Enough is enough

Yesterday I purchased some items in the Steam Autumn Sale and the download has totally overwritten my existing TS2014 file structure. I have lost all my assets from other suppliers (IHH, AP, Digital Traction etc), all my own assets but, worst of all, it has lost all my source files for my modelling work and, just to add insult to injury, has wiped my backup file.

I have survived many problems over the years with Train Simulator, with the game, with my computer and also, with my health, but this is the final straw. I cannot handle anymore of this so I am closing the blog.

Thanks to all who have followed my musings and goodbye.

More SVR Wagons

A few more wagons have been created for the SVR route.

Firstly a pair of Hybar Open B wagons.

 Secondly, a Gunpowder Van.

Must admit to struggling with this one. Other people seem to manage just fine, but I always have difficulty getting the textures right when bump maps are involved. They always seem to bleach out the base colour and getting the specularity level right is an art rather than a science. There is some guidance on RSDerek's blog site The Art of Railworks  but I would personally welcome some more detailed description on how to use the Kuju shaders.

Minks

Just to say that I have finished modelling the four Minks for the Severn Valley Railway and sent them off to Matt, whose route it is.

Despite having the same body/frame configuration all four wagons are different. Each has a braking system at variance with the others, plus, three are unfitted and one has the addition of vacuum brakes. Three have spoked wheels, but one has discs and the lettering reflects the change in style from 24" to 16", so it took a little longer than I expected to complete them.

Hope they look ok?

Tail Lights Update

N.B. As the original post was accidentally deleted I am repeating it here.

Re-thought the tail light concept and found a much easier way to do it.

Create a tailight at each end of the wagon and call the one at the front 1_light_revtail and the one at the rear 1_light_fwdtail and that's all you have to do. The internal programming in TS2013 does the rest!

The lights only appear when the loco lights are switched on and only the one at the rear of the consist appears, no matter which way your wagon is oriented. All you have to do is ensure the pivot for each lamp is properly oriented in line with the wagon. Simples!

October Update

Due to illness in the family a large proportion of my time has been spent on caring, so train sim stuff has suffered as a result.

I did receive a kind offer from a well known developer to provide new sounds for the departmental stock I created, which is why they are not released yet, but they will be. In return I offered to help with some assets for his own project. therefore, what little time I've had available has been spent on that work.

Here's a glimpse of what I have been upto.

The bridge to the waterworks near Hampton Loade -  the water is piped through the  supports!

Hampton Loade Station

A black "Shark" van, obviously a re-skin of my earlier versions.


Currently working on some of these. GWR Minks.

If you want to see more of Matt's route then please pop over to SteamSoundsSupreme

Tail Lights

Decided to add a little variety to my catalogue and make a wagon. My choice was a departmental rigid, to keep things simple, the ZUV Grampus.

 It was reasonably successful and, with the help of Ben Yates, I managed to re-skin it into a few variations.

 When I showed the WIP to the UKTS forum I received a request for a Shark ballast plough and, unable to resist a challenge, modeled the van in three colour vaiants.

While beta testing them, Ben asked if I could add tail lights, which I thought was a good idea, so started to use the one's provided by Dave Brindley, which are available through UKTS or you can add them even easier by using RWTools.

However, I wasn't very happy with them as you have to make a separate model just for the tail light and it has to be the right way round, so back to the drawing board.

I eventually came up with an answer that seems to work ok. I added an AddATex plane to the back of the model and called it "1_0128_light_fwdtail". This is the technique for adding tail lights to loco tenders. I then added a script which tells the consist to pass any messages along the consist to the end. So, when you switch the lights on, on the loco, it sends a message to switch on the tail light that travels along the consist until it reaches the last wagon, where it turns on the light!

So, I no longer need a special wagon just for the end of a consist and the light goes on and off at the same time as the loco lights. Result!

There are a couple of minor issues when doing this. The fwdtail must be modeled in the correct orientation and facing the right way when the wagon is attached to the loco.

Coal Tippler

While researching the coke oven I came across a number of references to coal tipplers being used to load the coal washery ready for the coal to be added to the coke oven.

Not one to resist a challenge I decided to atttempt to make one for TS2013.

I tried to solve the problem by using a transferpoint as the tippler and an animated wagon which would tilt in time with the transferpoint. At first it wouldn't wotk, but, thanks to Dave Dewhurst, the error in my blueprint was spotted and corrected and the idea came to fruition, as seen in the video.

Still obvious problems with the animation, but it seems to work ok in principle and I need to fine tune the animation.

Ropeway

For a long time I have been contemplating how to make a ropeway for TS2013, ever since I noticed one at the St Helen Colliery, which will be part of the extension to Ben Yates' Cockermouth Keswick Penrith Route.

I eventually decided to give it a go this week with the following results.

It is essentially a road 17m in the air (the ropeway) being followed by vehicles (the buckets). It didn't prove too hard to create, however, getting the vehicles to run on the rope, instead of mid-air, was a process of trial and error. The down side is it's not possible to have one vehicle (full bucket) going in one direction and another vehicle (empty bucket) going the other way. I hope to come back to this and try to use a track loft, rather than a road, so I can have greater control over the vehicles traveling the loft.

Update

Just an update showing the finished quenching car model. In game and working after the usual hassle with the couplings. (thank heaven for the RWCoupling program)

8 Wheels on my wagon.

Continuing with the coke oven theme, I have built the quenching car that is used to collect the coke from the oven, then carry it to the quenching tower for cooling.

Wish I could model the spectacular sight of the coke being loaded, that would be fun.

A drop of water with that?

Have completed the quenching tower to go with the coke oven, complete with particle generator for the steam.

This is based on the Moss Bay coke oven quenching tower, at Workington.

It's grim Up North

Just a quick peek at a w.i.p. for a northern steel works.

Rawthey Viaduct

There were three viaducts in Cumbria on the Little LNWR route, the third of which was the Rawthey Viaduct.

A single-span iron bridge, it carried the Clapham to Lowgill line over the River Rawthey. (SW of Sedbergh). It's now owned by the Gas Board who run a pipeline across it.

So I took the dog for a walk along the Dales Way to have a look at it, as I just had to complete the set.

Lowgill Viaduct

Further down the line from the Waterside Viaduct is the Low gill Viaduct, which consists of eleven semi-circular arches, each with a 45 feet span. From end-to-end, it is 620 feet and carried the Ingleton-Lowgill line 100 feet above the stream below.

The Waterside and Lowgill Viaducts were part of  the Ingleton Branch of the London & North Western Railway. Opened to passengers in September 1861 it went from Clapham, through Ingleton, roughly following the route of the River Lune, via Kirkby Lonsdale, Barbon, Middleton-on-Lune, Sedbergh and Lowgill, before joining what is now the West Coast main line at Lowgill, just south of Tebay.

Passenger services ceased on 30th January 1954, but the line remained open for freight traffic until 1st March 1965. The track was lifted in 1967.

Made from the same material and to a similar design to the Waterside Viaduct, I had to make a model of the Lowgill Viaduct as well.

Waterside Viaduct

I was in Sedbergh last week and couldn't resist going to have a look at the viaduct over the Lune at Waterside.

Consequently, the modelling desires were re-awakened with the following result.