Though my diesel modeling is done in HO... my link n' pin addiction is done in V scale. To help acquaint some of you with the abilities V scale brings to the table, I offer the review video below produced by an outside source that reviews one of my link n' pin routes. Have fun! [video=youtube;HxlyhdeqDSw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxlyhdeqDSw[/video]
Great stuff there! I want to get more into this but I am afraid if I do that I will not keep up on other things I need to do! Charlie
If you like more modern stuff... it's available to. Point/Click: Now you're railroading over Donner Pass... circa 1950s!! [video=youtube;gU0mD2fSh4c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU0mD2fSh4c[/video] To me, this aspect of V scale is my weakness: * Point/Click... I'm working over Alpine Pass in a Denver & South Park Mason-Bogie. * Point/Click: I'm running the California Zephyr through Feather River Canyon. * OR... Point/Click... I'm sitting at the throttle hearing the sharp crack of the exhaust of a Frisco Rogers 4-6-0 (built 1879) and shoving hard on the rear of a freight as I help it up the Boston Mountain grade to Winslow, Arkansas! You get the idea! So many interests (HO, many V scale projects... etc!), so little time!!
Hi Jim: You can indeed, with either Trainz or Microsoft Train Simulator. There is a learning curve, but once that's mastered, you can create routes, work on routes, populate routes, et al... until you're cross-eyed. (I know, I've done it/doing it.) First question: Do you want good scenery and trains that can be made to handle surprisingly close to prototype, OR, do you want better scenery but the trains handle more like a model railroad train?
There is some crazy stuff to find on that link, pretty much the entire RR I work over is there. DV-GJ-SLC. I recognized all kinds of landmarks. Thats some neat stuff.
Then Trainz would be your best bet. I'm not familiar with the way Trainz imports/creates terrain based on the "real world" data. In the case of MSTS, I use NED Seamless Digital Elevation Models to create the real world terrain, and it does a pretty good job of replicating the mountains/contours/etc of the earth. I'm sure Trainz has some form of terrain extracting/creating tool as well. I'll bet ol' Derrick can get you filled-in on the way things be with Trainz! Should you take the plunge: Have fun and enjoy the ride!
TRAINZ does have terrain importing tools. Derrick has already mentioned TransDEM way down in his thread on "The Highline." TransDEM itself has a short learning curve, but once mastered becomes very addictive. (Just like anything else in the hobby...) My experience is that the basic, government-supplied resources tend to be in a state of flux. Web-mapping services tend to disappear and re-appear with new URLs, elevation data distribution formats change and packet-sizes have gone from "pick-what-you-need" to "sure, we-know-it's-a-humongous-download-take-it-or-leave-it." Several versions of TransDEM have been issued to deal with this. So far, they have kept up very well and I highly recommend the program. I notice the program's desktop icon is spelled "TranzDEM," yet its "Help...about" refers to "TransDEM," and so does the author's literature (http://www.rolandziegler.de/).
