District Line - Richmond road video

[DrJimi]

I finally got the scenery between Kew Bridge-GUN, CPK-TGN and GUN-TGN finished. Here's a video of the now complete Richmond road from RMD to TGN. It's a flash video hosted on Photobucket, so apologies for the quality. It looks great as a 1024 WMV

[Deleted]

AWESOME!!!

[Tubeboy]

Congratulations sir!

[Deleted]

wow!

i'd pay money just to drive over that bit!

an abundance of applause and congratulations!

[Deleted]

Speechless. A.MAZE.ING!

[DrJimi]

Thanks guys! I agonized over parts of that scenery for a few months trying to get it 'believable' ;D Sadly, that video looses a lot of the detail so here's a few screenshots going WB from TGN...

















There's alot more, but I didn't want to flood the board and paralyze the low-bandwidth folks. For those that are curious, the whole sequence (TGN-GUN-KEW) can be seen on PhotoBucket here:

s2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/DrJimi/Route/Scenery/

The observant will notice there is not yet a detailed rendition of the 'City Barge' in place - but there will be

Best to all, Jimi

[DrJimi]

And a few night-time shots of the same area...













I think I prefer night - with my ageing eyesight I can see the signals better ;D

[Deleted]

I second the feedback from my learned friends: Fantastic! Who needs to buy videos with such a detailed rendition?

The only question I have is when can I go on that non-stopping service?

[Dmitri]

drjimi said:

so here's a few screenshots going WB from TGN...

You're passing off photos as screenshots again...


;D

[tubeprune]

I enjoyed that, particularly the liberal interpretation of the speed limits! Well done.

[Colin D]

Truely an artist Jimi

[william]

drjimi said:

The observant will notice there is not yet a detailed rendition of the 'City Barge' in place - but there will be

Best to all, Jimi

I shall look forward to that, anyway well done, very impressive.

[richardh]

Looks awesome Jimi, can't wait! ;D

[Deleted]

Fabulous! *Sigh* I'm getting all misty-eyed remembering how I used to have a proper job...

I did notice that you entered Gunnersbury at 20mph though... ;D

[DrJimi]

Thank you all! Yes Alan, as TubePrune noted my observance of speed limits was a little liberal here and there. I also wound up a little premature going by the NR speed boards. I have actually become quite good at thundering down the Kew bank at 45, grabbing Brake 3 at the 1st bridge and hitting 15mph just before the GUN speed board ;D I had felt if I drove it all by the book (including stops) the video would be too long. It ended up at 8 mins. Checking my WTT shows RMD-TGN should take 9 mins! So if I'd added 2 stops with 30secs dwell time each, and driven to the speed limits correctly (faster and slower) I'd have been about spot on.
What I find ironic in retrospect is the months of work it's taken to only produce a 9 minute ride! Still, I'm enjoying doing it, and if you folks recognize the areas and landmarks, then I'm very satisfied.
I think the next few sections EB (SBK, RPK, HMS) are going to be a different kind of challenge scenery-wise as we leave the 'country' and approach the 'city' (especially the approach into HMS).

Thanks again - and my sincere gratitude to everyone who has helped me get this far.

[Deleted]

Great work there! I like the clattering over the pointwork.

[Deleted]

Just watched the video Jimi.....it really is increbible!! You should be very pleased with yourself. Everything (Sounds, scenery, cab) is amazing. Well done!!!!!

[DrJimi]

I'm currently creating/testing the activities to be included in the release... You can conclude the route (as is) will be available on UKTS "very soon".

[richardh]

drjimi said:

I'm currently creating/testing the activities to be included in the release... You can conclude the route (as is) will be available on UKTS "very soon".

I'm still not clear exactly where the route will run to/from? Also, I understand it is the over ground sections for now, can we expect the underground sections through Central London in the future?

[Deleted]

I'd assume Rich it runs from Richmond - Turnham Green

[DrJimi]

Tracks currently run from ECT to both EBY and RMD, plus the short OLY road. No Wimbo or HSK roads yet. Full very detailed scenery from TGN to both WB destinations. More to follow in updates as I progress eastwards. Parts of the Picc and Central in place as needed. I'm not happy with the tracks east of HAMS and will be re-laying them (gradients are badly off).

[glasgowdriver]

when is the planned release date jimi looks totally amazing so it does great work!!

[DrJimi]

I'll upload it as soon as I've finished building/debugging the activities an built the kit zips. I can't give a date, but it will be "as soon as possible". Unless something goes badly wrong, I'd hope that's within a week or so.

[Deleted]

Sounds great - I look forward to it!

[dotmatrix]

drjimi said:

I'll upload it as soon as I've finished building/debugging the activities an built the kit zips. I can't give a date, but it will be "as soon as possible". Unless something goes badly wrong, I'd hope that's within a week or so.

A week or so? Wicked. I look forward to it.

[DrJimi]

FWIW, I'm almost done with the activities. After that I'll build a kit and test the install, then upload. My best GUESS right now is it will be on UKTS and Train-sim sometime during the holiday week. I only have so much 'free time' and I'm not going to upload something that isn't 'ready' to meet a date.

I do think you'll enjoy it - at least I hope so. The activities do bring it to life, and you'll get a bunch of them:

3 tutorials, which you drive, that use pop-up messages to give you information and training - including depot working, the main lines and the Railtrack section to RMD.

6 activities that represent a "Driver's first half", where you'll drive a D78 in various train "sets" as per the real timetable. These include realistic AI DL and Picc traffic per their timetable. There will be an Activity README that will help you understand what to do.

A bunch of simple HERE-TO-THERE activities without AI traffic or timetable, so you can run them and look at the scenery, or use the paths to explore the whole line (such as it is right now). Every prototypical move should be possible when exploring (ECM depot, Lillie bridge, Acton Works, sidings, turn-short locations, etc.).

I'm hopeful some others will dream up more activities. The ones included will need the D78 (refurb) and the 73TS trains (available on UKTS and Train-sim). The README will include File IDs for anyone who doesn't have them.

On a related topic, the C69 is close to release - but I need to get the route out first. The Battery Loco and its wagons is also about to get team testing, so won't be much longer.

Thanks to all, as always, for your interest and enthusiasm. Be patient - it won't be long now.

Best, Jimi

[richardh]

Awesome Jimi, you've done an excellent job - one you should be very proud of.

I look forward to driving on the route, and of course, making some activities. Will it be possible to make activities for the Piccadilly (eg: Ealing Common to Hammersmith etc?)

Also, I assume the C stock will be used on the Wimbledon branch once that is completed?

;D

[DrJimi]

Thank you Rich! You could certainly make activities for the Picc, although it's paths only run as far as I needed (N Ealing, S Ealing and the Barons Court 'pipe' are the extremities). The activities include Picc Heathrow, Rayners and Cockfosters services. You could also run the pipe WB to ACT, reverse in Siding 26, then back EB. I will likely extent S Ealing to the Northfields Depot in a subsequent update. I really need to focus on the DL roads before, say, extending to Rayners ;D The C69 can be used wherever appropriate. I seem to recall photos recently showing one in an unusual location (RMD?). BTW, I included the tracks immediately east of ECT so a reverse off pfm 2 to 3 is possible for and ECT-OLY exhibition (AI?) service.

More later - I still have 2 activities to complete and test. One is a little nasty - duff motor on train in front, possible assisting train procedure and some failed signals to pass under rule. (insert evil grin emoticon here).

[glasgowdriver]

absoloutly fantastic jimi sounds brilliant and looks great well worth the wait i have my harddrive ready to accept this into msts god christmas is going be great i have 3 weeks off work and the district line will be out what more could a man want well done!!!!!

[dotmatrix]

wow......................................simply wicked!

*sings* It's simply the best!