Some of you may be aware that I started building a new Sydney tramways route back around Feb/Mar.

Just a bit more of an update on the 'Sydney Tramways - North Sydney Lines'.

I suppose by now everyone has thought that this route has died - far from it.

Over the last six months or so I've been extremely busy with work and domestic matters and other (more important) MSTS matters.

However, I needed a change of fresh air - so, last week I managed to get almost a full weeks worth of work on this route.

So, it is progressing, slowly I admit, but I'm hoping to get it out sometime early in the new year, probably late January, but don't hold me to that date.

The hardest part will be getting a satisfactory result on the three central 'spine' tiles - these will be around 1000-1200 objects per tile, as it is one of the densest scenery areas, with the greatest amount of tram track and tram infrastructure. I'm going to do my best to try and limit it to a max of 1000, but will go to 1200 max if I really have to !!!

Attached is a 'screenie' showing the current progress:

All track is laid and all terrain DEM'ed

The Green sections show where the scenery is finished, and the other areas are just track on bare ground - for the moment!!!



The numbers in rectangles i.e. 6/58 show the closure dates of each section of line. The Mosman line closed in 11/55, and as most of it covered two of the densest scenery tiles, has become a casualty and cannot be included in the route. I will have to wait until I get down to fitting out the final two centre tiles before I can make a decision to retain or axe the Cremorne and Neutral Bay lines.


Regards, Brian

Fantastic news Brian.

I've been mucking around with Lukas Lusser's 'Downtown Trolley' route, adding scenery to it to represent a 1920s US Midwest traction system. I've found a way to do span wires, pull-offs and the other assorted wires which look so impressive at tramway junctions. If you're interested, I could show you how I've done it.

These two screenshots are early on in the process and I've improved it somewhat. It certainly gives the feel, and is better than just the default MSTS wiring.





Cheers,
Matt

Well, I guess that I've now revealed that I have the scenery finished on the ' 7 tentacles of the North Sydney octopus ', that I should show a few screenshots to actually prove that the route does exist!!!



The Driver, having finished his morning shift at The Spit, has set the destination box to Special, ready to return to North Sydney Depot.



The 'mid-morning shuttle' sits at Balmoral Beach, nearing its departure time for Athol Wharf.



A ferry load of visitors has just arrived at Athol Wharf, and will take the tram 'up the hill' to the Top Gates of Taronga Park Zoo. 'The Enemy' makes its ominous presence felt - just as well I'm not a bus fan!!!

Note the mothballed warships sitting at the 'Athol Bay Dolphins' quietly pending their sad voyage to the breakers yard.



A group of tired parents and their equally worn-out kids, wait to board their tram home from Taronga Park Zoo.



The early afternoon tram to Spit Junction has already passed over the Harbour Bridge and nears Milsons Point tram station - the North Sydney skyline shows new prosperity as some new office buildings rise from the ground.



Its the first day of the School Holidays, and a tram waits at Lane Cove terminus, full of excited kids, off for a day at the Zoo.



Friday afternoon - I look out of my office window - Damn!!!, I've missed my tram home to Mosman Post Office. I could always take the train, but alas, the train doesn't go to Mosman!!!



I hope you enjoy these little glimpses of what it used to be like living on the North Shore of Sydney in the Great Tramway Era.


More to come later, as I start to fill in the 'missing' bits between the '7 tentacles'

Regards, Brian

Brian

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Excellent work. Keep the screenshots coming.

A further update:

It is finished!!! Has gone off to a couple of Beta testers for a final run through and check, before it goes off to 'the Publishers'.

I've also secured permission from Joseph Spinella, and I've made up a few packs (10 trams in each pack) of revised R1, R, O class trams with different numbers and destinations, not only for this route, but includes some additional destinations for the original 'La Peruse' route. Also updated the Ballast Motor with a range of different visible loads.

I'll let you know when it becomes available!!!

Regards, Brian

Sounds grear Brian, I'm eagerly anticipating its release.

G'day Brian,

I've been testing the North Shore Lines now that I have some time to scratch myself.

I'm deeply impressed with the effort you've put into this route; the detail is phenomenal. It captures the Sydney suburban scene with houses, rows of shops, blocks of flats and commercial buildings which are clearly reminiscent of mid-century Sydney.

I'd love to know how you did the streetscape with footpaths, houses and street furniture. A look in route editor will show how it's all set out.

I've run the eastern 'tentacles' from Neutral Bay Wharf out, and I'm most impressed with what I've seen.

I've been running one of Tim Muir's Pacific Electric 'Hollywood' cars as it changes ends easily and poles change to suit the direction of travel. That has been useful in running out and in.

Brian, it's a credit to you.

In this shot, our American visitor awaits departure from Neutra Bay Wharf. I must say, riding the brakes down the hill to the wharf is nail-biting stuff!



Cheers,
Matt

I am so looking forward to your North Shore Tram line. When I was growing up I lived at Mosman and I remember vividly going to and from Balmoral Beach or going to to Taronga Zoo on the tram. I remeber the trip back from Balmoral as the tramline cut through rockface from Balmoral up to the top of the hill. This cutting was so scary to some people but I loved it. Keep up the good work mate. Hope it turns well for you,

Good job on your North shore route Brian.
you always bring nothing but 100% successful work.

Finally, after getting shoved to the 'back of the queue' for so long, the route has finally seen the light of day - see the separate topic and links above to download the route.

One thing I forgot to mention in the Readme - the route comes with ALL the trams you need, included as part of the download - just go to the 'Additional Rolling Stock' sub-folder - you will see four (4) ZIP files with each class of tram - in each sub-folder are the instructions needed to install the trams into your Trainsets folder - don't forget to copy all the Consists into the Consists folder.

These 4 tram files already include the original trams by Joseph Spinella, so there is NO NEED to download the original trams from Steam4Me.

Have Fun, and I hope you enjoy a nostalgic trip into the Sydney of 'so long ago - a time that we will never see again, but a time that will not be forgotten'.

Best Regards, Brian

G'Day All;
I've just knocked a quick ACT up for this new route.
It's from The Spit to Nth Syd Station, with a few passes of other trams.
It requires only the trams that came with the route.
Where could I post it???????????????

Flattie you have mail!

Just downloaded this route, but unable to unzip. Getting a corrupt file notice. Tried downloading a couple of times but still get error notice.
Anyone else having this problem or is it just me?

I will put an installer together in the next few days!

I have seen a few reports on RailPage Australia and on here that some people are reporting a corrupt file.

Let me advise you, there are NO corrupt files in this download.

To check that everything works OK, this morning I downloaded a fresh copy of the route direct from the AMW downloads section, installed it and ran a tram from Taronga to lane Cove and back WITHOUT any problem whatsoever!!!

The route was zipped with WinZip 12.0, and is a 'master' route file and two spanned zips - if you install it exactly as per the instructions in the Readme file, it will work first time!!!

Be aware that if you are using an earlier version of WinZip, it may not unzip correctly, so make sure you have WinZip 12.0 installed.

Regards, Brian

Works fine with Winzip 11.1

I use WinRAR 3.42.0.0 its a few years old now it works fine on all zip files just follow the instructions in any route

Tested Ok with WinRar 3.7 and winzip 11.1.
When you get only 2 or 3 fault reports out of hundreds of downloads you have to suspect the end user is
1) doing something wrong.
2) has a system inadequacy such as not high enough version Winzip ect.
3) very rarely a corrupted download.

Thats why I say follow the readme to the letter, Step by step.
Even I get caught with this sometimes !

Started again from scratch. Followed each installation instruction letter by letter and... VIOLA!!! we have success! Everything up and running just like it should.

Don't know what I did differently this time from previously but whatever it was, it did the trick!

We do you find the Winzip please?

Google search.
Winzip

Or go to www.cnet.com in the download section to find winzip

The only distraction that I've noticed is the caternary looking wires around curves, but that can't be helped. (Hey tram driver, ya booked for going over the speed limit, and not stopping at any stops ( :he he: )

Just my view: It's a shame that the tracks don't extend to Wynyard Tram Terminus (underground), as that would have been one of the main highlights, especially with the footboard trams (oh okay toastracks & I've only heard that term being used recently).

Some path options are XYZ to Wynyard. I thought because it said Wynyard, the tracks extended to the terminus, until I remembered the note in the PDF. For the paths I'll make, I'll add the real terminus in brackets (for my activities)

Safety Zones & Tram stops:
I know some stops have been left out, but where their that many Safety Zones outside the Sydney CBD? I thought most stops would have been the short tram stop wooden poles, as used in the La Perouse.

I've said this elsewhere, but some libraries have the old tram timetables, with all the tram stops, and route colours if people are interested. And a good source are the NSW Book of Tramways or the videos that include maps.

Overall, a good route.

Now for a scenic trip to . . .

is there any way to download an installer for it rather than unziping? I'm just using the normal windows unzipper and running low on downloads

No, there were no installers made for it, so you'll just have to download and run the ZIPPED files. Russ, was going to make an installer at one stage, but simply ran out of time to do it, and so it never eventuated. The zipped version installs quite OK provided you follow the detailed instructions carefully.

Also the 'normal' Windows unzipper WILL NOT WORK, you need one of the zip programs maentioned above, WINZIP 11.1 or 12.0 work OK.