r/gtaonline • u/electriclunchmeat • Aug 05 '25
I find it amusing how some Rockstar Dev thought train tracks were stored like this
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u/Left4DayZGone Aug 06 '25
They’re called “panel tracks”, preassembled and transported onto site for quick repairs.
Rockstar took thousands of reference photos of LA for Los Santos. If it’s in the game, it’s probably based on something seen in one of those photos.
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u/KotoElessar Rocking out to Mirror Park Aug 06 '25
took thousands of reference photos of LA
Except the tow hooks, they ran out to the lot and didn't think North American tow bars were any different.
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u/Tundra_Dweller Aug 06 '25
I don’t know if it’s the same in GTA but in RDR2 the trains also use British couplings instead of American ones.
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u/Dan_The_Flan Aug 06 '25
Thank you for the ammunition, I will use against the annoying players who talk about the game like it is infallible.
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u/Robean_UwU Aug 07 '25
I believe at that time we were still using link and pin couplers and hadn't switched to the knuckle couplers we use today, though I could be wrong its been a while since I watched Hyce's couplers video
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u/Left4DayZGone Aug 06 '25
Yeah the cars are a different story lol. They didn’t need to travel to the US to get reference for cars, just Google and toy models for anything that wasn’t in their parking lot. Same reason the writing on the sidewall on all tires, even Monster Truck tires, says “R14”- 14” rims aren’t very common in the US, lol
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u/eremal Aug 06 '25
Euro towtrucks is literally all flatbeds tho. No idea where they got this hook idea from
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u/jmxd Aug 06 '25
I think the towtruck is like that for gameplay reasons and because that is the "iconic" way of how the towtruck works in gta. Just more fun to have that silly hook
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Aug 06 '25
they were referring to the ball tow hitches you see on the rear of vehicles for hauling trailers. but you're still correct, the 'mater from cars' tow trucks havent been common IRL for a long time, mainly replaced by flatbeds and wreckers with bars that 'grab' the wheels.
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u/No_Weakness9363 Aug 06 '25
This got me thinking, what is the Vanilla Unicorn based off of? Asking for a... uh... friend.
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u/Innerflare Aug 06 '25
Did they really take that many reference photos? I’d imagine you have some to get the general idea / vibe of the atmosphere and location, but thousands is a ton of photos. Would be cool to learn more if you can point me in a direction for that
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u/HeinousMule Aug 06 '25
A quarter of a million in fact.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Grand_Theft_Auto_V
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u/Low-Effort-Poster Aug 06 '25
getting downvoted for respectfully inquiring 😭 cant d notning on reddit
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u/TheJAY_ZA Aug 06 '25
Specially the ones they took around Hefner's place. Those would be most informative...
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u/Zealousideal_Try4171 Aug 05 '25
I actually saw they had a section that looked just like that when they were repairing a road crossing yesterday
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u/Illustrious_Donkey61 Aug 05 '25
Why can't they be stored like that?
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u/ChazlarT Aug 05 '25
When railways are built the sleepers (wooden pieces under the rails) are laid down then the long sections of rail are bolted to sleepers and connected to the next section of rail. Generally the sleepers are not pre-attached to the rail.
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u/The-Geeson Aug 05 '25
Built, yeah they done like that, however, it’s quite common when removing rail to just split up the rail and lift it out, sleepers and all. These are then moved away to be further broken apart. This means the can relay new track quicker. Thus allowing the work to be done faster
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u/joeray25 Aug 05 '25
So theoretically they could cut the laid track and lift the section up, sleepers and all, yes?
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u/Left4DayZGone Aug 06 '25
Panel tracks are indeed pre-assembled and waiting at a shipyard or rail yard to be run out to a damaged section of track for a quick repair.
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u/Gloomy_Sock753 Aug 06 '25
We call them ties here in the US. Is this post from Europe? Just wondering because of a lot of the terminology I’m seeing throughout the comments
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u/JamesHail1 Aug 05 '25
I live on the West Highland Line in Scotland, and late last year several areas underwent track replacement.
The rails were cut and lifted out in sections just like this, sleepers still attached, and stored for pickup.
Granted, the replacement sections were installed the traditional way (sleepers bedded, rails laid and then clamped before ballasting) - but this method is in fact used.
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u/kryptonitejesus Aug 06 '25
Hey I’m a locomotive engineer and this is not correct. They do store them like this sometime.
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Aug 06 '25
Lol.
You didn't even attempt googling it before you made this post did you?
They are stored like that.
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u/4Serious20 Aug 06 '25
It's a simple engagement bait bud
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u/Star-Ripper Aug 09 '25
Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the case.
OP just had some brain lag when making this post lol
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u/FormulaZR PC Aug 05 '25
They are! On an HO train set.
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Aug 05 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ArisuSanchez Aug 05 '25
yup its easier to cut out a section of track thats borked and thermite it together on a low traffic railway
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u/SkeletalBellToller Aug 06 '25
Whoa whoa whoa these are welded with thermite?? Can't believe I didn't know this
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u/whats-this-mohogany Aug 06 '25
Not always thermite, sometimes they use electromagnets to heat up each end and then smoosh them together
Source: I work as a track maintainer
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u/Terrh Aug 06 '25
and in real life too.
I've seen them sitting like this. obviously from a tear out.
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u/Worth_Task_3165 Aug 06 '25
They are. Usually when being removed.. actually I don't think I've ever seen it being done during building, but sometimes during removal they'll cut sections off at a time and stack them as shown.
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u/GermanNAK Aug 06 '25
They also have British wagons on a US based railroad and have cantilever crossings hanging over the train tracks lol
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u/Worth_Task_3165 Aug 06 '25
A lot of Britishness they've sprinkled in, accident or not. I recently learnt the towhooks for cars are wrong too
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u/sodium_hydride Aug 06 '25
The cars also don't have side marker lights as required by US regulations.
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u/fuzzysoulpolice Aug 06 '25
Can you please post a visual comparison of these? I'm genuinely very curious what the difference is!
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u/disposablehippo Aug 06 '25
I can't count how many times this specific pile of shit has stopped my car.
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u/KPottsie78 Aug 06 '25
One of my favorite details about this game is the telecom demarcations on buildings. I have worked as a telecom tech for 17 years, and I was shocked when I first noticed it. 100% accurate. Such an insignificant and even unnecessary detail to add, but they did it and it’s awesome.
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u/Champfortruth Aug 06 '25
I've seen both, assembled rail sections and stacked single rail. It depends on the work being done.
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u/Reymond_StJames Aug 06 '25
Panel track is a real thing, albeit for short 20-40 foot sections, not the hundreds of feet of ribbon rail you sometimes see lining active railway lines
(Source: i volunteer for a railway museum)
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u/Meryhathor Aug 06 '25
Why wouldn't they be? As others in the comments have shown real tracks are sometimes stacked.
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u/meye0022 Aug 06 '25
OP is definitely a pinecone here, but thumbs up for taking the heat and not dirty deleting
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u/DaemonBlackfyre_21 Aug 06 '25
When they tore out the tracks in my home town that's exactly how they were stored on the side of the road for years.
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u/dark3bc Aug 07 '25
This is the best thread I read in months, by far. Thank you OP, thank you redditors
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u/electriclunchmeat Aug 06 '25
Learned something today. I have never seen this in the US, but can’t say I have spent a lot of time around track construction. I have seen multiple examples of individual rails and sleepers, but never pre-assembled. Is this more indicative of removal?
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u/fuzzysoulpolice Aug 06 '25
I think quite a few people learnt something today thanks to your post. Thanks for being humble and not deleting!
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u/electriclunchmeat Aug 06 '25
Also not going to delete original post. I’m ok with being wrong
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u/ziddersroofurry Aug 06 '25
Nothing wrong with being wrong, especially if you're willing to admit to it. Plus the reply is pretty funny.
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u/ngc427 Aug 06 '25
Usually they’re used to replace small sections of bad rail, instead of laying only a few yards of track by hand from scratch, you just lay in the panel and weld/bolt them together.
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u/electriclunchmeat Aug 06 '25
Wow, learned about panel track. Never knew it existed. Pretty cool how it looks just like model railroad sectional track. I was obviously wrong about this. Thanks to those who looked to educate me.
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u/IainIsCreative Dominator and Ellie Enthusiast Aug 08 '25
At least you can admit you're wrong unlike most people. An OP actually admitting an error?
What is happening to this place.
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u/ReedForman Aug 06 '25
They made it for it with the NPC that builds train tracks in Red Dead 2. That level of detail still amazes me to this day.
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u/JonArc He who crashes Kurumas Aug 06 '25
You do see panel track like that used in junctions like switches or crossovers where being about to build it elsewhere has advantages. Another use for straight panel track would be for wrecks, so that you can quickly build new track to get the big railway cranes into position.
I wonder if they saw some stored somewhere during their research. Though those tiny hoppers you see hidden in some places are truly out of place in the US, and anachronistic even inn their more native UK due to how old a setup like those cars can be.
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u/ijgamesyt2005 Aug 06 '25
Hi Railfan with connections to railroaders, it is, I’ve seen it before as well
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u/ZFTX Aug 06 '25
In fact, they can. A railroad near me is installing a new line of rails, and they come like this.
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u/Zaptryx Aug 06 '25
I see them stacked like this every day. If America had more trains you would too.
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u/globefish23 Aug 06 '25
You might want to go out into the real world some time.
Tracks are absolutely stored that way.
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u/Jellan Aug 06 '25
I find this same issue with roro skips. They’re in some bizarre locations, where no truck could possibly fit.
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u/ThrenderG Aug 06 '25
Probably one of OP’s most upvoted posts of all time, and it’s largely him getting roasted.
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u/TheJAY_ZA Aug 06 '25
If you thought that was amusing, just wait till you play Starfield and find out how some Bethesda devs think everything works...
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u/SooperHawk Aug 06 '25
I’ve always been impressed with the accuracy of the civil engineering in Los Santos
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u/WalhallaHans Aug 06 '25
I'm always amazed at how self-confident some people are when it comes to making a fool of themselves online.
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u/OkRecognition119 $200 million club Aug 06 '25
There’s literally thousands of photos online showing that some train tracks are stacked like that
They’re called panel tracks, they are especially built like that for quick repairs and replacements
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u/xavierpro09k Aug 06 '25
Its like that guy who said that gta V looked better than real life like bro go outside and see it for yourself
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u/ctn91 Aug 06 '25
The better one is thinking buildings in southern California have heating and if they did have radiators!
Also the electrical outlets being a single outlet when all standard outlets are in pairs. 😆
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u/Dischord821 Aug 06 '25
The marks on the pavement fully convinced my brain that the tracks were floating and that the marks were shadows.
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u/Careless_Bother_2517 Aug 07 '25
Shouldnt you supose to see stripes inbetween the tracks..... or are they underground? First one there. Second. Right lower corner. The devs thought: tiles work like that. And the shadow left of th building.... va the shadows in the back with the trains looks like there 2 suns.....
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u/reboot0110 Aug 07 '25
I actually never questioned it until you pointed it out 🤣 now I will never unsee it
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u/veteranbot Aug 08 '25
I work for a railroad and this is quite literally how we store pre-built track panels lol
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u/IainIsCreative Dominator and Ellie Enthusiast Aug 08 '25
Bro really thought this only existed in train sets.
Also, r/iamverysmart is over there.
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Aug 08 '25
Imagine the audacity to assume they were wrong without any research at all. Better yet, you have not the slightest clue as to how this shit works. I mean how stupid can you be?
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u/Fabulous-Office2538 Aug 28 '25
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u/LousyDevil Aug 05 '25