Comprehensive Traffic Light Package Coming Soon.

[yovinnie]

Hi All,

Here are few screens of a project that I have been working for quite some time. In the next few weeks I expect to release a comprehensive package of US prototype traffic lights to offer for route developers and those who enjoy customizing thier personal route copies

We have as many miles of roads and streets in the sim as we do rail (some route even have more) and I am aiming to offer more details that will enhance their appearance.

The intended offering will contain well over 500 shapes so I am seeking beta testers to review and test a sampling for each configuration

I intended to release the traffic lights in at least two packages the first will contain lamp heads skinned yellow, green and yellow with black visors. (They are textured as such so that any signal housing colour combination can be use on the same route). All models were developed from manufacturers and State DOT plans.


Each will have the following mount options:
Span Wire Mount
Mast Arm Mount (with Pelco Astro-Brackets)
Pole Mount
Rigid Side Mount

Lamp heads will be 8", 12" and combination 1288, 128812.

I have created lamp heads in 3, 4 and 5 segment ad 5 light cluster combinations and some shapes will have back planes attached.

(Back planes will also be offered as separate objects)

Span wire poles with span wires attached will be offered in 36 to 108 foot lengths, in 12 foot increments. Lengths greater than 60 feet will feature guy wires.

Mast arms are will be offered in lengths between 25 and 54 foot, they will be available with and without luminarie arms, and will feature the same street lamp, (using tapered arms) that Joevet and I developed, and he used in the LSRC scenery upgrade

Signal heads will be configured as:

One way rigid mounted, with bracketing configured for right and left mounting

One and two way for the mast arm mounting

One, two, three way for pole mounts. Pole mounts will feature shaped bases for the 8" and 1288 lamps and transformer bases for the 12" lamps.

One, two, three and four way configurations will be offered for span wire mounting.

Lamps will be "lit" in various combinations, including left and right turn arrows on the appropriate signal heads

Span wire mounting will make use of disconnects between the lamp assemblies and the span wire. "loops" and are "alphaed" on the disconnect shapes to simulate the signal cable, there are double loops and a single loop shape to be used at the end of the circuit.

The disconnects are separate objects, to be aligned parallel with the span wire and the lamp head is simply place at the disconnect and rotated in to position. Aside from the detail, this will help a developer "find" the wire when placing them.

With the initial release, pole and rigid mounted two segment pedestrian signals will be avilable, again as static objects.

There will also be a few controller boxes made available.

I am finishing up an offering of beacons, both in pole mount and span wire configurations, these are animated, flashing objects.

I have chosen to make the shapes as static objects due to the limitations of the car spawner and its inability to interact with them. However if there is a demand from the community I could offer lights that cycle in the future.

Actual release timeframe depends on the feedback from the beta testing and me not dropping any more laptops on the ground.

Due to the amount of California content available from payware and community offerings, the second package will be California Prototypes, featuring black lamp heads, tubed visors and the curved California mast arms.

I can not thank Jovet enough for his mentoring and honest critique through out this project, with out his consultation, instruction and friendship this would not have ever gotten off of the ground. I also can not thank all of the object and route developers who have offered their content to us over the years, to them I hope they will find this project most useful.

You may contact me through the information in my profile if you are willing to assist with beta testing,

Vinnie Lanza
Cambridge, ON

[jovet]

Great stuff, Vincent!

[hiball 3985]

Awesome, what a great add on.

Jim

[Literalman]

old-time traffic lights?

Thanks for the traffic lights! Could you include a few antiques? I'm building the Blue Comet Lines (real CNJ, PRR, and PRSL) lines set circa 1940.

[yovinnie]

Old Time Traffic Lights

Thanks for the traffic lights! Could you include a few antiques? I'm building the Blue Comet Lines (real CNJ, PRR, and PRSL) lines set circa 1940.

I recall a lot of the signal heads in NJ are horizontal mounted on "trombone" style bracket poles. (which I do have the dimensional drawings for)

However for the 1940's, I'm wondering if something more along the lines of the Crouse Hines 4-Way model, which would be a snap to reproduce, would suffice.

If you will search for images on the "Crouse Hines 4 Way Traffic Signal", you will see examples of what I am thinking about.

I just want to be sure we are talking about the same style,

let me know,

Vinnie

[Noisemaker]

Excellent! And what are the poly's like on these? They look so detailed. As for cycling, who would have time to take notice while driving a high speed train, or concentrating on switching?

Keep up the great work, and thanks for your diligence.

[yovinnie]

Excellent! And what are the poly's like on these? They look so detailed. As for cycling, who would have time to take notice while driving a high speed train, or concentrating on switching?

Keep up the great work, and thanks for your diligence.

Thanks!

Shape Viewer 2.2 shows counts in the 200 -1250 range per configuration. A typical three segment signal, (RYG) Pole Mounted, is 380. a 4-way Spanwire Mount with 2 3-segment signals and 2 4 segment signal, with 6 lamps "lit" comes in at 1220.

Vinnie

[Literalman]

Crouse signals

You guys obviously know way more about traffic lights than I do, and most of the pictures I've collected from route building don't have closeups of traffic lights, but the Crouse signals in the lower right picture on this page look right to me.

http://www.crouse-hindstrafficsignals.com/

Thanks for your efforts!

[yovinnie]

Project Update

Hi All,

Here's an update on the progress of the traffic light package and a few more screen shots of the different shapes that will be available,

All of the 1260 lamp heads have been made in to .s files, and I have added in Flashing Yellow/Red/All Way Stop animated shapes I've also made up some bracket arms that will be offered in 22, 18 and 14 foot span lengths.

I have some work left on the mast arms to finish up and there are a couple different control boxes I have yet to texture. Once those are wrapped up and I have written the documentation, they will be ready for beta,

Vinnie

[hiball 3985]

They are looking great, Very impressive work.

Jim

[Mr Badlands]

Very VERY nice!

[trainrcool]

thouse are amazing. any plans on having the lights on sideways cause in alberta canada we have them sideways across.
over all great work keep it up.

[yovinnie]

thouse are amazing. any plans on having the lights on sideways cause in alberta canada we have them sideways across.
over all great work keep it up.

Thanks for the feedback,

I don’t see why not, after I get this current package through beta I plan on working on a second release that is State/Provincial specific.

Designing Horizontal signals and the supporting Alberta specific poles/mounts won't require that many new shapes, so I'd be happy to include those in that second package.

California specific shapes and textures are tops on that list due to the available content and my awareness of routes that are in development.

Ontario prototypes will likely be added in that release as well. (I may even add a set of Red Light Cameras)

I will also make up a set of Crouse Hines standard 4-way signals for those modeling period routes.

If for nothing else other than my sanity, there are a couple of other projects I'd like to move off my to do list before coming back to the traffic lights.

Thanks again,

Vinnie

[trainrcool]

cool well you did an awsome job on thouse lights.

[amtrakmattburb]

Can't wait. Are you going to do trombone arms that have one pole and a couple of wires going from that pole to the support because at some Detroit intersections have signals like that. Below is a picture of a real signal on Google Street View.