Route notes;

Several scenarios have been developed, the first to be released being the most basic; 



Coal delivery 1988...on a fine, clear, summer morning
Set back in BR days, coal trains ran from Hampsford Park to the small coal fired power station at Berkely Point.  The route starts at HP yard and follows the single line to Dorris Junction, the first mile being privately owned line. Hampsford Park tunnel is in a poor state of repair, threatening the future of the branch.  This combined with the Thatcher governments dash for gas makes the future of the power station very uncertain, with closure of the power station and loss of associated coal trains almost inevitable.

After Dorris Junction, the branch joins a four track mainline for just over 10 miles.  This sees a limited stopping passenger service at Dorris Cross, Clarendon and Tippenham stations although passenger loadings are minimal and the stations in rather poor condition.  The mainline itself sees few services at this time other than the occasional through express and returning empty MGR trains.  

The mainline is left at Berkely junction where a steep descent through Berkely tunnel leads to the signal controlling the entrance to the discharge loop.  It is at this signal where the route ends. (It was thought that spending 30 minutes travelling at 3MPH was not really worth includng in a train driving simulation.)

To follow are 

1995 - one of the last ever coal trains to run
2005 - day (fine), dawn (rain) and dusk scenarios




Development notes....

The coal delivery route was the first serious attempt I have made at route construction in BVE, previous efforts either using only copied objects or being very short and specifically designed to test new route building skills. At the outset, the intention was to use all of my own objects although over time a few copied objects have crept in (thanks to the orignal developers for allowing permission via Jim to use these).  However, the vast majority of objects are self-made or at least reskins of existing objects and the practice gained means more complex structures (and landscapes) can be now be built with confidence.

As initially built, smooth curves and switches were not incorporated in this route (as release into the PD was no considered) but were a later add-on.  In hindsight, this was a serious error and the geometry of the junctions now looks a little odd, particularly Berkely Junction.  Nevertheless, the inclusion of smooth curves and switches has improved the look of the route (although the textures used for the track are not very good).

Development on these routes will cease once I have completed the remaining scenarios so that work can be concentrated on the Devizes line (about 30% complete).  No permission is required to alter, extend or otherwise modify the routes being presented.  All uncredited objects may be freely redistributed.

Note - no jerkiness encountered at 1024 X 768 using 1.9GHz AMD Athlon 64 with 1Gb RAM and only slight jerkiness using 1.6GHz P4 with 512Mb ram.  Obviously, performance will depend not just on processor speed and available RAM but also on graphics cards etc.


Any feedback to DENNISLANCE@HOTMAIL.CO.UK 

