North Wales Coast - BR Blue

[rfletcher72]

They did it with South Wales Coastal, so it would make (financial) sense for them to do it for the North version.

They were quite open early on that SWC would be extended - Camarthen was even mentioned, but I've seen nothing so far as suggestive for NWC.

As for it making financial sense, how are we to know that?

[acfreeman99]

The regression is going to be a much bigger job than we had originally envisaged as the DTG route contains quite a few errors in relation to today's scenery eg. roads randomly placed in some areas rather than following the actual routes, pre-cast housing blocks used extensively rather than anything approaching accurate placement so the towns require pretty much a complete rebuild, areas where there is housing today created as forested areas. There should be less work required in between the towns and the Chester to Crewe stretch is nicely recreated and will not need a great deal of work. Much of the 80s industry eg. Courtaulds in Flint and Holywell will need to be added but this had been expected - I really was not expecting to have to rebuild all of the towns from scratch though.......on the other hand, it does mean that there will be a very clear difference between today's version of the route and the BR Blue regression. Anyway, Llandudno is just about finished and now moving onto Deganwy and Llandudno Junction.

Andy

[davep]

I admire your tenacity to 'get it right'.
Good luck with the regression.

[UKrichB]

Agreed...attention to detail is very admirable. I do spare a thought for the original creators efforts though. At a minimum they gave you a great template. Really looking forward to seeing this...

[jetstream]

Andy

Your work to date looks excellent and goes along similar lines to the level of 'real-world' accuracy I put into my own routes. While some of DTG's routes have been reasonable representations of reality, some have been abysmal - missing bridges, water courses (real or imagined), land usage etc. The overall track layout is about the only useful thing. I despair at the lack of accuracy, details of which could be gleaned by just 2 minutes looking at Google Street Scene, for example, or an old OS Map.

I'm currently working on a route (for my own consumption) that has already used a DTG route as a template - and it has been almost totally re-engineered.

I realise that DTG and other mainstream route builders are working to a price but sometimes there really is no excuse for some of the blunders they produce. I now treat all of them as nothing more than a canvas on which imprint reality (as far as the sim allows).

Keep up the very good work.

[acfreeman99]

Thanks for the comments - yes, having no commercial time pressure does give a lot more freedom - the route, and area, has very fond memories for me personally so it is a pleasure to work on....in between the built up areas we should be able to move along at a good rate. Colwyn Bay needs major reconstruction to replace what was removed during the work on the A55 dual carriageway, Nick is currently reinstating the Goods Yard tracks there and I will place whatever else was removed when I get there.

Andy

[acfreeman99]

A few final Before and After screenshots of Llandudno outskirts ( I almost forgot to complete this small housing estate ) on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@ ... 0085126135.

Now onto Deganwy - demolition almost completed, as at Llandudno I have had to remove all buildings and roads and several square miles of forest where housing estates should be...will start the rebuilding this evening - Nick has reskinned a station building which should serve well as the building which was demolished some years ago.

Andy

[acfreeman99]

The north side of Deganwy is now pretty much complete - some before and after screenshots on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@ ... 0085126135

The terrain has been corrected to reflect the actual levels, this has removed the false shelves created by DTG on which they placed housing blocks, and all roads relaid to correct placement and levels....the differences in terrain are not that apparent when viewing screenshots but are very apparent in-game. There are also some construction shots of the area around Deganwy Station to show how much re-building is necessary.....the buildings placed above the station are simply plonked at this stage. You might also notice that much of the estuary is missing in the BR Blue version - this is not because the tide is out, as the water decals overlapped the shore by several hundred metres I accidentally removed the water when removing unwanted trees and houses, I will replace the water when the rest of the scenery is completed, a relative simple task.

Nick, in the meantime, is busy adding the Goods Yard at Colwyn Bay and finding a way to fit it into the existing pre-cast station with A55 bridge joined to it....he has also corrected the terrain levels as pre-cast housing blocks had also been used extensively at Old Colwyn.

Andy

[acfreeman99]

The north side of Deganwy is now pretty much complete - some before and after screenshots on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@ ... 0085126135

The terrain has been corrected to reflect the actual levels, this has removed the false shelves created by DTG on which they placed housing blocks, and all roads relaid to correct placement and levels....the differences in terrain are not that apparent when viewing screenshots but are very apparent in-game. There are also some construction shots of the area around Deganwy Station to show how much re-building is necessary.....the buildings placed above the station are simply plonked at this stage. You might also notice that much of the estuary is missing in the BR Blue version - this is not because the tide is out, as the water decals overlapped the shore by several hundred metres I accidentally removed the water when removing unwanted trees and houses, I will replace the water when the rest of the scenery is completed, a relative simple task.

Nick, in the meantime, is busy adding the Goods Yard at Colwyn Bay and finding a way to fit it into the existing pre-cast station with A55 bridge joined to it....he has also corrected the terrain levels as pre-cast housing blocks had also been used extensively at Old Colwyn.

Andy

If above Flickr link does not work then try this - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/

[brysonman46]

Nick, in the meantime, is busy adding the Goods Yard at Colwyn Bay and finding a way to fit it into the existing pre-cast station with A55 bridge joined to it....he has also corrected the terrain levels as pre-cast housing blocks had also been used extensively at Old Colwyn.

Andy

Just to add to the above. I have managed to put the old goods yard in its correct position. You just have to drive through a wall to get to it! Not a problem, as it does not interact with the trains. We did a similar thing at Edge Hill at the top of the Viaduct which, again, was a precast structure, that had a fence across the track at the top!
I have also put back the up slow line at Colwyn Bay station - DTG left just enough space with the precast station to fit it in (you may scrape the edge of your loco on the platform edge, but I won't tell your shed master!)
Both of the above were in place in 1980. The goods yard was removed in 1981 to make way for the remodelled A55 dual carriageway, and the up slow lingered on for a few more years.

Nick

[acfreeman99]

Some more before and after screenshots of Deganwy - currently working on the area around the station, will wait until that area is fully completed before posting more screenshots - http://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/

Andy

[acfreeman99]

Quite a lot of progress around Deganwy since the last update - the area North of the station is pretty much complete from the level crossing right up to the top of the nearby hill ( with Deganwy Castle ), Gannock Park is nearing completion and then I will move on to the area between Deganwy and Llandudno Junction....progress has been a bit slower than expected due to the amount of complete rebuilding required, this can be seen from the latest before and after screenshots - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/. Nick is currently working around Mochdre ( between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay ) sorting out terrain levels and housing estates.

Andy

[acfreeman99]

The area around Deganwy Station is now fully complete, moving onto the Quay area now which was a boat storage area/marina in our period...then onto the housing estates which join Deganwy to Llandudno Junction. More "before and "after" shots on Flickr, also some shots from my first test run from Llandudno to Deganwy - note that Llandudno and Deganwy are minus their Platform signs which will be added once Nick has produced them, additionally I am currently looking at some suitable ( hopefully ) lineside telegraph poles/wires which will enhance the period atmosphere.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/

Andy

[acfreeman99]

All scenery now fully complete between Llandudno through Deganwy to within 100 Yds or so of Llandudno Junction, this includes much of the housing estates which form part of Llandudno Junction town - some screenshots of the latest progress between Deganwy and Llandudno Junction now on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113166928@N08/ the Quay at Deganwy has been regressed to the boat storage yard that it was before construction of the tunnel began ( all traces of the tunnel portal area have been removed and returned to being part of the estuary ) and the barrier crossing substituted for a manual gated crossing. In addition to completely changing the housing which was provided with the DTG route and adding in several missing housing estates, missing road junctions have been added which link the housing estates with the A546 and non-existent forestation has been removed to leave the hillside quite bare with gorse bushes and rocky outcrops.

Before moving onto the detailed scenery around Llandudno Junction I will add some corrected distant scenery across the estuary at Conway. Nick has been battling with the incorrect terrain levels around Colwyn Bay and has been reconstructing Colwyn Bay station itself - the station provided with the route had too much of the modern concrete for the A55 attached which made it impossible to add in an additional running line which was in use in the BR Blue period.

Andy

[michaelhendle]

Hi
I must say you have made a fantastic job with the back dating,your housing estates look more realistic than the DTG ones.
Mike