Creation Sharing Diary Of Creating A Route - Toronto Subway Opening Day

Okay, one more diary update before I start preparing for my business trip. I was able to replicate the acoustic ceiling tiles that were originally in the centre area of the platform, and added a few other details, and while there's still some detail work to be done (modelling the emergency power cutoff panels at the ends of the platform, and seeing if I can get working analogue clocks, for instance,) I'm happy to say the platform-level experience is getting rather immersive!

No new progress on the Gloucester train, it's really just parked there for eye candy.

Truth to tell, I'm kind of hoping that Dovetail might provide some kind of super-basic template rail vehicle for us to work off of, by the time I'm ready to work on that part of things intensively, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Now I really need to step away from the computer after tonight, or I won't even get my luggage packed!

 

on which software do you model your train?

 

I'm making it in Blender, version 2.80.

 

Why not Blender version 3.X or 4.X?

 

quite simply, I've been using 2.8 for years, and while I would like to learn the ins-and-outs of the more recent versions, I felt this project, as a whole, would be complex enough for me to benefit from leaning on my familiarity with the older version. After all, it works well enough.

 

Well, here I am in the middle of a long weekend, and back from that business trip. I've been processing some unrelated bad news, and It's been too hot for anything too ambitious, so I've just been doing a bit more model work on the Gloucester (GCRW G-1, if you want to get technical.) I like the way Blender's glass shader looks, but I wonder how close I can get to replicating the look of them in the Editor. The headlights are the window to a loco's soul, after all. Well, apart from the windows, I suppose.

 

As far as I know, glass shader with no refraction (which is what you would usually want for a glass plane) is just a Fresnel blending between full transparency and full reflectivity so there's no reason why it shouldn't work here. Though you might want to add a bit of tint to this just to make sure the glass is even visible head-on.

Here is an example from UE5:


The real challenge though would be getting a nice and sharp reflection onto it.

 

Just wow. A huge thank-you to moofers#8902 for pointing out this excellent utility! this will save me so much time in placing and aligning roads and buildings! Obviously in my case, many of the buildings will have been built too recently to act as guides, but even so!

(Here is how the proxy buildings look around the Berwick Ave. tunnel exit, for instance.)

In other news, I've been working with the Gloucestershire Archives in the U.K. to see what engineering drawings by the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company we can dig up on the G-series subway cars, and should have some news by the end of the week. It is my hope to produce the most detailed and accurate model of the Gloucesters that has ever been made for a train simulator. (For one thing, if I don't do it, I can't imagine who else would. )

 

Well, over the course of the last couple weeks I managed to get copies of many of the original design drawings for the GRC&W Co. G-1 subway car! I'm not at liberty to show any of them on this forum, but here's a look at one of the passenger seats (haven't done the cushions yet,) now done entirely to spec!

Those curves on the base took me longer to get right than I'd care to admit. 77 vertices total. This has all made me very optimistic for the future of this project, provided I can work out how to spawn (or place) my subway cars (A&B unit semi-permanently coupled pairs of cars, actually) at whatever stage of completion they happen to be at in any given moment, for testing things like coupling, and the human interface stuff (windows, doors, throttle movement etc.) and eventually simugraph stuff for propulsion and braking. I suppose I just don't have a clear notion of the workflow. Hopefully I don't need to build the full network or make a timetable first, as that could get complicated fast.

On a personal note, I've realized today that I need to spend most of the labour-day long weekend getting my sleep schedule on track before it makes me sick, so my output might not be what it otherwise would. Stay safe and healthy, everybody!

 

Pity they don't make subway seats like this anymore... those Dunlopillo cushions were comfy!