Annie's Virtual Pre-Grouping, Grouping and BR Layouts & Workbench

[Annie]

6 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Lovely pictures there Annie.  The presence of the WNR composite saloon on the K&ESR surely justifies my acquisition of the Rails/Dapol Bodiam in due course?

Oh yes James, W.N.R. composite saloon No.30  seems to be particularly widely travelled at the moment.  Being based on the dimensions of a smaller sized 19th century GWR 6 wheel coach my coaches have great route availability and can pretty much run anywhere no matter what the loading gauge is.  My 5 compartment 3rd class teak coach passed 500 downloads fairly recently.  Apparently it is similar to a couple of real world 19th century prototypes  for which no other digital models exist.  So far 29 people have decided that they want the W.N.R. composite coach so it's going to become even more widely travelled than ever.

 

I do have a  digital Terrier model salted away and I have wondered more than once if I could get away with reskinning it into Hopewood Tramway's almost like the GER blue livery.

 

And yes you should buy 'Bodiam' and feel quite justified in doing so.  

Edited February 6, 2019 by Annie
can't spell for toffee

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

When I was creating the Highworth Branch route in MSTS there was no DEM data available unless you paid a shedload of money for it from the Ordnance Survey. It was annoying because the USA train simmers had free DEM data right across the USA at 10x the density of the UK!

I scanned an OS 2cm:1km map and enlarged it then painstakingly traced the contour lines around Swindon (very hard due to the urban clutter) and all up the valley of the Bydemill Brook which is the principal watercourse valley the Highworth Light Railway was constructed along. Even on a route that was only about 7 miles long (the branch itself was 5.5 miles) this took simply AGES. We had a little bit of home written software to plug the resulting height data into the MSTS route editor which then "inflated" the base landscape to your plotted points. Even then a fair bit of adjustment was needed but I was delighted when the (in)famous 1 in 40 Butts Bank up the hill from Hannington to Highworth came out absolutely spot on. A real sense of achievement doing all that.

MSTS had a complete world projection in its library which meant you didn't just build on terrain tiles but selected a place on the globe and plugged in your Lat/Long co-ords to create your route tiles which were 1 km square. Problem was, Kuju had chosen a horrible global projection so anywhere more than a few miles from the poles (aka every railway in the world) had horribly skewed tiles more like diamond shaped polygons than squares. It was a bit of a mess but it was all we had and we persevered with it.

Here is a screenshot of a failed tile generation command I suffered while doing DEMs for a wantage Tramway route. I just happened to have kept this image for some reason (the file date is 27th Feb 2004!!!) but it shows the awful shape of what should be 1km squares, as well as the contour plotting which was actually a breach of the O/S terms of use... You can also see in the right hand panel the World Tile Number in hexadecimal and the Lat and Long. It was quite fun doing modelling in the "real world". The blue dot would probably be the site of GWR Wantage Road station, with Wantage town itself towards the bottom.

Apparently using TransDEM to build routes for Trainz is quite a thing now and there is even some software some clever person made so that DEM data can be translated easily into Trainz.  It's one of those mysterious things I know nothing about so I am deeply impressed that you were able build the Highworth branch successfully using OS map data.

I can see what you mean about the distorted map projection.  That would have made things just so difficult with attempting to fit OS map data into a mess like that.

[EKR]

Annie you mustn’t forget to have donkeys on the beach.

No resort back in the day was without them.

 

Remember Nicholas Nickleby’s aunt was constantly waging war on the donkey boys.

[Annie]

Still a bit WIP, but getting there.

 

[Annie]

Just now, EKR said:

Annie you mustn’t forget to have donkeys on the beach.

No resort back in the day was without them.

 

Remember Nicholas Nickleby’s aunt was constantly waging war on the donkey boys.

If I can find some I'll certainly put them on the layout.  Seaside items for the 1910-1920 period are a bit thin on the ground.

[Martin S-C]

12 hours ago, Annie said:

 

I can see what you mean about the distorted map projection.  That would have made things just so difficult with attempting to fit OS map data into a mess like that.

We had a choice. We either used the height data taken from an OS map scan and laid it square on the terrain so that after a few miles your Lat and Long were completely off and you could no longer cross-plot real world objects direct into your route but had to hand place and guesstimate everything, or you could distort your OS map scan in PhotoShop before you began plotting your contours so that the 1km map grid was squidged in one direction and a bit stretched in the other. This fitted fine into the game's world tiles allowing you to "real-plot" all the other features but your route came out distorted in the simulator. This wasn't too noticable on a short rural route like a branch line but Swindon came out looking very strange in my route so we gave up with that.

It was early days and very fun however, even with these curious impediments thrown at us by the software developers. We often wondered what clown seleted that globe projection and if he/she had any idea what a mistake it was.

Annie - loving the frosted/etched glass on the toilet cubicle windows of the WNR 6-wheeler. Thats really nicely done.

[Annie]

The glass was a bit of a trial Martin as at first I couldn't find anything suitable, but then I found a picture of  an antique door with an etched glass panel that looked like a possibility.  I made the coach's toilet window by taking four sections off the image of the glass panel and then knitting them together.  I was surprised doing that worked actually which I was very pleased about as it was exactly what I wanted the window to look like.

[Edwardian]

14 hours ago, Annie said:

Still a bit WIP, but getting there.

 

 

Superb and a 'must have' for when Lord and Lady Erstwhile travel off-system.

[Annie]

Thanks James.  There's really just a few  small adjustments to be made here and there before I'll consider the coach complete.  With this coach the texture is shrunk down lengthwise to fit the body mesh so it can be a bit tricky sometimes with getting the width on some parts how I want them to be.

But overall it's very much the classic first class saloon with a second class compartment for the servants and a luggage compartment which is a coach type I felt was lacking from the group of W.N.R. saloon coaches I've done so far.  I am wondering  though about making the luggage compartment have paired doors instead of just the single door which I think would be a lot more correct from what I've seen in various old photos of  saloon coaches.

[Annie]

Just as a small 'blast from the past' as it were, - this is the GWR saloon I made a while ago.  With Steve Flanders now making his incredible pre-grouping GWR coaches I won't be doing any more GWR coaches, but I do have to say I like how this coach turned out.  I should have it visit Hopewood & Windweather from time to time.

 

 

Definitely celebrating the brief but glorious era of the open saloon coach at the moment.

[Annie]

This is what I'd like to do with putting double luggage compartment doors on the W.N.R. saloon, - but with the compartment still remaining at the end.

 

 

This is a very interesting coach actually and already my little brain is ticking over with ideas, but first of all I want to complete W.N.R. saloon No.19 before I go rushing off and making more coaches.

[Annie]

I did manage to find two PO wagons on the DLS that were built on one of the  detailed wagon meshes that I normally use for my own wagons so they are pretty acceptable as they stand.  The only MOY wagon I could find was an old model that wasn't really up to scratch so it looks like I'll have to make one.  I couldn't find a Tassell PO wagon either so that's another one for the list.

 

[Annie]

Making coaches again.  I'm using the diagram as a guide, but I'm overlaying it with my Broad Gauge template pieces instead of drawing up the later intermediate type of coach panelling it's supposed to have.  This way it will match my other two early GWR coaches.  I like the wide waist panels and large ventilators on early GWR coaches and I freely admit that my GWR coaches are not entirely accurate being somewhat of a pastiche of the features of a number of early coach types, but I like them.

 

[BlueLightning]

OK so it's not pre-grouping (or British) but our friend @Lancaster622 is currently playing Trainz on a 24 hour livestream raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

 

Other things will be played as well, but it is generally a nice place to chill and chat, and for a change it's for charity so I thought I would give it a mention here, come along, donate, and help raise some money!! Donate Here!!

 

 

Gary

[Annie]

GWR  6w Tri-composite based on Mike Flemming's artwork, but much enhanced and repaired.  The small witness dots on the clerestory and the coachside are essential when working with this coach mesh.  In its original version it was for a bogie GWR coach and the mesh had lots of errors including a horrible twist through the middle of the waist panel.  When this mesh was remade for me to use to make 6 wheel coaches the errors were fixed, but the chaotic manner with which the textures are mapped to the mesh remain.  Some parts have to be made reversed and others upside down.  The coach sides fit the mesh asymmetrically and then on top of that the texture is compressed length ways into place so it has to be made stretched out in such a way that everything will look correct when seen in the simulator.  Without the witness dots on all pieces it is very easy to get things wrong and in the incorrect orientation.  Even though I've built several coaches using this mesh I put the dots on the textures every time I work with this coach mesh.

 

I felt an old GWR Tri-composite was needed to attach to passenger trains intending for Hopewood on Sea (or Windweather) so now I've got one.   Edit: It's a diagram U29, of which 12 were built in 1886.  Originally Broad Gauge (Yay!) and then later converted for SG.

 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Annie
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[Martin S-C]

Super work Annie, I have a special fondness for the 19th century GWR coaching stock.

 

[Annie]

Thanks Martin.  I find the Broad Gauge coaches that were converted to standard gauge endlessly fascinating since as a group they tend to be unique and visually different to coaches that were always standard gauge.  I also particularly like tri-composites since again they were more rare on any of the old pre-grouping railways and also are a bit more visually interesting.  Coaches with luggage compartments are another breed I like so this old 6 wheel coach ticks all the boxes for me,

Maybe just a little bit of fluffing around and micro adjusting still to do with this one before I call it done, but having worked on this coach some other older GWR coaches are likely to follow.

[Annie]

The weather here has been unpleasantly hot and humid so seeking a little respite I've blown the dust off a favourite layout created back in TS2004 days by Angela Halliday.  It's called 'A Kentish Winter' and it's the K&ESR in Wintertime well covered with a blanket of snow.  I've been working on upgrading it for TS2019 as a bit of an experiment and it's been going rather well.

It's also a chance to get some older engines not often seen on my layouts out of my digital trainset box and give them a run about..

 

 

 

[Martin S-C]

That was funny. I was scrolling down the page and the outside scenes made me feel quite cold, then once the cab interior came on the screen I felt toasty warm.

[Annie]

Yes it's a great layout for making one feel a bit chilly Martin.  Various models of mine have been having test runs to see if they work Ok in TS2019.   So far they seem to be doing fine.

The old TS2004 tree models are very dated and TS2019's flash new lighting effects don't do them any favours.  I've been working on updating the tree models, but it's a big job and while I have got all the old models changed out for the new ones there's going to be a fair bit of fettling things before it all comes together properly.

 

(Old trees in pictures)

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by Annie
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[Annie]

More snapshots from the freezer.  The ancient and awful looking TS2004 track has now been replaced by the latest posh 'procedural' track .  I haven't a clue why it's called that, but it does look very nice.  Adjust the snow line setting for the layout down to sea level and it becomes snowy and Wintery just like that.  More trees have been planted/replaced.  It's a long job especially since Angela Halliday used an enormous variety of tree models when she created this layout and all the different varieties have to searched out and located so I can change them using the replace tool in the simulator.

 

Rolvenden shed. (With many visitors; - an Adams Radial has since been added))

 

 

Robertsbridge.

 

 

Posh new track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Annie
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[Annie]

The 'A Kentish Winter' layout has lots of these on it.  One was almost so deep it reached up to Northiam's cab roof so that one definitely had to be cleared away.  There's a snowplow available for attachment to a loco buffer beam so perhaps I should fit it to some of my engines that I'm going to use on this layout.

 

[Edwardian]

I love these snow scenes, Annie, especially with the posh new track.

[Annie]

The new track has made a huge difference James.  It took a bit of finding out which one to use and a couple of false starts, but the effort was definitely worth it.

 

I've always liked this particular layout, but it really needed a good brush and tidy up as it was very dated.  I'm working myself slowly over to the TS2019 version of the simulator so the K&ESR in Winter is a good test piece for me to try before I commit to shifting any of my own layouts over.

[Martin S-C]

These look wonderful. I like how the snow lies up and just over the rails in a few places. How does the game deal with snowdrifts? Are they proper interactive features you can push through or has the route builder just raised the ground level in a subtle way to make it appear like a snowdrift? Back in MSTS days (sorry to keep harping back 15 years but it was my only experience of train simulators) we could build "wagons" that were pieces of rolling stock you could place on the track in an activity but the 3D model of the wagon wasn't a railway vehicle but a humped mound and if you textured this one way you got a snow drift blocking the line and if you textured it a different way you could replicate a landslip across the track, or in the case of my route where we had some activities set during the line's construction with dirt wagons and a contarctor's engine, these mounds would represent the limit of construction of the line. We gave these wagons a colossal mass and loco bar couplings so you couldn't couple up to them or propel them!

Being pieces of rolling stock of course you couldn't push through them, they were a complete barrier to operations across the track at that point but you could still write a clever scenario based around thatfeature.