Rail3D*

 

Severn Valley Railway

 

Severn Valley Railway

I think it may have slipped out I’m working on it :-)

 

Why the svr?

The svr is less than half an hour’s drive from my home, and I do volunteer work there most weekends. Hence I can get all sorts of information, photos, examine the actual workings, and so forth. The svr also has an interesting mix of station layouts, signalling and rolling stock, and is 16 miles long, making it very long in terms of preserved railways!

 

What will it include?

My plans are to attempt to include over time:

  • Accurate track layouts. os Maps and Google Earth, as well as on-site visits to double check the really fiddly bits, should make this fairly easy. I also have gradient profiles (that don’t always seem to quite match up with what’s really there, but hey…)
  • Realistic Signalling and working Signalboxes for the whole line. As I’m entering the signalling school soon, and have access to the entire set of box diagrams, I intend to try and get every signal and box fully functional. I also hope to sneak in some box visits to photo the real diagrams, block shelves, and so forth. However, I dread setting up the Bewdley Boxes and Kidderminster!
  • Real timetables and movements. As well as the public timetables, I can access information on movements after hours (e.g. shunting the dining trains in the evenings and loco swaps)
  • Scenery based on the real thing. I see a few trips with my camera coming up, and some time playing with Google Sketchup and the editor. Examples so far include Oldbury Viaduct and some of the more awkwardly angled road overbridges. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get around to modelling the entirety of Bewdley
 

Current Progress

As of 03/01/2010: All trackwork from Bridgnorth to Highley in place, as well as signals. Custom signals have been made for most of the ones that need it - such as Bridgnorth’s 5-armed inner home. The major problem is Platform 1′s starter - this has a route indicator, and I have no idea how to animate it properly.

Terrain is in place from Bridgnorth to past Eardington. Road bridges, tunnels and crossings are sneaking in over time. Oldbury Viaduct has been modelled based on the real thing - however, upon completing the model, I realised it’s on a curve, and models imported from Sektchup don’t FitToCurve

I still have the rest of the line to Kidderminster to do; a whole lot more terrain; rivers, roads, towns, villages, fields and forests to display; stations to model, buildings to photograph - such as the Engine House and Bridgnorth Shed (although a corrugated steel texture on a box would work for the latter…). By the time I’m done, pigs will be flying (again)!

Wait, what do you mean the flying pig’s back out already?!

 

MRG 26/06/2013 14:47:31