T-RAM

[MandelSoft]

A very nice idea it is, the T-RAM. I'll keep an eye on this...

[CasperVg]

Oh no! My teasers are back..   

I can't wait to see more of this excellent stuff, Chrisim!

[allan_kuan1992]

lol...

i'm really interested in these. Keep up the good work =)

- Allan K

[FrankU]

This looks really stunning.
The roundabouts and the tunnel entrances!

 

[j-dub]

San Francisco, is going to be a reality! Thats great Chrisim. From what I saw on Sim Forum, I have questions about how stations are even possible for the following networks.

• Tram in street
• Tram in road
• Tram sharing 4-lane Road

With the cars and tram sharring the middle of the road, which now means we can fit cars and sidewalks 4 lanes on one tile, does this mean we are close to a seperate 4-lane road network? I hate to admit, but I would use tram in road, for the purpose of just a 4-lane single tile road, without the tram. Don't get me wrong, there are some areas I have that really benefit the tram in road too. Since I can't read the other site, it looks like there may be talk about Tram 4-lane Road transitioning to Tram (GLR) in Avenue? I am referring to pictures I saw on Sim Forum, proposing transitions.

[puncher1076]

Looking Great, Chrissim!
It is going to be possible to have GLR in Avenue/Road that allows us to drive on the GLR (or to have cars)

[j-dub]

I'll answer that. Chrissim provided testing material of dual traffic pathed networks. He discovered how to make a four lane road fit onto one tile with a sidewalk. A six lane avenue with glr down the center is a good idea, and since this glr/road is pathed that cars can drive while getting chased by the train, anything is possible, but that may or may not be done right now. The T-RAM has alot of work put into it already. There may be more details of stuff going on in the German thread.

Only two pieces exist for the car/tram network at the moment, but there are alot more T-RAM configuration puzzle pieces cosmetic, and functional.

[Chrisim]

@j-dub the track is for light rail, not heavy rail locomotives 

If you haven't seen yet, the first post of this topic is updated and contains more new pictures and text.
I shortened the original text on New Tram-Avenue Roundabouts. The following is from the original posting:

The curved tram-avenue roundabout contains an empty tile. You may either fill it with grass (standard Maxis green park)


or, you use it for something else. It's certainly not the right location for Big Ben


but there are many other options. And maybe somebody will BAT a 45 degrees rotated statue?

[Monorail Master]

I'll answer that. Chrissim provided testing material of dual traffic pathed networks. He discovered how to make a four lane road fit onto one tile with a sidewalk. A six lane avenue with glr down the center is a good idea, and since this glr/road is pathed that cars can drive while getting chased by the train, anything is possible, but that may or may not be done right now. The T-RAM has alot of work put into it already. There may be more details of stuff going on in the German thread.

Only two pieces exist for the car/tram network at the moment, but there are alot more T-RAM configuration puzzle pieces cosmetic, and functional.

Dude, I'll do anything just to get that in my cities.

[j-dub]

I should note after I posted that pic, Chris added allot more pieces with shared car/tram traffic. For this mod you won't be bothered with a RL situation of Passenger & Freight Trains taking for ever to get through automotive arteries. Trains will not be on this new network, unless you do some extra stuff to it like I did, but that is not what Chris intended.

In real life though, you would not want to be interrupted crossing a road on foot with a mile long freight train when your trying to get to someplace important just across the road. Imagine living in a neighborhood with the Polar Express always using the street in front of your house. Welcome to the United States. Trams you know you don't need to wait that long when they cross your way, but trains on the other hand, oh boy. Roads are really like what I took a in-game picture of, in dense urban downtown areas and in the middle of residential corridors. 

[allan_kuan1992]

there are some places with "street-running" xD

Of course however that makes up only like 0.5% of the train network in North America.

- Allan Kuan

[Monorail Master]

I should note after I posted that pic, Chris added allot more pieces with shared car/tram traffic. For this mod you won't be bothered with a RL situation of Passenger & Freight Trains taking for ever to get through automotive arteries. Trains will not be on this new network, unless you do some extra stuff to it like I did, but that is not what Chris intended.

In real life though, you would not want to be interrupted crossing a road on foot with a mile long freight train when your trying to get to someplace important just across the road. Imagine living in a neighborhood with the Polar Express always using the street in front of your house. Welcome to the United States. Trams you know you don't need to wait that long when they cross your way, but trains on the other hand, oh boy. Roads are really like what I took a in-game picture of, in dense urban downtown areas and in the middle of residential corridors. 

Umm, you might want to look at the maps of Norfolk, Virginia. The city holds the East coast U.S.'s largest naval base. And they have a wole bunch of freight rail lines going right down the middle of the roads that are near or in the naval bases. And the trains have to drive at 15 mph.

[Zaphod]

Freight street running is actually kind of common in North America just because we have a lot of branch lines and spurs everywhere.

[j-dub]

Well guys, not so much usable for destination transferring, you will be able to use this T-RAM to visually get heavy Freight Trains in the middle of the road, and recreate California, or Virgina. You just need to have a way for rail to connect directly to glr, train generators and poof! And Chris, I am sorry if that is not what you intended, but your awesome modding gave us an opportunity that couldn't be passed.

[deathtopumpkins]

Uh, j-dub, I live in Norfolk, Virginia, and there's no street running here that I've seen, except for the light rail line under construction downtown. For the best heavy rail example, I'd look at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

Actually, on closer thought there are a few short stretches around NIT (Norfolk International Terminals), but none of the area military bases really use their rail spurs anymore.

Apologies for thread hijacking.

[Fresh Prince of SC4D]

Actually deathtopumpkins, there used to be a tram network in Norfolk in the early 1900's but the streets were too congested with both cars and trams, that they removed them.

[deathtopumpkins]

I know that's why I said heavy rail. It does seem knda pointless though to get rid of a tram system and then bring it back half a century later, still in the streets  (http://ridethetide.com for more info!

[nerdly_dood]

I"ve been all over Virginia - Hampton Roads a little, a bit more in the DC metro area, and quite a bit in Southwest VA... and I don't know of a single active above-ground tram system at all, let alone one that runs in the middle of the street.

There are plenty of heavy-rail lines, but none in the middle of a street.
In many places, heavy rail lines run along a road, but never within its median or on the pavement.

DC has something that might be called a light-rail system but most of its above-ground tracks are fenced off and inaccessible to anyone who hasn't paid for their passage in a metro station, and the rest is the subway. In some places the above-ground tracks run in the middle of a freeway, but there are plenty of barriers keeping the cars separate from the metro line.

Roanoke used to have a large tram system, but it's long gone and it's been replaced with the bus system we've had for decades. There used to be passenger train service, but it has been shut down since 1979, so the closest places that we can get on a passenger train are in Lynchburg or Clifton Forge, so it is much easier to get on a Greyhound bus downtown to get anywhere far away (like I did to get up here to DC to visit my uncle, one hundred thirteen dollars later)

[Chrisim]

Sorry for being a bit slow in replying - I was quite busy working on the FLUPs 

... you will be able to use this T-RAM to visually get heavy Freight Trains in the middle of the road, and recreate California, or Virgina. You just need to have a way for rail to connect directly to glr, train generators and poof! And Chris, I am sorry if that is not what you intended, but your awesome modding gave us an opportunity that couldn't be passed.

That's fine. We did not intend this, but it's a game and if you have fun, why not? 
Your discussion about heavy rail on road is interesting. In Europe, we had a few industrial areas with single heavy rail on roads, but less nowadays.

A bit more background on Tram-in-Road and Tram-on-Road: These are probably more of interest for Europeans. There are many European towns with tram, either with separate tracks or sharing the space with cars on roads. A good link page for tram photos is: www.bahnbilder.de.
The textures of Tram-Road were designed by Schleicher68 and it took days of forum discussions with several trials. For me, the trams in Kassel, Leipzig, Nürnberg and Karlsruhe (all towns in Germany) helped to define the Tram-Road.

... I have questions about how stations are even possible for the (Tram-Road) networks.

There is not much space on one tile. In reality it's not different, like this photo shows: Link (there is actually another traffic light behind the photographer that stops car traffic when a tram is inside the stop)

With the cars and tram sharring the middle of the road, which now means we can fit cars and sidewalks 4 lanes on one tile, does this mean we are close to a seperate 4-lane road network?

A 4-lane road on one tile should be implemented as draggable network, because it's a single network system. Tram-on-Road are dual network and presently we don't know how to make them draggable, therefore, these are puzzle pieces.
Apparently, a 4-lane road on one tile is not planned within the Network Widening Mod project, but technically, I believe it should be possible. It needs time to create ... or more people who understand the RUL's and can create new RUL's for draggable networks. Myself, I can't.

[kbieniu7]

I want to ask, that will be availible diagonal puzzels for tram-in-road?