Thanks Matt! I had no idea about Extensis or that technology. I'll definitely look into it.
Really apprecaite your comment. Like I said earlier I was afraid to write a huge novel about what I'm doing until the time came to reveal that info. I just wanted help creating the map.
And I'm 33, if that matters :)
Hey Sheldon,
I really appreciate you and all of your responses. I'm not in a position to start collecting resumes yet but I'll definitely be reaching out to you when the time comes.
Thanks Brent,
I really appreciate the time you took to do that. My earlier reply explained why that post was such a mess.
What ever happened to the guy that was posting the "imaginative" ideas from a few years ago? Could this be the same person?
Mark B.
BigDaddy Jared certainly has imagination. a 60' Bay Bridge . . .
Jared certainly has imagination. a 60' Bay Bridge . . .
The good news is that such a bridge would be only about 12" wide.
LINK to SNSR Blog
richhotrain BigDaddy I remember a kid that used to post frequently a couple years ago. One week he was going to scratchbuild a business car, the next a layout in a storage container. The week after that something else. We got all worked up and gave him our best advice and nothing was ever built. ...and move a steam locomotive from Long Island (?) to Louisiana. Rich
BigDaddy I remember a kid that used to post frequently a couple years ago. One week he was going to scratchbuild a business car, the next a layout in a storage container. The week after that something else. We got all worked up and gave him our best advice and nothing was ever built.
I remember a kid that used to post frequently a couple years ago. One week he was going to scratchbuild a business car, the next a layout in a storage container. The week after that something else. We got all worked up and gave him our best advice and nothing was ever built.
...and move a steam locomotive from Long Island (?) to Louisiana.
Rich
Y'all talking about the guy driving the vintage Boss Mustang? That was the last thing I remember. I shudder to think about possible scenarios that could have arisen . . .
BigDaddy BATMAN I found his wall of text unreadable Unfortunately it is entirely believable that an American bitcoin, Silicon Valley or Game Stock multimillionaire would be unfamiliar with paragraphs. Jared certainly has imagination. a 60' Bay Bridge, 1:8 trains and moving ships. If there were no Walt Disney, there would be no Disneyland. If there were no Elon Musk, there would be no reusable rocket booster landing back on the launching pad. Assuming Jared has the money to make it happen, could it be self sustaining as basically a theme park destination? Sheldon really could make it happen, although I don't think he is planning on working another 20 years. No,..... the title says it all: Unthinkably He convinced me, see the 2nd post of this thread. I remember a kid that used to post frequently a couple years ago. One week he was going to scratchbuild a business car, the next a layout in a storage container. The week after that something else. We got all worked up and gave him our best advice and nothing was ever built.
BATMAN I found his wall of text unreadable
Unfortunately it is entirely believable that an American bitcoin, Silicon Valley or Game Stock multimillionaire would be unfamiliar with paragraphs.
Jared certainly has imagination. a 60' Bay Bridge, 1:8 trains and moving ships.
If there were no Walt Disney, there would be no Disneyland. If there were no Elon Musk, there would be no reusable rocket booster landing back on the launching pad.
Assuming Jared has the money to make it happen, could it be self sustaining as basically a theme park destination?
Sheldon really could make it happen, although I don't think he is planning on working another 20 years.
No,..... the title says it all: Unthinkably He convinced me, see the 2nd post of this thread.
I could train an apprentice while we build the first two or three years worth.
Just let me know where to send the resume?
Sheldon
BigDaddyUnfortunately it is entirely believable that an American bitcoin, Silicon Valley or Game Stock multimillionaire would be unfamiliar with paragraphs. Jared certainly has imagination. a 60' Bay Bridge, 1:8 trains and moving ships. If there were no Walt Disney, there would be no Disneyland. If there were no Elon Musk, there would be no reusable rocket booster landing back on the launching pad. Assuming Jared has the money to make it happen, could it be self sustaining as basically a theme park destination?
Want to be well off? Do what the well-off people do.
Want to be skinny and fit? Do what skinny and fit people do.
Dreams are free and require little effort. Want to have a massive unbelievably huge MRR based theme park? Work your butt off as Walt Disney did but first educate yourself. You don't have to do it institutionally but you better do it.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Alton Junction
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
NorthBrit... Another two are like this one, over 100 comments and no further forward with the original poster laughing at them.
And half the responses (including at least one of mine) were either completely off-topic or irrelevantly disparaging.
Even if he were only a kid with an ego problem, the least we can do is give him positive advice toward what he wanted -- which was not advice about why the idea would not be practical, or advice about how to get paid help, but a way to organize many sketches first into a very large storyboard and then into some kind of rational map.
He won't have even a buildable concept until he gets it all organized -- then we can give him the quiet recognition of how difficult it would be to finance or to keep open, and how easy it will be to build with expert paid staff.
Jared the ArtistHello again, I'm quite frustrated. I made another big response and yet like five days later it still hasn't posted...
Jared the ArtistAmazing! Thanks again for all of the responses — I do read every one (although all the stuff about HOA is a bit annoying, no offense). It seems like CAD is the way to go. I will look into that much more in the coming days and possibly connect more with those that mentioned it. Another way to look at it is I'm taking many of the rail lines in North America and just cutting out the fat. But like one guy mentioned, the lines still need to connect onto a new map and form somewhat of a cobweb of rail lines. To answer a few of the other questions... First, in regards to the size of it, I want to give a true representation of todays railroading and to do that I would need to run them at the lengths they are today. A mile long train is around 60 ft. long in ho scale. Many intermodal's run 1.5 miles long or around 90ft. and that doesn't include power. Of course i'll also run shorter locals and shortline freights which might only be 20-30 ft. in length but nevertheless I want to be able to accommodate trains upwards of 100 ft. up and down around 1-2% grades as they exist today and with live loads like coal for example. For example: Portland, Oregon, from the NW portion of the port down just south of UP's Brooklyn yard is around 13 miles. To model that area I would need a little under 800 ft. of length. Then anywhere from 20 to 60 ft. in width that I have mapped out using the streets and/or rail lines that would create the border for the viewer. Basically from UP's line on the west side of the Willamette across the river into downtown. Then where UP's line heads east along highway 84 it would transition into the Columbia River Gorge where it would run on the opposite side of BNSF as it does today. I've mapped out the highlights of the Columbia River Gorge that would equate to about 1,200 ft in ho scale and then the next transition would be going from there into Spokane and then BNSF's line into Glacier National Park. UP would split off from the gorge and then travel across the Joso bridge and by Palouse falls and then disappear from the layout but the tracks would continue and then reappear in Ogden where the line from the Feather River Canyon would merge into it. That's just one example of the entire system. Of course areas in the east would be much shorter giving the density compared to the west. So my system would showcase every class l railroads main routes throughout all of the US and Canada. Each major city would essentially be its own building and then these tunnels/corridors would exist between each building to connect the cites together via the rail lines using the most scenic portions of the track. Columbia River gorge between Portland and Spokane, Feather River Canyon between Sacramento and SLC, Glenwood Canyon between, Provo and Denver, Glacier National Park between Spokane and the oil fields and badlands of North Dakota, New River Gorge between Huntington and Lynchburg, Hudson River between NYC and Albany, NY and so on... But also because I want to model significant portions of cities and landmarks at ho scale. To show someone the Golden Gate bridge spanning 60 ft. of open water. To see the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) 16 ft. up into the air. The exterior then would have 1:8 scale trains that the guests could ride to transport them throughout the theme park should they not want to walk everywhere by foot. I'm estimating the final theme park would encompass roughly 5 square miles. Of course only a small fraction of that space would actually be modeled. All space in between would be used for standard theme park amenities: restaurants, cafes, bathrooms, exhibits and so on. Another reason "Why" is to give people the gift of a sense of road tripping or traveling. So many of us want to see all that North America has to offer yet it's so big and it would take so long to visit every corner. Here you can visit the West Coast, the Rockies, Coals mines of Powder River Basin, Elk Valley and the Appellations, Ore Mines of Wisconsin, along the rivers, gorges, and canyons of the Columbia, Fraser, Thompson, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Allegheny, Hudson and more, the stunning downtowns of Portland, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, NYC, DC, St Lous, as well as the smaller picturesque towns like Galena, IL, Harpers Ferry, WV, La Grande, KY, Strasburg, VA, Chester, VT and so many more. And not just trains! The ports will have operational ships coming and going: Tankers, Bulk carriers, Container ships, Cruise ships and more. Operational Gantry cranes to load and unload containers and transfer them to well cars. Coal and ore loaders that will have live load transfers and a river system that will allow the ships to travel from port to port. Some of the ports included would be Vancouver, Tacoma, Portland, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Savannah and Norfolk. Working airports like the one in Miniatur Wunderland. Louisville's for example to showcase UPS's WorldPort. Racetracks like Daytona and Sonoma with cars actually racing. Basically anything that can be modeled and draw the attention of the audience will be a part of the park. Trains are just the center point. I can already sense folks jumping out of their chairs to tell me how outrageous and impossible this is. The park would be built in phases. At least two connecting cities would be built at a time in order to have trains running back and forth until the entire network is connected and a single train could run from Prince Rupert, BC all the way to Jacksonville, FL. A projected completion around 20 years after the first city begins construction (could be much less depending on the size and quantity of the teams building). Once the first two cities are completed, connected and running, guests would begin attending and revenue would begin to flow. This is not run circles and figure eight's in the basement around 36 inch curves. It's real North America — big, long, and eye opening. It's stand up close and appreciate the detail while also standing back and see mountain peaks towering 50 ft above a moving train. Good golly I just gave you all tiny pitch without even planning to. I could go so much deeper into every facet of the design, system and theme park but I'll save it for now. I just want to help everyone understand a little bit more of the goal I'm trying to accomplish. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and while I've thought immensely about the steps ahead, the current one of just getting a visual to show is the most important at the moment. Please feel free to leave feedback. Again, I do read every comment and it's all greatly appreciated. Have a great weekend! – Jared
Overmod I find it more than usually ironic that someone who says in his sig that he cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought sure can spare them for others...
I find it more than usually ironic that someone who says in his sig that he cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought sure can spare them for others...
Oh I can. It is just I have read about such schemes previously. One was too far fetched to be true. Another two are like this one, over 100 comments and no further forward with the original poster laughing at them.
I ask Jared the Artist to prove me wrong. I hope he does.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Well, I think that Jared did the right thing: submit a question to a bunch of old fogies with experience (and those with less). How many people do that these days!
The title of the thread was bang on as far as I'm concerned.
Simon
NorthBritThere is no plan. There is no building. There is no signs of finance for such undertaking. There is no plan regarding operation.
crossthedogI'd love to be able to be of some help here for once. I'm not sure this would be the right solution, but bear with me.
Matt, that was one of the best written posts I have seen here.
Even though I have no idea about most of what you wrote, I was able to easily read the entire post, and I learned some stuff.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
OvermodIf this does what Extensis could do, which is eye-opening
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
After 95 posts of which Jared the Artist has posted 4 times, perhaps we should wait and see how Jared proposes to go forward.
I am sorry, but I have seen nothing concrete, just 'waffle'.
There is no plan. There is no building. There is no signs of finance for such undertaking. There is no plan regarding operation.
Miniatur Wunderland did not go to a Model Railway Forum first.
Jared prove me wrong.
crossthedogI noticed just now that on their website they list a free Photoshop Plug-in called Compress, which I would guess is the MrSID (or JPEG2000) tech in a version that has fewer features or maybe a size cap. https://www.extensis.com/compress-plugin
The map alone, once completed, might serve as a basis for an interesting 'interactive' exhibit showing a wide variety of regions and their railroading...
I'd love to be able to be of some help here for once. I'm not sure this would be the right solution, but bear with me.
Before Google built giant server farms so they could divvy up satellite imagery of the whole planet into tiny high-res chunks that could be instantly accessed on a phone, I worked for a small company called LizardTech that made image-compression software. The de facto standard image format in use at the time in the geospatial industry was MrSID, which LizardTech owned. At the time of its invention, it solved the problem of traffic engineers and GIS analysts having to sit at a terminal connected to a mainframe, because of clever math that enabled you to fit a gargantuan image -- like, say, the entire state of Idaho at a resolution so high that you could zoom in and identify a #2 pencil lying on a sidewalk -- on a handheld device. It was a big deal. For the first time, service personnel could take high res imagery into the field with them in the pickup truck.
LizardTech is called Extensis now, but they still sell the GeoExpress encoder. It's not cheap, because its customers are city and governments, universities, spooks, like that. But I noticed just now that on their website they list a free Photoshop Plug-in called Compress, which I would guess is the MrSID (or JPEG2000) tech in a version that has fewer features or maybe a size cap.
https://www.extensis.com/compress-plugin
I have no idea if this would serve your needs. But the company's technologies are (or were at one time) amazing. You could email a little file that was compressed in such a way that when it was decoded by GeoExpress, it had all the data (every single bit was restored -- i.e. lossless compression) so that your high-res image was then available.
You might look into it.
-Matt
What you need to do is 'make your bones' with several short posts (perhaps in responses to a couple of other threads here) over the course of a couple of days. Once the moderators 'see' you as a productive community member they will act by removing the mandatory moderation.
That will also allow you to edit your posts as needed, which can be invaluable.
Perhaps irritatingly, the system records the actual time you made a post it 'holds up for moderation' and then helpfully displays it as if it had posted in sequence at that time ...at which point an active topic will be on to the next page and it may "seem" as if your post has disappeared in cyberspace. This appears to have happened with the 'long post' you mentioned.
The thread won't be "over" until the OP has hard advice on how to tile and display sketches in a very large map that can be zoomed and panned as he works. I am watching with interest to see what combinations of software will do this, and then optimize it for 'buildability' and then optimized viewing as an attraction. (And how nice it will be if it calculates the wiring automagically within 10 minutes... and then revises and re-optimizes it as the arrangement is cut, pasted, and changed... )
I cannot believe ths thread is still going.
Jared the ArtistHello again, I'm quite frustrated. I made another big response and yet like five days later it still hasn't posted... I might make a couple more random replies to get out of this "probation" period.
You should be almost there.
I could not read your "wall of text" post.
I'm sort of wondering how a poster who can't break up a super long post into appropriate paragraphs for easier comprehension will have any luck drawing up a huge track plan. Just wondering.
Jared the ArtistHello again, I'm quite frustrated. I made another big response and yet like five days later it still hasn't posted... I might make a couple more random replies to get out of this "probation" period or however it's called and then start another thread just so that I can reply more regularly
That sounds like a great idea. Every one of us went through the same time of "probation". Just keep posting and you will soon be able to post things normally.
York1 John
Jared the ArtistHello again, I'm quite frustrated. I made another big response and yet like five days later it still hasn't posted... I might make a couple more random replies to get out of this "probation" period or however it's called and then start another thread just so that I can reply more regularly and hopefully without all the HOA nonsense. Everyone who's replying purely about HOA stuff is taking eyes off my topic and then other readers wont continue reading because it's off topic. I wouldn't continue reading myself. I'll answer your questions when I'm free to do so. Jared
Yes, the HOA business is nonsense and a complete distraction. But not entirely unexpected.
I'd suggest you start by establishing your bona fides. No, we don't need to see your D&B rating or copies of your tax returns or bank statements; but those would certainly help. Sincerity and commitment are easy to spot; bovine excrement is even easier.
You say you plan to dwarf the Miniatur Wunderland. You say a 60- by 95-foot building would not hold half your drawings. You say you have about 850 drawings. Fine. Show me twenty.
Robert