Natal Mainline v3a available

[Niel Wilson]

A new section of the Natal Mainline route has been released. This release covers the scenic 60km from Pietermaritzburg to Delville Wood as a stand alone route (i.e. it's a separate route from previous releases).

The route can be downloaded from the trainsim.com file libabry, just search for Natal Mainline v3a.

Below are a selection of screenshots from the route.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Neil - well done!

The scenery looks really good - which is a good achievement given the limitations of MSTS.

Are you looking at starting to work in Railworks? You will find it easier and more effective scenery wise (apart from the creation of "original" objects).

[Niel Wilson]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks. The route is actually compiled/ built by Russell Westwood. I just help out with some of the 3D object, rolling stock and support.

We've discussed moving to over to Rail Works but it may take a while to get there (Yes it's my fault).

Just something to note. This route was built using proper 3'6" track rather than generic 4'8". It gives it a more realistic feel.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Well, it really does look great compared to earleir SA efforts - so pass on my confrates to Russell. And pat yourself on the bacl for the 3d objects

I am not running either sim at ths stage - I cannot face reinstalling MSTS after a long break and I need to get a new machine before reinstalling Railworks. Do you have the latter?

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Well, it really does look great compared to earleir SA efforts - so pass on my confrates to Russell. And pat yourself on the bacl for the 3d objects

I am not running either sim at ths stage - I cannot face reinstalling MSTS after a long break and I need to get a new machine before reinstalling Railworks. Do you have the latter?

[Steve Appleton]

Looks great! Very realistic. Just one teeny weeny criticism: from the screen pics, it appears as if the up and down tracks are spaced a little too far apart. Maybe that's an illusion. I lost my TS startup CD, and I'll now have to get another so I can run it and try this route out.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I have TS discs, so when we next touch bases (2014 maybe?!) remind me and I will provide!

[Niel Wilson]

I am not running either sim at ths stage - I cannot face reinstalling MSTS after a long break and I need to get a new machine before reinstalling Railworks. Do you have the latter?

No I don't have Railworks at this stage, mainly due to it's demand to want to have a live internet connection for to be able to play it. This may change in time.

[Niel Wilson]

Looks great! Very realistic. Just one teeny weeny criticism: from the screen pics, it appears as if the up and down tracks are spaced a little too far apart. Maybe that's an illusion. I lost my TS startup CD, and I'll now have to get another so I can run it and try this route out.

Steve, you are quite correct. The space between the tracks is approximately 0.75 meters greater than it should be.

To explain the reasoning for this we need to go back in history to the beginning of the Natal Mainline project. When Russell was invited to build the Natal Mainline for Train Simulator, he wanted to build the route using proper 3'6" track. At the time all the model builders involved dismissed this idea because of the sheer amount of work involved in rescaling all the models to use the correct track gauge. It was also argued that as some of the project files had been lost, rescaling of these would be impossible. The result was that the first 2 releases of the route were done using 4'8" track. Shortly after the v2 release Russell and I figured out a way of rescaling the wheels, bogies and track to 3'6" (this hack involves loads of number crunching). This resulted in v2.36 of the route and later v3a. The re-gauged track pieces are exactly the same as the 4'8" pieces except that that rails have been spaced to 3'6". Note that this change is purely visual and has no effect on how the trains run. A train with 4'8" track gauge could be run on the route but it would look dumb.

In order to get the track spacing correct some 200 plus items of track would need to be rebuilt and approximately 240km of track would have to be relaid. A number of other items (gantries, signals, speed posts, mile posts, platforms etc) would also need editing and/or repositioning as well.

While it’s not 100% perfect it is a lot closer than previous SA route attempts for both Microsoft Train Simulator and Railworks. If we do build anything South African for Railworks, we will be sure that it is to the correct gauge and that the track is correctly spaced.

[Greg Hart]

Loving this route Niel

Cheers

[Steve Appleton]

Hi Niel,
Thanks for the explanation. I understand the reasoning. You are nonetheless to be congratulated on this achievement! The spacing of the tracks is a very minor issue.

As regards Railworks, you do NOT need a live internet connection to play. The internet connection is only needed for Steam's on-line store, forum, updates, add-ons and for multi-player functionality. If you do purchase the app for direct download, do be aware of how much data there is and how long it will take.

Railworks itself is a free-standing application which you theoretically can buy from others besides "Steam". The Steam app merely acts as a convenient sales environment and a host (not the only one) for RW "extras". Do be aware however that Railworks is hugely system-hungry. It takes a long time to load and start up and, when running, needs a fast CPU, lots of RAM and a damn good modern graphics card. It does run on a high-end laptop such as a Dell Latitude with Core-i7 CPU and built in graphics accelerator. I would not like to try it on a basic bargain machine though.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Steve - which is why I have decided to buy/build a new machine!

[Rob Jamieson]

I really enjoy the 2 Natal routes and run them often. As a matter of interest, is anyone working on any new routes for South Africa, for example Worcester to Beaufort West or Merriman to De Aar.

[Niel Wilson]

Rob,

Glad you enjoying the routes.

I'm not aware of any other routes been built at the moment. If you or anyone else can supply us with adequate source material (in the form of cab ride videos, small scales, photos, etc) we'll build the route of your choice. Worcester to Beaufort West would be an interesting choice.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Capital Park to Hermanstad; Capital Park and Hermanstad to Cullinan!

FOTR filmers - a challenge for you!