The Web Page Project - The Sim

	The Winchester Paston & Portsmouth Railroad Corporation


			Auran's Trainz (computer game)

		I created a single baseboard in Trainz to test the track arrangement at the new yard I was planning for Winchester. There was enough room on this board to include the town of Oxmore, and this let me operate a short mine turn train out and back. I was able to take what I learned from here and modify my track plan, and I have also determined that I will stick closer to the real Gore, VA, by declaring the mine at Oxmore to be a played-out coal mine which now produces dry sand from the crushed sandstone overburden. This in fact will make a short mine turn operated by a switcher based in Winchester much more plausible, as the sand mine is unique, whereas there are several other coal mines along the division, and most likely they would all be switched by a much larger local. Below that, there are screenshots of a scenery diorama that doesn't actually represent any portion of the WP&P; it is just a backdrop for my reskinning work.
		M I N E . T U R N . T O . O X M O R E
		Winchester yard is bisected by Interstate-81 on the southern end of the city. The Culpeper Cutoff joins with the mainline just beyond; our train is arriving from out of Culpeper staging area. Here our train is passing the yard tower and is about to join the single track main, which is beyond the small passenger depot. The climb to Oxmore starts even before the switch points.
		The main is ours! (Okay, so there actually aren’t any other consists in the scenario this time out, but still it’s cool to have control of the line) Crops are looking good this year; can’t wait to see some apple blossoms! On the “real” model railroad, the corner between Winchester and Oxmore is just a one-turn helix, but with the extra space in Trainz, I decided to dress this up a bit. I need some extra bents for the bridge.
		Approaching Oxmore (fictional town modeled after Gore, VA) the passing siding was extended across the rapids at a later time using an identical set of spans. The best railfan spot in the world is on that parallel road bridge… Individually planted cornstalks (which need to have their alpha masking corrected to eliminate the white halo) animate this tracking camera view, rounding the bend into Oxmore station.
		Oxmore is in an unfinished state, but hopefully it looks like the Virginia-West Virginia border that it is. The divide is just west of the station, where the tracks disappear (and end for now) through a deep natural cut called Albion Run. At Oxmore station, we cut off from the train to run around it, backing down the siding to get behind the caboose. We’ll be shoving coal cars towards the mine in a few minutes.
		Through the switches again, and then across the twin brdges one more time… didn’t I say that this bridge was just the best place for railfanning? Now we’re behind our caboose, and the NW boxcar in front of that will need to make it to the team track, but that can come later. As this is all done on a single board, the ridge is a view block hiding the yard at Winchester which is on the other side.
		Getting late in the day as we get the hoppers spotted. Yes, it is an NW caboose on our train, but that’s because NW merged WPP in 1967, very shortly after this RS-1 was repainted into its handsome scheme.
		BELOW: Bridge and Yard diorama, does not represent actual WP&P
		Life is busy in the yard, as the two big six-axle deisels in N&W blue wait their turn. Meanwhile, RS-1 number 42 is busy switching.
		The blue passenger train is ready to leave the station, and we follow along as it gets going.
		Coming around the bend, we see a small rural farm and dirt road, with a large trestle approaching.
		The stream rushes in the gorge below as we begin to cross a very tall trestle.
		A few more shots as we cross the bridge
		And then, the train completes the loop and we are back at the yard. There is some unfinished scenery in the background.

created by Michael R. Rountree