Trains and More Trains!

[Klinn]

There isn't a section specifically for our transport rides, but I guess this fits in here best. I never did much with Planco back when it was released, so this is my first experience using Frontier's construction tools to create buildings.

Taking a page from Disney World, pretty much the first thing my zoo's guests see after entering is an elevated train transport ride crossing the main entrance path.

But I couldn't build just one railway route, no, I had double-track the mainline! This took a fair amount of building and re-building to get things to work out right.

So the station is really two independent buildings, one for the Western Express and one for the Eastern. The idea was to provide guests with a choice. Instead of always traveling a loop in one direction, they could chose which way to go based on which animal habitats they wanted to visit first. Westward seems to be more popular.

Originally I made a more complex building but then decided to simplify it a lot, to make it feel more "railroad-y". From a North American standpoint, that is, more like smaller rural station stops than a grand central hub.

Both lines go through several habitats. In this case it's elephants scampering out of the way as the train bursts through the gates. Well, elephants don't scamper exactly, but you know what I mean.

As I posted over in the Suggestions section, it would be great if we could slow down the train on specific sections of track, such as inside a habitat enclosure. Then guests could get a better view of the animals.

Anyway, hope you're amused by the idea of double-tracking the zoo's railroad, it was an interesting challenge!

 

[aim_foliksta]

I think I'll do something similar on my next zoo, but now I'm too busy playing with trains on Transport Fever 2

Do both lines always run parallel? Or the routes change at some points?

 

[Klinn]

Heh-heh, when I saw the announcement for Transport Fever 2 my finger hovered over the "Buy" button for a while. Tempting... I played Train Fever quite a lot but never made the jump to Transport Fever. Maybe some day.

Anyway, yes, the two lines form a double track all the way around the zoo. The distance between tracks varies somewhat depending on game object dimensions. The station platforms and habitat airlock gates force the lines further apart than I would like, but then I curve them back closer together as seen in the pics.

My next zoo will be a tropical jungle with two separate lines, one high through the hills and one at river level. They will cross over a couple of times to allow some nice scenic screen shots. I hope.

 

[Klinn]

It's time for more trains!

Just to set the scene, the concept of my new tropical zoo was a meandering river winding its way through the jungle. This would provide a opportunity to try building some railway bridges. Yes, I planted a lot of trees.

The zoo entrance is 'way in the background with a primary path leading up over the central raised highlands. Cliffs drop down to the river's edge, then across the water the terrain slopes up again but more gradually.

But the zoo was just an excuse to build MORE TRAINS! There's a water-level route winding along the cliffs plus a high line crossing over it in two spots.

A friend teases me that I'm trying to turn the game into a model railroad simulator.

I'm happy with the way the steel plate bridges and concrete piers turned out. There aren't many guests at that pigmy hippo habitat below because I limited the number allowed in the park.

Over on the other side of the zoo, one enthusiastic guest in a rhino hat takes time out from viewing the crocodiles to admire the trains.

This certainly was fun project, trying out new construction to enhance the railways. But it involved a lot of terrain work and a lot of trees. So many trees.