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East Kentucky 3 - Screenshots 2
East Kentucky 3: Screenshots Page 2
Jeff Yard to Western Portals
Including Carrs Fork - Danger Fork - Jake's Spur Branches and Buckeye Branch
JEFF YARD Ky
The east end of the completely rebuilt Jeff Yard with the main line heading
towards the depot in the foreground.
Jeff Yard's Eastern interlocking: Trainz spline track behaviour plus a
yard ladder on a curve does not equate to a couple of hours pleasant track
laying! However after about three weeks effort repeatedly relaying what
must be about 30 variations on the theme I have arrived at a visually pleasing
(though overly complex) arrangement. It took four slips - three doubles
and a single - to get an arrangement that the AI liked for all possible paths
through the junction complex. The double main line curves sharply out of
the east end of the yard with the Carrs Fork Branch heading off straight ahead,
This is complicated by the entry to Coal Ridge Fuel's 'Jeff Tipple' and the need
for a double-ended caboose track accessible from all three yard tracks plus the
Carr's Fork track - about half the loadouts on the Fork require shoving
platforms for back-up moves. I also wanted a loco service track in the
yard. The real Jeff never had one (Hazard is just 10 minutes down the
line) but what the heck, I like small loco service areas. Anyone offended
by it's inclusion will find that the 'Object Delete' key in Surveyor is easily
mastered!! The various tracks in the screenshot show a Westbound arriving
on the Main, a couple of Geeps standing on the refuel track and a switcher
meandering down the track to Jeff Tipple on the far left. The tower
operator has come out to wave the switcher thru the interlocking. A row of
old cabeese can just be made out on the track between the switcher and the two
Geeps. Carrs Fork is the shiny track line alongside the loco service spur.
A comparison shot of the same area in EK2 is alongside.
A couple of different angle shots of the pic above showing the track arrangement
and the loco service spur clinging to the side of the high embankment.
Refuelling area again - with improvements: old steam era water cranes replaced
with hydrants and hoses; ATSF logo disguised on the fuel tank, which has also
been sunk in the ground a bit more to represent a smaller tank; lights added;
white safety line along the concrete slab...
Westbound passing Jeff yard.
CARR'S FORK BRANCH including Stacey and Montgomery Spurs
It could be anywhere, but this shot is at Kentucky Prince's Carr
Fork #1 Tipple.
Carrs Fork #1 Loadout.
The small factory just east of Carrs Fork #1, totally rebuilt on EK3.
Westbound on Carrs Fork and entering Jeff yard.
The grade crossing just west of Defiance was one of my favourite screenshot
spots on EK2 - it still is, whether coming or going.
Defiance KY, before and after.
Westbound near Defiance.
Defiance again!
Overview of Defiance with westbound loads snaking past the depot.
Westbound passing Stoker Loadout en route from the Montgomery Creek Branch to
Hazard.
Westbound Conrail again, just after passing Vicco Depot.
Vicco Ky
Stacey Branch train headed back to Hazard passing the end of the Montgomery
Branch.
Speaking of the Stacey Branch, Conrail loads depart Simmon's Tipple.
Approaching Jeff on the Carrs Fork Branch.
A lone switcher drifts downgrade towards the Kodak Coal Company's loadout at
Allock KY, right at the end of the Stacy Branch.
Stacey Branch shots.
Cab view from a Westbound leaving Vicco. The Montgomery Branch is trailing
in from the left, with the lead for the Stoker prep plant running alongside.
Conrail power approaching Solo Tipple on the Montgomery Creek Spur....
... and backing onto the train after dropping a half dozen empties at Solo.
Westbound on the Montgomery Creek Branch.
Three shots at Emmon's Tipple right at the end of the Montgomery Branch.
Passing the small Solo truck dump loader a mile or so down the line from
Emmon's.
Leased power on the Carr's Fork Branch.
BUCKEYE SPUR
The 1 mile long Buckeye Spur leaves the west end of Jeff Yard via
a wye. A trio of CSX locos running light back from the loader take the
east leg of the wye towards Jeff.
Passing the Buckeye Loadout (left) and right at the end of the spur (right).
This is the first area where the Surveyor work was done in TS2010. Still
not entirely convinced that everything about the latest version is good, but
getting there....
Jeff Yard - Lothair including Davidson Spur
Two shots of the western end of Jeff Yard - Westbound
(left) and Eastbound (right). These and all screenshots below are from
TS2010.
Almost the same picture twice. Almost!
Along the river...
Long shots.
A smaller shot than I usually post, but that's just the way it cropped out.
No point looking for this spot on your copy of EK2 because you won't find it!
The Family Line locos are sitting at the Eastern end of Davidson spur, about a
mile beyond the EK2 western portals.
A lost Norfolk Southern train heads westbound off EK2 (left) and onto the new
part of the route to pass through Lothair KY (right).
Around Lothair.
GE heavies take empties onto the Davidson Spur at Lothair.
Hazard KY
Leasers approach Hazard from the south on westbound empties....
... while a local freight departs eastbound.
Hazard Yard - version 852 (seems like!) Yard ladders on curves should be
illegal!
More leased power at Hazard.
Eastbounds leaving Hazard.
A local freight skirts Hazard Yard on the old main before re-entering the main
line at the eastern end of the yard.
Hazard Yard (finished at last!) viewed from the western end...
...the eastern end...
...and the middle!
Lott's Creek - Danger Fork - Jake's Spur
A pair of Geeps pick their way slowly down a rusting spur to drop a single
flatcar while their loaded hoppers wait on the branch.
Along the line on Danger Fork.
Jake's Spur.
Farther out along Jakes Spur
Something different!
Buckhorn Tipple's flood loader on Danger Fork.
Grinding up the final 2% grade on Jakes Spur. In reality this is a reverse
move from the wye at Bulan. A shoving platform should be on the leading
end with the locos pushing from the back, but it's a better screenshot this way
:-)
Power move on Jake's Spur.
Hazard to the Western Portals (almost done!)
East Kentucky Power's Hazard Steam Plant. A
freelance inclusion to give an on-map destination for some of the coal hauled on
the route. It is located just west of the Hazard tunnel.
Couldn't decide which one to post, so here are two shots from Combs Ky.
Sunfire Coal's twin floodloaders at Combs KY - this is the second last loader on
the route: phew!
Loads ex-Combs Tipple crossing over to the Eastbound main.
Westbound near Combs
A couple more shots of the steam plant at Hazard.
Along the line.
Blue Diamond Coal's loader on the First Creek branch, the last loadout on the
route before the western portals.
Long shots...
I think this is the most satisfying screenshot I have ever taken in Trainz,
certainly it is the one I have anticipated most keenly! Exactly one year
and two days after I started the EK2 -> EK3 revisions it shows the Western main
line portals in place. There is a lot of tweaking to do but frankly this
route was starting to get me down, but the 'grind' part of the job is over.
Off to the testers in the next day or so....
Screenshots of Hazard Yard from the session 'Endless Coal' which will be
released with the route on 24th December.
Something a bit different! The proportions look a bit odd because for
legibility the various parts of the HUD have been copy pasted full-size onto a
cropped screencap. Anyway, it's from the 'Endless Coal' session released
with the route and a couple of things are worthy of note. Firstly the time
is nearly four and a half hours into the session, and I swear I have not had to
get the AI out of strife once apart from the one issue mentioned below!
Second thing is the trip meter - 83 miles on a 30 mile route! The train
was the first train spawned by the western portal at about 07.30. 'Edgar'
and the AI took it on it's Portal schedule to Blair Fork Yard. I then used
nothing but AI commands to run around the train, load at Beech Fork Tipple, run
almost the entire length of the route back to EK Power and unload. I had
to manually reversed the train a few feet to clear the switch, then the AI ran
around flawlessly once again and took the train all the way back to the Eastern
Portals. The train was on the route for almost 4 hours, never stopped
moving apart from adverse signals, interacted with six or eight other trainz
(including a three-way meet at Hazard yard) and the AI needed helped out with one simple
move, and that only because some idiot forgot to place a trackmark to allow the
AI to make that one small reverse move at the power station. Great stuff!
Speaking of 'Great Stuff' - there's absolutely nothing wrong with nice freeware!
Thanks Justin and Nikos - great model, great skins!
Action at Dent running the session
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© Andrew Turnbull 2009/10