Train Track Power lines & realistic lookign trains.

[caddahaulic]

I wish we had the option, to make Train Track without the overhead power lines.
In the US the only rail that has that are the inner city metro trains...
I knwo it different in other places around the world but it would be awesome if we had the choice of using different track types...
Ex of wht i would love to build in Cities.. I'd like to use Track with overhead powere for all my inner city stops.. Similar to Chicago South Shore lione, or the Metrolink in St. Louis... Keep them all interconnected. and then at a few places outside city, have transfer (Back to Back) stations with conventional rail & trains (Like AMtrack) to connect to outside world..
Keep ALL my freight treans Big & Heavy & Long.. No power lines, Make them look sorta real.. Have a couple Deisel locomotives and a length of various cars...
It would be the Ultimate if the train styles were "growable".. The length of freight trains grows with the capacity being used.. And the Number locomotives increades with the number cars being pulled.. And if you went ALL out, the types of cars you see depends on the industries that are in your city..
Anyway, thanks for reading my daydream.. I just feel that the rail portion of the game could use a little help. Appearance wise if anything at least..

[tiefling]

So by 'realistic' you mean 'American'?

Because here in the UK, most inter-city rail and a lot of commuter rail is overhead electrified, and most metro systems are third-rail instead. And double-headed diesel freight trains are a rarity; even the so-called 'thousand-tonne flyer' coal trains to power stations can be hauled by a single engine. Having watched half-a-dozen American diesels strain to pull a train up through the Tehachapi Loop, the US system seems very strange to me.

Not saying we shouldn't have all this stuff - but the default offering looks pretty realistic to me as a European.

[Slye_Fox]

The UK only uses overhead wires in built up areas, we have third rail everywhere else.
Also, the underground uses fourth rail, not third.

[caddahaulic]

Yes, More realistic for American... (Sorry if it seemed blunt/off putting or anything, was not intent) That why i mentioned i know it different in other places.. Be great to at least have the Option... Like with RH/LH traffic.... Like we can pick different road types.. Have different rail types so we can make them whichever style we want.
That way all of us on could have it how we need it..
Just a side story, Had a few friends over, been bragging about Cities for some time.. I was showing them some of my cities and all.. One of the first comments mentioned was how come all the bridges are the same and another comment was why do i have soo many subway trams all over the place. (SInce EU trains more closely resemble subway's than US Trains)
It saddened me to have to tell them that the Best City builder only has one kind of bridge, and i told them that the trains are Eu style...
Anyhow..
Thansk for reading, Happy Building...

[tiefling]

Originally posted by Slye_Fox:

The UK only uses overhead wires in built up areas, we have third rail everywhere else.
Also, the underground uses fourth rail, not third.

Overhead wires only in built up areas? Like the West Coast Main Line, the East Coast Main Line, the Midland Main Line, the Great Eastern Main Line, the 'Fen Line' from London to Cambridge, High Speed 1, and Edinburgh-Glasgow via Bathgate?

And only five third rail lines in the whole country are north of the Thames - of those, three are in London.

But you're right about the Tube being fourth rail.

[Slye_Fox]

I've not ridden the overground in nearly a decade, it's probelly changed since I last used it.

[tiefling]

Sorry for the protracted UK rail nerdery! The Overground incorporates almost all the 3rd rail track in North London, as it has absorbed both the North London Line and the Watford DC line. It also still runs one set of DMUs, on the Gospel Oak-Barking Line (the GOBLin). The North London Line has some overhead as well - in parts, the Overground trains use 3rd rail while freight services use the overhead lines.

Other than that, the old Southern Electrics system accounts for the vast majority of the 3rd rail track in the UK, while there's also a small amount on the Northern City Line between Moorgate and Drayton Park.

To return to the OP: There are some excellent assets in the Workshop for US style trains, but changing the appearance of the track and allowing double-heading would probably require some clever mods. (I believe we also don't have trailing power cars or DVTs on the UK intercity train assets for related reasons.)

[Slye_Fox]

There are mods that enable the double headed (1 engine at each end) train feature, but no mod yet that has slave engines (2 or more engines behind one another at the front).
Still waiting for a UK freight train myself, like a BR Class 37.

On the UK rail thing; I've only used the rail in the South-East area (London, Surry & Oxfordshire)

[caddahaulic]

At least we all agree that Railroads need some improvement in some way or another...
You rarely ever see Double Headed trains in the US,. Most are Freight with 2,3 or more locomotives at the head and typically 3-4 km long with several hundred cars.. Check Google Images "Northfolk & Southern" or "Union Pacific" to see some of what US freight trains look like.... Passenger Trains are typically pretty short with one locomotive at head.. (Google Images "Amtrack")... You can se they look much different than the trains in the game..
Whatever the case.. We NEED to be able to have the choice for what style & Type...
Have a checkbox when we start a new map.. similar to the LH Traffic checkbox....
Or Have different rail type selections when building the railway.. Need to have the option though somehow or another..

[tiefling]

Potential terminology confusion: Here in the UK, 'double header' refer to two locomotives at the same end of a train; 'trailing power car' refers to a multiple unit which can face either way with an engine at each end.

[Slye_Fox]

Yeah sorry, got my terminoligy mixed up.
There currently is no mod to enable Double-heading, but you can use the 'Advanced Vehicle Options' mod to set a train to Push–pull configeration.

Also; there dosn't NEED to be such an option for trains, that's what workshop assets are for.
A mod adding different rail types would be nice.

[caddahaulic]

@tiefling... Thanks for the tip.. .I have looked in the workshop several times, but all i can find in the trains section is a bunch of modded rail stations.. I dont see and "Skins" to change the appearance of the actual trains... Thanks for the terminology clarification too...

[caddahaulic]

"NEED" as in workshop assets, skins, game setting, option, mod, etc, etc... Whatever term you want to call it.. Need to have a solution somehow or another...

[tiefling]

Originally posted by caddahaulic:

@tiefling... Thanks for the tip.. .I have looked in the workshop several times, but all i can find in the trains section is a bunch of modded rail stations.. I dont see and "Skins" to change the appearance of the actual trains... Thanks for the terminology clarification too...

Search the 'Vehicles' category instead of 'Train'.

[Slye_Fox]

Originally posted by tiefling:

Originally posted by caddahaulic:

@tiefling... Thanks for the tip.. .I have looked in the workshop several times, but all i can find in the trains section is a bunch of modded rail stations.. I dont see and "Skins" to change the appearance of the actual trains... Thanks for the terminology clarification too...

Search the 'Vehicles' category instead of 'Train'.

^This, the Transport Train tab is just for buildings.

[caddahaulic]

Dooohhh... I'll try that... Thanks.... I assumed train stuff would be in the train section.
Thanks a Lot!!