Sulitjelma Railway - New Route.

[ka959]

To anyone who hasn't yet downloaded it, then do so, and try it out. It's fantastic. The scenery is grand, and very realistic indeed. As long as you have the appropriate scenery and items listed in the ReadMe file, and the US version of Rail Sim, or the Cajon Pass add-on, then you should be OK.

My computer is a Dual Core machine with 3 Gigs or more of RAM and a 512 Mb Nvidia video card. The route performs very well on my machine, apart from a wee bit of stutter here and there, but it's hardly noticeable. More about the scenery - it's so good, and gives you the feeling of actually being in an environment such as that area in Norway. The only drawbacks would probably be the maximum speed limit of 35 mph, with lower speeds sprinkled around the route, like 15 mph over truss bridges, and through stations. Some houses and a bit of life here and there, would have made it a little more realistic, but it's still very good. Steep grades abound, but the Class 166 DMU takes them in it's stride. The tunnels are really long, but don't take up the entire route either.

It may have been more appropriate to have a Hawthorne-Leslie 0-4-0 tank loco and three or four older carriages used, rather than the DMU, as this may have looked more interesting. The grades peak at 1 in 40 and there's some 1 in 50 grades as well, but this little steamer may well handle it. I have yet to try it and see, but it'll be interesting to say the least ! Get a copy of this fine route, and try it out, and let others here know what you think of it. I, for one, would be interested in knowing what others think.

Regards...

Jim McDermott

[bigvern]

Thanks for the kind words Jim.

The speed limits were a shot in the dark as there are very few records of the real line. I figured as the prototype was narrow gauge the trains wouldn't go much faster than 35 MPH anyway. I did toy with setting a slightly higher speed limit but felt the route deserved a leisurely pace.

I wanted to distribute with default rolling stock to minimise potential problems on install. However I agree, it is crying out to be operated by small steam locos that add to the challenge, rather than the Class 47 or DMU which require a quick blast of power then coast...

Feel free to create some scenarios and upload!

[TheTazman]

Hi Vern

I will have to download this over the weekend. Is there any scnearios included please?

[bigvern]

Yes there is a free roam scenario plus three others using default UK stock.

[oar85]

Can't believe that you have made a Norwegian route from my home town without letting me know of it! I haven't downloaded it yet but I will do that tomorrow.

[bigvern]

Hope you enjoy the route Oystein - I've also responded separately to your PM.

[moranb]

I downloaded and ran the route this evening and can only endorse what other have said. I have to ask how long it took you to place all those trees and bushes and get the overall effect to be so real. So far I have only managed to scenic about 40 miles of the route I am building - only 120 more miles to go!!

I hope the new route when it emerges in RS format will be of similar quality - at least in the West of Ireland, the scenery is more barren with fields and stone walls rather than trees predominating.

BFM

[bigvern]

It took me around 10 weeks for the KRS version (compared to about 6 weeks for the TRS version). Average about 1.5 to 2 hours a day, though some longer sessions. It also helps that the route passes through 3 fairly long tunnels which meant the scenery could be optimised in those areas not in the immediate line of sight!

TRS is quicker because the copy and paste function, both for terrain textures (feature unfortunately non existant in KRS) and scenery objects is much more efficient than KRS. Transdem for TRS is also comparatively quicker than plotting and saving markers in Google Earth.

I think I would probably burn out these days on anything longer than about 40 miles, so admire your determination in pushing on with Dublin to Cork.

[RSAdam]

I think its also worth noting that you have alot more experience with TRS route building, which will be a big factor in production time scales. A member of the RSDL team could knock out the same route much faster simply because we have been using the tools for two years and know exactly how to get the best out of them

A situation we are still very keen to do our best at passing on such knowledge to the online community at every opportunity we have.

[RSderek]

Not sure all the members of the RSDL team could do it quicker...
Adam have you finished Shanklin yet?

For sure though some of the tools in RS could do with a little more functionality.
This and a number of other subjects on route building are being discussed at RSDL towers.

regards

Derek

[bigvern]

Glad to hear some elements of the route building are being looked at for future.

Anyhow, in the meantime I have decided to switch inital production of the Irish route from TRS to KRS, in part at least due to the very positive feedback the Sulitjelma route has received from the community.

Now what we need is a nice Irish diesel loco and some Cravens stock to go with it!!

A Google Earthing we go...!

[msdejesus]

Glad to hear some elements of the route building are being looked at for future.

Anyhow, in the meantime I have decided to switch inital production of the Irish route from TRS to KRS, in part at least due to the very positive feedback the Sulitjelma route has received from the community.

Now what we need is a nice Irish diesel loco and some Cravens stock to go with it!!

A Google Earthing we go...!

That's fantastic news, thank you very much!

Manuel