CNW-Harvard Progress 2012

[eolesen]

Starting up a new thread for work done & released in 2012...

If you haven't already read the earlier threads, start here:

2010: https://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showth...rvard+progress
2011: https://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showth...rvard+progress


Route download site: http://pages.lanehog.com/CNW

[eolesen]

This has been on the punch list for a while... Some of the stations in the current route release were placeholders only until I could get around to building prototypical ones...

The most basic piece missing was at Clybourn... Last year, I built the base of the station, but never got around to the platform shelters. That was a pretty simple add:



While I was rebuilding Deval last week, it was time to tackle the closest station... Cumberland:



As stations go, it's pretty basic. The previous station burned down in the late 50's and was replaced with the pre-cursor to an AmShack... Palatine and Dee Road had similarly simple & boring stations, with Dee Road replaced in 2006, and Palatine in 2001.

The station in Harvard is almost as boring -- a brick 20 x 60 structure with a peaked roof:




It's quite similar to the old station at Edison Park, which was replaced in 2007.

Cary is a variation on the boring theme, except for the cupolo roof, which matches the decor of downtown Cary...



Prior to the 50's, CNW had a couple standard designs for stations, and the one in Crystal Lake pretty much fits:




This design with a 100' x 30' footprint and a bay-window for the station agents was quite common in Illinois and Wisconsin. The stations in Crystal Lake, Woodstock and Rochelle are identical structures, almost down to the brick and trim. Norwood Park, Park Ridge, and McHenry are also similar.

In stations where passenger service didn't survive, the old structures were kept and used for use by the signals & track department:



When Arlington Park's station was rebuilt in 1975, they kept some of the same design elements from the traditional CNW design, i.e. the bay window, but dispensed with the gables and went with a standard hip roof:




Next on the list... custom stations for Arlington Heights, Barrington, and Palatine...

[qballbandit]

Nice work. Love to see your updates.

[metrarailboy1]

Can't wait to add in the interactive crossings! This update seems like it will fix much of the bugs and add in a lot of eye candy. Me like!

[Amtrak71]

Looking good! I cannot wait for the final release of this route! I use the Harvard line to get chicago, since it's the closest (by closest I mean 2 houses) rail line next to my house! I can see Metra Trains right from my bedroom window, and during the winter, I have a clear view!

[eolesen]

One mostly down... lots of decoration missing from the clock tower...




Palatine was probably the most complicated of the three, with the angled building and gabled roof, but Barrington and Arlington Heights are more ornate....

[Rick-MONON]

FYI
This area will be FPS "Terrible"
The car groups in the parking lot severly!!!!!, lower the frame rates.
Looks good, put I suggest you put more low poly and fps vehicles in a line and then copy and paste them and remove all these from your route.
Once you get ALL.... the scenery in, it will be barely drivable.

[apco25]

Just a though but see how the route runs in OR before going back and stripping out shapes for low poly versions?

[eolesen]

Thanks, Rick. I'll take a look at that next week. FPS is all relative -- I'm working with an outdated laptop with pitiful memory and crappy onboard video, so single digits is the norm on most routes... Thats why I stick to gilding instead of playing.

And yes, OR does seem to run far better FPS in comparison.

[apco25]

My point being we should start designing routes that will utilize the improvements that OR is already providing and leave the restrictions behind from MSTS.