Atomic Systems

All scenery now completed through Mochdre as far as the outskirts of Colwyn Bay...I have also added in the pylons from the Bron y Nant substation up and over the hills, DTG included the substation but chose not to include the pylons - Nick had already amended the terrain levels following the removal of the A55 dual carriageway....before and after screenshots on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/

Andy

Scenery all the way through Colwyn Bay to the outskirts of Old Colwyn now fully completed....this includes Colwyn Bay Goods Yard where Nick had created the track for the yard after removing the A55 Dual Carriageway ( Colwyn Bay Station has had to be recreated due to DTG's Station having a huge chunk of the A55's concrete wall attached to it ), the Station now has 4 lines running through it ( although only Platforms 1 and 2 are used for passengers ). Several prominent buildings were demolished to make way for the A55...these included Penrhos College and Colwyn High School both of which have been recreated as far as possible with the limitations of the assets available. Several before and after screenshots on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135.

Now onto Old Colwyn which is another large housing estate area which will need to be created from scratch, once this is complete then progress should be fairly swift through Abergele and on to Rhyl.

Andy

Scenery is now complete through to the outskirts of Old Colwyn, we have old maps which show the original house placements before they were demolished so I have correctly placed the houses that are still there today and added in the roads and houses which were removed to make way for the A55...this also involved re-profiling the terrain levels to what they were pre-A55. The embankments along the promenade, and to the South of the line, had much less vegetation in the early 80s so I have changed them accordingly - now working on the final part of Old Colwyn on both sides of the bank leading up to the tunnel which will also be relieved of it's current vegetation.

Screenshots on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@ ... 0085126135

Andy

Now complete as far as Penmaenrhos Tunnel - this area has been a huge task including removing the A55 and associated bridge ( which breached the original embankment ), replacing the breached embankment and re-aligning the track back to it's 1980s alignment, placing all existing houses ( and nearby roads ) in the correct locations, adding in the roads and houses which were removed to make way for the A55, adding rock faces on Penmaenrhos Head to reflect reality, restoring the entire area to it's comparatively bare past ( ie. much fewer tress and generally more open )....and, for good measure, some waves on the sea. Some screenshots from the Editor, and also some from a test scenario that I ran yesterday, are available on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Now working on the Llysfaen Quarry area, with fewer housing estates to worry about for the next few miles progress should be much faster for a while.

Andy

The scenery through Penmaenrhos Tunnel through the Llysfaen Quarries and up to, and including, Llanddulas village now fully completed - this entailed revising the track configuration through the quarries to cater for what little remained of the quarry sidings, adding in the 2 jetties, adding additional detail to the quarry area, replacing all housing with houses in the right locations for the period, removing the section of the A55 which now runs around Penmaenrhos head up to the point at which it was dual carriageway in the BR Blue period and freeing the track side of a lot of the more mature trees which exist today to give a more open feel correct for the period - more screenshots on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy

Really good work. I appreciate the amount of work that's involved in re-engineering the modern-day back to a previous period, especially when the 'past' has been erased from history under a supermarket car-park.

jetstream wrote:Really good work. I appreciate the amount of work that's involved in re-engineering the modern-day back to a previous period, especially when the 'past' has been erased from history under a supermarket car-park.

Thanks - funny you should say that, I have just been replacing a modern supermarket with an older version at Abergele

Andy

All scenery complete as far as, and including, Abergele and Abergele Station - the station has been rebuilt to include Up and Down slow line platforms......the town ( visible from the line ) has been reconstructed....will be soon be at Rhyl, "before" and "after" screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy

All scenery now complete between Abergele and the River Clwyd bridge on the outskirts of Rhyl - non-existent distant forests removed, housing estates correctly placed for the BR Blue period, chalet parks added, cosmetic work on nearby gardens and fencing/walls, thinning out of lineside trees and bushes to reflect the period and removal of housing estates not in place during the BR Blue period that we are modelling ( early 1980s ). Some "before" ( DTG route version ) and "after" ( BR Blue version ) screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy

Rhyl is now fully complete - this has entailed a complete rebuild of the scenery at Rhyl ( all of the DTG houses/buildings had to be removed ). Nick has restored the track configuration to how it was in the early 1980s which also include the Goods Yard sidings network, disused carriage sheds also included. Fortunately many of the houses and buildings present in the BR Blue period are still there today so I have been able to accurately place the majority of them and have used house types as close as possible to reality within the limitations of our asset box. In some places modern housing estates now cover what used to be Holiday Camps such as Derbyshire Miners Holiday Park close to the station, I have used old photos to cobble together scenery which resembles the camps. There are, of course, some fudges and compromises....photo-realism is a real challenge. Also included is a cut down version of the Ocean Beach Amusement Park which could be clearly seen from trains approaching Rhyl from the West.

We will soon be releasing the Llandudno to Rhyl section to our route testers while Nick and I press on towards Chester....although Nick is quite a way ahead of me with the track amendments required. Should be fairly brisk progress to Prestatyn...............

Some before ( DTG ) and after ( BR Blue version ) screenshots on Flicr including some screenshots from a test scenario that I ran yesterday - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy

Rhyl East now fully completed - this completes all of the built-up area of Rhyl as far as the caravan sites towards Prestatyn. Some new "before" ( DTG ) and "after" ( BR Blue ) screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135 ........they appear after the scenario screenshots.

Andy

Scenery completed as far as Prestatyn ( South of the line ) - Rhyl to Prestatyn was mostly open countryside on the South side of the line in the early 1980s....period maps have been used to include only those houses and caravan parks that were in place in that period. A few more "before" and "after" screenshots on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@ ... 0085126135

Andy

All scenery now completed between Rhyl and Prestatyn as far as Ffordd Penrhwylfa ( North of the line ) - I had to remove all of DTG's scenery as they had simply plonked roads almost randomly and used house and bungalow blocks which were incorrect even for the period that they have modelled, I laid roads as per maps and placed houses and bungalows in correct locations ie. placement instead of plonkment.

Some new screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135 , currently laying roads into Prestatyn, and just beyond, before starting house/bungalow placement.

Andy

The remaining part of the scenery between Rhyl and Prestatyn completed right the way through Prestatyn and just beyond ( North side of the line ) - this was a particularly dense section of scenery with many gardens near to the line requiring detail and many bungalows, houses and caravans stretching right down to the beach, also including a distant Pontins Holiday Camp...so it has taken a while. Now working on the same section to the South of the line which is not quite so dense, Prestatyn Station itself will be the final task in this section. Nick has already altered the track layout, to include what remained of the connection to the Dyserth branch, and has reconstructed the Station. The Station has had to be rebuilt as DTG's version was a solid asset of the modernised station and footbridge.

Some new screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy

Scenery on the South side of the line between Rhyl and Prestatyn fully completed as far as the Ffordd Penrhwylfa road bridge - I had already placed the majority of the houses between Ffordd Penrhwylfa and Prestatyn centre so am already working on fences and walls for the estates having already replaced and re-aligned the lineside fencing. A few new before and after screenshots on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928 ... 0085126135

Andy