UP-Gila Sub

[eric]

Placeholder station in downtown Tucson...



@Jean, the availability of 3DWH buildings for Tucson is somewhere over 600, but as mentioned in previous discussions, it's not practical to try and use them due to enormous poly counts and the use of Google imagery via non-square textures.

I've already done about a dozen buildings just for the downtown area, and there will be at least another 60... I've got more than enough warehouses, garages, etc. to fill in those types of areas from my two midwest routes, but downtown areas from Wisconsin tend not to fit very well in the Southwest.....


I'll also need to build out a couple dozen variations of homes, as my earlier pack was suited for the upper midwest... Not a lot of brick or siding down in the desert, so it's time to create some stucco and tile roof houses... Not rocket science, but it's certainly time consuming.

There will also need to be a bunch of different mobile homes, as there are several parks which back up to the tracks... Those are a little easier to make... a few color/siding variations, some with a carport ,some without.....

[chefmike07]

At last someone who is building Amtrak Tucson. I live directly across the street from Amtrak. If I can assist your project do not hesitate to contact me. I have a Canon T3I and will be glad to help with any pictures and info you may need. My name is Mike. I am a disabled seinor but will be happy to help with whatever I can do. chefmike07@yahoo.com

[jrossi]

Hello Eric,

Was wondering how the Sunset route is looking and if there is anything that I can do to help or test? PM Me.

[eric]

Haven't been working on it too much, but it is up in the rotation soon...





Those shots are using Google Earth Terrtex..

[jrossi]

Looks good Eric, thank you for the update.

[goneon66]

I used to dispatch this route. let me know if I can assist you in any way...........

66

[jrossi]

I will admit, we almost went out to track side every weekend before the twin boys came into the world. Eric you have done a great job and I can't wait to see this route in action to make it feel being back at track side.

Later,
Jeff

[eric]

It's back in the rotation... Phase 2 now underway, which is Picacho to Maricopa.

As of tonight, the main from Picacho to Casa Grande is done, which adds an additional 20 miles of track to the 40 already in place. It's a mostly straight shot out to Maricopa, with a bunch of sidings in and around Casa Grande, and several crossovers.

[eric]

I'm now on the outskirts of Maricopa, 85 miles start to finish and all of it double tracked plus sidings...

If anyone has a timetable or a track chart they'd be willing to share, I'd appreciate it. I've been meaning to ask one of my UP neighbors, but would rather not put them on the spot for something they might get in trouble for sharing.

[bandorr2000]

Not sure if one of these has the area you are looking for: http://multimodalways.org/docs/railr...rack%20Charts/

[defect_detector]

If anyone has a timetable or a track chart they'd be willing to share, I'd appreciate it.

PM me your e-mail address.

[eric]

Next up in the batter's box...



I decided to start working from the west end for a while, since this is going to get really boring between Mohawk and Gila Bend...

[Komachi]

Oh AWESOME to see this is still a thing being done!!! I've been wanting a route to stretch the legs of the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited.

[eric]

I normally try to time my sprints to match a calendar month, but things are a bit off right now. I'm a week into this iteration, and so far there are 40 miles of track added to the west end of the route.

The section between Fortuna and Wellton via Dome is a lot of curves and elevation change, so I won't be tackling that right now.

Instead, I'm going to take the easy-squeezy stuff between Wellton and Estrella, including Gila Bend.

I've already done 23 miles to Mohawk, and it's "only" about 75 miles to close the gap to Estrella. While that sounds like a lot of track, the reality is that there are two 10 mile and two 15 mile stretches of straight-as-an-arrow alignments (tailor-made for my Tangent tool) , plus a couple of 3-5 mile sections. All in all, about 25 curves. Wellton to Mohawk was done in the last two days, and my focus has been on running the long straight sections first, and then working out the curves.



Whether or not I can get all that done in the next 15 days is yet to be seen, but if I can keep up the pace, I may be able to have the entirety of Tucson to Yuma finished by the end of the year (assuming two more sprints).

[delamate]

Thanks for your continued work and the good news!

John