what.

May I make a suggestion, to complicate/help matters?

I'm sure you've had lots of offers so far on who's helping out but do you have a list of buildings, etc. you need? Or could you draw one up even if it's just a rough outline? Then people can post and tell you what they're doing and you can put their name next to it, cross it off, etc. Hope this suggestion isn't overstepping the mark but I feel there's a real danger of duplication here and things may get ugly... particularly if someone's spent two days building something for you only to find that someone else beat them to it... you catch my drift?

Anyhoo, I myself would be more than happy to volunteer (give me a break from this dratted APT! ) if there's photos, etc avail?

Kind regards,
Steve

[bigvern]

Thanks for the offer of assistance Steve.

At the moment it's still only myself and Mike plus the buildings that Peter Holton has kindly given permission to use. So it's pretty much carte blanche - if you want to take a look in Google Streetview and pick out any souvenir shop or hotel block it will find a home, as will promenade clutter, shelters, toilet blocks etc.

[MikeTrams]

Hey Steve!

I made a call out as I can't do this all on my own, though i would love to dedicate 100% to this project I have other projects to complete and finish! So thank you for your offer!

I'm going to Blackpool on 26 so i can take pictures of anything and everything! At the moment I'm managing to use Cg textures and reference from Google street view!

Here is a list of what I've done so far!

A very basic Blackpool Tower, possibly can be replaced, It was only for temporary use!
http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/6449 ... favor5.jpg

Tram poles:
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7273 ... favor5.png

Prom:
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/7273/scr ... favor5.png

Fences:
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/7273 ... favor5.png

Depot:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/81 ... avor5.png/

Fleetwood light house:
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3220/towerz.jpg

Solaris Centre:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6449/scr ... favor5.jpg

Hotels:
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6449 ... favor5.jpg

StarGate Prom:
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6449 ... favor5.jpg

Simple arcade buildings:
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/6449 ... favor5.jpg

Some more hotels:
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/7273 ... favor5.png

Also a Tram stop sign, which I don’t have a picture off!

Like Vern said at the moment anything would be helpful!

Some main buildings that really need building are these:

North shore meteropole building: 53°49'13.56"N - 3° 3'20.17"W
North Pier Entrance: 53°49'8.30"N - 3° 3'23.51"W
Tower Ballroom building, the tower would be optional: 53°48'57.32"N - 3° 3'20.63"W
Central Pier Entrance: 53°48'39.64"N - 3° 3'21.48"W
South Pier entrance: 53°47'43.25"N - 3° 3'25.77"W
Inside water park: 53°47'38.36"N - 3° 3'26.58"W

I chose these as they are iconic to Blackpool. You don't have to build them all; any other buildings would be great, like hotels, or any other structures.

I hope I haven’t put you off! But I hope it’s given you a list that you asked for!

Cheers,
Mike

[partyspiritz]

The Place Nightclub now that would be nice


Regards


John

[MikeTrams]

Blackpool Balloon Trams [43461827 bytes] - BlackpoolTrams.zip File ID: 22759 Date: 19 Jun 2011 - 3468 Downloads

I've uploaded the update!

Cheers,
Mike