engineerboy6561

Nope. That sign is only used by buses that loop through Co-Op City (typically the Bx23 and the Q50). Here's the thing. Co-Op City is divided into sections referred to by numbers (Section 1, Section 2, etc). VIA 1-2-3-4-5 means that the bus serves all five sections of Co-Op City, in order starting at Section 1 and terminating in or after passing through Section 5.

Here's the thing; in a couple weeks or so I might be able to knock something together in SketchUp. However, it's a long way from SketchUp to Trainz and that part I haven't mastered myself so I wouldn't be able to assist you with it.

This is the Bx50, operating as a Limited between Norwood and LaGuardia Airport all times via Webster/Melrose Avs in the Bronx and via Astoria Blvd in Queens. In the Bronx it would essentially supplant the Bx41 LTD service, as it runs LTD 5AM-1AM every day, and at night when it runs local it would supplant the Bx41 altogether. In Queens it would shadow the M60 but make far fewer stops outside the airport. I added a school tripper service to/from Bronx Science because of the number of students commuting there from Astoria, East Elmhurst, etc. [GMAPS]<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200421088698928261912.0004a5e1520b4fc98d36a&sll=40.881568,-73.884732&sspn=0.004818,0.012486&ll=40.825241,-73.896446&spn=0.124701,0.219727&z=12&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200421088698928261912.0004a5e1520b4fc98d36a&sll=40.881568,-73.884732&sspn=0.004818,0.012486&ll=40.825241,-73.896446&spn=0.124701,0.219727&z=12&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Bx50</a> in a larger map</small>[/GMAPS]

Dude, that's great! I have a fair amount of stuff in SketchUp that I'd love to get in-game(a few stations, some track, and subway/rail rolling stock) and I've had little time and less luck. Would it be possible for you to PM me with a guide of sorts to getting stuff in Trainz?

The gap will exist but it won't be a big deal. 8" in-game is a lot smaller than 8" is in SketchUp and you probably won't even be able to see it in-game unless you go out of your way to find it. The thing you'd have to worry about is station length, and BStyles and Green Eggs n' Pelham have made the stations splines so that you can adjust them to whatever length you need.

When and where did you hear that? Not to be rude, but as things stand over on the R179 threads both here and on railroad.net no company has actually picked up the contract yet, and I would assume that specifications such as propulsion would be hammered out between the company building the cars and the MTA after the contract was awarded. I love the Siemens R143 and R160B propulsion and I would kill to see it (or something similar to it) on the R179. That said, it would probably be better if we avoided jumping to conclusions.

It depends on where exactly your issue is; if your problem is going from GMax to Trainz I can't help you with that because I haven't gotten that far with the stuff I'm working on. However, I have found a free working path from SketchUp to Gmax. Go to the Autodesk website and download 3dsMax (as a student you can get a three-year "educational license" for free) and install it. Save your work as SketchUp 7 or below, and use the import function built into 3dsMax to import the .skp file. Export it as a .3ds, and GMax should have no problem with it.

From top of rail to the platform itself is typically 48-51 inches, which translates to 1.25-1.29 meters. As to length, round off to 26 meters and then add 3 up front for clearance. Thus, a 4-car station would be 26*4 +3 = 107 meters long. Top of rail to catenary is about 21.5 feet and you'd want to add another 2-3 feet for overhead clearance. So, do 7.5-8 meters from platform height to walkover floor.

I've finally been able to get my R179 in GMax over winter break; I did something a bit different, though. If you go on the Autodesk website, you can get a fully functional version of 3D Studio Max for free under a three-year student license. This version can directly import all Sketchup files up to SU7 and then re-export them as .3ds files ready for importation into GMax.

Here's the thing with that: The push-pulls they built are beautiful to look at and highly advanced in terms of crash technology, but I can't find any flat-out performance data on them so it would be a good idea to hold off on calling them "great trains" just yet. Also, there is a major difference between a push-pull car (even a cab car) and a multiple unit. Namely, push-pull cars are only responsible for interfacing with the propulsion source but both the motive power and the "brain" of the train are in the loco with the cab car acting only as an auxiliary control center. This means that both the power units themselves and the systems responsible for making the power units respond to the controls in the desired manner are largely outside Rotem's responsibility to make. If you look at railroad.net, it is these things that the Silverliner Vs are seriously struggling with. If we were discussing the procurement of bilevel coaches then I would definitely like to see Rotem bid on it and perhaps even beat out the MLVs. However, their MU designs and products need more time to mature before they're really competitive with Kawasaki and Bombardier, and I'd rather not wind up with the rail equivalent of the Designline order.

I understand your frustration with the M8 order, but I disagree with your idea to award the M9 contract to Rotem as the solution. At the same time that we've been trying to get the M8s in service Rotem has been working on the Silverliner V order. I've been following both procurements on railroad.net, and if you think we have it bad... Their first prototypes arrived about the same time as ours did (early March 2010), but since then Rotem is way behind us; we've been steadily receiving new cars at a little over one married pair a month (I think from 9100 up to 9117 or 9119 have already arrived), testing the #*$&*% out of these cars, and finding a lot of minor glitches. What's more, considering the power complexity required by and CDOT (750 V DC third rail, 25kv-60Hz catenary, and 12.5kv-60Hz catenary) for basic operations and the intricacy of the software and hardware required to make these things run, most of the glitches that have been found are things that make you want to roll your eyes but aren't serious flaws. Rotem, however, sent three initial prototypes over to Philly in March... and that was it until the New Year. The next three cars Philly saw were delivered on 12/30, and they have the plant in their backyard. Not only that, but these cars were having far more serious issues including bumming out going up a hill, spontaneous brake applications, etc. In the initial bidding process for these cars, Kawasaki came out with far higher technical qualifications than Rotem and at an almost even price. Rotem only got the bid on a technicality and (supposedly) some form of back-room agreement involving the location of the Philly plant. Frankly, I want to see Rotem handle at least 2-3 other MU contracts without a hitch before letting them do business with us.

I've been following this procurement on railroad.net for some time now, and I have to disagree with Shortline Bus. These cars are some of the most advanced machinery on the rails to date; they are capable of running off 750V DC third rail in two different positions and two different catenary voltages. They are also almost completely electronically controlled, and they are capable of working off ACSES and MNR cab signaling. With something this complex there are bound to be issues/glitches/complications, and would rather delay their introduction into the commuter fleet than risk having to pull them out of service for an extended period of time once they begin replacing M2s. For the disheartened, just remember that we're not SEPTA. They placed the order for their Silverliner Vs around the same time we placed the M8 order, and they're doing far worse than we are. They only have six cars on property (before Dec. 30th, they only had three) and this is with the plant in their backyard, whereas our equipment is coming from Nebraska and we have at least eighteen on property. These first three cars have very quickly gone from objects of desire to objects of derision as glitch after glitch after glitch pulled them out of revenue service, and some people are calling for an investigation into the process that awarded Rotem the contract.

OK, here are some tips. The basic car length is 85 feet and the width is 126 inches or 10' 6" (although I don't know if that's at platform level or at widest point; my railcar models in SketchUp assume 126" at platform level). The car itself should be 96", interior floor to ceiling, with the roof arch coming out a maximum of 12" above the interior ceiling and the car chassis extending another 9-15" below the floor. Break the body of the car into five 15' sections, each including a window block (12' long and 30" wide), and worry about installing doors a bit later. The car body is also roughly rounded. PM me your e-mail and I'll send you some sample sections with dimensions over the long weekend.

Great luck with that Go here for interior/exterior pictures of the M2s to guide you. The basic shape of the car exterior shouldn't be a problem, but the end caps will have to be done very carefully by hand.

What is your exporting process? Is there any particular reason that GMax crashes when Sketchup-created .3ds files are imported and if so, what is your workaround?

This idea would allow you to do several of these things: the Myrtle Av segment would give Downtown Brooklyn/DUMBO the service you describe, while simultaneously covering the as far as Wyckoff and allowing for a new shuttle train to run Wyckoff-Metropolitan Av. The run east of Wyckoff is untouched territory which would probably do better being in the middle of a line than at the end of one; it may receive only marginal ridership, but the ridership on Main St, in Co-op City, and commuting to/from Downtown Brooklyn would be enough to sustain lesser-used areas. The map shows the whole route; each placemark is a station. [GMAPS]<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200421088698928261912.000498df48203059c3302&ll=40.780386,-73.902712&spn=0.174505,0.172777&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200421088698928261912.000498df48203059c3302&ll=40.780386,-73.902712&spn=0.174505,0.172777&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Service Map</a> in a larger map</small>[/GMAPS]

OK, but I'm a little disappointed by this; it probably would have been better to put a 25Hz transformer on the cars at little or no extra cost per car than to spend millions and wait years for them to install new third rail. Besides, 25Hz capacity would allow M8 consists to run the Meadowland specials as well as operation in and out of Secaucus should that be feasible.

Line: (X) Stations: Bay Plaza Shopping Ctr Pelham Bay Park...........................................Transfer to Buhre Av(at Westchester Av).........................Transfer to Middletown Rd(at Westchester Av)..................Transfer to Bruckner Expwy (at Hutchinson River Pkwy) 6 Av(at Whitestone Bridge) 14 Av(at Parsons Blvd) 20 Av(at Parsons Blvd) Willets Pt Blvd(at Parsons Blvd) 32 Av(at Union St) Flushing-Main St..........................................Transfer to 56 Av-NY Hospital(at Main St) Queens College-Long Island Expwy(at Main St) Jewel Av(at Main St) 73 Av(at Main St) Union Turnpike North(at Main St) Briarwood-Van Wyck.....................................Transfer to Lefferts Bl(at Metropolitan Av) Union Turnpike South(at Metropolitan Av) Woodhaven Blvd(at Union Turnpike) 80 St(at Union Turnpike) Cooper Av(at Myrtle Av) Fresh Pond Rd(at Myrtle Av) Wyckoff Av(at Myrtle Av)..............................Transfer to Knickerbocker Av(at Myrtle Av).......................Transfer to Central Av(at Myrtle Av)................................Transfer to Broadway(at Myrtle Av).................................Transfer to Marcy Av(at Myrtle Av).................................Transfer to Washington Av(at Myrtle Av) Borough Hall................................................Transfer to This should take at least half the load off the Q44 and the Q50 as well as providing direct subway access to Co-op City and Monsignor Scanlan HS in the Bronx as well as Queens College and New York Hospital in Queens. The connection to the should make things easier for Queens commuters while the Myrtle Av portion can supplement the and relieve the B54. Finally, the direct connection to Borough Hall gives an alternate route for Queens commmuters who work in Downtown Brooklyn.

I'm using a trial version of Sketchup Pro to export some train cars I'm working on to .3ds, but GMax crashes whenever I try to import the 3DS files. Any ideas?

B5- Limited-Stop service via Ft. Hamilton Pkwy/Linden Blvd between JFK Airport and New Dorp SIR Station in SI. Last stop: 4 St/New Dorp Ln Layover on 4 St 1st stop: 4 St & Rose Av Rose Av & 3 St 3 St/New Dorp Ln 4 St/New Dorp Ln New Dorp SIR Station Clawson St/New Dorp Ln Hylan Bl/New Dorp Ln Hylan Bl/Otis Av Hylan Bl/Midland Av Hylan Bl/Jefferson Av Hylan Bl/Seaview Av Hylan Bl/Burgher Av Hylan Bl/Old Town Rd Hylan Bl/Clove Rd Hylan Bl/Steuben St Hylan Bl/Fingerboard Rd Fingerboard Rd/Narrows Rd Gowanus Expwy/92 St Gowanus Expwy/86 St Ft Hamilton Pkwy/Bay Ridge Pkwy Ft Hamilton Pkwy/Bay Ridge Av Ft Hamilton Pkwy/62 St Ft Hamilton Pkwy/60 St Ft Hamilton Pkwy between 49 and 50 Sts Ft Hamilton Pkwy/New Utrecht Av Ft Hamilton Pkwy/39 St Caton Av/McDonald Av Caton Av/Coney Island Av Caton Av/Ocean Av Caton Av/Flatbush Av Linden Bl/Bedford-Noststrand Aves Linden Bl/New York Av Linden Bl/Albany Av Linden Bl/Utica Av Linden Bl/Kings Hwy Linden Bl/Church Av Linden Bl/Rockaway Av Linden Bl/Van Sinderen Av Linden Bl/Pennsylvania Av Linden Bl/Van Siclen Av Linden Bl/Ashford St Linden Bl/Fountain Av Linden Bl/Crescent St Linden Bl/Eldert Ln Conduit Av/149 St All stops inside JFK Airport The B5 would run 24/7, with Limited-Stop buses running the full route and local service between Bay Ridge/86 St and Brooklyn General Postal Facility 5AM-1AM. Late nights local buses would short-turn at Hylan Bl/Steuben St with a connection to the S78. Two school trips would arrive at New Dorp HS at 7:43AM and 7:48AM, and three would leave at 2:23, 2:28, and 3:03PM. The route would be split between three different depots: Jackie Gleason and Spring Creek would handle local service, while JFK and Castleton would handle limited service. The line would have 2.5-minute headways during rush, (every 5 minutes LTD), 5-minute headways middays (every 10 minutes LTD) middays and 5AM-8PM weekends, 8-minute headways (every 15 minutes LTD) 8PM-1AM, and 30-minute headways 1AM-5AM.