Trona Branch - A comparison

[seagoon]

This small post refers to the depiction of the Trona Branch in two sims...Run 8 and TS20XX. It's simply to give some indication of what each version provides.

I have just completed a run from Trona to Mojave in TS20XX and, whilst it gives a feeling for the region and the course of the line is correct, the overall impression I got was that it's over-foliated.
By going into Google Earth and also Google Streetview it was possible to get a good comparison between real-world and simulation.
There is too much saltbush (or whatever it is called in North America - is it sagebrush?)....and it is much too green.
The Pinnacles, a natural geological feature found several miles out from Trona, are badly represented in TS20XX....they look like pointy pyramids and also too big and too many.

In the sim itself, there is inconsistency in the speed limits and grade designations.
One minute the line speed is 40mph, then it suddenly jumps to 50mph without any prior notice, then back to 40.
The gradient changes are shown one minute as a percentage (1.5%, for example) and then it shifts to the European format of "one-in-xx", such a "1:50".

At the same time as I did this little jaunt, over in Run 8 I was taking a light-engine consist from Mojave out to Searles.
The route is far closer to the real world in Run 8 than it is in TS20XX.

The foliage, the geology and even the buildings and line-side infrastructures replicate what is there in reality....even down to a front-end loader near a level crossing that, when the same location is viewed in Google Streetview, shows the same thing (image taken in 2008). Clearly the developers used Google as a reference tool.
The Pinnacles are well represented too....looking far more realistic, I'm happy to say.

The Run 8 lads have done a good job on their version and have provided a true-to-life representation of that area.

[NorthernWarrior]

TS20xx is, or at least was, poorly served with regard to desert and arid terrain textures which possibly explains the greener appearance.

Speed limits are defined by actually selecting the entire section of track you want to apply it to and it's surprisingly easy to miss a bit, resulting in the route default speed briefly popping up.

[seagoon]

TS20xx is, or at least was, poorly served with regard to desert and arid terrain textures ....

Hmmm......can't agree with you on that point, Vern.
Have a look at the landscapes around the Barstow area in the Cajon Pass route in any of the TS20XX versions. Much closer to what should be depicted in the Trona route.

[NorthernWarrior]

I meant originally Bruce. Not sure what era the Trona route dates from.

[seagoon]

I meant originally Bruce. Not sure what era the Trona route dates from.

Oh, right.

From what I gather (from what someone posted elsewhere), the Mojave lines "route" which contains Trona was put together by Otto Wipfel and someone else, so yes, that would be back a few years now.

[NorthernWarrior]

Oh, right.

From what I gather (from what someone posted elsewhere), the Mojave lines "route" which contains Trona was put together by Otto Wipfel and someone else, so yes, that would be back a few years now.

Well Otto (bless him) was never one to be too concerned about realism. Just look at all the routes he butchered over the years putting in return loops everywhere. I also recall him not being too complimentary about Run 8, when he tried it - probably because there was no way to edit what the developers had released!

[seagoon]

Just look at all the routes he butchered over the years putting in return loops everywhere..!

True....so he would have been happy with the Trona end of that branch, with its loading loop.

[westerngy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JJOpmJeDnQ

[seagoon]

I'm thoroughly enjoying operating on this branch-line.

[NorthernWarrior]

I'm thoroughly enjoying operating on this branch-line.

The only snag I have hit is that a couple of the unloading areas aren't working properly, using the industry config from the depot. The little loading area on the wye at Searles and the SVWP Potash sidings at the west end of Trona, show the cars as instantly ready after berthing, but do not change or add the outgoing destination tag. All the other locations seem to be working okay.