Atomic Systems

Hello,

For some time now I've been intending to build this line in train simulator. I've only build a few basic routes before, but DEM/SRTM data should help me somewhat as realistic hills are one thing that have held me back before.

I only have four payware routes (UK ones anyway!), namely the Isle of Wight, Weardale & Teesdale, Riviera Line in the fifties and Doncaster Works. Therefore most of the assets will come from those routes and packs included with them. I will most likely also use the Bluebell Railway assets that are to be found on Train Sim Dev, as they are free and easy to download, and possibly contents from within the IOW Network Assets Packs.

At the moment I don't intend to upload the route to UKTS or the Steam Workshop, but it I was to do so I would of course seek the permission of any creators of the freeware to include their items in my route.

Please be aware that I am new to this, but also feel free to point out major errors in a constructive manor. Obviously some things just won't be right, but I'll try and get close! If this means using the wrong style of LBSCR station building, so be it. If someone makes the correct ones, then I will of course correct them. At the moment I expect that most of the stations will be made using the Bluebell Assets.

So, I hope you enjoy this!

All the best,

You shouldn't have too many issues with that route scenery wise, the canopy at Baynards is very similar to the one in Geoff Potters Lavender Line.

Would love to help on Gradients but my book doesn't have that line, I do have CH-Horsham and Guildford line.


All the best, need any help just ask.

Thanks!

I think I'll follow your model: start with one and work outwards. I'll start with Guildford - Horsham, then spread upwards towards Reading (Via the ex-SECR line), West towards Alton (Probably towards Bordon too), across to Ascott and Leatherhead, then down to Bognor and Littlehampton, via both Arundel and Midhurst. I'll probably do the Northern bits first, because several others (Including yourself!) have suggested doing the Southern parts.

I need to try and find who did those station signs for you: I might need to ask him to do me some!

All the Best,

Right, first question!

Does anyone know how to add route markers from Google Earth. I tried using RWtools: that didn't work. Then I tried a method courtesy of youtube. That didn't work either! If anyone has any suggestions, please suggest them!

Also, can you get track to follow the contours of a landscape?

Many thanks, and all the best,

Importing Route markers is a rather outdated method now with the ease of Google overlay, unless you are scanning in an old map. It is built into the sim so you don't need to install anything. In route editor press CTRL + SHIFT + G, this effectively puts Google Earth over the landscape, for your route you will need to follow any remaining features you can find. I remember when I did that route before there are some gaps but if you take your time laying track you will get there.

Geoff Potter is the person building the Bluebell Railway, he goes by the name Acorncomputer, you will find him in that thread in the Screenshots area.

sem34090 wrote:Right, first question!

Also, can you get track to follow the contours of a landscape?

Many thanks, and all the best,

You should be using whats called a "Gradient Profile". This gives you the inclination for all climbs and falls and sometimes the radius of curves. Yes you can lay track to terrain using the snap tool but that's not accurate

Hi
I would be interested in getting the route if you do release it,as my aunt had a farm at Ash Vale and the line to Reading passed the the farm on a embankment,most of the the trains were hauled by N\N1 locomotives and birdcage stock,which are being made by MaxTrains,and there is a free ware N\N1 in the UKTS Library.

It will be nice to have another Southern route,and doesn't need a lot of other routes to run it

Mike

I only asked abour route markers to make it easier for me to move about the route! The route origin is currently Christ's Hospital (Stammerham Junction) Signal Box, so i don't really want to be panning from there to, say, Ash Vale. Reading i can get to easily enough, thanks to the european loco & assets pack, but beyond that I have nothing.

I will try and find a gradient profile today and start work. I think I'll start at Christ's Hospital and work North towards Slinfold and Rudgwick. Beyond Rudgwick is Baynards Tunnel, and here I really do need help! I have yet to work out how to put a tunnel on a route...

Also, thanks to me laying pins in Google Earth, I can supply a list of stations I hope to model at some stage:

Phase One:

Horsham
Christ's Hospital
Slinfold
Rudgwick
Baynards
Cranleigh
Bramley & Wonersh
Guildford
Shalford
London Road (Guildford)

Phase Two:

Wanborough
Ash
Aldershot
Farnham
Bentley
Alton
Kingsley Halt
Bordon
Tongham (Goods only)
Ash Green Halt (Closed)

Phase Three:

Ash Vale
Frimley
Camberley
Bagshot
Ascot
Martin's Heron
Bracknell
Wokingham
Winnersh
Earley
Reading (Southern)
Reading (General)
North Camp
Farnborough North
Blackwater
Sandhurst Halt
Crowthorne

Phase Four:

Chilworth
Gomshall
Dorking West
Clandon
Horsley
Effingham Junction
Bookham
Leatherhead
Boxhill & Westhumble
Dorking
Holmwood
Ockley
Warnham
Horsham

Phase Five:

Billingshurst
Pulborough
Amberley
Arundel
Lynminster (Closed?)
Littlehampton
Ford
Barnham
Bognor Regis
Chichester
Lavant
Singleton
Cocking
Midhurst LSWR (Goods Only?)
Midhurst LBSCR
Selham
Petworth
Fittleworth

I have decided to complete a section at a time, so this may literally be a 'Five Year Plan' that is doomed to fail... but I want to try anyway. I will not be covering Lynminster - Brighton, Shoreham - Itchingfield Jct, Ash Vale - Woking, Woking - Guildford, Dorking West - Redhill, Alton - Winchester, Midhurst - Petersfield, Chichester - Portsmouth or anything East of Dorking. I will also not be covering more than the required amount of GWR lines at Reading, and none of the GW main line will be included. At a later date I am considering adding Ascot - Staines, but not for a while yet. I want to complete my original intention and work from there! If this is disappointing, then I am sorry.

If you collectively think I should release the route, then please say so. I don't think it will be good enough! But that's me - you may think otherwise. If people would like this route, then I will consider releasing it on UKTS.

The reason I'm leaving a few gaps is because I don't want to 'bag' the whole of the Southern Region, only to not complete it. I think others could do it better, so if anyone was to attempt the Reading - Redhill line, I would just not do it!

Anyway, all the best,

sem34090

sem34090 wrote:I only asked abour route markers to make it easier for me to move about the route! The route origin is currently Christ's Hospital (Stammerham Junction) Signal Box, so i don't really want to be panning from there to, say, Ash Vale.

That's okay I wasn't having a dig, I find a good way of getting around quickly is to press 9 in route editor, scroll to the area of track you want to work on, then CTRL + Left mouse button on the place you wish to go, then pull down the top flyout with the longitude and latitude and press the play button. After a brief load you will be able to come out of the map screen by pressing 9 again or right clicking and you will be in the new location.

Good luck with the project you will be just fine!

Thanks. I suppose I'd better start at some point! Still trying to find a gradient profile, but I'll keep searching. I might start CH Station anyway, and work from there.

I thought I'd put a picture of my very, very embryonic D1 tank for TS up here, although it's already on my topic in stock building. For TS, it will initially appear in 'Sunshine' black, with other (more complex!) liveries to follow. This has stemmed out of CAD I've already created for a series of loco kits I'm planning.


The creation topic is here: http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... 6&t=147911

Anyway, it may be some time before either this or the route are done,

All the best,

sem34090

I'll try and send you over the profiles I mentioned then you at least have a chance at starting from either Guildford or Horsham. I really like the D1 by the way! A very promising start indeed, keep it up!

Thanks for the encouragement, Tango.

I was wondering, would anyone be interested in a Southern Railway and/or Pre-Grouping version of the route? I ask as I love all things LBSCR, and it is possible. There's MDI's A1 and G Class on UKTS, then the E2 on SSS, and Victory Works' A1/A1x (Just bought them - very happy!), then of course my own D1 and E1. Initially the line had a pair of Terriers (No.36 'Bramley' and No.77 'Wonersh'), later supplemented and replaced by E1 and D1 tanks. Some D1's were even named after stations on the line: I know of Rudgwick and Slinfold, but I think there were others. The stock would probably have been 4-wheelers, so (Once I sort myself out!) all the pre-grouping stock will be available in TS, and I might even be able to offer the route with some stock for each era included.
From opening, The line remained essentially the same (other than the section from Horsham and Peasmarsh Junction). Obviously I'd only do Guildford - Horsham as pre-1948 and pre-1923, but would there be interest? The signals are easy enough (The LNWR ones on UKTS are close enough), the buildings are the same, and only some bits need changing. For the SR era, three versions would be offered: Non Electrified, Horsham Station Unrebuilt - Guildford Electrified, Horsham Unelectrified, Horsham Station Unrebuilt - Guildford & Horsham Electrified, Horsham Station Rebuilt. This would cover all eras from opening to closure, something I believe is unique to TS? Several people are doing BR(S) routes, so it might be nice to offer my route for other eras too. It wouldn't require too much effort, save resignalling, a little remodelling, and complete change at Horsham. I might offer the line in it's very first condition, as Christ's Hospital was built some decades after the line opened.

Any thoughts? Is it worth even the small amount of effort it would take?

I ask now, because it would be easier to start with the original and expand as it did in reality. To do the original means smaller stations at each end, possibly no Portsmouth Direct (Can't remeber which opened first!), and no Christ's Hospital Station. Also, I think Cranleigh, along with Bramley & Wonersh, was originally a single platform station, as I seem to remember reading that originally Baynards was the only passing point. From that basic route, I can then add to it as happened in reality, before ending with the final configuration.

Right, I've done a little digging, so (If I cover the entire history), the versions are as follows:

V1: 1865 - 1867 (One Loop at Little Vachery (Baynards), Shoreham Spur at Stammerham Jct, No goods facilities)
V2: 1867 - 1876 (One Loop at Little Vachery (Baynards), Shoreham Spur Lifted at Stammerham Jct, Goods facilities)
V3: 1876 - 1880 (Loop at Baynards and Bramley & Wonersh, No Station at Christ's Hospital, Goods Facilities)
V4: 1880 - 1902 (Loops at Baynards, Cranleigh and Bramley & Wonersh, No Station at Christ's Hospital, Goods Facilities)
V5: 1902 - 1923 (Christ Hospital Station Opened)
V6: 1923 - 1937 (Southern Railway painted buildings, some SR signals replacing LBSCR ones)
V7: 1937 - 1938 (Portsmouth Direct Line Electrified)
V8: 1938 - 1948 (Arun Valley Electrified, Horsham Station Rebuilt)
V9: 1948 - 1962 (Nationalised - Various minor differences)
V10: 1962 - 1965 (Goods services withdrawn - Goods Yards pulled up or overgrown)
V11 (Fictional): Preservation (Engineering works at Cranleigh, Terminus at Christ's Hospital, Station at Peasmarsh Junction)
V12 (Proposal): Modern Era, Peasmarsh - Cranleigh electrified, Stations Rationalised and Modernised, Cranleigh - CH pulled up.)

What do you think? I probably won't do every version, but it is a natural progression. V11 and V12 are just ideas that I probably won't follow up, it depends.

Right, I've decided to embark on it in the consecutive stages, as I'll go through them anyway, and it offers something distinctly lacking entirely from TS: A pre-grouping route. We have LBSCR stock on UKTS, the absolutely gorgeous Victory Works terriers, the (from what I've heard) brilliant E2, Stroudley Coaches on both UKTS and in the Victory Works pack, my WIP basic D1 and E1 tanks, yet we have nothing (authentic) to run them on! If I go ahead and expand a bit around Guildford, then there's the Digital Traction M7 in LSWR livery, and the forthcoming Digital Traction Adams' Radial for that traffic. Coaches are a bit harder though! I model pre-grouping outside of train sim (and into Railway Modelling), particularly the LBSCR, so might ask a couple of people either how to reskin or if they can reskin their models into pre-grouping liveries.

Essentially I'll be offering the route in stages as it expands, but each stage will be expanded as per the real thing and offered as it's own route, with changes such as signalling, signage and other small details changing, the main lines being electrified, stations being rebuilt, etc. For this reason I've taken out a premium subscription for UKTS, so I can download all the freeware I need without hassle. At £3 a month it's fantastic value, and I recommend it to anyone. Not all of the freeware used in each version will be required in the next, but in my striving for accuracy there might be considerable freeware. I expect this will be mostly limited to signalling, but we'll see. The only payware I have (now) is Exeter to Kingswear (50's) which will probably offer little, the Falmouth Branch, to which the same is most likely, the Isle of Wight, where most of the track will come from at any rate, and Doncaster Works, which will probably offer less than Exeter - Kingswear. Hopefully only the Isle of Wight will be required, along with maybe another route that contains the various Kuju asset packs. I will try to avoid the former default content, as a lot of it is quite basic and it would be nice to have a route that doesn't require it.

Anyway, I would appreciate any opinions, and work will start once I have a gradient profile. Intially the stations will be modelled as follows:
Guildford: Pre-1880 rebuild, LSWR Portsmouth Direct, and Wanborough line, no Effingham Junction/Leatherhead line. SECR North Downs Line.
Bramley: Single Platform (Second added 1876 - Renamed 'Bramley & Wonersh' in 1880) No Goods Facilities.
Cranley: Single Platform (Second added 1880 - Renamed 'Cranleigh' in 1867) No Goods Facilities.
Little Vachery: Two Platforms, (Renamed 'Baynards' at an unrecorded date) No Goods Facilities.
Rudgwick: Single Platform, No Goods Facilities.
Slinfold: Single Platform, No Goods Facilities.
Stammerham Junction: No station (Christ's Hospital Opened 1902), South Facing Spur forming triangular junction.
Horsham: Original Station.

The next stage would be adding loops, renaming, adding Goods Facilities, rebuilding Guildford, signalling enhanced, etc... then, after 1902, it's just a case of occasional resignalling, some electrification and some rebuilding at Guildford and Horsham.

Any advice, criticism, help, or information would be greatly appreciated!

All the best,

sem34090