15 miles on the Erie Canal

Started by sboerner, January 25, 2018, 11:05:04 AM

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sboerner

This project is still in its early stages but has reached a point where I can share it. The scene is a real place on the Erie Canal, not far from where I live. The time is early morning, mid-October 1915.

For the past couple of years I've tossed around the idea of using Terragen to recreate scenes along the canal at different points in time. So this is a proof of concept. Recreating a real landscape that has been substantially modified by human activity has been a real challenge.

The trees are temporary, just there to gauge placement, as is much of the grass. (From Dune's free grass pack at NWDA. Thanks, Ulco!) The foliage eventually will be more diverse and will include some nice fall color.

The rail line at center left is an interurban trolley that existed in the early 20th century, now long vanished. A second rail line at the extreme left, part of the New York Central's  "water level route" from New York to Chicago, is also now long abandoned and overgrown. There is much yet to do. The center of interest will be a lift bridge in the foreground, and there are barges, buildings, a terminal wall, and other infrastructure to be added. So there's a lot more research and modeling to be done outside of Terragen.

Working with Terragen can be a humbling experience but I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. But I'm slow, there's much yet to be done, and a lot more to learn.

I'm hoping to post progress reports. Criticisms, comments welcome!

bobbystahr

Wow, this is starting off at "Dune" level...I follow with great anticipation of the final which could be mind blowing...great start
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

Hannes

Looks fantastic!! And indeed quite glimmerveenesque!  ;D ;D ;D

Cocateho

This has a lot lot of promise and sounds like a really cool project! Good luck with your endeavors, seems like quite the challenge!

luvsmuzik

#4
Well, won't I be watching this with interest! I am old enough to have walked the deserted ruins of the canal and tripped over urban tracks in pavement covered brick under-layered streets. Back when they taught history, students in my state learned about early settlement and transportation. I am from a railroad family, involving three systems. This already looks to be a great project! Good luck! :)

archonforest

Great start. Really like what u have so far. Good luck with this one. Will follow your journey...
Dell T5500 with Dual Hexa Xeon CPU 3Ghz, 32Gb ram, GTX 1080
Amiga 1200 8Mb ram, 8Gb ssd

sboerner

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement! I'm not sure the comparison with Ulco's work is warranted, that's very high praise indeed and there's so much yet that can go wrong! But we'll see. If anyone's interested I can post a "bare-earth" rendering of the underlying displacement, which is what I've spent most of my time on so far.

QuoteBack when they taught history, students in my state learned about early settlement and transportation.

I grew up far away in the central U.S. and we all learned about the Erie Canal (and the song). So it had a place in my memory when we moved to upstate New York and I saw it for the first time. It's absolutely fascinating and the influence it had on our history is incalculable. Probably the greatest single infrastructure project in U.S. history. It's been partly rechanneled and enlarged, but is still in use today, mostly for recreation. The dams, bridges, weirs, etc., from the last major overhaul in 1910-1914 are mostly still in use. In those days they built things to last.


Dune

This a great start indeed, and not one I want to miss following. Thanks for sharing!

sboerner

Second rendering. This was a long time coming – real work intervened.  :D

The piers for the lift bridge have been added but aren't shaded yet. Mainly I was interested in seeing how well they would integrate into the main scene. Well, maybe apprehensive would be the better word. Everything is being done to scale so the piers had to fit. Thankfully they do, and once the models are finished and shaded they should blend in nicely.

Work on the bridge itself continues and it should be ready in a few days.

A terminal wall has also been added and foreground displacements adjusted. This should be all of the significant displacements, though details can still use a little TLC.

[attach=1]


bobbystahr

Coming along spectacularly...carry on!
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

ajcgi

I love how this feels like a genuine construction project. Are you wearing a high visibility jacket?

sboerner

QuoteI love how this feels like a genuine construction project. Are you wearing a high visibility jacket?

;D ;D ;D

(No OSHA in 1915, I'm afraid!)

bobbystahr

Quote from: sboerner on February 12, 2018, 11:31:30 AM
QuoteI love how this feels like a genuine construction project. Are you wearing a high visibility jacket?

;D ;D ;D

(No OSHA in 1915, I'm afraid!)

Ha ha ha...
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

luvsmuzik

At least 50 years ago, had to go on a family vacation trip to Lake Erie to see all the cargo ships and transfer points...

Not part of the canal per see but C&O, N&W, and Nickle Plate give ya a toot! Carry on, looks great!

sboerner

QuoteNot part of the canal per see but C&O, N&W, and Nickle Plate give ya a toot! Carry on, looks great!

Great memories, I'm sure. In many ways things must have been more interesting around here 50, 100 years ago.

QuoteComing along spectacularly...carry on!

Thanks, Bobby! That's the plan!